VASARI-VASE. nal Ippolito de' Medici, pope Clement the circumstance of their original deVII, and the dukes Alessandro and Cos- scribers (Montfaucon, Dempster, Gori, mo, successively engaged him in their Passeri, Caylus and D'Ancarville) having service, after which he determined not to regarded them as monuments of EtrusBut the fact is, that the greater enter again into the service of any prince. can art. He was, however, employed by the suc- number of these vases are not found in ceeding dukes, by the popes, and other Etruria. It is to the sepulchres of Nola, eminent persons, as an architect and of Capua, of Santa Agatha, &c., as well as to different cities of Græcia Magna, painter, in both of which characters, particularly in the former, he obtained great that we are indebted for the largest and reputation, although as a painter he was finest collections. The Athenian tombs only a skilful imitator of Michael Angelo. have also furnished many; and Mr. Hamilton is correct in designating them, as he His principal paintings are a Lord's Supper, in the cathedral of Arezzo, and sev- has done in one of his prefaces, emphateral works in the Palazzo Vecchio, in ically Grecian. The tombs or sepulchres Florence, and in the Vatican in Rome. in which these exquisite vases were comHe has himself given us an account of monly found, were situated near the his different works in Florence, Arezzo, walls of towns, ordinarily built of brick or rough stone, and of just sufficient size Pisa, Venice, Bologna, Rome, &c. His Vite de' più eccellenti Pittori, Scultori ed to admit the body, with some five or six vases standing round it, or hung on the Architetti (first printed in 1550, and often It walls by nails of bronze. The number, size republished) is of more interest to us. is highly esteemed, both on account of and beauty of these vases varied, doubtthe facts which it contains, and for the less, according to the rank of the party scattered remarks in regard to the prog- inhumed. The paintings of these ancient ress of the arts. It, however, has fallen Greek vases are extremely interesting, on into many errors respecting the earlier account of the subjects represented, and masters-a circumstance owing to the im- of the beauty of the workmanship. The perfection of existing accounts; and it subjects most frequently to be found are is also guilty of partiality towards the sacrifices, processions and representations Tuscan artists. We have also some oth- which bear relation to the mysteries of er productions from the pen of Vasari, Bacchus or Ceres. There are, occasionally, but not so often, exhibitions of family Sometimes, who died in 1574. feasts or of public games. also, the mythics of the heroic ages are introduced. They did not serve as receptacles of the ashes, but the most probable opinion is, that they were sacred vases which had been given to those who were initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus and Ceres, and were employed at the festivals of these divinities. Most of the subjects represented have reference to these mysteries. Some of these vessels While the possessors may have been distributed on other solemn occasions. were alive, it is probable that they were placed in the halls or vestibules of their houses, and, after their owners' death, they accompanied them to the tomb. In Lower Italy, the art of imitating them is carried to great perfection, as many an unfortunate purchaser has found. Large, collections of these vases are contained in Naples (briefly but instructively_described by Andrew di Gorio-R. Musco Borbonico, Galleria dei Vasi, Naples, 1825), in London and Paris, in Vienna, Petersburg, &c.-See the Introduction à l'Étude des Vases Antiques, by Dubois-Maisonneuve (Paris, 1817, folio), and the small treatise Dei Vasi Grechi, delle lor Forma e VASCO DA GAMA. (See Gama.) VASE (vas, Latin). The Grecian artists gave to every vase, or other utensil, the shape best adapted to its use, and most agreeable to the eye. Sometimes they took the parallelopipedon; in other instances, a shape either circular or slightly curved, to prevent the eye from being inThese tercepted by angles or corners. shapes admitted, at the same time, of greater variety, notwithstanding which, its primitive character was always perceived. It was only in times subsequent to the decline of the arts that these simple contours were departed from, and the pyramidal or angular figure substituted. Very rich and precious substances were employed by those who could afford such profusion. Vases were frequently set up A great as prizes in the public games. number of these vessels have been preserved to the present day, and offer to artists models of the most beautiful forms. Of all the works in this department of Grecian art which have come down to our times, there are none so richly meriting