AZARA, Don Josef Nicolas d', a Spanish diplomatist, born in 1731; died at Paris in 1804. In 1765 he joined the Spanish embassy to the court of Rome in a subordinate situation, but gave so much satisfaction, that in 1785 he was appointed ambassador, and retained the office till 1798. At Rome he was a liberal patron of the fine arts, and, through his influence, Raphael Mengs was allowed to reside at Rome, on a pension from the king of Spain. On the death of Mengs, Azara supported his family, and superintended the publication of his works. The most celebrated artists were his frequent visitors, and Canova, Winckelmann, Gavin Hamilton, Visconti, Angelica Kauffmann, Fea, and Leroux d'Agincourt, might be seen at his weekly entertainments. With the prince of Santa Croce, he undertook excavations at Tivoli, on the site of the villa of the Pisos, and there, among other antiquities, discovered the bust of Alexander the Great, which he presented to Napoleon, who sent it to the Louvre. It is supposed to be the only authentic representation of Alexander. Azara was one of those who had contributed to the abolition of the order of the jesuits, by Clement XIV., in 1770, and this circumstance led him to be regarded with disfavour by Pius VI.; but the French invasion of Italy called his services into play, and he succeeded in saving Rome from invasion by the armistice of Bologna, which he concluded with Napoleon in 1796. In 1798 he was appointed Spanish ambassador to Paris, and in 1802 held the post of Spanish plenipotentiary at the peace of Amiens. By desire of Napoleon he was allowed to remain at Paris; and while preparing with his brother Don Felix, the South American traveller, to return to Italy, was seized with a fatal illness. Azara's only independent work was a pamphlet on the virtues of Juan de Palafox, a Spanish foe to the jesuits, Rome, 1777, but his editorial labours were of considerable importance. He published:—"The Works of Garcilaso de la Vega," 1765, to which he prefixed a history of the Spanish language; "An Introduction to the Natural History and Physical Geography of Spain," Madrid, 1775, a work translated and composed from the notes of William Bowles, a native of Ireland; "The Works of Raphael Mengs," Parma, 1780. This work was translated into English, in 2 vols. 8vo, 1796; "A Translation of Middleton's Life of Cicero;" and "La Religion Vengée," a posthumous poem of Cardinal de Bernis.—P. E. D.
AZARA, Felix de, a Spanish traveller, was born 18th May, 1746, at Barbunalès, and died at Arragon in 1811. He was, in the first instance, a military man, and attained the rank of brigadier-general. In 1775 he was wounded in the expedition against Algiers. He subsequently went to America as one of the commissioners appointed to trace the line of demarcation between the Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the New World. He did not return to Madrid until 1801. He published a work on the Natural History of Paraguay, in which he gives an account of the animals and plants of that country. He also published an Account of his Travels in North America, from 1781 to 1801.—J. H. B.
AZARIAH or AZARIAS, the name of several persons mentioned in the Old Testament:—Azariah, called also Uzziah, king of Judah.—Azariah, the name given to two sons of Jehoshaphat, slain by their elder brother Jehoram. Azariah, one of the high-priests, second in descent from Zadok.—Azariah, grandson of the above, supposed to be the same as Zechariah the son of Jehoiada.—Azariah high-priest in the reign of Uzziah, whose attempt to assume the office of priest he withstood (2 Chron. xxvi.)—Azariah, high-priest under Hezekiah.—Azariah, high-priest under Josiah.—Azariah (Abednego), one of the three companions of Daniel.
AZARIAH or AZARIAS, a general of the Jews in the time of the Maccabees, defeated by the Syrians under Gorgias.
AZARIAH de Rossi or de Rubeis, an Italian rabbi, distinguished as the father of historical criticism among the Jews. He flourished in the sixteenth century, was a native of Mantua, but resided in Ferrara. His great work, "Meor Euayim" (the Enlightener of the Eyes), was printed at Mantua in 1574. It is divided into three parts—the first describes an earthquake in Ferrara in 1571, and contains a learned dissertation on the causes of earthquakes; the second is a Hebrew translation of the History of the Septuagint by Aristeas; the third and most important section treats of various matters of history, chronology, philology, &c., and displays singularly varied erudition.
