of designs against the republic. He was arrested with several others, Barthelemy and Willot being of the number, and was with them condemned and transported to Cayenne, whence after a sojourn of eight months he managed to effect his escape. He came to England, and was received with great favour, in consequence of his Bourbon tendencies, as he was also subsequently when he visited Germany. In 1804 he went secretly to Paris, where he conspired with Georges and Moreau, and upon being discovered, was arrested and imprisoned in the Temple. He died there by strangulation, whether by his own hand or by another's is uncertain, on the 4th of April, 1804.—F.
PICHLER, Caroline, a German authoress, was born at Vienna, September 7, 1709, and died July 9, 1843. Her father, Franz von Greiner, held an office under the Austrian government, and had her can fully educated. In 1796 she was married to Andreas Pichler, also an official, who like her father moved in the most intellectual society of the Austrian metropolis, and at whose instance she began a literary career. She published several historical dramas and a great number of novels, mostly on subjects of Austrian history. Her complete works, Vienna, 1820-45, comprise no less than sixty volumes.—K. E.
PICHLER, Johann, a celebrated Tyrolese sculptor, and the first of a family of artists of that name, was born in the latter half of the seventeenth century. A shepherd's boy, his skill in carving attracted the notice of a clergyman, who took him under his care and placed him with a sculptor. He afterwards went to Rome, where his group of "Gladiators Fighting" attracted much attention. Returning homewards, he executed various works for tbc churches in Vienna, Meran, and elsewhere. For the cathedral of his native place he carved a life-sized "Pietà." He appears to have settled at Innspruck. He carved many figures and groups in ivory and wood combined—ivory being employed for the flesh, and wood for the dress and accessories—a style which in his hands became exceedingly popular. His favourite subjects were beggars, wandering minstrels, &c. He died probably about 1719-20.—J. T—e.
PICHLER, Johann von, the son and pupil of Joseph Anton Pichler, was born at Naples, January 1, 1734. He was an earnest student of the antique, and was by many thought to have very nearly approached his models in beauty of design and finish. He enjoyed even in his own day a European reputation; and is generally ranked among the best of modern gem engravers; and he has the credit, almost alone among the gem engravers of his time, of never fabricating antiques. He was greatly admired and patronized by the emperor, Joseph II., who named him court engraver, and gave him titles of nobility. He died at Rome, January 25, 1791. Besides his cameos and intaglios he painted in pastel, and executed several engravings on copper after Raphael's paintings in the Vatican.—J. T—e.
PICHLER, Johann Peter, a celebrated engraver in mezzotint, was born at Botzen in 1765. He studied design under the painter J. G. Cusset, and in the Vienna art academy. He copied many of the principal works in the galleries of Brunswick, Cassel, and Dresden. J. P. Pichler was one of the best mezzotint engravers of his time, out of England. His prints are numerous, but good impressions fetch high prices. They are for the most part subject-pieces from the great masters of Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands; but he also executed several portraits. His death, which was hastened by intemperate habits, occurred in 1806.—J. T—e.
PICHLER, Joseph Anton, a gem engraver, was born at Brixen in the Tyrol, April 12, 1697. He studied in Naples. From 1750 he lived in Rome, holding a high position as an engraver both of intaglios and cameos. His subjects were chiefly mythological, but he engraved also numerous heads after the antique, and some of modern personages. He died at Rome in 1779.—J. T—e.
PICKEN, Andrew, a Scottish miscellaneous writer, was the son of a manufacturer, and was born at Paisley in 1788. He was educated for the mercantile profession, and after spending some time in the West Indies, obtained a confidential situation in the bank of Ireland. His restless disposition, however, made him quit this office, and commence business on his own account in Glasgow. Shortly after he published a work entitled "Tales and Sketches of the West of Scotland," some satirical portions of which gave great offence to his fellow-citizens, and ultimately led to his removal to Liverpool, where he commenced the trade of bookseller. Unfortunately, during the speculating mania of 1825-26, he embarked and lost his all in some of the hazardous ventures of the day, and found it necessary during the remainder of his brief career to devote himself to literature as a profession. He died suddenly of apoplexy in 1833. Besides the work already mentioned Picken was the author of the "Sectarian," the "Dominie's Legacy," "Lives of Eminent Missionaries," "The Club Book," "Waltham," "Traditionary Stories of Old Families," and a posthumous tale entitled "The Black Watch."—J. T.