attention as the ancient vases in terra-cotta, so long and universally, but improperly, designated as Etruscan, from 44 VOL. XII. Dipintura, e dei Nomi e Uso loro in Generale (Palermo, 1823, 4to.). The celebrated W. Tischbein published, in 1791, at Naples, a splendid work, containing drawings of such vases. See also Lanzi's De' Vasi antichi dipinti volgarmente chiamati Etruschi (Florence, 1806). (For the Portland or Barberini vase, see the article Portland Vase.) VASSAL (homo fidelis, vassus, feoffee); a person who has bound himself to fidelity and service towards another, especially in war, for which he receives the promise of protection and the enjoyment of an estate, a rent, office, privilege (out of which, in the later period of the feudal system, a real dominium utile originated). The origin of the word is not certain. It is not probable that it is derived from the Gaelic gwas: it is more probable that it comes from the ArabicoSpanish of the tenth century, the expression guazil (servant) having been in common use in the Moorish dominions in Spain, which then possessed a higher civilization than the rest of Europe. The vassal of the king had again his vassals, and the more powerful of these again theirs; hence, in Italy, the degrees of capitanei, valvasi, valvasini. A vassal who was bound to serve his lord against every one else in war, was called vassus ligius. (See Feudal System, and Villenage.) VATER, John Severin, a philologist and theologian, was born at Altenburg, in Saxony, in 1771, and studied at the gymnasium of his native city. In 1789, he went to the university of Jena. Griesbach and Paulus were his chief teachers in theology. From 1792 to 1794, he studied in Halle. In 1795, he received permission to lecture, in consequence of his works on Aristotle's Rhetoric and Philosophy. In 1795, he lectured at Jena, and was soon appointed professor extraordinarius. His chief study was general grammar and Hebrew grammar, in the latter of which he has done much for the better understanding of the nouns, by the preparation of complete paradigms. In 1799, he was invited to Halle, as ordinary professor of Oriental literature and theology, and soon after published his Inquiries into the Mosaic Writings and into Ecclesiastical History. In 1807, he undertook the continuation of the Mithridates, after the death of Adelung (q. v.), and collected, for several years, materials for general philology. In 1809, he went to Königsberg as professor and librarian. His philological studies embraced even the African and American languages. For his improvements in Russian grammar, particularly in regard to the structure of the verbs, he received the order of Wladimir. No one has written so many grammars as he. In 1820, he resumed his former professorship in Halle. Since that time, he has written on ecclesiastical history, the exegesis of the New Testament, and the present state of theology. Towards the end of his life, he was also the editor of the Journal for Preachers, and of the Archives of Ecclesiastical History, as well as the founder and editor of the Annals of Domestic Devotion. In the midst of these labors, he died of consumption, in 1826. VATHEK BILLAH. (See Caliph, vol. ii, page 410.) VATICAN; the most extensive palace of modern Rome, built upon the Vatican hill, from which it has received its name. Immense treasures are stored up in it. It is not a regular building, but contains twenty-two court-yards, and, as is generally said, 11,000 rooms. Several popes have labored on this edifice, which was not completed until the time of Sixtus V, who died in 1590. Here are the celebrated collections of pictures, and the museums, in which all the periods of the arts have deposited many of their most perfect productions. Here are the stanze (q. v.) of Raphael; here are the Sistine (q. v.) and Pauline chapels,_the_museo Chiaramonti, and the museo Pio-Clementino, the appartamento Borgia, the stanza dei Papiri (collection of papyrus rolls); here is the rich Vatican library (described below); here are pictures of almost all the first masters of that glorious period of which Raphael is the chief ornament; and near it is the gigantic St. Peter's. The Vatican is connected with the Belvedere (q. v.) and the castle of St. Angelo. In the Vatican, the conclaves (q. v.) are held for the elections of popes. As the popes formerly resided here, the word Vatican was, and still is, not unfre quently used for the papal government. as the cabinet of St. James or Berlin in used for the English or Prussian government. Vatican Library. In the finest place that could be found for a library, this precious collection is deposited, which bears witness to the scientific spirit, or fondness for magnificence, of many successive popes. Lofty and spacious rooms, adorned with fresco paintings, antique vases, and two beautiful