AZARIO, Pietro, an Italian chronicler of the fourteenth century, author of "Liber Gestorum in Lombardiâ et præcipue per Dominos Mediolani ab anno 1250 usque ad annum 1362."
AZEGLIO, Marchese Massimo d', one of the most distinguished men of his day in Italy, was a native of Turin, where he was born in 1798. Although educated for a diplomatic or military career, he acquired his first celebrity as a historical landscape painter, a branch of art in which he soon became entirely absorbed. With very few exceptions, all his pictures were illustrations of the history and poetry of Italy; and it is necessary to note this peculiarity in the choice of subjects as a proof of that constant patriotism which characterised the whole life of this great man. The style displayed in his paintings is original, poetical, grand; it both surprises and attracts; the figures of his subjects are full of life and action; the general effect strikingly impressive. It is difficult to imagine or to express the sensation that the exhibition of Azeglio's pictures used to produce upon the masses of the Italian public. They were as many direct appeals of the patriotic artist to his slumbering nation; and so the nation felt them, and was proud of such a son. But, however active the painter might be, it was impossible for him to satisfy the daily-increasing demand of his countrymen for such demonstrations. It was then (1833) that he published his first novel, "Ettore Fieramosca." This book, and the one that followed it, the "Nicolò de Lapi," published in 1841, contributed more towards reawaking and improving the spirit of the Italians than all other writing or proselytism put together. Nor did d'Azeglio, whilst fostering the regeneration of his countrymen, limit himself to works of fiction. An essay on the events of the day in the Roman states, published in 1846, placed him boldly before the public as the champion of wise reforms and moderate liberalism. The fame that this pamphlet deservedly procured to Azeglio was such that, when Pius IX. was called to the see of Rome, that pontiff did not disdain, in those days of honest intentions, to consult him on many a matter of internal and external policy; and it is firmly believed that the few steps in the right direction that the good pope succeeded in making during the first year of his reign, may be attributed to the influence and advices of Azeglio, who was then publishing more and more of the results of his studies on public matters.
The events of 1848 having overtaken the development of progressive reform, Azeglio was found fighting, as one of the leaders of the Roman auxiliaries, in the Venetian provinces, for the common cause of independence; thus supporting the doctrines he had enunciated and spread, until seriously wounded at the battle of Vicenza, he was obliged to retire awhile from the scene of action. But if the body retired from the strife, the mind did not. By a series of pamphlets and articles in the newspapers, written during and after his convalescence, he exerted himself to keep the national movement within the limits of independence and constitutionalism, combating the diffusion of republicanism, to which he was opposed. Then came the suspension of hostilities with Austria, during which he was called to the Piedmontese parliament, where he soon became one of the leading members. But it was after the disastrous battle of Novara, in 1849, that all his personal and political qualities were most called into play. At that difficult moment a man was required, who, full of love for the country and for liberal institutions, should also possess firmness and courage equal to the difficulty and importance of the moment, to assume the direction of affairs for the new king, Vittorio Emanuele, under circumstances of the most disheartening disadvantages. Azeglio accepted the mission, replaced Gioberti's ministry, and by his wise and firm conduct succeeded in freeing Piedmont from the immediate pressure from abroad, and in protecting and consolidating the recently-established constitutional liberties at home, against the attacks both of retrogrades and ultras. During the various periods in which he remained in power, Azeglio proved that, although not sharing the more advanced ideas of liberalism, and earnestly opposed to republicanism, Italy did not possess a more staunch and more sincere champion in the support of national independence and constitutional government. The improved state of affairs which resulted from his exertions having restored repose to the country and increased its vitality, the moderate views of Azeglio did not come up to the expectations of the day, and in 1852 he retired to his old pursuits, art and literature, leaving the direction of affairs in the hands of Count Cavour. He died in the beginning of 1866.—R. M.
