THE 



ENGLISH CYCLOPEDIA. 



BIOGRAPHY. 



The namis of thoie living at the time of the continuoui publication of the ' Engliih Oyclopeeiia of Eiopraphy,' are preceded ty an asterisk. 



GADDI. 



GAERTNER, JOHANN ANDREAS. 



. The name of a celebrated old Florentine family of artists 



** of the 13th and 14th centuries. 



GADDO GADDI, the contemporary and friend of Andrea Tafi and 

 Cimabue, was born at Florence in 1249, according to Vasari. Gaddo 

 was a painter and mosaic-worker, and assisted Tafi in the mosaics of 

 San Giovanni He executed alone the mosaic of the ' Coronation of 

 the Madonna,' in Santa Maria del Fiorc, which is still extant. This 

 work obtained him a reputation all over Italy, and he wag ordered in 

 1308 by Clement V. to Rome, to execute some mosaics in the new 

 church and palace of San Gioyanno in Laterano, which was rebuilt 

 after the fire of 1307. He executed other works in St Peter's, and in 

 Santa Maria Maggiore, which last still exist. There is also a Madonna 

 by him in mosaic in the cathedral of Pisa. He executed some paint- 

 ings in 'tempera,' but they have all perished. He died in 1312, and 

 was buried in Snnta Croce, where his sou Taddeo painted his portrait 

 beside that of Andrea Tafi, in a ' Marriage of the Virgin' in the Capella 

 Baroncflli. 



TADDEO GADDI, born in 1300, was a much more able man than his 

 father, after whose death he lived twenty-four years with Giotto, who 

 was his godfather. He was the most distinguished of Giotto's scholars 

 and imitator?. 



Vasari mentions the paintings of the srxcriaty of Santa Croce in 

 Florence, as Taddeo's first works ; the altar-piece, however, of this 

 chapel is altogether similar to the other paintings, and it bears the 

 date of 1378, which was some years after the death of Taddeo : the 

 portion which Vasari attribute to Taddeo are the five subjects from 

 the life of the Magdalen. The frescoes of the Baroncelli (now Giugni) 

 chapel in the same church, representing the life of the Virgin, also by 

 Taddeo, according to Vasari, are in a different style, and in one which 

 assimilates more with tha characteristic stj-le of the period. Taddeo 

 enlarged somewhat upon the style of Giotto ; he gave more bulk and 

 motion to his figures. The frescoes of this chapel are perhaps the best 

 of his works that remain : they have been engraved by Lasinio. 

 Taddeo painted also in Santa Maria Novella and other churches at 

 Florence, and at Arezzo, and in 1342 at Pisa ; but little remains of his 

 works besides those mentioned above, and a few small altar-pieces in 

 tempera, in the gallery of the academy at Florence and at Berlin. 



In Santa Maria Novella, Taddeo painted in fresco a wall and the 

 ceiling of the Capella degli Spagnuoli, formerly the chapter-house. 

 The ceiling represents the Resurrection and tlie Ascension of Christ, 

 the ' Descent of the Holy Ghost,' and ' Peter saved from Shipwreck : ' 

 in tlie ' Resurrection ' light proceeds from the body of Christ. The 

 painting of the wall is apparently an allegory to the glory of St. 

 Thomas Aquinas, commemorating hi* extensive knowledge and his 

 great services to the church. The other walls of the chapel were 

 painted by Mcmmi at the fame time as the works of Taddeo were 

 executed, but arc much Inferior to them ; on one of the walls are the 

 reputed portraits of Petrarch and Laura. Taddeo's works in this 

 chapel are the most considerable efforts in painting of the 14th century ; 

 but they are not in a sufficient state of preservation to judge adequately 

 of their merits, though sufficient to justify his reputation as the best 

 craftsman of his age or century. In composition he was symmetrical 

 au'l ude, in character natural, and in expression not superior but 

 equal to Giotto. Taddeo was likewise a distinguished architect ; he 

 built the present Ponte Vecchio in 1345, and the Ponte della Trinita, 

 which wax destroyed by the flood of 1557, and was replaced by the 

 present bridge by Ammanati. 