statues, contain the simple cases in which the manuscripts are preserved. The history of this collection, which has justly been called a panoplia, reaches back to the times of Constantine the Great, if we can believe the somewhat legendary account of Assemanni, in the catalogue of this library (Bibl. Apost. Vat. Codd. Mss. Catalogus, etc.; Rome, 1756). Nicholas V increased the collection so much that he may be almost considered its second founder. Sixtus V highly embellished the exterior of the edifice, and prepared the great saloon in which a large part of the library is now preserved. Leo X. devoted himself to Greek; Pius IV, to Oriental manuscripts; Pius V united the archives, which are still inaccessible, with the library; and Paul V and Urban VIII enlarged the accommodations, the present of the library of Heidelberg (q. v.) having made greater space necessary. Clement VII added the manuscripts of the library of Urbino; Alexander VIII, 1900, left by the queen Christina of Sweden; Benedict XIII, those of Ottoboni; not to mention other acquisitions and embellishments. The most recent is the library of count Cicognara. Yet this invaluable treasure of manuscripts and old printed works (the absence of modern works is to be regretted) is rendered less useful by a want of order, and even of catalogues, which do not exist, or are denied to the student. The above-mentioned catalogue of Assemanni embraces but a very small part of the collection, and is a rarity in the library itself, as most of the copies of it were burnt in 1786. For the other parts of the library, there are only written catalogues; and these are badly drawn up; and the use of them is considered a favor. Moreover, the ancient and not very liberal rules of Clement XIII and Innocent XIII are still enforced, and are doubly oppressive on account of the many holydays. Many complaints of modern travellers, among whom are some of the most distinguished men of the age, show that the present superintendent, Maio, enforces the laws in all their rigor, though he has shown, if it were necessary, what treasures are contained in the library, by his Scriptor. Veter. nova Collectio e Codd. Vaticanis edita (Rome, 1825, 4to.). VATTEL, OF WATTEL, Émer de, an eminent publicist, son of a clergyman of Neufchatel, was born in 1714. After completing his studies, he went to Berlin, and subsequently to Dresden, where he was appointed privy counsellor to the elector. He died at Neufchatel, in 1767, in the fifty-third year of his age. He owed his early literary reputation to his Defence of the Philosophy of Leibnitz against De Crousaz (1741), and Pièces diverses de Morale et d'Amusement (Paris, 1746). His great work was published at Neufchatel, under the title of Droits des Gens, ou Principes de la Loinaturelle (1758). It was translated into most modern languages; into English, under the title of the Law of Nations, or Principles of the Law of Nature, applied to the Conduct and Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns (1760, 4to., and 1793, 8vo.). In general, Vattel takes the celebrated Wolf for his guide, but differed from him in some points, in relation to which he published, in 1762, Questions sur le Droit naturel. VAUBAN, Sebastian le Prestre, seigneur de, marshal of France, and the greatest engineer which that country has produced, descended of an ancient and noble famly of Nivernois, was born 1633, and early entered the army, where his uncommon talents and genius for fortification soon became known, and were signally displayed in various successive sieges. He rose to the highest military rank by his merit and services, and was made governor of the citadel of Lisle, in 1668, and commissioner-general of fortifications in 1678. He took Luxemburg in 1684, and was present, in 1688, at the siege and capture of Philipsburg, Manheim and Frankendal, under the dauphin. He was made marshal of France in 1703, and died at Paris, 1707, aged seventy-four. As an engineer, he carried the art of fortifying, attacking and defending towns to a degree of perfection unknown before his time. He fortified above three hundred ancient citadels, erected thirty-three new ones, had the principal management and direction of fifty-three sieges, and was present at a hundred and forty-three engagements. His works consist of a treatise entitled La Dixme Royale (1704, 4to. and 12mo.), and a vast collection of manuscripts, in twelve volumes, which he calls Mes Oisivetés, containing his ideas, reflections and projects for the advantage of France. The following works have also been published either under his name or from his ideas: Manière de fortifier par M. de Vauban, mise en Ordre par le Chevalier de Cambrai (1689 and 1692); L'Ingénieur Français (by Herbert); De l'Attaque et de la Défense des Places, suivant le Système de M. Vauban (1736); Sur