Freret, Nicolas, a celebrated French scholar, was born at Paris February 15, 1088, and died in tlie same city March 8, 1749. He at first studied law, but aban- doned it for literature, especially for investigations into the languages, history, and religious systems of ancient and Oriental peoples. At the age of t\vent}'-five he was admitted to the Acadomy of Inscriptions, and gave as his inaugural a discourse on the origin of the Franks, which, though favorably received by the Academy, and
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vindicated in great part by the subsequent progress of historical rcsearcli, was strongly opposed l>y the abbe Vertot, and led to Freret's being sent for a short time to the IJastile. On his release he produced a long series of papers for the Academj' of Inscriptions, which gave him great reputation for learning and re- search. In treating mythology, he rejected the theory which traces back religious fables to historical facts [see EuHEMERUs], assigned to the historical element a secondary place, and thought that the Greeks had borrowed most of their divinities from the Egyptians and Phcenicians. He extended his investigations also to the religions of the Celts, the Germans, the Hin- dus, the Chinese, the Persians, and the Romans, and was one of the first in France to prosecute the study of Chinese. Of his writings we name only those which belong more especially to the subjects eml)raced in this work, viz. : E^^sai sia- la Chronolorjie de VEcriture Hainte (Histoire de I'Acad. tom. xxiii) : — Observations siir les files relifjieuses de rannee pe7-sane, et en particulier sur celle de Mithra, tant chez les Persans que chez les Ro- mains (Jlem. de I'Acad. t. xvi) : — Reflexions gemrales sur la Xafure de la religion des Gi'ecs, et sur Videe qu'on doit se former de leur Mythologie (Hist, de I'Acad. tom. xxiii) : — Recherches sur le Citlte de Bacchus ixirmi les Grecs (Mem. de I'Acad. t. xiii) ; — La Nature du Culte ] rendu en Gr'ece aux heros, et particulierement a Esculape (Hist, de I'Acad. t. xxi) : — Hist, des Cyclopes, des Dactyks, des Telchines, des Cur'etes et Corybantes, et de^ Cabires (Hist, de TAcad. t. xxiii et xxvii): — Les Fondements histoHnj-ies de la fable de Bellerophon et la muniere de I'expliquer (Hist, de I'Acad. t. vii ; Mem. t. vii) : — Ob- servations sur les recueils de predictions ecrites qui por- iaient le nom de Musie, de Bucis et de la Sihylle (Jlem. de I'Acad. t. xxiii) : — Observations sur les oracles rendus j)ar les ames des marts (Mem. t. xxiii) : — Observations stir la religion des Gaulois et sur celle des Germains (Mem. de I'Acad. t. xxiv) : — Etymologic du mot Druide (Hist, de I'Acad. t. xvii) : — La Nature et les dogmas des plus conniis de la religion gauloise (Hist, de I'Acad. t. xviii) : — U Usage des sacrifices humains itahli chez les drfcrentcs nations et particulierement chez les Gaulois (Hist, de I'Acad. t. xviii) : — Recherches sur le dieu Iler- cide Endovcllicus et snr quelques atdres antiquites iberi- ques (Hist, de I'Acad. t. iii) : — Les Assassins de Perse (Mem. t. xvii). Leclerc de Septchenes published a collection of Freret's works nnder the title CEuvres completes, nouv. edit, considerablement augmentie de pbi- sieurs ouvrages inklits (Paris, 1796-99, 20 vols. 12mo), but, despite its title, by no means a complete edition. — Hoefer, Nom: Biog. Gmer. xviii, 807-818 ; B.osc,Neto Biog. Diet, vii, 451. (J.W. M.)
Fresco Painting, a method of painting with mineral and earthy colors dissolved in water, upon freshly - plastered walls. As only so much can be painted in one day as can be executed while the plas- ter is wet, and as the colors become lighter on drying, fresco painting is very difficult of execution. As the wall dries, all the color that is applied is carried to the surface, and tliere fonns a coating to the wall. But little retouching can be done. Fresco painting was carried to great perfection l)y the ancients. It was re- vived, by the Italian painters especially, during the Middle Ages. It again fell into disuse from the sev- enteenth till the present century, when it has been re- vived by Cornelius, Overbeck, and others. "With the exception, jjerhaps, of mosaic painting (q. v.), fresco painting is better adapted than any other style to the production of monumental works of art. For full ef- fectiveness, it requires the natural light, and hence cannot be used with success in churches or other build- ings which are lighted witti windows of stained glass. — Kugler and Schnaase, Gesch. der Jfalerei. (G, F. C.)
Fresenius, Johann Phiupp, a German Luther- an clergyman, was born Oct. 22, 1705. After finish- ing his theological studies at the University of Stras-
burg in 1725, he became tutor of the j'oung Ehinegrave of Salm-Grumbach. In 1727 he succeeded his father as pastor of Oberwiesen, and in 17o-l became second " I5urgprediger" at Gicssen. In the following year he also began to give exegetical and ascetic lectures at the university of that city. From 173G to 1742 he was Ilofdiaconus (aulic deacon) at Darmstadt ; from 1742 to 1743 again preacher and professor at Giessen. In 1743 he accepted a call from the magistracy of Frankfort on the Main, where he remained until his death, which occurred July 4, 17G1. In 1749 he re- ceived from the University of Gottingen the title of doctor of divinity. Fresenius enjoyed great reputa- tion as a powerful preacher and experienced spiritual guide. From earh' youth he displayed a great zeal in the defence of Lutheran orthodoxy and of Lutheran prerogatives, and thus became involved in numerous controversies. In 1731 he wrote a work {A7itiiieidin- gerus) against a scurrilous pamphlet (Friss Vogel <der Stirb) against Lutheranism by the Jesuit Weislinger, and produced thereby so great air excitement among Roman Catholics that a plan was made to kidnap him, with the aid of an Austrian army then stationed on the Rhine. He had to flee for safety to Darmstadt. In that city he caused the establishment of an institute for proselytes, and became its director and inspector. In Frankfort he opposed the effort of the Reformed con- gregations to obtain the public exercise of their relig- ion and the permission for building churches. He was, in particular, a determined and even violent op- ponent of count Zinzendorf and the Moravians. Zin- zendorf regarded him as the most energetic opponent, and called him an "incarnate devil" (eingefleischten Tevfe!^. Some of his works are still in conmion use in the German Lutheran Church. Thus the lleilsa- me Betrachtungen ueber die Sonn-und Festtagsevange- lien, which first appeared in 1750, were published in a new edition in 1845 (2d ed. 1854) by Johann Friedrich von Bleyer (q. v.), and of his Ejnstelpredigten, first published in 1754, a new edition was issued in 1858 l)y Ledderhose. His controversial writings against the Jloravians number 24 volumes (^Streitschriften gegen die Herrnhuter, Frankf. 1748-GO). — Steitz in Herzog, Real-Encyll. xix, 501. (A. J. S.)