314 L A K L A R
spear, seated, with a dog between them. Jordan remarks that in the cinctus Gabinus the end of the toga was thrown over the head, whereas the Lares always wear only a tunic, and have never veiled heads. The Compitalia was, during the Republican time, a feria conceptiva, set by the prætor at some time soon after the Saturnalia, December 17-19. Under the empire it was fixed for January 3-5.
See Schömann, De Diis Manibus; Hertzberg, De Diis Roman patr.; Hartung, Relig. der Römer; Schwegler, Röm. Gesch., vol. ii.; Preller, Röm. Mythol.; Jordan, "Vesta und die Laren," and "De Larum Imag.," in Annali, 1862; Reifferscheid, "De Lar. pict. Pomp.," in Annali, 1863; Marquardt, Röm. Staatsverw., iii. 120, 197, 244; Mommsen, "Acca Larentia," in Röm. Forsch., ii., and "Remus Legend," in Hermes, 1881.
LARGILLIÈRE, Nicolas (1656-1746), perhaps the most distinguished portrait painter of the age of Louis XIV., was born at Paris, October 20, 1656. His father, who was a merchant, took him to Antwerp at the age of three, and when nine years old he accompanied a friend of the family to London, where he remained nearly two years. The attempt to turn his attention to business having failed, he entered, some time after his return to Antwerp, the studio of Goubeau, quitting this at the age of eighteen to seek his fortune in England, where he was befriended by Lely, who employed him for four years at Windsor. His skill attracted the notice of Charles II., who wished to retain him in his service, but the fury aroused against Catholics by the Rye House Plot alarmed Largillière for his own safety, and he left England for Paris, where he was well received by Le Brun and Van der Meulen. In spite of his Flemish training the reputation of Largillière, especially as a portrait painter, was soon established; his brilliant colour and lively touch attracted all the celebrities of the day, – actresses, public men, and popular preachers flocking to his studio. Huet, bishop of Avranches, Cardinal de Noailles, the Duclos, and President Lambert, with his beautiful wife and daughter, are amongst some of his most noted subjects. It is said that James II. recalled Largillière to England on his accession to the throne in 1685, that he declined to accept the office of keeper of the royal collections, but that, although he could not be induced to remain in London permanently, he made a short visit, during which he painted portraits of the king, the queen, and the prince of Wales. This last is impossible, as the birth of the prince did not take place till 1688; the three portraits, therefore, painted by Largillière of the Pretender in his youth must all have been executed in Paris, to which city he returned some time before March 1686, when he was received by the Academy as a member, and presented as his diploma picture the fine portrait of Le Brun, now in the Louvre. He was received as an historical painter: but, although he occasionally produced works of that class (Crucifixion, engraved by Roettiers), and also treated subjects of still life, it was in historical portraits that he excelled. Horace Walpole tells us that he left in London those of Pierre van der Meulen and of Sybrecht. His works are rare in the local museums, but several are at Versailles. The church of St Étienne du Mont at Paris contains the finest example of Largillière's work when dealing with large groups of figures; it is an ex voto offered by the city to St Geneviève, painted in 1694, and containing portraits of all the leading officers of the municipality. Largillière passed through every post of honour in the Academy, until in 1743 he was made chancellor. He died on the 20th March 1746. Oudry was the most distinguished of his pupils. Largillière's work found skilful interpreters in Van Schuppen, Edelinck, Desplaces, Drevet, Pitou, and other engravers.
LARISSA (in Turkish Yeni Skehr), the most important town of Thessaly, is situated in a rich agricultural district on the right bank of the Salambria (Peneius), about 35 miles north-west of Volo. Up till 1881 it was the seat of a pasha in the vilayet of Janina; it now ranks as the chief town of the new Greek province. Its long subjection to Turkey has left little trace of a nobler antiquity, and the most striking features in the general view are the mosques and the Mohammedan burying-grounds. It was the seat of a strong Turkish garrison, and the great mass of the people were of Turkish blood. In the outskirts is a village of Africans from the Sudan – a curious remnant of the forces collected by Ali Pasha. The manufactures include Turkish leather, cotton, silk, and tobacco, but the general state of trade and industry is far from being prosperous. Fevers and agues are rendered prevalent by the badness of the drainage and the overflowing of the river; and the death-rate is higher than the birth-rate. The population is estimated at 25,000 or 30,000.
Larissa, written Larisa on ancient coins and inscriptions, is near the site of the Homeric Argissa. It appears in early times as a powerful city under the rule of the Aleuadæ, whose authority extended over the whole plain of the Pelasgiotis. The inhabitants sided with Athens during the Peloponnesian War, and during the Roman invasion their city was a point of considerable importance. In the 5th century it was made the seat of an archbishop, who has now fifteen suffragans. During the war of Greek independence Larissa was the headquarters of Ali Pasha. Notices of the few ancient inscriptions recently found at Larissa are given by Miller in Mélanges philologiques, Paris, 1880. The name Larissa is a common one, and the city has more particularly to be distinguished from Larissa Cremaste on Mount Othrys.
LÁRISTÁN, a province of Persia, bounded by Farsistán
on the W. and N.W., by Kirmán on the E. and N.E., by
the Persian Gulf on the S. It lies between 26° 30 and 28°
25 N. lat., 52° 30 and 55° 30 E. long., and has an extreme
length and breadth of 210 and 120 miles respectively, with
an area of 20,000 square miles. Láristán is one of the least
productive provinces in Persia, consisting mainly of moun
tain ranges in the north and east, and of arid plains varied
with rocky hills and salt or sandy valleys stretching thence
to the coast. In the highlands there are some fertile upland
tracts producing corn, dates, and other fruits; and there the
climate is genial. But elsewhere it is extremely sultry,
and on some low-lying coast lands subject to malaria.
Good water is everywhere so scarce that but for the rain
preserved in cisterns the country would to mostly unin
habitable. The coast is chiefly occupied by Arab tribes
under their own chiefs, who are virtually independent,
paying merely a nominal tribute to the shah's Government.
They reside in small towns and mud forts scattered along
the coast, and were till recently addicted to piracy. The
people of the interior are mostly of the old Iranian stock,
intermediate between the Tajiks and Kurds, and speaking
an archaic form of Persian. Here the chief tribes are the
Mezaijan, about 1600, with numerous flocks and herds;
the Bekoi, 2500; and the Tahuni, 200. Láristán was
subdued eight hundred years ago by a Turki khan, and
remained an independent state till its last ruler was deposed
and put to death by Shah 'Abbás the Great. Population
about 90,000.
LARK, Anglo-Saxon Láwerce, German Lerche, Danish Lærke, Dutch Leeuwerik, a bird s name (perhaps always, but now certainly) used in a rather general sense, the specific meaning being signified by a prefix, as Skylark, Titlark, Woodlark, and so forth. It seems to be nearly conterminous with the Latin Alauda as used by older authors; and, though this was to some extent limited by Linnaeus, several of the species included by him under the genus he so designated have long since been referred elsewhere. By Englishmen the word Lark, used without qualification, almost invariably means the SKYLARK, Alauda arvensis, which, as the best known and most widely- spread species throughout Europe, has been invariably considered the type of the genus. It scarcely needs de scription. Of all birds it holds unquestionably the fore-
