Hevelius 50. The Greeks represented this constellation as a virgin, but different fables are current as to the identity of the maid. She is variously considered to be: Justitia, daughter of Astraeus and Ancora, who lived before man sinned, and taught him his duty, and when the golden age ended she returned to heaven; according to Hesiod the virgin is the daughter of Jupiter and Themis; others make her to be Erigone, daughter of Icarius, or Parthene, daughter of Apollo. The most interesting stars of this constellation are: α Virginis, or Spica, a star of the first magnitude with a very faint companion; and γ Virginis, a binary star, having components of the third magnitude.
VIRUÉS, CHRISTÓBAL DE (1550?–1615?), Spanish dramatist and poet, was born at Valencia about the middle of the 16th century, joined the army, fought at Lepanto, and retired to his native place with the rank of captain shortly before 1586. The first-fruit of his leisure was El Monserrate (1587), a dull poem on a repulsive subject which had the honour of being praised by Cervantes, and of being reprinted in 1601. Shortly afterwards Virués returned to Italy and issued a recast of his poem entitled El Monserrate segundo (1602). His Obras trágicas y líricas (1609) include five tragedies: La Gran Semíramis, La Cruel Casandra, Atila furioso, La Infelice Marcela and Elisa Dido. The date of his death is unknown, but he is conjectured to have been alive as late as 1614. Virués belongs to the school of dramatists displaced by Lope de Vega, and his methods were out of fashion before his plays were printed; yet he is an interesting figure, chiefly because of the very extravagances which destroy the effect of his best scenes.
VISBY, or Wisby, the capital of the Swedish island and administrative district (län) of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. Pop. (1900) 8376. It is the seat of a bishop, the port of the island, and a favourite watering-place. It is picturesquely situated on the west coast, 150 m. S. by E. of Stockholm by sea. The houses cluster beneath and above a cliff (klint) 100 ft. high, and the town is thoroughly medieval in appearance. The remains from its period of extraordinary prosperity from the 11th to the 14th century are of the highest interest. Its walls date from the end of the 13th century, replacing earlier fortifications, and enclose a space much larger than that now covered by the town. Massive towers rise at close intervals along them, and nearly forty are in good preservation. Between them are traces of bartizans. The cathedral church of St Mary dates from 1190–1225, but has been much altered in later times: it has a great square tower at the west end and two graceful octagonal towers at the east, and contains numerous memorials of the 17th century. There are ten other churches, in part ruined, none of which is used for service. Among those of chief interest St Nicholas', of the early part of the 13th century, formerly belonged to a Dominican monastery. It retains two beautiful rose-windows in the west front. The church of the Holy Ghost (Helgeands-Kyrka) in a late Romanesque style (c. 1250) is a remarkable structure with a nave of two storeys. The Romanesque St Clement's has an ornate south portal, and the churches of St Drotten and St Lars, of the 12th century, are notable for their huge towers. St Catherine's, of the middle of the 13th century, is Gothic, with a pentagonal apse. It belonged to a Franciscan convent, of the buildings of which there are slight ruins. Among ancient remains in the vicinity may be mentioned Galgberget, the place of execution, with tall stone pillars still standing; and the remarkable stone labyrinth of Trojeborg. Modern buildings include the Gotland museum of antiquities, and the high school, with a museum and library. The artificial harbour, somewhat exposed, lies south of the ancient Hanseatic harbour, now filled up and covered with gardens. The town is the terminus of railways to north and south. It is the headquarters of the army division of Gotland troops, and there are some modern forts.
The name Visby is derived from the old Norse ve (sanctuary) and by (town). This was no doubt a place of religious sacrifice in heathen times. At any rate it was a notable trading-place and emporium as early as the Stone Age, and continued to enjoy its importance as such through the Bronze and Iron Ages, as is proved, inter alia, by the large number of Arabic, Anglo-Saxon and other coins which have been found on the island. See Gotland and Sea Laws.
VISCACHA, or Biscacha, a large South American burrowing rodent mammal belonging to the family Chinchillidae and commonly known as Lagostomus trichodactylus, although some writers prefer the name Viscacia. With the cheek-teeth formed of a number of parallel plates in the manner characteristic of the family, the viscacha is distinguished from the other members of that group by having only three hind toes; while it is also the heaviest-built and largest member of the group, with smaller ears than the rest. It has a long tail and shaggy fur; the general colour of the latter being dark grey, with conspicuous black and white markings on the face. Viscachas inhabit the South American pampas between the Uruguay river and the Rio Negro in Patagonia, where they dwell in warrens covering from 100 to 200 sq. ft. and forming mounds penetrated by numerous burrows. The ground around the "viscachera" is cleared from vegetation, the refuse of which is heaped upon the mound. Anything the rodents may meet with on their journeys, such as thistle-stalks or bones, are collected and deposited on the viscachera. Deep down in the burrows dwell the viscachas, from which in frequented districts they seldom emerge till evening, unless to drink after a shower. Their chief food is grass and seeds, but they also consume roots. When alarmed, they rush to their burrows, and if these are disturbed utter a growling sound. A pair of prairie burrowing owls (Speotyto) are almost invariably inhabitants of a viscachera (see Rodentia). (R. L.*)
VISCHER, the name of a family of Nuremberg sculptors, who contributed largely to the masterpieces of German art in the 15th and 16th centuries.
1. Hermann, the elder, came to Nuremberg as a worker in brass in 1453 and there became a "master" of his gild. There is only one work that can be ascribed to him with certainty, the baptismal font in the parish church of Wittenberg (1457). This is decorated with figures of the Apostles.
2. His son, Peter, the elder, was born about 1455 in Nuremberg, where he died on the 7th of January 1529. He became "master" in 1489, and in 1494 was summoned by the Electoral Prince Philipp of the Palatinate to Heidelberg. He soon returned, however, to Nuremberg, where he worked with the help of his five sons, Hermann, Peter, Hans, Jakob and Paul. His works are: the tomb of Bishop Johannes IV., in the Breslau cathedral (1496); the tomb of Archbishop Ernest, in Magdeburg cathedral (1497); the shrine of Saint Sebald in the Sebalduskirche at Nuremberg, between 1508 and 1519; a large grille ordered by the Fugger brothers in Augsburg (lost); a relief of the "Crowning of the Blessed Virgin"; in the Erfurt cathedral (a second example in the Wittenberg Schlosskirche, 1521); the tombstones for Margareta Tucherin in the Regensburg cathedral (1521), and for the Eisen family in the Ägidienkirche at Nuremberg (1522); the epitaph for the cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg in the collegiate church at Aschaffenburg (1525); the tomb of the electoral prince Frederick the Wise in the Schlosskirche at Wittenberg (1521); the epitaph of the duchess Helene of Mecklenburg in the cathedral at Schwerin. Besides these works there are a number of others ascribed to Peter the elder with less certainty. In technique few bronze sculptors have ever equalled him, but his designs are marred by an excess of mannered realism and a too exuberant fancy. His chief early work, the tomb of Archbishop Ernest in Magdeburg cathedral (1495), is surrounded with fine statuettes of the Apostles under semi-Gothic canopies; it is purer in style than the magnificent shrine of St Sebald, a tall canopied bronze structure, crowded with reliefs and statuettes in the most lavish way. The general form of the shrine is Gothic,[1] but the details are those of the 16th-century Italian Renaissance treated
- ↑ This great work is really a canopied pedestal to support and enclose the shrine, not the shrine itself, which is a work of the 14th century, having the gabled form commonly used in the middle ages for metal reliquaries.
