Acta Sanctorum. The freedom of Papebroch’s criticism made him many enemies, and he had often to defend himself against their attacks. The work was continued—with some inequalities, but always in the same spirit—until the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773. The last volume published was vol. iii. of October, which appeared in 1770.
On the dispersion of the Jesuits the Bollandists were authorized to continue their work, and remained at Antwerp until 1778, when they were transferred to Brussels, to the monastery of canons regular of Coudenberg. Here they published vol. iv. of October in 1780, and vol. v. of October in 1786, when the monastery of Coudenberg was suppressed. In 1788 the work of the Bollandists ceased. The remains of their library were acquired by the Premonstratensians of Tongerloo, who endeavoured to continue the work, and in their abbey vol. vi. of October appeared in 1794.
After the re-establishment of the Society of Jesus in Belgium the work was again taken up in 1837, at the suggestion of the Académie Royale of Belgium and with the support of the Belgian government, and the Bollandists were installed at the college of St Michael in Brussels. In 1845 appeared vol. vii. of October, the first of the new series, which reached vol. xiii. of October in 1883. In this series the Jesuit fathers Joseph van der Moere, Joseph van Hecke, Benjamin Bossue, Victor and Remi de Buck, Ant. Tinnebroeck, Edu. Carpentier and Henr. Matagne collaborated. Father John Martinov of Theazan was entrusted with the editing of the Annus Graeco-Slavicus, which appeared in the beginning of vol. xi. of October in 1864.
In 1882 the activities of the Bollandists were exerted in a new direction, with a view to bringing the work more into line with the progress of historical methods. A quarterly review was established under the title of Analecta Bollandiana by the Jesuit fathers C. de Smedt, G. van Hooff and J. de Backer. This reached its 25th volume in 1906, and was edited by the Bollandists de Smedt, F. van Ontroy, H. Delehaye, A. Porcelet and P. Peeters. This review contains studies in preparation for the continuation and remoulding of the Acta Sanctorum, inedited texts, dissertations, and, since 1892, a Bulletin des publications hagiographiques, containing criticisms of recent works on hagiographic questions. In addition to this review, the Bollandists undertook the analysis of the hagiographic MSS. in the principal libraries. Besides numerous library catalogues published in the Analecta (e.g. those of Chartres, Namur, Ghent, Messina, Venice, etc.), separate volumes were devoted to the Latin MSS. in the Bibliothèque Royale at Brussels (2 vols., 1886–1889), to the Latin and Greek MSS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris (5 vols., 1889–1896), to the Greek MSS. in the Vatican (1899), and to the Latin MSS. in the libraries of Rome (1905 seq.). They also prepared inventories of the hagiographic texts hitherto published, and of these there have appeared the Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca (1895), the Bibliotheca hagiographica latina (1899) and the Bibliotheca hagiographica Orientalis. These indispensable works delayed the publication of the principal collection, but tended to give it a more solid basis and a strictly scientific stamp. In 1887 appeared vol. i. for November; in 1894, vol. ii., preceded by the Martyrologium Hieronymianum by J. B. de Rossi and the abbé Louis Duchesne; in 1902, the Propylaeum ad Acta Sanctorum Novembris, comprising the Synaxarium ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae.
There are three editions of the Acta Sanctorum: the original edition (Antwerp, Tongerloo and Brussels, 63 vols., 1643–1902); the Venice edition, stopping at vol. v. of September (1734–1770); and the Paris edition, stopping at vol. xiii. of October (61 vols., 1863–1883). In addition to these, there is a volume of tables, edited by the abbé Rigollot.
See Acta Sanctorum apologeticis libris . . . vindicata (Antwerp, 1755); L. P. Gachard, Mémoire historique sur les Bollandistes (Brussels, 1835); van Hecke, “De ratione operis Bollandiani” (Acta Sanctorum Octobris, vii.); and Cardinal J. B. Pitra, Études sur la collection des Actes des Saints (Paris, 1880). (H. De.)