Bioo. Div. VOL. ill. 



Taddeo Gaddi amassed great wealth, by means of which he esta- 

 blished his family, and the Gaddi have been for many centuries one of 

 the most distinguished families of Florence. It is not known when 

 Taddeo died, but Rumohr has shown that he was still living in 1366. 

 He was buried near his father in Santa Croce. 



His most distinguished scholars were Giovanni da Milano and Jacopo 

 da Casentino, to whom he intrusted the care of his sous Giovanni aud 

 Angelo. Giovanni died young, after giving great promise as a painter. 



ANOELO GADDI was born about 1326, died in 1389, according to 

 Vasari and Baldinucci. He excelled in colour, and generally in the 

 technical practice of the period, which appears to have been thoroughly 

 established in his time. He executed several great works, especially 

 in Santa Croce, where he painted the history of the Discovery of tho 

 Cross; but they are all in imitation of Giotto and his father, though 

 he was inferior to both in expression and to his father in design. He 

 executed many works in Florence in various churches ; and he visited 

 Venice not only in the capacity of a painter but as a merchant also. 

 He established a commercial houso there, together with his sons, and 

 realised a great fortune : his sous devoted themselves exclusively to 

 mercantile pursuits. 



Angelo left two distinguished scholars Stefano da Verona, and 

 Cennino Ccnnini, who U the author of the earliest known treatise on 

 painting' Trattato della Pittura,' Rome, 1821 : it was written iu 

 1437. 



(Vasari, Vite de' Pittori, <tc. ; Speth, Kunst in Italim; Rumohr, 

 JtdUenuche Forschungen.) 



GADEBUSCH, FREDERIC CONRAD, a learned German, born in 

 1719, iu the island of Rugen. After having studied at different 

 universities of Germany, he went, in 1750, to Livonia, where he 

 remained till his death in 1788. He was a very laborious writer, and 

 left several works in German, which throw considerable light on the 

 history of the Baltic provinces of Russia. His principal works are 

 ' Memoir on tho Historians of Livonia,' Riga, 1772 ; ' Livonian Biblio- 

 theca,' Riga, 1779 ; ' Essays on the History and Laws of Livonia,' Riga, 

 1777-85 ; 'Annals of Livonia, from, 1030 to 1761,' 8 vols. in 8vo, Riga, 

 1780-83. 



GAERTNER, or GARTNER, JOHANN ANDREAS. Descended 

 himself from a family of architects, Johann Gartner claims notice both 

 on account of his own professional talents, and as being the father of the 

 celebrated FBIEDBICH VON GAEBTNEB, noticed b^low. Johaun Andreas 

 was the son of a former Andreas, a Dresden architect aud artist of 

 considerable reputation in the early part of the laat century; and 

 was the nephew of Johann Gartner, a clever architect of the same 

 period and the same place. He was born at Dresden in 1743, aud was 

 at first more inclined towards the military profession ; but going to 

 ! Poland he was induced by Count Minitszek not to give up architecture 

 I entirely, but rather to apply himself to engineering alao, and he was 

 employed by that nobleman to erect various buildings upon his estates. 

 After that he visited Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, iu which last capital 

 he remained nine years, when he was invited to Coblenz, to finish 

 the Residenz or electoral palace there. He next ent. red the service 

 of the Prince-bishop of Wiirzburg, being glad to quit Coblenz (where 

 bis son Friedrich was born), the disturbances arising out of the French 

 Revolution having both rendered that city an insecure place of abode, 

 and cut off all prospect of professional employment. He erected seve- 

 ral buildings at Wiirzburg and in its neighbourhood, all of which display 

 superior talent and taste ; among others the theatre, the restorationa 



