[Perugino], his proper name Vannucci, Italian painter, born near Perugia, whence his name; studied with Leonardo da Vinci at Florence, where he chiefly resided; was one of the teachers of Raphael, painted religious subjects, did frescoes for churches that have nearly all perished, a "Christ giving the Keys to Peter" being the best extant; Ruskin contrasts his work with Turner's; "in Turner's distinctive work," he says, "colour is scarcely acknowledged unless under influence of sunshine ... wherever the sun is not, there is melancholy and evil," but "in Perugino's distinctive work"—to whom he therefore gives "the captain's place over all"—"there is simply no darkness, no wrong. Every colour is lovely and every space is light; the world, the universe, is divine; all sadness is a part of harmony, and all gloom a part of light" (1446-1524).
[Peschiera], one of the fortresses of the [Quadrilateral] (q. v.), on an island in the Mincio, 14 m. W. of Verona.
[Peshawar] or Peshawur (84), a town on the Indian frontier, and centre of trade with Afghanistan, is 10 m. from the entrance of the Khyber Pass, on the Kabul River, and though ill-fortified is a bulwark of the empire, being provided with a large garrison of infantry and artillery.
[Peshito] (i. e. simple), a version of the Bible in Syriac, executed not later than the middle of the 2nd century for Judaic Christians in the Syrian Church, the version of the Old Testament being executed direct from the Hebrew and that of the New being the first translation of the Greek of it into a foreign tongue, and both of value in questions affecting exegesis and the original text; the New Testament version contains all the books now included except the Apocalypse, Jude, 2 Peter, and 2 and 3 John.
[Pessimism], a name given now to a habit of feeling, now to a system of opinion; as the former it denotes a tendency to dwell on the dark or gloomy side of things, culminating in a sense of their vanity and nothingness, while in the latter it is applied to all systems of opinion which lay the finger on some black spot in the structure of the life of the world or of the universe, which so long as it remains is thought to render it unworthy of existence.
[Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich], a celebrated educationist, born at Zurich; founder of a natural system of education, beginning with childhood, and who, however unsuccessful in the working of it himself from his want of administrative faculty, persuaded others by his writings to adopt it, especially in Germany, and to adopt it both enthusiastically and successfully; his method, which he derived from Rousseau, was based on the study of human nature as we find it born in the child, and it aimed at the harmonious development of all its innate capabilities, beginning with the most rudimentary (1745-1827).
[Pesth] or Budapest (492), on the left bank of the Danube, forming one municipality with Buda on the right, is the capital of Hungary, and 173 m. by rail E. of Vienna; Pesth is built on a plain, joined to Buda by three bridges, the last on the Danube, and is a thriving modern city, with picture galleries, parliament house, library, university, science schools, many baths, and public gardens; it makes machinery, agricultural implements, cutlery, flour, &c., and does a great trade in corn, wool, hides, wines, and bacon.
[Petalism], banishment in Sparta similar to ostracism in Athens, procured by writing the name on an olive leaf.
[Petard], a cone-shaped explosive machine for bursting open gates, barriers, &c., made of iron and filled with powder and ball.
[Petasus], the winged-cap of the god Mercury.