Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings (IA cyclopediaofpain03cham).pdf/473

 × 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;