Nasal, O. E. The bar of a helmet which protected the nose.
Nask, Hind. A quoin, or coin-stone.
Natalitii Ludi, R. Games in the circus in honour of an emperor’s birthday.
Natatorium. A cold swimming-pool in the baths. That at Pompeii is of white marble twelve feet ten inches in diameter, and about three feet deep, with three marble steps, and a seat round it raised about ten inches from the bottom. There is a platform or ambulatory round the bath, also of marble. (See Sigma.) The ceiling is vaulted, with a window in the centre. (See Baptisterium.)
Natatorium, Chr. A baptismal font; Gr. κολυμβήθρα (piscina probata).
Natinz. A Persian manufacture of majolica. (See Nahinna.)
Nativity. While the Adoration of the Magi is one of the commonest subjects of early Christian art, the Nativity is one of the rarest. It is not found in any catacomb frescoes, or the mosaics of any basilicas or churches. The only examples are sculptural, and this on ivories, gems, &c. On these generally the Child is seen wrapped in swaddling clothes as the central object, the star appears above, the Virgin on a rude couch, and sometimes St. Joseph rapt in thought, his head resting on his hand; the ox and the ass appear behind, and shepherds with curved staves stand by adoring.
Natural. In Music, a character marked ♮ used to correct the power of a previous sharp or flat. A natural scale is a scale written without sharps or flats.
Naturalisti, It. Artists who work on the principle of a close adherence to the forms and colours actually combined in natural objects. The epithet was particularly applied as a term of reproach to the founders of the modern Dutch school of painting. (See Ideal.)
