× 5 ft. 8 in. Illustration of the description by Thucydides (ii. 47-52). A magnificent street in Athens, with many groups of plague-stricken inhabitants, some extended on the ground, others prostrated at the portals of the temples and other public buildings. A masterly treatment of a heart-rending subject. Engraved by J. Fittler. Taken to London from Cadiz; sold at Christie's in 1804 for 1,000 guineas; collection of Henry Hope (1816), 200 guineas; Leigh Court sale (1884), bought in at £420.—Waagen, Treasures, iii. 180; Smith, viii. 95.
PLAGUE OF JAFFA. See Jaffa.
PLAGUE OF SERPENTS, Tintoretto,
Scuola di S. Rocco, Venice; centre of ceiling
of upper room. Rubens and Michelangelo
make the fiery serpents boa-constrictors,
but Tintoretto's conception is
truer to Scripture; his serpents are little,
fluttering monsters, like lampreys with
wings, perhaps suggested by the sea-horses
of the lagoons. They are biting the people
everywhere, and to give the appearance of
great extent to the plague a cavern opens
in the right of the foreground, through
which are seen another sky and horizon;
above, the Supreme Being is borne by angels,
passing over the congregation in
wrath; in background, the angel of mercy
is descending towards Moses, surrounded
by a globe of white light. The upper part
of the picture is magnificent; the lower
figures are not so interesting. Painted in
1576.—Ruskin, Stones of Venice, iii. 345;
Ridolfi, Marav., ii. 198.
PLASSAN, (ANTOINE) ÉMILE, born at
Bordeaux, Sept. 29, 1817. Genre painter.
Medals: 3d class, 1852, 1857, 1859; L. of
Honour, 1859; medal, Philadelphia Exposition,
1876. Works: Market in the House,
Indolence (1868); Studio, Armed to the
Teeth (1872); Breakfast (1873); Branch
of Boxwood, Sick Child, Good Digestion
(1874); Sleeping Girl; Before the Mirror
(1876); Contemplation, Reading (1877);
Palm Sunday (1878); Letter, Slipper (1879);
Interrupted Work (1880); Quay of Lower
Meudon, Factories of Molineaux (1882);
Two Sisters, A Suburb of Chinon (1883);
Entrance to the Bath (1884); Lady and Gentleman
in Painter's Studio, Fodor Museum,
Amsterdam; Table Supplies, New York Museum;
Disappointment, Prayer, Devotion,
The Model, W. T. Walters, Baltimore; Album,
August Belmont, New York; Lesson,
Robert Hoe, ib.; Lady Undressing, R. G.
Dun, ib.; Lady at Bedside, At the Mantel,
Scene from "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme,"
Israel Corse, ib.; Table Supplies, T. R. Butler,
ib.; Maiden's Night Toilet, Mrs. Paran
Stevens, ib.; Landscape, J. C. Runkle, ib.;
Gallant Reading at Mantel, Lady Listening,
J. P. Morgan Collection, ib.; Maternal
Love, Morris K. Jesup, ib.; Demand in
Marriage, New-born Babe, Young Mother,
R. L. Stuart Collection, ib.; Home Pleasures,
C. P. Huntington, ib.; Return of the
Nurse, Toilet, Maternal Love, John Hoey, ib.—Bellier,
ii. 285; Claretie, Peintres (1874),
331
PLATHNER, HERMANN, born at Gronau,
Hanover, in 1831. Genre painter, pupil
of Düsseldorf Academy, and of Tidemand
and Jordan; travelled in Northern
Germany and the Black Forest. Works:
Old Woman and her Pupils (1860); Mid-*day
Nap (1861); Hour of Rest (1863);
Politicians (1866); Unstamped Cards (1867);
Caught in Evil Ways (1874), Leipsic Museum;
Christmas Eve; Successful Portrait;
Joyous Surprise; Household Pets, Game of
Checkers, John D. Lankenau, Philadelphia.—Müller,
420.
PLATTE-MONTAGNE, NICOLAS DE
(la), born in Paris, Nov. 19, 1631, died there,
Dec. 25, 1706. French school; history and
portrait painter, son of Mathieu van Plattenberg
(1608-60, an able landscape and
marine painter of Antwerp who settled in
Paris at an early age and changed his name
to the French form), pupil of Philippe de
Champaigne, of Le Brun, and of the engraver
Jean Morin, his uncle, with whom
he lived. Member of the Academy, 1663;
