158 



ZANTE 2AHSKOJE SELO. 



verse , also five essays, containing rules for the dif- 

 iiMviit kinds of poetry. At the jubilee in Rome, in 

 1750, he delivered a eulogy on the fine arts, in the 

 capitol. In a second oration, he attacked the first, 

 and in a third refuted the second. These are dis- 

 tinguished for beauty of style, and deep and lofty 

 thoughts, as are all of his philosophical and pi 

 writings, especially his Morals and the dialogues on 

 the pressure of bodies. His principal production is 

 his Commentaries on the Academy, containing a 

 history of this learned society, and an an:il\ 

 all the physico-mathematical treatises laid before 

 it. The Memoirs of this society contain several 

 treatises on geometrical, analytical, physical, and 

 musical subjects, written by him. In his De Viri- 

 !>ux Centralibus, he explains Newton's doctrine of 

 the central forces. A collection of his works ap- 

 peared at Bologna, in 1779. He died in 1777. 

 Giampietro Cavazzoni Zanotti, born at Paris in 

 li>74, wrote several works relating to the history of 

 the fine arts in Bologna. As secretary to the Cle- 

 mentine academy of painting at Bologna, he wrote 

 Storia dell' Accademia Clementina (2 vols., fol., 

 Bologna, 1739). He died in \765.-Eustachio 

 Zanotti, of Bologna, born in 1707, professor of as- 

 tronomy there, died in 1782, is known by his obser- 

 vations on comets and the form of the earth; also 

 by his optical and hydrometrical experiments. 



"ZANTE (anciently Zacynthus}; one of the 

 seven Ionian Islands, in the Mediterranean, situated 

 to the south of Cephalonia, of irregular form, fifteen 

 miles long, and eight broad; square miles, 160; po- 

 pulation 40,000. In its aspect, it is the finest of the 

 Ionian Islands, presenting, when viewed from the 

 fort above the town of Zante, a prospect of vales 

 and eminences richly cultivated, covered with vine- 

 yards, olive plantations, orange, and other fruit 

 trees, and containing numerous hamlets or villages. 

 The whole surface of the island presents traces of 

 subterraneous fire, discovered in some parts by 

 warm sulphureous springs, in others, by heat in the 

 soil. It has springs of petroleum and mineral tar, 

 which are productive. The climate, though very- 

 hot in summer, is not unwholesome. The chief pro- 

 ducts are currants, also olive oil, and wine ; some 

 cotton and silk. The corn raised is hardly equal 

 to four months' consumption. See Ionian Islands 



Zante, the capital of the island, has a population 

 of 20,000 souls ; Ion. 21 8' E. ; lat. 37 50' N. It 

 is the largest town in the republic of the Seven 

 Islands, pleasantly situated at the bottom of a small 

 bay, on a hill of gentle declivity. It resembles in 

 its appearance an Italian town. The principal 

 street, which traverses it in its whole length, is 

 broad and handsome, bordered with well-built 

 houses and churches, and has a foot-pavement. The 

 houses are partly of brick, and partly of wood, and, 

 on account of the frequency of earthquakes, seldom 

 exceed one or two stories. The harbour is spa- 

 cious ; the environs exceedingly pleasant and pictur- 

 esque. In 1820, several hundred houses were over- 

 thrown here by an earthquake. The island was in 

 the possession of the Venicians, from the end of the 

 fourteenth to the end of the eighteenth century. 

 In 1797, it was taken by the French, and, in 1799, 

 by the Russians. In 1815, it became one of the 

 members of the Ionian republic. 



ZANTHOPICRITE ; the name given to a crys- 

 talline substance, extracted from the bark of the 

 zanthoxilum of the Caribbee islands. 



ZAPPI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA FELICE; born at 

 Imola, in 1667, one of the best Italian poets of his 



age. After having studied law at Bologna, win-re 

 he made so rapid progress that the decree of doctoi 

 was conferred upon him when he was only thirteen 

 years old, he went to Home, where he soon distin- 

 guished himself as a poet. He was one of the 

 founders and chief ornaments of the academy 

 of the Arcadians. His poems are graceful, espe- 

 cially his canzoni and madrigals, but at times arti- 

 ficial. Clement XI. gave him the hope of con- 

 siderable benefices; but he died in 1710, with- 

 out having obtained them. His wife, Faustina Ma- 

 ratti, daughter of the distinguished Roman painter 

 Carlo Maratti, was equally distinguished for beauty 

 and poetical talent. 



ZAR. See Czar. 



ZARLINO, GIUSEPEA, born in 1540, (according 

 to Gerber, in 1520), at Chioggia, m-m Venice, on 

 the Adriatic sea, died in Venice in 15DU. lie was one 

 of the greatest of the theoretical musicians who pre- 

 ceded Rameau and Rousseau. He determined more 

 accurately the relation of the major and minor third, 

 and by his Instituzioni armoniche (Venice, 156*2, 

 1573, folio), laid the foundation of a thorough treat- 

 ment of harmony. As early as his eighteenth year, 

 he appeared as an author, and wrote a number of 

 works, published collectively, under the title of 

 Instituzioni armoniche and Dimostrazioni armoniche 

 ( 1589, 4 vols., folio). As a composer, he is chiefly 

 known by a piece of music performed under his di- 

 rection, as chapel-master in" the St Mark's church, 

 Venice, at the celebration of the victory of Lepan- 

 to. Much information respecting the music of the 

 sixteenth century is contained in his works ; but his 

 style is not attractive. 



ZARSKOJE SELO (i.e. Sara's Village, so called 

 from a lady who owned it when it was yet a vil- 

 lage) is an imperial pleasure castle, twenty-five 

 wersts (about seventeen miles) south of St Peters- 

 burg, from which a highway leads to it through a 

 very monotonous country. Catharine I. built a 

 castle here, which Elizabeth enlarged and embel- 

 lished in 1744, and to which Catharine II., whose 

 favourite residence it was, gave its present splen- 

 dour. The large palace, three stories high, is mag- 

 nificently ornamented : even the outer cornices 

 and other ornaments are gilt ; yet most of it, with 

 the exception of what Catharine II. changed or 

 built herself, is in an old fashioned style. Among 

 the principal objects of attention, are the great 

 staircase; the saloon, lined with mirrors; the 

 chapel ; the porcelain room ; and the amber room, 

 in which the walls are covered from the floor to the 

 ceiling with sculptures of amber. The rooms con- 

 tain magnificent furniture and beautiful paintings. 

 There is also a gallery of bronze figures, made by 

 artists of the Petersburg academy. In the gardens, 

 which are laid out in the English manner, by a Ger- 

 man, are a hermitage, with statues and vases, Ro- 

 man and Gothic temples, pyramids, several columns 

 1 and obelisks, monuments, and triumphal arches, 

 which Catharine II. caused to be erected to count 

 Romanzoff and the brothers Orloff. (q. v.) The 

 entrance of the garden is now adorned by a colossal 

 | triumphal arch of an antique form, consisting of cast 

 ; iron, with the inscription, "Sacred to my dear 

 companions in arms," erected by the emperor 

 Alexander, after the wars of 1812," 181 3 and 1814. 

 Near this palace lies the town of Sofia, with which 

 Zarskoje Selo is at present united, and where, some 

 years ago, a lyceum, for the education of civil offi- 

 cers, was erected. The palace appropriated to this 

 lyceum was burned down in 1820. 