la Fortification, par M. de Vauban (1746). VAUBLANC-VIENNOT, Vincent Marie, count de, born in 1756, entered the army on leaving the military school, and, in 1791, was appointed deputy to the legislative assembly, where he became a distinguished advocate of the royal cause; censured, vehemently, the despotism of the municipalities, and spoke in favor of the clergy who had refused to take the oaths. He was appointed president of the assembly, and opposed the motion to sequester the property of emigrants, without exempting women or children. His speech on this subject was received with cries of abuse, and even with menaces. The powers assumed by the popular clubs were arraigned by him, and he obtained a decree of accusation against Marat. He was not elected a member of the convention, and, though proscribed, he had the good fortune to escape the guillotine. At the time of the movement of the sections of Paris against the convention, he was president of the section Poissonière, and, on the 17th of October, was condemned to death for contumacy. Two days before his condemnation, he was chosen deputy for the department of the Seine and the Marne to the council of five hundred. The sentence of condemnation against him was annulled; and on the second of September, 1796, he mounted the tribune to take the oath of hatred to royalty. On the 18th Fructidor, he was proscribed, and condemned to be sent out of France; but he escaped into Italy, whence he was recalled after the 18th of Brumaire. In 1800, the conservative senate proclaimed him a member of the legislative body. In 1805, he was raised to the dignity of count, and commandant of the legion of honor, and appointed prefect of the Moselle. On the restoration, he was named minister of the interior, and displayed extraordinary activity and talent. During his administration, the institute received its new organization. M. de Vaublanc was succeeded in the home department by M. Lainé, and, on this occasion, was nan.ed minister of state and member of the privy council. He was afterwards chosen member of the chamber of deputies, in which, as in the ministry, he deserted his former liberal principles. VAUCANSON, Jacques, a French mechanician, born at Lyons, died at Paris in 1782, has acquined celebrity by his ingenious automata. These are a brazen duck, which performs all the motions of a living duck, swallows the food put before it, and passes it in a regular manner; a Provençal piper, and a flute-player. The last mentioned is a figure as large as life, seated upon a pedestal, which contains bellows, by means of which wind is driven to different parts of the machine in such a manner as to move the lips and fingers of the statue. Vaucanson exhibited this automaton at Paris in 1738, and explained the mechanism of it in a pamphlet-Le Mécanisme du Fluteur Automate, par Vaucanson (Paris, 1738). Vaucanson was afterwards appointed by cardinal Fleury inspector of the silk manufactures, and introduced some improvements in the throwing mills. VAUCLUSE (vallis clausa); a small village, six leagues east of Avignon (q. v.), in France. This small place gives its name to department. (See Departments.) Near Vaucluse, the river Sorgue rises between rocks, falls as it comes out of the rocks, and, after having formed several beautiful cascades, runs about ten miles through a romantic country, and enters the Rhone near Avignon. Here Petrarch lived; and through him Vaucluse and the source of the Sorgue have become famous. VAUD, PAYS DE. (See Pays de Vaud.) VAUDEVILLE; a species of light French songs, consisting of several couplets (strophes) of a gay and sometimes satirical character. A vaudeville should have an easy and pleasing tune, and the chief idea of the whole should be repeated with proper variations at the end of each strophe. The little dramatic pieces interspersed with witty songs adapted to wellknown popular tunes, &c., and which are performed at the théâtre du Vaudeville, opened in 1791, are called comédiesvaudeville, and conclude with a vaudeville, of which each performer sings one strophe, having reference to the part performed by him. Opinions are divided respecting the origin of the word. The Dictionary of the academy derives it from Vau de Vire, a valley in Normandy. In the little town of Vau-de-Vire, Õlivier Basselin, a Norman poet of the fourteenth century, is said to have satirized the follies of the day in spirited songs. This Vau de Vire, published as early as 1576, and republished in 1821, by Louis Dubois (Vaux de toutes les Villes), is believed to have given rise to the name vaudeville. It has also been derived from Vau-deville, a song which runs through the whole town, from mouth to mouth. VAUDOIS. (See Waldenses.) VAUDONCOURT, William de, born at Vienna, of French parents, in 1772, was educated in Berlin, and, on the breaking out