MIGNARD
289
MIGNARD
II and the government was astonishingly Large. He
opposed all the Josephist ret'iniii Wrcirrs injurious to
the Church. The "simpHficil :iiic| inipnixcl slmlies",
the new methods of ecclesiastical niuratidn (general
seminaries), interference with the constitutions of
religious orders, the suppression of convents, and
violations of her rights and interference with the mat-
rimonial legislation of the Church, called for vigorous
protests on the cardinal's part; but though he protested
unceasingly, it was of no avail. To be sure, matters
did not culminate in a rupture with Rome, and by
bis visit to Vienna Pius VI made some impression
on the emperor, and the Holy See pronounced no
solemn condemnation of Josephism. On 12 March,
1790, Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, arrived in
Vienna, as successor of his brother Joseph, and as
early as 21 March, Migazzi presented him with a
memorial concerning the sad condition of the Austrian
Church. He mentioned thirteen "grievances" and
pointed out for each the means of redress: laxity in
monastic discipline, the general seminaries, marriage
licenses, and the "Religious Commission", which as-
sumed the position of judge of the bishops and their
rights. Finding his wishes only partly fulfilled, Mi-
gazzi repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction.
Emperor Francis II, a Christian whose faith and conscience were sincere, ruled his people with fatherly care. In spite of this he confirmetl the Josephist system throughout his reign. For nearly a generation the French wars absorbed his attention, during which time the aforesaid " Religious Commission " paid little heed to the representations of the bishops. The car- dinal insisted on its abolition. "I am in all things your Majesty's obedient subject, but in spiritual matters the shepherd mast say fearlessly that it is a scandal to all Catholics to see such fetters laid upon the bishops. The scandal is even greater when such power is vested in worldly, questionable, even openly dangerous and disreputable men". Age did not tli- minish his interest even in matters apparently trivial, nor lessen the virile strength of his speech. "The dismal outlook of the Church in your Majesty's domin- ions is all the more grievous from the fact that one must stand by in idleness, while he realizes how easily the increasing evils could be remedied, how easily your Majesty's conscience could be calmed, the honour of Almighty Goil, respect for the Faith and the Church of God lie secured, the rightful activities of the priesthood set free, and religion and virtue restored to the Catholic people. All this would follow at once, if only your Majesty, setting aside further indecision, would resolve generously and perseveringly to close once for all the sources of so great evils". The em- peror in fact made henceforth greater and more numerous concessions, each of which was greeted by Migazzi with satisfaction. When the pilgrimage to Maria Zell, the most famous shrine in .A.ustria, was once more permitte<l, the cardinal in person led the first procession. During his long life >Iigazzi strove with unceasing activity for the welfare of the Church; and he died full of years and of merits. He lies buried in the church of St. Stephen.
WoLFSGRUBER. CristofoTo AntoTiio Cardinal Migazzi, Ein Beitrag zuT Gesch. den Josephinismua, with a portrait of Migazzi and a facsimile of his handwriting (2nd ed., Ratisbon, 1897); KopALi.iK, Register ZUT Gesch. der Erzdiozese Wicn, II (Vienna, 1899), 389-661.
C. WoLFSGRUBER.
Mignard, Piekre, French painter, b. at Troyes, 7 November, 1612; d. at Paris, .'50 May, 1()0,5. Though de.stined for the medical profession, Pierre gave early signs of his true vocation. For one year he stuflied at Bourges, under a teacher of the name of Boucher, then for two years at Fontainebleau, where, thanks to the works of Primatice and Rosso, and the collec- tions formed there by Francis I, there had been for sixty years a sort of national school. The Marshal of X.— 19
Vitry, after Mignard had painted the chapel of his
country seat at Coubert, took him to Paris and ob-
tained for him admission to the most celebrated
atelier of the time, that of Simon Vouet. But the one
place which more than all others attracted painters
was Rome, where a throng of foreign artists were at
that time living, among them Poussin and Claude
Lorrain, who had settled there for life. Mignard was
a member of this colony for twenty-two years. Here
he found Dufresnoy (1611-65), who had been his com-
rade at Vouet's and with whom he formed a close
friendship, and together they copied C^aracci's famous
frescoes in the Farnese Palace. But Dufresnoy was
before all things a critic, and his best known work
is not a painting, but a book, "De arte graphica",
a manual written
in extremely eli -
gant Latin \erM
published after l]l^
death with notes
by De Piles, and
reprinted for a
hundred years as a
masterpiece. This
rare amateur
wielded a great
educational influ-
ence over Mi-
gnard, and made
h i m acquainted
with Venice and
its incomparable
school, which our
classic art had
professed to de-
spise. Mignard
was above all an
adroit, industrious
workman, who knew well how to flatter public taste
and thus secure his own advancement. He soon made
for himself a position as portrait-painter unique in
Roman society ; his patrons were princes, cardinals,
and three successive popes — Urban VIII, Innocent
X, and Alexander VII.
At the same time he produced many religious works, countless oratory pictures, chiefly those Madonnas which came to be known as "mignardes". That name, intended at the time to be eulogistic, seems to us the best possible criticism of a type of work marked by a certain conscious grace and preciosity. One feels a delicacy about saying positively that these Madonnas are not devotional, since they satisfied the pious instincts of whole generations of devout persons; but it is impossible in our time not to perceive in them a singular meanness, artificiality, and puerility of feeling. But in the midst of all these laljours, the artist found time for such large compositions as the frescoes in the church of S. Carlo alle quattro fon- tane. He thus attained an unquestionable eminence in fresco painting, that pre-eminently Italian medium so little employed by French painters.
Under these three forms his works were widely exhibited in Rome, where he was compared to Guido and to Pietro of Cortona. During his travels through Upper Italy (1654) he was everywhere received with the greatest distinction, and painted Cardinal Sforza's portrait and those of the Princesses Isabella and Maria of Motiena. On his return to Rome (1655) he married Anna .\volara, an architect's daughter, whose beauty was perfect and who posed for his Madonnas. The reputation of "Mignard the Roman", as he was called, to distinguish him from his brother, "Mignard of Avignon", had spread to France, where Louis XIV was beginning his personal reign, inaugurating that system which relied upon the glory of the arts no less than the glory of arms for the exaltation of the monarchy. Mignard was summoned back to France,
