C A G 
CAGLIA'RI (Paul), an excellent painter, born at Ve¬ 
rona in 1532. Gabriel Cagliari, his father, was a fculp- 
tor; and Antonio' Badile, his uncle, was his matter in 
painting. He was not only efteemed the bett of all the 
Lombard painters, but, for his copious and admirable in¬ 
vention, for the grandeur and majetty of his compotttions, 
for the beauty and perfection of his draperies, and for his 
noble ornaments of architecture, wasfiyled by the Italians 
11 pittorfelice, ‘ the happy painter.’ He drew his fir ft pie¬ 
ces at Mantua, and fome other cities in Italy ; but, meet¬ 
ing with more employment at Venice, he fettled there; 
and the belt of his works were made after he returned 
thither from Rome, and had ftudied the antique. There 
is fcarcely a church in Venice which is not adorned by 
fome piece of his ; and De Piles fays, that “ Iris picture 
of the marriage at Cana, in the church of St. George, is 
to be diftinguilhed from his other works, as being not only 
the triumph of Paul Veronefe, but almoft the triumph of 
painting itfelf.” Philip II. king of Spain, fent for him to 
paint the Efcurial, and made him great offers; but Paul 
excufed himfelf from leaving his own country, where his 
reputation was fo well eftablilhcd, that molt of the princes 
of Europe ordered their feveral ambaffadors to procure 
fomething from his hand at any rate. He was a perfon of 
a noble fpirit, ufed to go richly dreffed, and generally 
wore a gold chain, which had been prefented to him by 
the procurators of St. Mark, as a prize he won from fe¬ 
veral artifts his competitors. He died of a fever at Ve¬ 
nice in 1588, and had a tomb and a ftatue of brafs ereCted 
in the church of St. Sebaftian. 
Paul left great wealth to his two fons, Gabriel and 
Charles, who were painters, and lived very happily toge¬ 
ther. They joined in finilhing feveral pieces left imper- 
fe£l by their father; and followed his manner fo clofely 
in other excellent works of their own, that the connoiffeurs 
do not eafily diftinguilh them from thofe of Paul’s hand. 
Charles had a very fine genius for painting, and at eighteen 
years of age had done fome rare pieces. It is thought, if 
he had lived, that he would have exceeded his father; 
but, contracting an impofthume in his breaft, by applying 
too intenfely to his profeftion, he died in 1596, when he 
was only twenty-fix years old. Gabriel made a confider- 
able number of portraits, and fome hiftory-pieces of good 
tafte. He died of the plague in 1631, aged fixty-three. 
There was alfo Benedict Cagliari, a painter and fculp- 
tor, who was Paul’s brother, and lived and ftudied with 
him. He affitted him, and afterwards his fons, in finifli- 
ing feveral of their compofitions; but efpecially in paint¬ 
ing architecture, in which he chiefly delighted. Hisftyle 
was like his brother’s ; but, not being ambitious enough 
of fame to keep his productions feparate, they are in a 
great meafure confounded with Paul’s. He died in 1598, 
aged fixty-fix. 
