370 BASSANO ecuted by the Bassano family. The Remondini printing establishment, once the first in Italy, is still of some importance, and has paper mills and a school of engraving annexed to it. The trade is considerable, especially in silks. The chief manufactures are woollen cloths, straw hats, and leather. Ezzelino resided here for some time. The town was fortified and im- proved by Francis of Carrara, lord of Padua, and was ruled by the Visconti of Milan, who in 1404 ceded it to the republic of Venice, of which it became a separate province with a local administration. In the 16th century it suffered during the war of the league of Cam- bray against Venice. On Sept. 8, 1796, Napo- leon, after a forced march of two days from Trent, annihilated here the Austrian army un- der Wurmser. Battles were also fought here between the French and the Austrians in No- vember, 1796, in 1801, 1805, and 1813. Na- poleon raised Bassano to a duchy for the benefit of Maret. Canova was born in a village 10 m. from Bassano. BASSANO, or Bassan. I. Francesco da Ponto, the head of a school of painters, called the Bassans, born in 1475, died in Bassano in 1530. He studied in Venice under Giovanni Bellini, and painted frescoes superior to those of his master. His best composition is a "Descent of the Holy Ghost," in a church at Oliero, near Bassano. He is called the elder Bassano, to distinguish him from his son. II. Giacomo da I'mitf, commonly called IL BASSANO, son and pupil of the preceding, the most celebrated member of the family, born in 1510, died in Venice in 1592. He derived his principal edu- cation from the cartoons of Parmigiano, and in copying Bonifazio and Titian. His picture of the "Nativity," in the church of San Giu- seppe at Bassano, is his masterpiece, and a celebrated work in force of colors and chiaro- scuro. III. Francesco, called the younger, son of the preceding, born in 1548, died in 1591. He was employed with Tintoretto in the palace of St. Mark, and executed there several fres- coes after Paul Veronese. His best works are the fresco ceiling of the palace of the doges at Venice, representing the capture of Pavia. BASSANO, Hnsnes Bernard Maret, duke of, a French statesman, born in Dijon, March 1, 1763, died in Paris, May 18, 1839. He was the son of a physician, received an excellent education, and went to Paris to practise law ; but the outbreak of the revolution changed his plans, and he edited the Bulletin of the proceedings of the constituent assembly, which became the origin of the Moniteur, the offi- cial journal, and won for him great political influence. Although in favor of a constitutional monarchy, and one of the founders of the club of the Feuillants, he became in 1791 chief of a bureau in the ministry of foreign affairs, and was sent in 1792 on an extraordinary mission to London after the rupture of diplomatic re- lations with England. Failing in his nego- tiations with Lord Grenville, he returned to BASSANTIN Paris, and losing his place during the reign of terror he resumed his editorial connection with the Moniteur. In July, 1793, he was appoint- ed ambassador to Naples ; but he and his trav- elling companion, the French envoy to Turkey, were captured by the Austrians in Switzerland and imprisoned in Mantua and Brilnn about two years. He was finally exchanged for the daughter of Louis XVI., and was received in Paris with great distinction ; but owing to his former opposition to the Jacobins, he received no public employment till 1797, when he was sent to Lille as one of the plenipotentiaries for the negotiation of peace with England. In 1798 the Cisalpine republic presented him with estates of the value of 150,000 francs as an indemnity for his captivity. Having formerly lived in the same house with Bonaparte, the latter on his return from Egypt greeted him as an old friend and employed him as private secretary. After the 18th Brumaire he became secretary general and subsequently secretary of state, officiating after the dismissal of Bour- rienne as the chief director of the home office, manipulating the press and exerting immense influence over his master, whom he accompa- nied in almost all his campaigns and assisted in all his diplomatic negotiations. The minis- try of foreign affairs having been placed under his direction in 1811, he signed in February and March, 1812, the treaties which he had nego- tiated with Prussia and Austria to secure the cooperation of those powers during the Kus- sian campaign. Napoleon invested him with the duchy of Bassano, with an annual revenue of about 50,000 francs, besides presenting him with a palace and valuable property in Paris, and retaining him as his most intimate adviser even after he had removed him from the sec- retaryship of state and the ministry of foreign affairs. During the hundred days he resumed the former position, was made a peer on June 2, and remained by the side of the emperor at Waterloo. During the restoration he lived in exile at Gratz till 1820. Louis Philippe re- stored him to the chamber of peers in 1831, and in 1834 he acted for a few days as minister of the interior and president of the cabinet. He was restored in 1832 as a member of the acad- emy. His interesting correspondence and liter- ary productions have not yet been published. His son, NAPOLEON JOSEPH HTJGTJES MARET, duke of Bassano, born hi Paris, July 3, 1803, was appointed in 1851 ambassador to Brussels, and in 1852 senator. A younger son, Prince EUGENE DE BASSANO, ruined himself in mining operations in Algeria. He published in 1848, with E. de Solms, Projet de colonisation de V Algeria par I' association. BASSANTIN, or Bassantonn, James, a Scotch astronomer and mathematician, born about 1504, died in 1568. He was a son of the laird of Bassantin, studied at Glasgow and on the continent, acquired renown and some fortune as professor of mathematics in the university of Paris and also as an astrologer, returned to
