CARPATHUS (Ital. Scarpanto), an island about 30 m. south-west of Rhodes, in that part of the Mediterranean which was called, after it, the Carpathian Sea (Carpathium Mare). It was both in ancient and medieval times closely connected with Rhodes; it was held by noble families under Venetian suzerainty, notably the Cornari from 1306 to 1540, when it finally passed into the possession of the Turks. From its remote position Carpathus has preserved many peculiarities of dress, customs and dialect, the last resembling those of Rhodes and Cyprus.
See L. Ross, Reisen auf den gr. Inseln (Halle, 1840-1845); T. Bent, Journal of Hellenic Studies, vi. (1885), p. 235; R.M. Dawkins, Annual of British School at Athens, ix. and x.
CARPEAUX, JEAN BAPTISTE (1827-1875), French sculptor, was born at Valenciennes, France, on the 11th of May 1827. He was the son of a mason, and passed his early life in extreme poverty. In 1842 he came to Paris, and after working for two years in a drawing-school, was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts on the 9th of September 1854. The Grand Prix de Rome was awarded to his statue of “Hector bearing in his arms his son Astyanax.” His first work exhibited at the Salon, in 1853, did not show the spirit of an innovator, and was very unlike the work of his master Rude. At Rome he was fascinated by Donatello, and yet more influenced by Michelangelo, to whom he owes his feeling for vehement and passionate action. He sent from Rome a bust, “La Palombella,” 1856; and a “Neapolitan Fisherman,” 1858. This work was again exhibited in the Salon of 1859, and took a second-class medal; but it was not executed in marble till 1863. In his last year in Rome he sent home a dramatic group, “Ugolino and his Sons,” and exhibited at the same time a “Bust of Princess Mathilde.” This gained him a second-class medal and the favour of the Imperial family. In 1864 he executed the “Girl with a Shell,” the companion figure to the young fisherman; and although in 1865 he did not exhibit at the Salon, busts of “Mme. A.E. André,” of “Giraud” the painter, and of “Mlle. Benedetti” showed that he was not idle. He was working at the same time on the decorations of the Pavilion de Flore, of which the pediment alone was seen at the Salon, though the bas-relief below is an even better example of his style. After producing a statue of the prince imperial, Carpeaux was made chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1866. Two years later he received an important commission to execute one of the four groups for the façade of the new opera house. His group, representing “Dancing,” 1869, was greeted with indignant protests; it is nevertheless a sound work, full of movement, with no fault but that of exceeding the limitations prescribed. In 1869 he exhibited a “Bust of M. Gamier,” and followed this up with two pieces intended for his native city: a statue of Watteau, and a bas-relief, “Valenciennes repelling Invasion.” During the Commune he came to England, and made a “Bust of Gounod” in 1871. His last important work was a fountain, the “Four Quarters of the World,” in which the globe is sustained by four female figures personifying Europe, Asia, Africa and America. This fountain is now in the Avenue de l’Observatoire in Paris. Carpeaux, though exhausted by illness, continued designing indefatigably, till he died at the Château de Bécon, near Courbevoie, on the 12th of October 1875, after being promoted to the higher grade of the Legion of Honour. Many of his best drawings have been presented by Prince Stirbey to the city of Valenciennes.
See Ernest Chesneau, Carpeaux, sa vie et son oeuvre (Paris, 1880); Paul Foucart, Catalogue du Musée Carpeaux, Valenciennes (Paris, 1882); Jules Claretie, J. Carpeaux (1882); François Bournand, J.B. Carpeaux (1893).
CARPENTARIA, GULF OF, an extensive arm of the sea deeply indenting the north coast of Australia, between 10° 40′ and 17° 40′ S., and 135° 30′ and 142° E. Its length is 480 m. and its extreme breadth (E. to W.) 420 m. It is bounded E. by Cape York Peninsula, and W. by the Northern Territory of South Australia. Near its southern extremity is situated a group of islands called Wellesley; and towards the western side are the Sir Edward Pellew Islands, the Groote Eylandt and others. A large number of rivers find their way to the gulf, and some are of considerable size. On the eastern side there is the Mitchell river; at the south-east corner the Gilbert, the Norman, the Flinders, the Leichhardt and the Gregory; and on the west the Roper river. Jan Carstensz, who undertook a voyage of discovery in this part of the globe in 1623, gave the name of Carpentier to a small river near Cape Duyfhen in honour of Pieter Carpentier, at that time governor-general of the Dutch East Indies; and after the second voyage of Abel Tasman in 1644, the gulf, which he had successfully explored, began to appear on the charts under its present designation.
CARPENTER, LANT (1780-1840), English Unitarian minister, was born at Kidderminster on the 2nd of September 1780, the son of a carpet manufacturer. After some months at a non-conformist academy at Northampton, he proceeded to Glasgow University, and then joined the ministry. After a short time as assistant master at a Unitarian school near Birmingham, he was in 1802 appointed librarian at the Liverpool Athenaeum. In 1805 he became pastor of a church in Exeter, removing in 1817 to Bristol. At both Bristol and Exeter he was also engaged in school work, among his Bristol pupils being Harriet and James Martineau. Carpenter did much to broaden the spirit of English Unitarianism. The rite of baptism seemed to him a superstition, and he substituted for it a form of infant dedication. His health, undermined by his constant labours, broke down in 1839, and he was ordered to travel. He was drowned on the night of the 5th of April 1840, having been washed overboard from the steamer in which he was travelling from Leghorn to Marseilles.