Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/140

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MANTEGNA 110 MANTTJA MANTEGNA, ANDREA (man-tan'ya) , an Italian painter; born in Padua, Italy, in 1431. He was a pupil of Squarcione. About 1459 he went to Verona, where he painted a magnificent altar piece in the Church of St. Zeno. About 1466 he re- moved to Mantua; the rest of his life was passed there, with the exception of two years at Rome. At Mantua he opened a school, and painted among other important works the "Triumph of Julius Caesar," now at Hampton Court. One of the latest and best of his works is the "Madonna della Vittoria" now in the Louvre at Paris. Others of his works, also in the Louvre, are "Wisdom Van- quishing Vice," and a mythological work, "Parnassus." Mantegna excelled in per- spective, and in engraving, and intro- duced the art of engraving on copper into upper Italy. He died in Mantua, in 1506. His two sons. Francesco and Carlo, were also painters. MANTELL, ROBERT BRUCE, an American actor; born in Irvine, Scotland, Feb. 7, 1854; made his first professional appearance, Oct. 21, 1876, as Sergeant in "Arrah-na-Pogue." He came to the United States and created juvenile roles in 1878, with Mme. Modjeska. Subse- quently he appeared as Loris Ippanhoff in "Fedora" with Fanny Davenport in New York. He later became a star and organized a company of his own, present- ing chiefly Shakespearean and other classic plays. MANTES (mant), a town in the French department of Seine-et-Oise. on the left bank of the Seine. It has a striking tower (1344) and a beautiful church, a reduced copy of Notre Dame at Paris. The ancient Medunta, a town of the Celts, Mantes in 1087 was sacked by William the Conqueror, who here re- ceived the injury that caused his death; and here too Henry IV. was converted from Protestantism. Pop. about 9,000. MANTIS, the so-called soothsayer, or praying insect; the typical genus of the family Mantidse. Two species occur in southern Europe: M. religiosa, from two to two and a half inches in length, and M. oratoria-, a smaller species. Others are found in the warmer regions of the world. MANTIS CRAB, a name given to Crustacea of the genus Squilla, from the second pair of jaw feet being very large, and formed very like the fore legs of in- sects of the genus Mantis. MANTLE, a kind of cloak or loose garment to be worn over other garments, in heraldry the name is given to the cloak or mantle which is often represent- ed behind the escutcheon. In zoology the mantle is the soft skin or integument of molluscous animals, otherwise known as the pallium. This structure secretes the shell when present, and where the shell is absent the mantle forms an in- vesting sac or integument in which the viscera and other organs are contained and protected. MANTLING, or LAMBREQUIN (-bur-kin), in heraldry, an ornament de- picted as hanging down from the helmet, and behind the escutcheon. It is con- sidered to represent either the cointise, an ornamental scarf which passed around the body, and over the shoulder; or the military mantle, or robe of estate. When intended for the cointise, it is cut into irregular strips and curls of the most capricious forms, whose contortions are supposed to indicate that it has been torn into that ragged condition in the field of battle. When the mantling is treated as a robe of estate, the bearings of the shield are sometimes embroidered on it. A mantling adjusted so as to form a background for the shield and its accessories, constitutes an "achieve- ment of arms." MANTUA (man'tu-a), a town of northern Italy, capital of a province of same name, on the Mincio, 21 miles S. W. of Verona, and 37 N. E. of Cremona. It is partly on two islands formed by the waters of the Mincio, and partly on the mainland. Mantua is both by nature and art one of the strongest places in Eu- rope; it is entered by bridges, flanked with redoubts, and is built on a plain of tolerable regularity, divided by a canal into two nearly equal parts. Most of the streets are broad, regular, and well paved; the houses are of stone, and in general well built; and the public squares both spacious and elegant. Of the lat- ter, the most noted is the Piazza di Virgilio. used as a promenade. In its center stands Vergil's monument, a col- umn of marble. The principal public edifices at Mantua are the cathedral; the Corte, vdth its hall; the Palazzo della Giustizia; the palace of the Gonzaga family, and the one which, from its shape, bears the singular name of the Palazzo di T; the university buildings, the arsenal, the Jewish synagogue, and the public library, containing over 80,- 000 volumes. Mantua contains likev^ase several valuable collections of paintings, and a gallery of antiquities belonging to the Academy of Arts and Sciences. Man- ufactures silk, woolen and linen fabrics, etc. Mantua claims an antiquity equal to that of Rome. It passed under the