accompanied to Italy (1844–1845). On his return he exhibited “The Cock-fight,” which gained him a third-class medal in the Salon of 1847. “The Virgin with Christ and St John” and “Anacreon, Bacchus and Cupid” took a second-class medal in 1848. He exhibited “Bacchus and Love, Drunk,” a “Greek Interior” and “Souvenir d’Italie,” in 1851; “Paestum” (1852); and “An Idyll” (1853). In 1854 Gérôme made a journey to Turkey and the shores of the Danube, and in 1857 visited Egypt. To the exhibition of 1855 he contributed a “Pifferaro,” a “Shepherd,” “A Russian Concert” and a large historical canvas, “The Age of Augustus and the Birth of Christ.” The last was somewhat confused in effect, but in recognition of its consummate ability the State purchased it. Gérôme’s reputation was greatly enhanced at the Salon of 1857 by a collection of works of a more popular kind: the “Duel: after a Masquerade,” “Egyptian Recruits crossing the Desert,” “Memnon and Sesostris” and “Camels Watering,” the drawing of which was criticized by Edmond About. In “Caesar” (1859) Gérôme tried to return to a severer class of work, but the picture failed to interest the public. “Phryne before the Areopagus,” “Le Roi Candaule” and “Socrates finding Alcibiades in the House of Aspasia” (1861) gave rise to some scandal by reason of the subjects selected by the painter, and brought down on him the bitter attacks of Paul de Saint-Victor and Maxime Ducamp. At the same Salon he exhibited the “Egyptian chopping Straw,” and “Rembrandt biting an Etching,” two very minutely finished works. Gérôme’s best paintings are of Eastern subjects; among these may be named the “Turkish Prisoner” and “Turkish Butcher” (1863); “Prayer” (1865); “The Slave Market” (1867); and “The Harem out Driving” (1869). He often illustrated history, as in “Louis XIV. and Molière” (1863); “The Reception of the Siamese Ambassadors at Fontainebleau” (1865); and the “Death of Marshal Ney” (1868). Gérôme was also successful as a sculptor; he executed, among other works, “Omphale” (1887), and the statue of the duc d’Aumale which stands in front of the château of Chantilly (1899). His “Bellona” (1892), in ivory, metal, and precious stones, which was also exhibited in the Royal Academy of London, attracted great attention. The artist then began an interesting series of “Conquerors,” wrought in gold, silver and gems—“Bonaparte entering Cairo” (1897); “Tamerlane” (1898); and “Frederick the Great” (1899). Gérôme was elected member of the Institut in 1865. He died in 1904.
GERONA, a maritime frontier province in the extreme north-east
of Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from Catalonia,
and bounded on the N. by France, E. and S.E. by the Mediterranean
Sea, S.W. and W. by Barcelona, and N.W. by Lérida.
Pop. (1900) 299,287; area, 2264 sq. m. In the north-west a
small section of the province, with the town of Llivía, is entirely
isolated and surrounded by French territory; otherwise Gerona
is separated from France by the great range of the Pyrenees.
Its general aspect is mountainous, especially in the western
districts. Most of the lower chains are covered with splendid
forests of oak, pine and chestnut. There are comparatively
level tracts of arable land along the lower course of the three
main rivers—the Ter, Muga and Fluvia, which rise in the Pyrenees
and flow in a south-easterly direction to the sea. The coast-line
is not deeply indented, but includes one large bay, the Gulf of
Rosas. Its two most conspicuous promontories, Capes Creus and
Bagur, are the easternmost points of the Iberian Peninsula.
The climate is generally temperate and rainy during several
months in the valleys and near the coast, but cold in the Cerdaña
district and other mountainous regions during eight months,
while Gerona, La Bisbal and Santa Coloma are quite Mediterranean in their hot summers and mild winters. Agriculture is
backward, but there are profitable fisheries and fish-curing
establishments along the whole seaboard, notably at the ports of
Llansá, Rosas, Palamós, San Felíu de Guixols and Blanes.
