Naples Majolicas were already celebrated early in the 16th century. M. Jacquemart describes some vases of colossal size, evidently constructed for “la grande décoration,” being painted on only one face; handles in the form of caryatids add to the majestic appearance of these vases; the subjects are scriptural, executed in blue camayeu picked out in black; the design is free, elegant though rather straggling, and the touch is bold and spirited.
Naples Yellow (It. giallolino). A compound of the oxides of lead and antimony, having a rich, opaque, golden hue. As a pigment for oil painting and for porcelain and enamel, it is now superseded by chromate of lead. As a water-colour pigment it is liable to blacken upon exposure to damp or bad air.
Napron. An apron used by mediæval masons. Limas was another kind of apron worn by them.
Nard (Lat. nardus). Ointment prepared from the spikenard shrub.
Nares, Lat. (the nostrils). (1) The perforations in the register-table of an organ, which admit air to the openings of the pipes. (2) The issue of a conduit.
Fig. 477. Narghilly—Persian.
Nargilé or Narghilly, Persian. A tobacco-pipe with an arrangement for passing the smoke through water. The illustration is the bowl of a Persian pipe of this description, in Chinese porcelain. (Fig. [477].)
Nariform (Lat. naris, the nostril). Nose-shaped.
Narthex, Chr. The vestibule of a church; sometimes within the church, sometimes without, but always further from the altar than the part where the “faithful” were assembled. Hence it was a place for the catechumens. The narthex communicated with the nave by the “beautiful gates,” and with the outside by the “great gates.” In monastic churches the narthex was the place for the general public.