RANK RAPHAEL. 



813 



In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these 

 prevailed there, and in other countries of the Euro- 

 pean continent, to a ridiculous extent. There are, 

 in England, above sixty degrees of precedency ; 

 but these are intended principally to designate the 

 order to be observed in processions, and on other 

 occasions of ceremony, and have little to do with de- 

 termining the respect which is paid to men in society. 



RANK, in war, is a row of soldiers placed side 

 by side; while FILE is a number drawn up in a 

 direct line behind each other. 



RANUNCULUS; a genus of plants containing 

 about 150 species, almost exclusively inhabiting the 

 northern hemisphere. The species of ranunculus 

 are herbaceous plants, with entire lobed or dissected 

 leaves, and usually terminal flowers, of a yellow 

 colour, but, in a few species, white. The calyx 

 consists of five caducous leaves. There are five 

 petals, and numerous stamens, surrounding a cluster 

 of one-seeded capsules. Almost all are acrid and 

 caustic, poisonous if taken internally, and, when 

 externally applied, will raise blisters, which are 

 followed by deep ulcerations, if left on too long. 

 Beggars sometimes avail themselves of this proper- 

 ty to produce ulcers, in order to excite pity. This 

 acrid principle is destroyed by desiccation or 

 immersion in hot water. The R. Asiaticus is 

 n native of the Levant and North Africa, and 

 was first brought to Europe by the crusaders. It 

 is now a favourite ornamental plant, which has 

 produced innumerable varieties, of every shade and 

 combination of colours excepting blue. The flowers 

 are double and semi-double, and often two inches or 

 more in diameter. 



RANZ DES VACHES (in German, Kuhreihein) 

 is the name of the celebrated national air, which 

 the herdsmen of the Alps in Switzerland sing or 

 play when they drive out the herds. It consists of a 

 few simple intervals, is entirely adapted to the sim- 

 ple life of these people and their instrument (the 

 Alpenhorn, horn of the Alps), and has an uncommon 

 effect in the echoes of the mountains. This 

 effect becoming intimately associated with the 

 locality of Switzerland, explains the many anecdotes 

 of the home-sickness caused by the sound of the 

 Ranz des Faches, when heard by Swiss in foreign 

 countries. There are, however, variations in the 

 melody, and we find, even in Rousseau's Diction- 

 naire de Musigue, several Ranz des Fitches. In 1815, 

 appeared at Berne, the second edition of a com- 

 plete collection of these airs. Appenzell is said to 

 have the most genuine and original Ranz des Vach.es. 



RAPE (brassica napus) ; a cruciferous plant, 

 with small yellow flowers, belonging to the same 

 genus with the cabbage and turnip, and cultivated, 

 to a considerable extent, in many parts of Europe. 

 There are two varieties, the rape and cole, the lat- 

 ter distinguishable by its greater height, fewer 

 branches, and its being more soft and tender. Both 

 are frequently sown intermixed. When sown sep- 

 arately, the cole is usually used as fodder for sheep, 

 and the rape allowed to remain for the seed. The 

 harvest commences in the month of August, when 

 the pods are yellow, but before perfect maturity ; 

 and, as the seed is easily shed, it is customary in 

 some places to thresh the plants in the field, upon 

 a large cloth. Oil is obtained from the seeds by 

 pressure, and is used in large quantities for various 

 economical purposes, for making the soap called 

 green soap, for burning in lamps, by clothiers and 

 others ; also in medicine, &c., &c. It is apt to be- 

 come rancid, though there are means of purifying it. 

 The oil-cake is sometimes employed for fattening 

 oxen, or as a manure. The roots may be eaten as 

 a substitute for turnips, but they have a stronger 



taste. The stalks are generally burnt, and the 

 ashes, which are very rich in alkaline matter, are 

 collected and sold. A mixture of rape and millet 

 seed is frequently employed as food for cage birds. 

 This plant grows wild in many parts of Europe. 

 The radical leaves are lyrate, and the superior ows 

 very smooth, and embracing the stem. 



RAPE CAKE. See Rape and Manure. 



RAPHAEL, OB RAFFAELLO SANZIO or DE* 

 SANTI, the greatest painter of the modern, or, as he 

 is considered by many, the last of the ancient 

 school of art, was born at Urbino, on Good Friday, 

 March 8, 1483, and died at Rome, on Good Friday 

 April7,1520. A Madonna and Child, painted byhim 

 on the wall of the yard of his father's house, without 

 his having received any instruction (which painting 

 was subsequently transferred, together with the 

 portion of wall on which it was painted, to a room 

 in the house, where it may still be seen), convinced 

 his father, Giovanni Sanzio, an indifferent painter, 

 of his own incompetency to do justice to the talents 

 of his son, and induced him to place him in the 

 school of an abler master. At his request, Perugino 

 received the young painter into the number of his 

 pupils. Raphael soon surpassed his numerous com- 

 peers, and in a short time, so completely acquired 

 liis teacher's manner, that it is difficult to distinguish 

 the works of the two belonging to this period. This 

 is shown by Raphael's first works, the Coronation 

 of the Duke Niccolo da Tolentino, a Crucified Sav- 

 iour, between two Angels, a Holy Family, a Be- 

 trothal of Mary, and, particularly, the Crowning of 

 Mary, for the Franciscan convent in Perugia, all 

 executed by him between his fifteenth and eight- 

 eenth years. During this time, the painting of the 

 library of the cathedral at Sienna was intrusted to 

 Pinturicchio, who had been a fellow pupil of Ra- 

 phael, and now invited him to assist in this labour. 

 Raphael had already completed a great part of the 

 cartoons for this purpose, when he learned that the 

 cartoons of Michael Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci, 

 which had been prepared by these two great artists 

 in consequence of the prize offered by the city of 

 Florence, were publicly exhibited in that city. 

 Burning with desire to behold them, he hastened to 

 Florence. These cartoons, and Florence itself, then 

 the seat of all that was beautiful, made a deep im- 

 pression on his youthful sensibilities ; and he derived 

 great advantage from the acquaintance of many young 

 artists of distinction, Ghirlandaio, San Gallo, &c. 

 Although Raphael's biographers do not expressly 

 say that he studied assiduously in Florence, the 

 works of the earlier masters, Cimabue, Masaccio, 

 Giotto, Verochio, Ghiberti, as Michael Angelo and 

 Leonardo da Vinci had done, the fact is evident 

 from the pictures executed by him while there, 

 among which a Madonna and Child (now in the 

 Tribuna at Florence) is highly commended by 

 Vasari. The death of his parents obliged Raphael 

 to hurry home ; and while he was arranging his 

 father's affairs in Urbino, he completed, in his 

 hours of leisure, several paintings, e. g., two Ma- 

 donnas, a St George, and probably its pendant, the 

 St Michael (now in Paris), Christ praying in the 

 Garden (in Paris), and, in 1504, the Marriage of 

 Mary (Lo Sposalizio, now in Milan). His love for 

 Perugia soon induced him to return thither. He 

 there sustained his reputation by several paintings 

 a Madonna for the church of the Frati de' Servi, 

 a Mater dolorosa, over which he delineated, in a 

 second picture, God the Father (now in the Palace 

 Colonna, at Rome.) with some other easel-pieces, 

 and a Christ, with God the Father, surrounded by 

 several Saints, for the small Camaldulian convent, 

 which was his first painting in fresco. All these 



