Z A N 



and Mafebranche. But being defirous of ftudying the works 

 of Ariftotle and Plato in the original language, he apphed 

 with diligence to acquire a knowledge of the Greek, lo 

 that he became able not only to read but to write it. 1 hu3 

 furnilhed, he obtained leave to give ledures in ph.lofophy ; 

 in the courfe of which he inftituted a companfon between 

 the fyftem of D-fcartes and that of Newton, avowing a de- 

 cided preference to the latter; more particularly as it 

 refpeas optics and aftronomy. It was by his advice, and 

 under his direction, that Algarotti undertook to compofe a 

 popular trcatife on light and colours. Declining to go to 

 Padua for the purpofo of giving ledures, he was appointed 

 librarian to the Inftitute at his native place, and afterwards 

 fecretary, in which office he drew up in Latm an account of 

 the tranfaftions of the academy, with a hiftory of its inllitu- 

 tions, which he continued till the year 1766. This work 

 was rendered peculiarly pleafing and inftruftive by the clear- 

 nefs of his arrangement, and the excellence of his ftyle ; in 

 both which refpeAs he feems to have formed himfelf on the 

 model of Fontenelle. To thefe tranfaftions he was himfelf 

 a contributor ; communicating a method of fquaring dif- 

 ferent fpaces of the hyperbola, and feveral important difco- 

 yeries with regard to the circle, fphere, and circumfcribing 

 figures. Of thefe difcoveries he traufmitted an account to 

 the Academy of Sciences at Montpellier, of which, as well 

 as of the Royal Society of London, he had been eleCled a 

 member. He alfo difcovcred a method of feparating inde- 

 terminate quantities, detefted feveral errors in philofophy, 

 and profecuted a variety of experiments ; on thefe and other 

 fubjefts he delivered papers to the Bologna Inftitute, 

 which were publifhed in his commentaries. Several of his 

 papers on the central forces were alfo infertcd in the Tranf- 

 aftions of the Academy. His theorem on the means of de- 

 termining the velocity of a body drawn or repelled from its 

 centre, in any point of its orbit, were held in high eftima- 

 tion by Paul Frifius, who availed himfelf of it in the com- 

 pofition of his work on univerfal gravity. On the fubjeft 

 of the " Vis viva," which in his time engaged particular at- 

 tention, he wrote three dialogues in Italian, diftinguifhed for 

 perfpicuity and elegance. In thefe he adopted the opinion 

 of Defcartes in oppofition to that of Leibnitz, who con- 

 ceived that this force was not to be eftimated from the ve- 

 locity, as he aflerted, but from the fquare of the velocity. 

 The properties of numbers likewife engaged his peculiar 

 attention ; and he (hewed, that if any multiple of the num- 

 ber 9 be taken, the fum of the figures forming that mul- 

 tiple will be alfo a multiple of 9. In his fpeculations on moral 

 philofophy, he defended the Peripatetics againft Maupertuis ; 

 and his adverfary Anfaldi, in his " Vindicise Maupertufianac," 

 accufed him of depreciating the Catholic religion, as he 

 afcnbed too great influence to the Stoic philofophy in al- 

 leviating the misfortunes of human life. This contro- 

 verfy gave occafion to many publications. Zanotti was a 

 poet as well as a mathematician and philofopher, and wrote 

 Terfes both in the Tufcan and Latin languages ; aiming, in 

 imitation of the moft celebrated poets of Italy, to blend the 

 fuavity of Petrarch with the energy and vigour of Dante. 

 Many of his Italian poems were publifhed by Euftatio 

 Manfredi ; and fome of his Latin elegies were edited by 

 J. Antonio Vulpi ; who fays of them, that Catullus himfelf 

 would not have been afhamed to acknowledge them. Both 

 his Italian and Latin poems were afterwards publifhed fepa- 

 rately, firll at Florence, and laftly at Bologna ; and in this 

 edition are contained imitations of Tibullus, Ovid, and 

 Virgil, a» well as of Catullus. After the death of Beccaria, 

 Zanotti, whofe modefty was no lefs confpicuous than his 

 talents and acquirements, accepted the office of prefident of 



Z A N 



the Inftitute, which he deemed peculiarly honourable, as it 

 was a token of efteem conferred upon him by his countrymen. 