BOLOGNA, GIOVANNI DA (1524–1608) [Ital. for his real name, Jean Bologne or Boullongne], French sculptor, was born at Douai in 1524. His early training as a sculptor was conducted at Antwerp, but at the age of twenty-five he went to Italy and he settled in 1553 in Florence, where his best works still remain. His two most celebrated productions are the single bronze figure of Mercury, poised on one foot, resting on the head of a zephyr, as if in the act of springing into the air (in the Bargello gallery), and the marble group known as the Rape of the Sabines, which was executed for Francesco de’ Medici and received this name, Lanzi informs us, after it was finished. It is now in the Loggia de Lanzi of the ducal piazza. Giovanni was also employed at Genoa, where he executed various excellent works, chiefly in bronze. Most of his pieces are characterized by great spirit and elegance. His great fountain at Bologna (1563–1567) is remarkable for beauty of proportion. Noteworthy also are his two fountains in the Boboli gardens, one completed in 1576 and the other in 1585. He also cast the fine bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo de’ Medici at Florence and the very richly decorated west door of Pisa cathedral. One of Bologna’s best works, a group of two nude figures fighting, is now lost. A fine copy in lead was at one time in the front quadrangle of Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1881 it was sold for old lead by the principal and fellows of the college, and was melted down by the plumber who bought it.
See La Vie et l’œuvre de Jean Bologne, par Abel Desjardins, d’après les manuscrits—recueillis par Foucques de Vagnonville (1883, numerous illustrations; list of works).
BOLOGNA, a city and archiepiscopal see of Emilia, Italy, the capital of the province of Bologna, and headquarters of the VI. army corps. It is situated at the edge of the plain of Emilia, 180 ft. above sea-level at the base of the Apennines, 82 m. due N. of Florence by rail, 63 m. by road and 50 m. direct, and 134 m. S.E. of Milan by rail. Pop. (1901) town, 102,122; commune, 153,501. The more or less rectangular Roman city, orientated on the points of the compass, with its streets arranged at right angles, can be easily distinguished from the outer city, which received its fortifications in 1206 (see G. Gozzadini, Studi archeologico-topografici sulla citta di Bologna, Bologna, 1868). The streets leading to the gates of the latter radiate from the outskirts, and not from the centre, of the former. Some of the oldest churches, however, lie outside the limits of the Roman city (of which no buildings remain above ground) such as S. Stefano, S. Giovanni in Monte and SS. Vitale ed Agricola. The first consists of a group of no less than seven different buildings, of different dates; the earliest of which, the former cathedral of SS. Pietro e Paolo, was constructed about the middle of the 4th century, in part with the débris of Roman buildings; while S. Sepolcro, a circular church with ornamentation in brick and an imitation of opus reticulatum, should probably be attributed to the 6th or 7th centuries. The present cathedral (S. Pietro), erected in 910, is now almost entirely in the baroque style. The largest church in the town, however, is that of S. Petronio, the patron saint of Bologna, which was begun in 1390; only the nave and aisles as far as the transepts were, however, completed, but even this is a fine fragment, in the Gothic style, measuring 384 ft. long, and 157 wide, whereas the projected length of the whole (a cruciform basilica) was over 700 ft., with a breadth across the transepts of 460 ft., and a dome 500 ft. high over the crossing (see F. Cavazza in Rassegna d’ Arte, 1905, 161). The church of S. Domenico, which contains the body of the saint, who died here in 1221, is unfinished externally, while the interior was remodelled in the 18th century. There are many other churches of interest, among them S. Francesco, perhaps the finest medieval building in Bologna, begun in 1246 and finished in 1260; it has a fine brick campanile of the end of the 14th century. It was restored to sacred uses in 1887, and has been carefully liberated from later alterations (U. Berti in Rassegna d’ Arte, 1901, 55). The church of Corpus Dominii has fine 15th-century terra cottas on the façade (F. Malaguzzi Valeri in Archivio Storico dell’ Arte, ser. ii. vol. ii. (Rome, 1896), 72). The centre of the town is formed by the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele (formerly Piazza Maggiore), and the Piazza del Nettuno, which lie at right angles to one another. Here are the church of S. Petronio, the massive Palazzo Comunale, dating from 1245, the Palazzo del Podesta, completed in the same year, and the
