Palilia, R. A festival in honour of Pales, the goddess of shepherds and flocks; it was held on the 21st of April.
Palimpsest (παλίμ-ψηστος, lit. scraped again). A parchment the writing on which had been erased, so that it might be used again. Monumental brasses are found to have been reversed and used a second time. In both cases the most ancient writing or inscription is generally the most valuable and interesting.
Palindrome (πάλιν, again, and δρόμος, a course). A sentence which reads the same when read backwards or forwards. Such is the Greek inscription on the ancient font in the chapel of Dulwich College: “νιψονανομημαμημονανοψιν.” “Purify the heart and not the countenance alone.”
Fig. 516. Palissy jug.
Palissy Ware. The pieces to which Palissy owes his reputation, in the first place, are the so called “rustic pottery” (rustiques figulines), “dishes or vases where upon a rough ground strewn with fossil shells, lizards and salamanders are running, frogs jumping, snakes crawling or sleeping, or more still, in a streamlet of water wriggling eels, pointed-nosed pikes, trout with spotted scales, and a thousand others of our fresh-water fishes are swimming.” When afterwards he worked in the capital, he did not give up his rustic compositions, but mixed them with the human figure. “There is an identity of style in all his figures and compositions; such as the Diana, Plenty, &c., framed round with delicate and ingenious ornaments drawn in the taste of the period.” (Jacquemart.)
Paliurus. A thorn-bush with long sharp spikes, common on the coasts of the Mediterranean, where it is called Christ’s thorn, because it is said to have furnished material of which the Crown of thorns was woven.
Palla, Gr. and R. A robe of state worn by patrician ladies, and frequently represented on statues of goddesses. Palla citharœdica was the name given to a long robe which musicians wore upon the stage; Apollo is often represented with this garment, especially when he is surnamed Citharœdus and Musagetes. Palla Gallica was a short garment like a Tabard, open in front and behind; it was worn by the Gauls and adopted by the Romans, who called it Caracalla (q.v.).
Palla Corporalis, Chr. The veil for the Pyx. (See Corporal.)
Palladium. (1) An image of Pallas Athenê, kept carefully hidden, and revered as the safeguard of the place where it lay. The most celebrated was the Palladium of Troy, said to have been thrown from Olympus by the hand of Zeus. It was about three cubits high, and represented the goddess sitting with a spear in her right hand, and in her left a distaff and spindle. (2) The term has been applied to a metal discovered by Dr. Wollaston in 1803, obtained from platinum, which it resembles in colour and lustre.