CAGLIOS'TRO (Count Alexander), whofe true name 
was Jofeph Balfamo, was born at Palermo the 8 th of June, 
1743. He was only a child when His father died. In his 
13th year his guardians delivered him to the general of the 
Friars of Mercy, who took him to the monaltery of that 
order at Cartagirone, where he was committed to the tui¬ 
tion of the apothecary; under whom he found means of 
acquiring the firft elements of chemiftry and phyfic. At 
length, being weary of this reclufe life, lie threw oft' the 
cowl, and went back to Palermo. Here he gave himfelf 
for a time to the ftudy of drawing, but addicted himfelf 
to excelfes of every kind. It was his greateft pleafure to 
rove about armed, and to frequent the company of the 
moft profligate young men of the town. There was never a 
fray in which he was not concerned, and he enjoyed nothing 
more than when he could refill the magiftrate, and deliver 
the prifoner from his authority. He is laid to have been 
in the praCtice of forging the tickets of admiffion to the 
theatres. From an uncle with whom he lived he Hole con- 
fiderable fums .of money. In a love intrigue between a 
perfon of rank and a coufin of his, he made himfelf the 
letter-carrier, and occafionally demanded of the lover, at 
Vol. III. No. 150, 
C A G 597 
one time money, at another a watch, and always fome¬ 
thing of value, in the name of the fair lady, which he 
fhamelefsly appropriated to himfelf. He infinuated him¬ 
felf into the good, graces of a notary, to vvhom he was re¬ 
lated ; and, for the fake of a bribe, counterfeited a will 
in favour of a certain marchele Maurigi. The forgery 
was difcovered fome years afterwards, and the affair was 
brought before the judges. He was likewife charged with 
having murdered a canon, and with obtaining feveral film’s 
from a monk for giving him written permits of abfence 
from his convent at various times; all which papers were 
found to be forged. For thefe tranfaClions he was feveral 
times arrefted and put into prifon ; but, either for want of 
lufticient evidence, or from the complicated nature of the 
bufinefs, or from the extenfive influence of his relations, 
he as often found means of regaining his liberty. At 
length he was forced, to abfeond, for cheating a lilverfmith 
named Marano of upwards of lixty ounces of gold, un¬ 
der pretence of (hewing him a treafure hid in a cave. At 
the time of his being arrefted at Rome, he was llrongly 
fufpecled of witchcraft. This fufpicion was grounded 
on two circum(lances. The one, that, under pretext of 
relieving one of his lifters who was pofleffed by a devil, 
he obtained from a country-vicar, named Bagario, a pled¬ 
get of cotton dipped in holy oil, though none of his fillers 
were polleffed. The other was the apparition of a lady. 
It was affirmed, that, being alked in a certain company, 
in what attitude and employment the abfent lady was at the 
moment they were fpeaking of her; Balfamo, to fatisfy 
their curiofity, immediately drew a quadrangle on the floor, 
and, palling his hands to and fro above it, llie was fairly 
reprefented upon the floor playing at cards with three 
otiier perfons. A fervant was direclly difpatched to the 
lady’s houfe; who found her exactly in the attitude and 
employment with the three friends as reprefented in the 
figure. Balfamo now began to roam about the world. With 
the money he had procured by his fraud on the lilverfmith, 
he travelled to Medina. Here he got acquainted with a 
certain Altotas, a Greek, or according to others a Spa¬ 
niard, who was verfed in feveral languages, polleffed a 
number of Arabic writings, and gave himfelf out for a 
great chemift. With this new friend he vifited the Ar¬ 
chipelago, and landed at Alexandria in Egypt, where they 
(laid about forty days, and his fellow-traveller undertook 
a variety of chemical operations, and among the reft that 
of teaching the people to make a fort-of liIky Huff from 
hemp and flax, by which he got much money. From 
Alexandria they proceeded to Rodi, where they likewife 
obtained money by chemical operations. Quirting ihe ilie 
of Rodi, they bent their courfe to Grand Cairo, but by 
contrary winds were driven to Malta ; where they remain¬ 
ed fome time, working in the laboratory of the grsnd-mal- 
ter Pinto. Here Altotas died ; and Balfamo refotved to 
go, in company with a knight, to whom lie was recom¬ 
mended by the grand-mafter himfelf, to Naples. It is im- 
poffible to contraft the numberlefs tricks and ftratagems 
of this grand impoftor, in almoft every part of Europe, 
within the limits preferibed to the articles of this work. 
His aftonifhing ingenuity in every fpecies of fidlion and de¬ 
ceit, exceeds all that lias been recorded in the annals of 
ancient or modern roguery; infomuch, that he was held, 
for a real prodigy by every one to whofe ears his fame had 
reached. His impoftnres in each of the places he vifited 
would fill a confiderable volume; and we mull content 
ourfelves with adding, that, for fome enormities commit¬ 
ted at Rome, he was thrown into the cattle of St, Angelo, 
where he died towards the end of the year 1794 ; referring 
fuch readers as would wilh to know more of him to the 
Italian original, publilhed at Rome by the apo.ftolical cham¬ 
ber, under the title of Compendium of the Life and Ac¬ 
tions of Giufeppe Balfamo, otherwife called Count Cag- 
licftro, extracted from the documents of the procels car¬ 
ried on againll him at Rome in the year 1790, &c. 
CAGNA'NO, a town of the illand of Corlica, fourteen 
miles north of Baftia. 
7 N 
CAGNA'NO, 