Next in importance is the cork industry at San Felíu de Guixols,
Palafrugell and Cassa. More than one hundred mineral springs
are scattered over the province, and in 1903 twenty mines were
at work, although their total output, which included antimony,
coal, copper, lead, iron and other ores, was valued at less than
£7000. There are also important hydraulic cement and ochre
works, and no fewer than twenty-two of the towns are centres
of manufactures of linen, cotton, woollen stuffs, paper, cloth,
leather, steel and furniture. The commerce of the province is
important, Port Bou (or Portbou) being, after Irun, the most
active outlet for the trade by railway not only with France
but with the rest of the continent. The main railway from
Barcelona to France runs through the province, and several
branch railways, besides steam and electric tramways, connect
the principal towns. Gerona, the capital (pop. 1900, 15,787),
and Figueras (10,714), long a most important frontier fortress,
are described in separate articles; the only other towns with
more than 7000 inhabitants are San Felíu de Guixols (11,333),
Olot (7938) and Palafrugell (7087). The inhabitants of the
province are, like most Catalans, distinguished for their enterprise, hardiness and keen local patriotism; but emigration, chiefly to Barcelona, kept their numbers almost stationary during the years 1875–1905. The percentage of illegitimate births (1·5) is lower than in any other part of Spain. (See also Catalonia.)
GERONA, the capital of the province of Gerona, in north-eastern
Spain, on the railway from Barcelona to Perpignan in
France, and on the right bank of the river Ter, at its confluence
with the Oña, a small right-hand tributary. Pop. (1900) 15,787.
The older part of the town occupies the steep slope of the
Montjuich, or Hill of the Capuchins, and with its old-fashioned
buildings presents a picturesque appearance against a background
of loftier heights; the newer portion stretches down into
the plain and beyond the Oña, which is here crossed by a bridge
of three arches. The old city walls and their bastions still
remain, though in a dilapidated state; and the hill is crowned
by what were at one time very strong fortifications, now used
as a prison. Gerona is the seat of a bishop, has a seminary, a
public library and a theatre, and carries on the manufacture of
paper and cotton and woollen goods. Its churches are of exceptional interest. The cathedral is one of the grandest specimens of Gothic architecture in Spain, the nave being the widest pointed vault in Christendom, as it measures no less than 73 ft.
from side to side, while Albi, the next in size, is only 58 ft., and Westminster Abbey is only 38. The old cathedral on the same site was used as a mosque by the Moors, and on their expulsion in 1015 it appears to have been very greatly modified, if not entirely rebuilt. During the 14th century new works were again carried out on an extensive scale, but it was not till the beginning of the 15th that the proposal to erect the present magnificent nave was originated by the master of the works, Guillermo Boffiy. The general appearance of the exterior is rather ungainly, but there is a fine approach by a flight of 86 steps to the façade, which rises in tiers and terminates in an oval rose-window. Among the tombs may be mentioned those of Bishop Berenger or Berenguer (d. 1408), Count Ramon Berenger II. (d. 1082) and the countess Ermesinda (d. 1057). The collegiate church of San Felíu (St Felix) is mainly of the 14th century, but it was considerably modified in the 16th, and its façade dates from the 18th. It is one of the few Spanish churches that can boast of a genuine spire, and it thus forms a striking feature in the general view of the town. The Benedictine church of San Pedro de Galligans (or de los Gallos) is an interesting Romanesque building of early date. It is named from the small river Galligans, an affluent of the Oña, which flows through the city. In the same neighbourhood is a small church worthy of notice as a rare Spanish example of a transverse triapsal plan.
Gerona is the ancient Gerunda, a city of the Auscetani. It claims to be the place in which St Paul and St James first rested when they came to Spain; and it became the see of a bishop about 247. For a considerable period it was in the hands of the Moors, and their emir, Suleiman, was in alliance with Pippin the Short, king of the Franks, about 759. It was taken by Charlemagne in 785; but the Moors regained and sacked it in 795, and it was not till 1015 that they were finally expelled. At a later date it gave the title of count to the king of Aragon’s eldest son. It has been besieged no fewer than twenty-five times in all, and only four
