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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "chunk_id": "1911:baptiste:523146440b1f",
    "title": "BAPTISTE",
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    "verified_text": "baptiste, nicolas anselme (1761-1835), french actor, was born in bordeaux on the 18th of june 1761, the elder son of joseph francois anselme, a popular actor. his mother played leading parts in tragedy, and both his parents enjoyed the protection of voltaire and the friendship of lekain. it was probably under the auspices of the latter that nicolas anselme made his first appearance as de belloy in _gaston et bayard_; and shortly afterwards, under the name of baptiste, he made a contract to play young lover parts at arras, where he also appeared in opera and even in pantomime. from rouen, where he had three successful years, his reputation spread to paris and he was summoned to the new theatre which the comedian langlois-courcelles had just founded, and where he succeeded, not only in making an engagement for himself, but in bringing all his family, father, mother, wife and brother. they were thus distinguished in the playbills: baptiste, _aine_, baptiste _pere_, baptiste _cadet_, madame baptiste _mere_, madame baptiste _bru_. this resulted in the pun of calling a play in which they all appeared _une piece de baptistes_. nicolas soon obtained the public favour, specially in la martelliere's mediocre _robert, chef de [v.03 p.0370] brigands_, and as count almaviva, in beaumarchais' _la mere coupable_. his success in this was so great that the directors of the theatre de la republique--who had already secured talma, dugazon and madame vestris--hastened to obtain his services, and, in order to get him at once (1793), paid the 20,000 francs forfeit which he was obliged to surrender on breaking his contract. later he, as well as his younger brother, became _societaire_. nicolas took all the leading parts in comedy and tragedy. as he grew older his special _forte_ lay in noble fathers. after a brilliant career of thirty-five years of uninterrupted service, he retired in 1828. but, after the revolution of 1830, when the theatre francais was in great straits, the brothers baptiste came to the rescue, reappeared on the stage and helped to bring back its prosperity. the elder died in paris on the 1st of december 1835. the younger brother, paul eustache anselme, known as baptiste _cadet_ (1765-1839), was also a comedian of great talent, and had a long and brilliant career at the comedie francaise, where he made his _debut_ in 1792 in _l'amour et l'interet_. baptistery (_baptisterium_, in the greek church [greek: photisterion]), the separate hall or chapel, connected with the early christian church, in which the catechumens were instructed and the sacrament of baptism administered. the name baptistery is also given to a kind of chapel in a large church, which serves the same purpose. the baptistery proper was commonly a circular building, although sometimes it had eight and sometimes twelve sides, and consisted of an ante-room ([greek: proaulios oikos]) where the catechumens were instructed, and where before baptism they made their confession of faith, and an inner apartment where the sacrament was administered. in the inner apartment the principal object was the baptismal font ([greek: kolumbethra], or _piscina_), in which those to be baptized were immersed thrice. three steps led down to the floor of the font, and over it was suspended a gold or silver dove; while on the walls were commonly pictures of the scenes in the life of john the baptist. the font was at first always of stone, but latterly metals were often used. baptisteries belong to a period of the church when great numbers of adult catechumens were baptized, and when immersion was the rule. we find little or no trace of them before constantine made christianity the state religion, _i.e._ before the 4th century; and as early as the 6th century the baptismal font was built in the porch of the church and then in the church itself. after the 9th century few baptisteries were built, the most noteworthy of later date being those at pisa, florence, padua, lucca and parma. some of the older baptisteries were very large, so large that we hear of councils and synods being held in them. it was necessary to make them large, because in the early church it was customary for the bishop to baptize all the catechumens in his diocese (and so baptisteries are commonly found attached to the cathedral and not to the parish churches), and also because the rite was performed only thrice in the year. (see baptism.) during the months when there were no baptisms the baptistery doors were sealed with the bishop's seal. some baptisteries were divided into two parts to separate the sexes; sometimes the church had two baptisteries, one for each sex. a fireplace was often provided to warm the neophytes after immersion. though baptisteries were forbidden to be used as burial-places by the council of auxerre (578) they were not uncommonly used as such. many of the early archbishops of canterbury were buried in the baptistery there. baptisteries, we find from the records of early councils, were first built and used to correct the evils arising from the practice of private baptism. as soon as christianity made such progress that baptism became the rule, and as soon as immersion gave place to sprinkling, the ancient baptisteries were no longer necessary. they are still in general use, however, in florence and pisa. the baptistery of the lateran must be the earliest ecclesiastical building still in use. a large part of it remains as built by constantine. the central area, where is the basin of the font, is an octagon around which stand eight porphyry columns, with marble capitals and entablature of classical form; outside these are an ambulatory and outer walls forming a larger octagon. attached to one side, towards the lateran basilica, is a fine porch with two noble porphyry columns and richly carved capitals, bases and entablatures. the circular church of santa costanza, also of the 4th century, served as a baptistery and contained the tomb of the daughter of constantine. this is a remarkably perfect structure with a central dome, columns and mosaics of classical fashion. two side niches contain the earliest known mosaics of distinctively christian subjects. in one is represented moses receiving the old law, in the other christ delivers to st peter the new law--a charter sealed with the x p monogram. another baptistery of the earliest times has recently been excavated at aquileia. ruins of an early baptistery have also been found at salona. at ravenna exist two famous baptisteries encrusted with fine mosaics, one of them built in the middle of the 5th century, and the other in the 6th. to the latter date also belongs a large baptistery decorated with mosaics at naples. in the east the metropolitan baptistery at constantinople still stands at the side of the mosque which was once the patriarchal church of st sophia; and many others, in syria, have been made known to us by recent researches, as also have some belonging to the churches of north africa. in france the most famous early baptistery is st jean at poitiers, and other early examples exist at riez, frejus and aix. in england, a detached baptistery is known to have been associated with the cathedral of canterbury. see hefele's _concilien_, _passim_; du cange, _glossary_, article \"baptisterium\"; eusebius, _hist. eccl._ x. 4; bingham's _antiquities of the christian church_, book xi. (w. r. l.)",
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