£100 at the present day. It appears, however, that this contract was not strictly adhered to, for the actual rate of painting was only three pictures in two years. Perhaps the great multitude of figures and accessories was accepted as a set-off against the slower rate of production. By January 1470 he had executed the fresco of “Noah and his Family,”—followed by the “Curse of Ham,” the “Building of the Tower of Babel” (which contains portraits of Cosmo de’ Medici, the young Lorenzo Politian and others), the “Destruction of Sodom,” the “Victory of Abraham,” the “Marriages of Rebecca and of Rachel,” the “Life of Moses,” &c. In the Cappella Ammannati, facing a gate of the Campo Santo, he painted also an “Adoration of the Magi,” wherein appears a portrait of himself. All this enormous mass of work, in which Gozzoli was probably assisted by Zanobi Macchiavelli, was performed, in addition to several other pictures during his stay in Pisa (we need only specify the “Glory of St Thomas Aquinas,” now in the Louvre), in sixteen years, lasting up to 1485. This is the latest date which can with certainty be assigned to any work from his hand, although he is known to have been alive up to 1498. In 1478 the Pisan authorities had given him, as a token of their regard, a tomb in the Campo Santo. He had likewise a house of his own in Pisa, and houses and land in Florence. In rectitude of life he is said to have been worthy of his first master, Fra Angelico.
The art of Gozzoli does not rival that of his greatest contemporaries either in elevation or in strength, but is pre-eminently attractive by its sense of what is rich, winning, lively and abundant in the aspects of men and things. His landscapes, thronged with birds and quadrupeds, especially dogs, are more varied, circumstantial and alluring than those of any predecessor; his compositions are crowded with figures, more characteristically true when happily and gracefully occupied than when the demands of the subject require tragic or dramatic intensity, or turmoil of action; his colour is bright, vivacious and festive. Gozzoli’s genius was, on the whole, more versatile and assimilative than vigorously original; his drawing not free from considerable imperfections, especially in the extremities and articulations, and in the perspective of his gorgeously-schemed buildings. In fresco-painting he used the methods of tempera, and the decay of his works has been severe in proportion. Of his untiring industry the recital of his labours and the number of works produced are the most forcible attestation.
Vasari, Crowe and Cavalcaselle, and the other ordinary authorities, can be consulted as to the career of Gozzoli. A separate Life of him, by H. Stokes, was published in 1903 in Newnes’s Art library. (W. M. R.)
GRAAFF REINET, a town of South Africa, 185 m. by rail N.W. by N. of Port Elizabeth. Pop. (1904) 10,083, of whom
4055 were whites. The town lies 2463 ft. above the sea and is
built on the banks of the Sunday river, which rises a little farther
north on the southern slopes of the Sneeuwberg, and here
ramifies into several channels. The Dutch church is a handsome
stone building with seating accommodation for 1500 people. The
college is an educational centre of some importance; it was
rebuilt in 1906. Graaff Reinet is a flourishing market for
agricultural produce, the district being noted for its mohair
industry, its orchards and vineyards.
The town was founded by the Cape Dutch in 1786, being named after the then governor of Cape Colony, C. J. van de Graaff, and his wife. In 1795 the burghers, smarting under the exactions of the Dutch East India Company proclaimed a republic. Similar action was taken by the burghers of Swellendam. Before the authorities at Cape Town could take decisive measures against the rebels, they were themselves compelled to capitulate to the British. The burghers having endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to get aid from a French warship at Algoa Bay surrendered to Colonel (afterwards General Sir) J. O. Vandeleur. In January 1799 Marthinus Prinsloo, the leader of the republicans in 1795, again rebelled, but surrendered in April following. Prinsloo and nineteen others were imprisoned in Cape Town castle. After trial, Prinsloo and another commandant were sentenced to death and others to banishment. The sentences were not carried out and the prisoners were released, March 1803, on the retrocession of the Cape to Holland. In 1801 there had been another revolt in Graaff Reinet, but owing to the conciliatory measures of General F. Dundas (acting governor of the Cape) peace was soon restored. It was this district, where a republican government in South Africa was first proclaimed, which furnished large numbers of the voortrekkers in 1835–1842. It remains a strong Dutch centre.
