Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/41

CARSTENS CARTAGENA CARSTENS, Asmns Jakob, a German painter, born at Sanct Jiirgen, near Schleswig, May 10, 1754, died May 26, 1798. He was a miller's son, and had a youthful passion for painting, but was placed in a mercantile house. After quitting his master he went to Copenhagen, where he supported himself for seven years by taking portraits in red chalk, producing during the time a large historical picture, the " Death of ^Eschylus," and another painting, "^Eolus and Ulysses." In 1783 he started for Rome, but his means did not permit him to go beyond Mantua, where he remained a month and then went to Lubeck, where he lived five years in obscurity. He was then introduced by the poet Overbeck to a wealthy patron, by whose aid he went to Berlin, where his " Fall of the Angels," a colossal picture, containing over 200 figures, gained him a professorship in the academy of fine arts. Two years' labor in Berlin and a travelling pension enabled him in 1792 to go to Rome, and study the works of Michel Angelo and Raphael. Afterward he spent some time in Dresden, studying the works of Albert Dilrer. His best works were designs in aquarelle and paintings in fresco ; he rarely painted in oil. His biography was pub- lished in 1806 (new ed. by Riegel, 1867), and his works, engraved by Muller, in 1869. CARTAGENA, or Carthagena (anc. Carthago Nova, New Carthage), a seaport town of Spain, in the province and 29 m. S. S. E. of Murcia ; lat. 37 36' N., Ion. 56' W. ; pop., including suburbs, about 60,000. It is built at the head of a deep, well sheltered harbor, flanked by steep hills, defended by works at its mouth, and forming one of the best ports on the Medi- terranean. The town itself is walled and neatly built; the streets are wide, regular, and re- lieved by several public squares. It is the seat of a bishop, and has an old cathedral, of little beauty, and now a simple church. There are several other churches, convents, hospitals, an observatory, an artillery park, a splendid arse- nal, barracks, dock yards, founderies, ropewalks, and a glass factory. Notwithstanding its com- modious port, the town has little commerce. The inhabitants are employed chiefly in lead and silver mining, fishing, and exporting barilla, grain, and esparto. The mineral wealth of the neighborhood was known in very early times, and the yield of silver enabled Hannibal to carry on his war against the Romans. The mine of La Carmen was opened in 1839, and the veins have since been successfully worked by a joint stock company. Cartagena was founded by Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian general, about 230 B. C. ; was taken by Scipio in 210, at which pe- riod, Livy states, it was one of the richest cities in the world ; was almost destroyed by the Goths ; rose to great importance in the time of Philip II., and became the great naval arsenal of Spain. It was formerly very unhealthy; but within a few years the draining of the Al- Cartagena, Spain. majar, a lake formed by the rains, has remedied this, and its population has in consequence con- siderably increased. CARTAGENA, a fortified maritime city of the United States of Colombia, capital of a prov- ince of the same name and of the state of Bolivar, 410 m. N. N. W. of Bogotd; lat. 10 25' N., Ion. 75 30' W. ; pop. about 8,500. It is situated on an island beside the coast of the Caribbean sea, joined to the mainland by a series of artificial isthmuses, and to its suburb Jejemani by a wooden bridge. Both the city and suburb are surrounded by freestone fortifi- cations, and on the mainland is an eminence 150 ft. high, which is, however, overlooked by the summit of Mount Popa, 550 ft. above the level of the sea, and not fortified, although it has repeatedly served as a successful point of attack against the city. The streets are nar- row, the widest not being over 30 ft. broad, but regular, with paved or flagged sidewalks, and lighted with gas. The houses are of stone and well built; the majority have but one story. There are numerous public edifices of some beauty, especially the churches of Santo Domingo and San Juan de Dios (both bomb- proof) ; the monasteries of Santa Teresa and Santa Clara; that of Nuestra Sefiora de la Popa, on the mountain of the same name ; and the cathedral, which is noteworthy for its mag- nificent marble pulpit. Cartagena has a col- lege, a naval school, a hospital, a theatre, &c. The port is one of the best on the N. coast of South America, and the only one in Colombia in which vessels can be repaired. The bay is divided into three sections : Boca Grande and Pascaballos, with a mean depth of 15 fathoms; Boca Chica, somewhat deeper, and defended