of the revolution, entered the French army as lieutenant of volunteers, in 1791. After serving with distinction during several campaigns, he was appointed, by general Bonaparte, major of artillery (1797), in the army of the Cisalpine republic. In 1803 and 1804, he superintended the erection of arsenals and public manufactories of arms for the republic; in 1805, assumed the supervision of the artillery school at Pavia, and, at the same time, served under Masséna as commander of the Italian artillery, and director-general of the French park. In 1807, he was sent to Ali Pacha to organize his forces, and to conduct the operations against the Russians in Corfu, Sta. Maura, and the gulf of Lepanto. In 1809, he was made general, and served under Eugene in the campaign of 1812, when he was made prisoner. During the hundred days, Vaudoncourt commanded the national guards of Metz, and, after the restoration, being obliged to leave France, retired to Munich. In 1821, eager to contribute to the independence of Italy, in the service of which he had spent eighteen years, he went to Piedmont, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the constitutional forces; but, on the failure of the enterprise (see Piedmontese Revolution), he retired to Spain, and occupied himself with literary pursuits. The French invasion of 1823 obliged him to quit that country; and, withdrawing to England, he was finally permitted to return to France in 1825. Among his works are Histoire des Campagnes d'Annibal en Italie (3 vols., 4to., Milan, 1812); Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire de la Campagné de Russie en 1812; Histoire des Campagnes d'Italie en 1813 et 1814; Histoire de la Guerre des Français en Allemagne en 1813; Letters on the internal political Condition of Spain from 1821 to 1823 (London, 1824); Histoire des Campagnes de 1814 et 1815 en France (5 vols., Paris, 1826); and Histoire Politique et Militaire du Prince Eugène (3 vols.).— VAULT. (See Architecture.) VAULTING; one of the finest gymnastic exercises, which much strengthens the arms, abdominal muscles, dorsal muscles and lower extremities, and imparts more grace than any other gymnastic exer cise. VAUQUELIN, Nicholas Louis, an eminent French chemist, member of the institute and of numerous learned societies, was born in Normandy, in 1763. In 1780, he went to Paris to continue the study of chemistry and pharmacy, which he had begun at Rouen, and, three years after, was engaged by Fourcroy as his assistant in his chemical preparations. Vauquelin soon became the friend and rival of his master, with whom he continued to be connected for eight years. In 1793, he became a member of the academy of sciences, which, with other learned societies, was soon after abolished. At this time, he went to Melun, where he was attached to the military hospital, but was recalled to Paris the next year, and appointed inspector of the mines. His lectures on the art of assaying, delivered by order of the government at the mining academy in Cleves, procured him the place of adjunct professor of chemistry at the polytechnic school. When the institute was founded, he was admitted a member; and he was also among the first to receive the cross of the legion of honor. Being appointed professor of chemistry to the college of France on the death of Darcet, he resigned his place of inspector of the mines, and assumed the superintendence of the newly-erected school of pharmacy. On the death of Brogniart, he was appointed, at the nomination of the institute and of the inspectors of studies, to the professorship of chemistry at the Jardin des Plantes. In 1811, he succeeded Fourcroy as professor of chemistry to the faculty of medicine, all the other candidates having voluntarily withdrawn their pretensions in his favor. In 1822, with Jussieu, Dubois, Lallement and others guilty of holding liberal opinions, he was dismissed from his place. His only separate publication is the Manuel de l'Essayeur (1812); but he is the author of many valuable papers in the Annales de Chimie, the Journal des Mines, the Annales du Muséum, &c. He died in 1829. VAUQUELINITE. This mineral occurs in extremely minute crystals, which appear to have the form of the regular sixsided prism; fracture uneven; surfaces of the crystals a little curved; lustre adamantine, often faint; color blackish-green, olive-green; streak siskin-green, often inclining to brown; faintly translucent to opaque; rather brittle; hardness inferior to calcareous spar; specific gravity 5.5. Besides occurring in crystals, it is found botryoidal, reniform and massive: composition generally impalpable; surface drusy or rough; fracture imperfect and flat conchoidal. Alone before the blow-pipe, it intumesces a little, and then froths and melts into a grayish globule, giving, at the same time, some globules |