See J. C. Voight, Fifty Years of the History of the Republic in South Africa 1795–1845, vol. i. (London, 1899).
GRABBE, CHRISTIAN DIETRICH (1801–1836), German
dramatist, was born at Detmold on the 11th of December 1801.
Entering the university of Leipzig in 1819 as a student of law,
he continued the reckless habits which he had begun at Detmold,
and neglected his studies. Being introduced into literary
circles, he conceived the idea of becoming an actor and wrote
the drama Herzog Theodor von Gothland (1822). This, though
showing considerable literary talent, lacks artistic form, and
is morally repulsive. Ludwig Tieck, while encouraging the
young author, pointed out its faults, and tried to reform Grabbe
himself. In 1822 Grabbe removed to Berlin University, and in
1824 passed his advocate’s examination. He now settled in his
native town as a lawyer and in 1827 was appointed a Militärauditeur.
In 1833 he married, but in consequence of his drunken
habits was dismissed from his office, and, separating from his
wife, visited Düsseldorf, where he was kindly received by Karl
Immermann. After a serious quarrel with the latter, he returned
to Detmold, where, as a result of his excesses, he died on the 12th
of September 1836.
Grabbe had real poetical gifts, and many of his dramas contain fine passages and a wealth of original ideas. They largely reflect his own life and character, and are characterized by cynicism and indelicacy. Their construction also is defective and little suited to the requirements of the stage. The boldly conceived Don Juan und Faust (1829) and the historical dramas Friedrich Barbarossa (1829), Heinrich VI. (1830), and Napoleon oder die Hundert Tage (1831), the last of which places the battle of Waterloo upon the stage, are his best works. Among others are the unfinished tragedies Marius and Sulla (continued by Erich Korn, Berlin, 1890); and Hannibal (1835, supplemented and edited by C. Spielmann, Halle, 1901); and the patriotic Hermannsschlacht or the battle between Arminius and Varus (posthumously published with a biographical notice, by E. Duller, 1838).
Grabbe’s works have been edited by O. Blumenthal (4 vols., 1875), and E. Grisebach (4 vols., 1902). For further notices of his life, see K. Ziegler, Grabbes Leben und Charakter (1855); O. Blumenthal, Beiträge zur Kenntnis Grabbes (1875); C. A. Piper, Grabbe (1898), and A. Ploch, Grabbes Stellung in der deutschen Literatur (1905).
GRABE, JOHN ERNEST (1666–1711), Anglican divine, was
born on the 10th of July 1666, at Königsberg, where his father,
Martin Sylvester Grabe, was professor of theology and history.
In his theological studies Grabe succeeded in persuading himself
of the schismatical character of the Reformation, and accordingly
he presented to the consistory of Samland in Prussia a memorial
in which he compared the position of the evangelical Protestant
churches with that of the Novatians and other ancient schismatics.
He had resolved to join the Church of Rome when a
commission of Lutheran divines pointed out flaws in his written
argument and called his attention to the English Church as
apparently possessing that apostolic succession and manifesting
that fidelity to ancient institutions which he desired. He
came to England, settled in Oxford, was ordained in 1700, and
became chaplain of Christ Church. His inclination was towards
the party of the nonjurors. The learned labours to which the
remainder of his life was devoted were rewarded with an Oxford
degree and a royal pension. He died on the 3rd of November
1711, and in 1726 a monument was erected to him by Edward
Harley, earl of Oxford, in Westminster Abbey. He was buried
in St Pancras Church, London.
Some account of Grabe’s life is given in R. Nelson’s Life of George Bull, and by George Hickes in a discourse prefixed to the pamphlet against W. Whiston’s Collection of Testimonies against the True
