BONOMI

bonomi, giuseppi (1739-1808), english architect, was born at rome on the 19th of january 1739. after attaining a considerable reputation in italy, he came in 1767 to england, and finally settled in practice there. he was the innocent cause of the retirement of sir joshua reynolds from the presidency of the royal academy. sir joshua wished him to become a full academician, regarding him as a fitting occupant of the then vacant chair of perspective. but the majority of the academicians were opposed to this suggestion, and bonomi was elected an associate only, and that merely by the president's casting vote. bonomi was largely responsible for the revival of classical architecture in england. his most famous work was the italian villa at roseneath, dumbartonshire, designed for the duke of argyll. in 1804 he was appointed honorary architect to st peter's at rome. he died in london on the 9th of march 1808. his son, giuseppi bonomi (1796-1878), studied art in london at the royal academy, and became a sculptor, but is best known as an illustrator of the leading egyptological publications of his day. from 1824 to 1832 he was in egypt, making drawings of the monuments in the company of burton, lane and wilkinson. in 1833 he visited the mosque of omar, returning with detailed drawings, and from 1842 to 1844 was again in egypt, attached to the prussian government exploration expedition under lepsius. he assisted in the arrangement of the egyptian court at the crystal palace in 1853, and in 1861 was appointed curator of the soane museum. he died on the 3rd of march 1878. bononcini (or buononcini), giovanni battista (1672?-1750?), italian musical composer, was the son of the composer giovanni maria bononcini, best known as the author of a treatise entitled _il musico prattico_ (bologna, 1673), and brother of the composer marc' antonio bononcini, with whom he has often been confused. he is said to have been born at modena in 1672, but the date of his birth must probably be placed some ten years earlier. he was a pupil of his father and of colonna, and produced his first operas, _tullo ostilio_ and _serse_, at rome in 1694. in 1696 he was at the court of berlin, and between 1700 and 1720 divided his time between vienna and italy. in 1720 he was summoned to london by the royal academy of music, and produced several operas, enjoying the protection of the marlborough family. about 1731 it was discovered that he had a few years previously palmed off a madrigal by lotti as his own work, and after a long correspondence he was obliged to leave the country. he remained for several years in france, and in 1748 was summoned to vienna to compose music in honour of the peace of aix-la-chapelle. he then went to venice as a composer of operas, and nothing more is known of his life. bononcini's rivalry with handel will always ensure him immortality, but he was in himself a musician of considerable merit, and seems to have influenced the style, not only of handel but even of alessandro scarlatti. either he or his brother (our knowledge of the two composers' lives is at present not sufficient to distinguish their works clearly) was the inventor of that sharply rhythmical style conspicuous in _il trionfo di camilla_ (1697), the success of which at naples probably induced scarlatti to adopt a similar type of melody. it is noticeable in the once popular air of bononcini, _l'esperto nocchiero_, and in the air _vado ben spesso_, long attributed to salvator rosa, but really by bononcini. bononia (mod. _bologna_), the chief town of ancient aemilia (see