 Among the learned men with whom he maintained inter- 

 courfes of fricndfhip or correfpondence were the famous 

 anatomift Morgagni, Voltaire, and pope Bcnedift XIV. 

 He died in the month of January 1777. For an account of 

 his works, which, befides thofe to which we have already re- 

 ferred, were numerous, we refer to " Fabroni Vitx Italorum 

 Doftrina excellentium ;" and for an abftraft of their titles, 

 and time and place of publication, to Gen. Biog. 



Zanotti, Giovanni Pietro, was born at Paris, 

 though of Italian parentage, in 1674. He was fent young 

 to Bologna, and became a pupil of Lorenzo Pafiinelli. 

 Under that maftcr he acquired an agreeable tone of colour- 

 ing, a mellow pencil, and an intelligent acquaintance with 

 the principle of the chiaro ofcuro. He painted feveral 

 altar-pieces for the churches at Bologna, of which the moft 

 efteemed are, the Incredulity of St. Thomas, in the church 

 of S. Tommafo del Mercato ; the RefurreAien, in S. 

 Pietro ; the Nativity, in La Purita ; and a large pifture 

 in the palazzo publico, reprefenting the ambafladors from 

 Rome fwearing fidelity to the Bolognefe. He refided 

 great part of his life at Cortona, where he alfo diftinguifhed 

 himfelf by feveral piftures painted for the churches, par- 

 ticularly Chrift appearing to the Magdalen, Chrifl bearing 

 his Crofs, and the Murder of the Innocents. 



Zanotti was a laborious and intelligent writer on art. 

 Of his numerous publications the moft confiderable is his 

 " Storia dtli' Academia Clementina di Bologna," publifhed 

 in two vols. 4to. in 1739. He died in 1765, aged 91. 

 Bryant's Didt. 



Zanotti, I^'Abate Giancalisto, of Bologna, a dif- 

 ciple of Padre Martini, was born in 1 7 70, of whofe compofition 

 at the annual performance of the mufical Undents, who were 

 members of the celebrated Philharmonic Society in Bologna, 

 founded in 1666, we heard a dixit, in which there were all the 

 marks of an original and cultivated genius. The movements 

 and even pafTages were well contrafted ; and to make ufe of 

 the language of painters, there were difcernible in it not 

 only light and Ihade, but even mezzo tints. He proceeded 

 from one thing to another by fuch eafy and infenfible gra- 

 dations, that it feemed wholly the work of nature, though 

 condufted with the greateft art. The accompaniments 

 were judicious, the ritornels always expreffed fomething, 

 the melody was new and full of tafte, and the whole 

 was put together with great judgment, and even learn- 

 ing. We have very feldom been more pleafed or com- 

 pletely fatisfied than by this produftion ; and yet the vocal 

 parts were but indifferently executed, for there were then no 

 great fingers at Bologna. We expe6tcd to have heard of 

 future works by this moft promifing young compofer, who 

 was one of the maeftri di capella in the church of San 

 Petronio ; but as that has not happened, we fear he did not 

 long furvive this performance. 



ZANOW, in Geography, a town of Pomerania ; 6 miles 

 E.N.E. of CafsHn. 



ZANTE, an ifland in the Mediterranean, near the coafl 

 of the Morca, about 12 miles in length, and fix in breadth, 

 chiefly inhabited by Greeks, till lately under the Venetians, 

 who appointed a governor, called proveditor, and two coun- 

 fellors. The Greeks have 40 churches, befides convents, 

 and a bifhop ; the Roman Catholics have three convents 

 and a bifhop. By the treaty of Campo Formio, Zante was 

 given to France ; but in 1 799 it was taken by the united 

 fleets of RufTia and Turkey, and in the year 1800 connefted 

 with other neighbouring iflands, to form a republic of the 

 Seven illands, named the Ionian, which are to pay a tribute to 



th« 



