CASTAGNO CAST!. 



85 



has lately been made, which consists in taking moulds 

 from every kind of engraving, whether line, mezzo- 

 tiuto, or aquatinta, and in pouring on this mould an 

 alloy in a state of fusion, capable of taking, as it is 

 stated, the finest impression. No sooner is one cast 

 worn out, than another may immediately be procured 

 from the original plate, so tliat every impression may 

 be a proof. 



CASTAGNO, ANDREA DEL, an eminent painter, 

 was born at the village of Castagno, in Tuscany, 

 in 140y. Being early deprived or his parents, who 

 were extremely poor, he was employed by his un- 

 cle to attend cattle in the fields, and, in that si- 

 tuation, by his surprising and untutored essays in 

 the art, attracted the notice of Bernardetto de Me- 

 dici, who placed him under the tuition of one of the 

 best masters Florence then afforded. At first, he 

 painted only in distemper and fresco, and was in high 

 repute when Domenico Venetiano visited Florence, 

 who had learned, from Antonello da Messina, the 

 new method of painting in oil and varnish, till then 

 unknown in Tuscany. The splendour of this mode 

 of colouring was much admired, and by a pretended 

 friendship for Domenico, Castagno obtained his se- 

 cret; but, not satisfied with this, lie desired to be the 

 sole possessor, and determined to murder his friend 

 and benefactor. This he effected without any suspi- 

 cion, and continued to practise his ill-acquired art with 

 great success. The real author of this atrocious act 

 was never discovered until Andrea made a full con- 

 fession of his guilt, shortly before his death, which 

 Iiappened in 1480. The best of his remaining works 

 are at Florence, in the church of St Lucia de Mag- 

 nuoli, and in the monastery degli Angeli. The lat- 

 ter contains a crucifixion by him, painted on a wall. 



CASTANET. S; small wooden rattles, made in 

 the shape of two bowls or cups, fitted together, and 

 tied by a string, and then fastened to the thumbs. 

 The fingers being rapidly struck upon them, a tre- 

 mulous sound is produced, which marks exactly the 

 measure of the dance. Something similar to this 

 was the crotalon of the ancients, who also made use 

 of small cymbals in their dances and festivals in ho- 

 aour of Bacchus. It is probable, however, that they 

 liad their origin in the East, and were brought by 

 the Moors into Spain. Here, too, they received 

 their name castanuelas, from being commonly made 

 of the wood of the chestnut (caslano), or from their 

 colour. They are still in use in Spain, and here and 

 there in the south of France. The charm of variety 

 has also procured for them a place in ballets and 

 operas, as, for example, in John of Paris. 



CASTE; certain classes whose burdens and pri- 

 vileges are hereditary. The word is derived from 

 the Portuguese casta, and was originally applied, by 

 the conquerors of the East Indies, to the Indian fa- 

 milies, whose occupations, customs, privileges, and 

 duties are hereditary. This term has been some- 

 times applied to the hereditary classes in Europe ; 

 and we speak of the spirit or the prerogatives a. d 

 usurpations of a caste, to express particularly that 

 unnatural constitution of society, which makes dis- 

 tinction dependent on the accidents of birth or for- 

 tune. The division into castes, among the people 

 of the old world, comes to us from a period to which 

 the light of history does not extend ; hence its origin 

 cannot be clearly traced: but it is highly probable 

 that, wherever it exists, it was originally grounded 

 on a difference of descent, and in the modes of living, 

 and that the separate castes were originally separate 

 races of people. This institution is found amon-;- 

 many nations. According to the accounts collected 

 by Clavigero, some traces of it are apparent among 

 tue Peruvians and Mexicans ; but it prevails princi- 

 pally in tl.e East, \vhert- it has existed from the ear- 



liest times, and has become blended with the political 

 condition of the people, because it favours despotism, 

 which is the prevailing fonn of government. Thus, 

 in Persia, even before Zoroaster, there was a division 

 into four classes or castes ; priests (magi), soldiers, 

 husbandmen, tradesmen. But the division into castes 

 was nowhere so perfectly formed, and so entirely in- 

 terwoven in the whole fabric of civil society, as in 

 Egypt and India. In Egypt (q. v.),this division was 

 perfected, as a political institution, in the flourishing 

 period of the Pharaohs ; and the lines of separation 

 which had been drawn, in earlier times, by a differ- 

 ence of descent, and different modes of living, were 

 then rendered still more distinct. The number of 

 castes in that country was originally seven. The 

 class of priests, who formed, in some respects, a 

 highly privileged order of nobility, and maintained 

 possession of the offices of state, was the highest. 

 iV 7 ext followed the soldiers, who were divided into 

 two classes, and whose occupation was hereditary. 

 Of the remaining castes, the husbandmen, the water- 

 men, who navigated the Nile, the interpreters, who 

 arose subsequently to the rest, and sprung from the 

 Greeks who were invited into the country, and the 

 two castes of herdsmen, formed a gradation of ranks, 

 the order of which is not known, any further than 

 that the herdsmen were the lowest. Among these 

 the swineherd was considered impure, and despised, 

 and was excluded from the temples. In India, there 

 were originally four castes. (See Hindoos.) Proba- 

 bly the deep researches into Egyptian antiquities re- 

 cently made, or in a state of progress, particularly 

 those of Champollion, will throw much light upon 

 this interesting subject. 



CASTELCICALA, DON FABRICIO RUFFO, prince 

 of, descended from a very ancient Neapolitan family, 

 obtained great influence under the minister Acton 

 (1796), in the infamous political inquisition or junta. 

 When Acton resigned his ministry, prince Castelci- 

 cala became minister, and Vanini committed suicide. 

 After the battle of Aboukir, Castelcicala persuaded 

 his court to declare war against France. In 1799, 

 lie fled with his monarch to Sicily. Two years after, 

 lie was Sicilian ambassador in London, and still later 

 at the French court. In 1816, he signed the impor- 

 tant treaty admitting all British productions and 

 manufactures into Sicily on paying 10 per cent. duty. 

 After the revolution (1820), he was appointed am- 

 bassador to Madrid, but remained in Paris. He died 

 of cholera in 1832. 



CASTELLO, GABRIEL LANCELOT, an eminent an- 

 tiquary, was born at Palermo, in 1727, of a noble fa- 

 mily, and was placed under a private tutor, with a 

 view to study botany, chemistry, &c. ; but, acciden- 

 tally meeting with some old coins, which liad been 

 dug up by a ploughman, he was seized with a great 

 desire to decipher them, and from that time devoted 

 himself to antiquarian pursuits. He fonned a splen- 

 did collection of the remains of antiquity found in 

 Sicily, and iiis museum was always open to for- 

 eigners as well as to natives. On his death-bed, he 

 bequeathed a large quantity of books, &c. to the 

 public library of la leiino. He died in 1794, being 

 at that time an honorary member of the royal society, 

 and of the academy at Paris. He published several 

 works. There was another Castello (Ignatius Pa- 

 terno), who published an account of the earthquake 

 in Sicily in 1783. 



CASTI, GIAMBATISTA, a poet, born in 1721, at 

 Prato, in the vicinity of Florence, studied at Monte- 

 fiascone, became professor there, was appointed a 

 canon, and made a journey to France. Receiving 

 an invitation from the prince of Rosenberg, who be- 

 came acquainted witli him in Florence, he went to 

 Vienna, and was presented to Joseph II. who knew 



