BERRETTINI
516
BERRUTER
wells) at which tradition reports Joseph and Mary
halted on their return from Jerusalem when they
missed the Child Jesus (Luke, ii). It was the usual
stopping place of caravans to Nabulus and Nazareth.
Legen-dre in ViG., Diet, de la Bible (Paris, 1895); Robinson,
Biblical Researches in Palestine (Boston, 1874), I, 452.
John F. Fenlon.
Berrettini, Pietro (called Pietro d.\ Cortona), a distinguished Italian painter, architect, and writer, b. at Cortona, in Tuscany, 1 November, 1596; d. at Rome, 16 .May, 1669. He studied first under his uncle, Filippo Berrettini, and then at Florence imder Andrea Commodi. .\t the age of fifteen he left that city for Rome, and entered the studio of Baccio Ciarpi, a Florentine painter. There he applied himself to the study of the works of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Polidoro, to that of the antique sculptures and notably of the bas-reliefs of the column of Trajan. While still very young he at- tracted the attention of Cardinal Sacchetti, who became his protector, and for whom were painted the first two of his works, "The Battles of Alex- ander" and "The Rape of the Sabines". There- upon, Pope Urban VIII gave him the order to dec- orate a chapel of the church of Santa Bibiana. Such was his success there that he received the commission to paint what proved to be his most celebrated work, the ceiling of the great salon of the Barberini Palace, representing, in allegory, the history of that family. He then designed some mosaics for the dome of St. Peter's. After a trip through Lombardy and a sojourn at Venice, he went to Florence, where the Grand Duke Ferdinand II employed him to decorate the Pitti Palace. There he painted several important frescoes, but left without completing the series, angered by the actions of jealous rivals. The compositions in- cluded "Clemency of .Alexander to the Family of Darius", "The History of Masinissa", "The Con- tinence of Cyrus", and "The Firmness of Porsenna". The work was completed by his pupil Ciro Ferri. On his return to Rome Berrettini received many important commissions, acquiring a great reputation. He executed a number of frescoes in churches, as well as easel pictures. He became wealthy, and Pope Alexander VII created him a Chevalier of the Ortler of the Golden Spur. His principal pupils were Francesco Ronianelli. Ferri, Testa, Giordano, anil Borgognone. He is buried in the church of •San Marlino, of which he was arclutect, and to which he left a large sum of money.
Bry.^n, Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (London and New York, 190.3-05).
Augustus Van Cleef.
Berruguete, .\lonso, for his mastery of the arts of iniinting, sculpture, and architecture, some- times called the Spanish Michelangelo, b. at Paredes de Nava, in Castile, about 1480; d. at Toledo, 1561. He was the .second son of the painter, Pedro Berruguete, who was his first instructor. His family, however, cliose the law for his pro- fession and obtained for him an official position at Valladolid, the title of which he held for years, probably long after he had devoted himself to art. It is said that the fame of Michelangelo led him to Italy after his father's death and he entered the school of that great master in Florence and had among his friends Andrea del Sarto and Ban- dinelli. In the competition with Leonardo he made a copy of Buonarroti's great cartoon of Pisa. Ae- companjnng his master to Rome, where lie assisted him in the Vatican, he was one of the sculptors chosen by Bramante to compete in making a copy of the Laocoon to be cast in bronze, Sanso\'ino, however, being the winner. On his return to Florence, he was engaged by the nuns of San Ge- ronimo to finish an altarpiece left unfinished at
liis death by Filippo Lippi. After a long residence
in Italy, Berruguete, in 1520, went back to Spain,
where he was greatly honoured by Charles V, who
appointed him a chamberlain, and court painter
and sculptor, and gave him much work to do at
Madrid, at the Palace of El Prado, and at the Al-
hambra. With Philip II he continued in favour
and became a rich man, married a lady of quaUty
and bought the lordship of Ventosa near Valladolid.
After his return to Spain, the artist lived for some
time at Saragossa, where he made an altar and a
tomb for the church of Santa Engracia. At Valla-
dolid he executed many works for churches and
monasteries, notable among which is the high
altar of the Church of San Benito el Real, belong-
ing to the convent of the Benedictines, on which
he spent six years. Berruguete worked 'nith Felipe
de Vigar on the sculptures of the cathedral at To-
ledo. There also, in the hospital of St. John the
Baptist, is one of his finest works, executed when
he was nearly eighty years of age, the monument
of its founder, the Cardinal Archbishop Juan de
Tavera. His best work in painting is considered
to be in the cathedral of Palencia and in the church
of Ventosa; his best work in bronze and marble
in the cathedral and other buildings of Toledo.
Sir Willi.\m Stirling-Maxwell. Annals of the Artists of Spain (London, 1891); Bryan, Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (London and New York, 1903-05).
Augustus Van Cleef.
Bemiyer, Isaac-Joseph, b. at Rouen, 7 Novem- ber, 1681; d. at Paris, 18 February, 1758. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1697. His great work is a "History of the People of God", published in three parts. "The first of these parts bears the title " Ilistoire du peuple de Dieu depuis son origine jusqu'a la venue du Messie" (7 vols., Paris, 1728). A revised and augmented edition of this was pubhshed at Paris in 17.33. Next followed (Paris, 1734) a supplement, containing the continuation of the prophesies of the Old Testament, the History of Job, maps necessary for understanding the sacred history, etc. By 1736 seven editions of the work had been issued. It was translated into German, Spanish, Italian, and Polish. The second part of the "History" was published, also at Paris, in 1753: "Histoire du peuple de Dieu depuis la naissance du Messie jusqu'tl la fin de la Synagogue". In 1754 an edition plus exacte appeared at Antwerp (8 vols.), and in 1755, at Paris, still another edition (4 vols.). The latter contained five questions: (1) On Christ, the object of the Scriptures; (2) On Christ, the Son of God; (3) On Christ, the Son of Man; (4) On Christ, the founder of a new religion; (5) On the Presentation of Christ in the Temple and the Purification of the B. V. M. According to de Backer, this second part of the History was published without the knowledge, and against the will, of the superiors of the Jesuit house in Paris. Berruyer put his name to only a small number of copies of this publication. The third part of the work has the title, "Histoire du peuple de Dieu. ou paraphase des Epitres des Apo- tres" (2 vols., Lyons. 1757).
The work, as its various parts appeared, aroused a great uproar and some bitter controversy. Written in a brilliant, very rhetorical and lively style, it was, nevertheless, deservedly criticized. Serious fault was found with the autlior for giving to portions of the sacred narrative the air of romance rather than of sober history. The freedom with which he described certain facts was considered imbecoming in a Christian writer, and offensive to the Christian reader. Some propositions put fon\'ard by him were construed as favouring Nestorianism. But above all Berruyer was blamed for following the singular and paradoxical opinions of Hardouin. For these reasons the work was condemned by many
