Page:Imperialdictiona02eadi Brandeis.pdf/357

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
FAR
331
FAR

with his return to Spain in 1634, although there are some early sonnets addressed to the lady to whom he was married in 1614. His great work, "Europa Portuguesa"—a somewhat magniloquent phrase for Portugal—is written in Spanish, and comes down to the year 1557; it is even now valuable for its statistical and general information. Companions to this work are his "Asia Portuguesa," from the earliest settlements in that continent in 1497 down to 1557, and "Africa Portuguesa," all published after his death in 1675. The style of these works partakes of the prevalent affectation of that day, but is occasionally brilliant, and generally superior to their historical merits. Faria is still better known as the munificent collector and editor of Camoens. His commentary on the great Portuguese epic, written in Spanish, is a singular instance of misplaced erudition, but must always be valuable for the historical data it contains. This work occupied him for twenty-five years. It was prohibited both by the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions, and this drew from him a vindication, entitled "A Defence of the Commentaries on the Lusiad." His "Fuente de Aganippe," or "Various Poems," comprises six hundred sonnets, selected out of a much greater number, of which two hundred are in Portuguese and the rest in Spanish; it also includes three essays—"On the Sonnet," "On the erroneous notions of the moderns concerning Poetry," and "On Pastoral Poetry." The effect of Faria's efforts as a critic in his own day, was to break down the punctilious correctness which was then held to be the sole test of literary merit; but it may be doubted whether he did not open the door to the extravagant license of imagery and language into which his successors ran. His other works are—An epitome of the history of Portugal; a series of conversations on miscellaneous subjects, which he himself meant to entitle "Moral Dialogues," but to which the bookseller gave the title of "Noches Claras" (Bright Nights); "Divine and Human Flowers;" "Gran Justicia de Arragon," at the end of which is his life by his friend Porcel. He died in 1649.—F. M. W.

FARINACCI, Prospero, a celebrated Italian jurist, was born at Rome, 13th October, 1544, and died 30th October, 1618. He studied law at Padua, and became advocate and procurator-fiscal at Rome. In the latter capacity he was as much noted for rigour, as in the company of wits and profligates he was notoriously reckless. Clement VIII., punning upon his name, said to some dignitaries of the church who were interceding for him on an occasion when he was threatened with judicial penalties—"Your farina is excellent, but the sack which contains it is of the dirtiest." Though little estimable as a man, Farinacci obtained by indefatigable labour an authority as a jurist, which did not decline till the eighteenth century. His complete works were published at Antwerp in 1620.—J. S., G.

FARINATO, Paolo, a distinguished painter of Verona, where he was born in 1522. He was the scholar of Niccolo Giolfino, but formed his style on the great masters of his school—Titian and Giorgione, and acquired apparently some of the qualities of the Roman school from the works of Giulio Romano at Mantua. Farinato was also architect, sculptor, and engraver, and retained his powers unimpaired to the end of a long life. He died in 1606; yet what is generally considered his masterpiece is the "Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes," in the church of San Giorgio at Verona, which was painted in 1604. This picture, containing portraits of his own family, is conspicuous for its fine groups of women and children. He and his wife died on the same day. Orazio Farinato was their son. Several fine works by Farinato are still preserved at Verona.—R. N. W.

