Lanista, R. A man who trained gladiators for the Roman circus. They were frequently his own property, and he let them out for hire; or he received them from their owners into his school (ludus) for training.
Lansquenet, Fr. A game at cards.
Fig. 419. Old English Horn Lantern.
Lantern. In Christian art, the attribute of St. Gudula, in allusion to the legend of her miraculous lantern, which her prayers rekindled as often as Satan extinguished it. In Architecture, a small turret above the roof of a building, having windows all round it.
Fig. 420. Lanterne des Morts.
Lanterne des Morts or Churchyard Beacon, Arch. A small tower raised upon a base, and generally round, but sometimes square or polygonal; with windows at the top to emit the shining rays from the lamp inside. Fig. [420] represents a “lanterne des morts” at Ciron, France.
Lanx, R. This term denotes (1) a circular dish of silver or other metal, often embossed, used especially at banquets. (2) The scale of a balance (libra). (3) A salver for handing fruits or other dainties at dessert.
Laocoon. A magnificent sculpture, found in 1506 among the ruins of the palace of Titus, now in the Vatican. It represents Laocoon and his two sons struggling in the folds of two monster serpents. According to Pliny it is the work of three Rhodian sculptors, Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, and stood in the palace of Titus. He said that it was made of one stone, but the joining of five pieces has been detected. [See Lessing’s “Laokoon.”]