PICKERING, William, a publisher not unworthy of the title which he gave himself in his device, "Aldi discipulus Anglus," was born towards the close of the eighteenth century. Apprenticed in 1810 to a firm of London publishers, he started in business for himself in 1820, and published a series of well-known miniature classics, Latin and Italian, admirable for the beauty and accuracy of their typography. Among his publications was the fine Aldine edition of the British poets. He died in 1854.
* PICKERSGILL, Frederick Richard, R.A., was born in London in 1820, and is of an artistic family, being nearly related to Mr. H. W. Pickersgill, R.A., and Mr. W. F. Witherington, R.A. He was a student in the Royal Academy. His first oil picture, "The Combat between Hercules and Achelöus," appeared at the Royal Academy in 1840. This was followed in successive years by other paintings, chiefly of poetical subjects, or historical subjects of a poetical cast. At the Cartoon competition of 1843, Mr. F. R. Pickersgill was awarded one of the additional prizes of £100, for his cartoon of the "Death of Lear." At the competition of 1847, he obtained one of the three first-class prizes of £500 for his oil painting of "The Burial of Harold," the commissioners purchasing the picture for the house of lords for £500 more. Since then Mr. Pickersgill has been a steady contributor to the Academy exhibitions. Many of his pictures are from Italian poetry and history, as "The Death of Francesco Foscari," 1854; "Warrior Poets of the South contending in Song," 1859; several from Spenser, Shakspeare, and Milton, and others from the Scriptures. His latest exhibition picture is "The Return of a Crusader," 1862. All his pictures are carefully drawn and painted, and warmly and harmoniously coloured. Lately he has made a few drawings for wood engravings. He was elected A.R.A. in 1847, and R.A. in 1857.—J. T—e.
PICKERSGILL, Henry William, R.A., was born about 1782. He at first painted historical and mythological subjects, and continued now and again to make similar essays; but he is known only as a portrait painter. In this line of art Mr. H. W. Pickersgill held for a long series of years a foremost place; his likenesses are considered faithful, and his style is pleasing. His portraits include a very large proportion of the literary and scientific celebrities of his time. He was a most industrious painter, and in the year 1862 contributed no fewer than seven pictures to the Academy exhibition. Mr. Pickersgill was elected R.A. in 1825, and librarian to the Academy in 1855. He died on the 30th of January, 1861.—J. T—e.
PICO, Giovanni della Mirandola, was the son of the sovereign of the small principality of Mirandola in Italy, and was born in the year 1463. Gifted with a marvellous precocity of intellectual endowments, he gave from the earliest period public proof of their possession, and before the age of twenty-three had studied nearly every branch of human knowledge. That he had mastered them, as well as studied them, it would be too much to affirm; we must make allowance for the exaggerated admiration of his contemporaries; yet enough remains to warrant us in coming to the conclusion that Giovanni Pico was naturally blessed with talents of a high order, and that he had sedulously cultivated them in a remarkable degree. His memory was prodigious, and he seems to have taxed its powers to the uttermost. All kinds of learning were alike to him; he studied philosophy, philology, law, poetry, and general literature; and as to languages, both classic and oriental, his mind appeared virtually their storehouse. This versatility of genius and variety of accomplishments had full justice done them by their aspiring owner. Pico was by no means of the class who hide their candle under a bushel; and even before the early age already mentioned he travelled through France and Italy, and conducted public disputations in some of the universities. When twenty-three years old he went to Rome, and, compiling no fewer than nine hundred theses on all possible subjects of human science, he challenged the whole learned world of Europe to meet him in their discussion. The gauntlet thus magnificently thrown down was picked up by several adversaries; and Pico is reported to have