FARINELLI, the renowned male soprano singer, was born at Andria, in the territory of Naples, on the 24th of January, 1705; and died at Bologna on the 15th of July, 1782. His real name was Carlo Broschi, and it has been said that he derived that by which he was always called, from his father having been a miller. This, however, seems to have been an origin fancifully derived from the name; for, besides that Farinelli was of a family of musicians, his father having been his own instructor, and his brother, Ricardo, having been a composer of some repute, his uncle, who was violinist and composer to the elector of Hanover, was called Farinelli, which we thus find to have been a family name, probably that of the singer's mother. The etymology of his name has also been given as Farina, the name of three wealthy brothers of Naples who were the singer's first patrons; but if there be any truth in the story of his connection with them, we can only regard the similarity of his name as a coincidence. One thing more may be noticed in refutation of the miller theory; namely, that when the singer was ennobled by the king of Spain, it was necessary for him to render an account of his lineage, which was accordingly traced by competent authorities to an old and honourable source. Little is known of Farinelli, the uncle, save that he composed the Folia known as the theme of the twenty-four variations of Corelli, who obtained it from the composer when he met him at Hanover; that he was honoured with an order of nobility by the king of Denmark, when he made an artistic visit to Copenhagen; and that he died at Venice. Of Ricardo Broschi, the singer's brother, it can only be stated that he composed several operas which had their day of popularity; and that it was in an air of his, introduced into Hasse's Artaserse, that Farinelli was first heard in England. Farinelli passed from the teaching of his father to that of the composer Porpora, to whom he owed the development of his extraordinary natural powers, the composition of pieces to display these to advantage, and the first engagement in which he had the opportunity to prove them to the world. He was studying under this master at Naples, when Metastasio went thither in 1720, and here was formed that remarkable friendship between the singer and the poet, which was not chilled by their subsequent separation, and which gave rise to their letters, wherein are to be found many evidences of Farinelli's rare and honourable character. Throughout this correspondence, Metastasio addresses his friend by the title of "twin"—the fondest term of endearment even his imagination could invent. In 1722 Farinelli went with Porpora to Rome, where he made his first public appearance in an opera of his master's composition. His success was enormous, and his reputation rapidly spread all over Italy. After two years' residence in the papal city, he went to Vienna to fulfil a lucrative engagement. He returned to Italy in 1725, and sung at Venice, Milan, and Bologna in the three following years. At this latter place he sung in rivalry with the celebrated Bernacchi, who, with a vastly inferior voice, triumphed over his opponent by means of his masterly style; this Farinelli acknowledged, and the other as generously imparted to him his advanced knowledge of the vocal art. In 1728 he went a second time to Vienna. He reappeared in Venice in 1729, and went once more to the Austrian capital in 1731. His brilliant-toned voice, his prodigious volubility of execution, and still more his rare command of breath, which enabled him to sustain a note, and to swell and diminish its power to an extent that has never been equalled, made Farinelli the object of wonder wherever he was heard. A remark, however, of the Emperor Charles VI., that "much as he astonished the senses of his audience, he never affected their feelings," prompted him to cultivate more particularly the power of expression; and from this time forward his singing assumed a new character and created a greater effect than ever. When the nobility's opposition to Handel in London induced the establishment of a second Italian opera in the metropolis, they engaged Farinelli at a salary of fifteen hundred guineas, and he came hither for the season of 1734. His old master, Porpora, was engaged to compose for the same theatre, and Amiconi, the painter of the best known portrait of Farinelli, his intimate friend, was engaged to paint the scenes; but much as the reunion with them promised for the pleasure of his visit to England, his reception in public was such as to surpass every other consideration for his remaining. The sensation he created here may almost be regarded as fabulous. One lady positively pleaded in the court of equity, in defence of her breach of promise of marriage, that the gentleman to whom she was engaged did not admire Farinelli. Another rapturously ejaculated in the theatre, at the close of one of his arias—"One God, one Farinelli!" and Senesino, his rival vocalist, who heard him for the first time when they were on the stage together in the performance of an opera, forgot the requirements of his own dramatic character, rushed up to him, and throwing his arms around him, acknowledged the unprecedented delight he then enjoyed. His immense salary formed but a small proportion of his income while in England, it being increased more than threefold by presents at his benefit and on other occasions, from the prince of Wales, the chief nobility, and many other members of the world of fashion, who vied with each other in the munificence of their gifts, and pompously advertised these in the newspapers. The preposterous contention between the two operatic factions which divided society for several seasons, soon proved itself to have been an affair of