XABIS. 



NADIR SHAH. 



u he wa* particularly distinguished for works of this olu ; there is 

 mention of several in Piifini" and other sncient author* ; ai Ladas, 

 a celebrated Lacedemonian runner ; two of Lycinus, a Lacede- 

 monian charioteer, at Oljuipia ; Timaothea of Cleona.-, a pancratiast; 

 PhUipi-us of Pallcne, a juvenile pugilist; and ono supposed to be 

 Chioois of Lteedcmon, also an Olympic victor, but denied by 

 Pwuania* to be Cbiooi* (vi. 13). 



AU the above work* were exronted in bronze of Delos ; Polycletus 

 Died the ,+,'gina bronze. But Myron was also a sculptor in marble, a 

 carver in wood, and an engraver of metals. Pliny mention* a cele- 

 brated marble statue of a drunken old woman, at Smyrna, by Myron; 

 and Paiuania* describe* by him a tingle-bodied Hecate with one head, 

 in wood, which he aaw on the island of .Kgina : she was tho chief 

 divinity of the .-Kcinetans according to Pausaniaa (ii. 30). 



The most celebrated of all Myron's works was hi* Cow, lowing, and 

 according to some suckling a calf ; there are no leas than thirty-six 

 epigram* on this work in the Greek Anthology. No human figure boa 

 attracted so much notice, and doubtles* much of the admiration 

 this work excited waa owing to it* novelty. Athens was full of gods 

 and men, but bronze animals were certainly rare, and this Cow may 

 have been the first good work of its class that waa set up in Athens : 

 the horse* of Phidiai were mere bassi-rilievi placed under a colonnade 

 and of a small size, and, however excellent, would have little effect 

 compared with an isolated bronze, perhaps gilded figure, of the natural 

 iic, and fixed upon a marble pedestal in the centre of a public place. 

 So, according to Cicero, it still stood in bis time, though it was 

 removed before Pauaaniaa visited Athens, for he did not see it In 

 the time of Proeopius it was in the temple of Peace at Rome. 



Sonntag ha* collected all the numerous epigrams on this work of 

 art The Discobolus by Myron was one of the most celebrated works 

 of ancient art : the original was in bronze, but there are still several 

 ancient copies of it in marble, though not one entire : one in the 

 Campidoglio, one in the Vatican, and a third was in the Villa Maaaimi 

 at Home; that in the British Museum was found in the villa of 

 Hadrian near Tivoli, in 1791, and passed into the possession of Mr. 

 Townley through the bands of Mr. Jenkins, a well-known dealer in 

 work* of art of that time. Some other trunk* of ancient statues, 

 which have been variously restored, are also said to be marble imita- 

 tions of this work of Myron. The Townley copy according to some 

 critic* ha* been incorrectly restored, and the head is said not to belong 

 to it In Lucian'* description of the Discobolus of Myron the head 

 is noticed aa being turned and looking back, as it does in some othera 

 of the reputed copies of thi* celebrated work. It muit be observed 

 however that tht re is no proof whatever that any of these marbles 

 are copied from the celebrated iJiscobolus of Myron. The Abbate 

 Fea appear* to have been the first to suggest the identity, which 

 occurred to him from the similarity between the Masaimi Discobolus 

 found in the Villa Palombara in 1782, and a Discobolus by Myron 

 aa described by Luciin and in part by Quintilian. Quintiliau (ii. 13) 

 merely allude* to it* distorted position and elaborate execution; 

 Ludan (Philopaeude* 18) describe* it more in detail: he say*" Tho 

 Diaooboloa, in the twisted posture with the hand reversed and one 

 knee beat, as if about to vary hi* attitude and rise with his throw, 

 hi* head being turned to tk' or r&y 8i<nc<Kp<fyx>x the quoit-bearer," 



which Fea interpret* by " the band in which he baa the quoit" 

 Theie words are however sometimes rendered " the girl or boy who 

 holds the quoit;" implying that the thrower was not yet in action, 

 having only assumed his position, turned his bead back, and extended 

 his band to receive tho quoit from the bearer in attendance, who is 

 implied only by the attitude of the Discobolus, not expressed. The 

 Townley marble is however throwing the quoit, both knees are bent, and 

 the toes of the left foot, on which the li.-ure partly rests, am turned 

 back : the action is perfectly momentary, and ho is already Riving tho 

 impetus to his throw, Barry preferred the forward direction of the 

 head, as in this statue, to the turn spoken of by Lucian and seen in 

 other statues of this subject, as much more consistent with the neces- 

 sary impetus of the throw. Myron had a son Lycius who was like- 

 wise a sculptor. He is mentioned by 1'liny, and Pausanins (i. 23) say* 

 he saw in the Acropolis at Athena a bra/.en boy holding a laver, by 

 Lycius the sun of Myron (Kuhu and Amacaeus read AKKI'OX instead of 

 AVKI'OU in this passage) : Pliny calls Lycius the pupil of Myron. 



(Pliny, llift. Nat., xxxiv. 8, 10; xxxvi. 5, 4; Junius, Catalogue 

 Artificum ; Sillig, Catalogut Art\ftcum; Sountag, Vnterhaltungrn filr 

 Freunde der alien Literaiur, <tc., i. 100-119 ; \Viuckelomnn, \\'crkt, voL 

 vi. ; Bbttiger, AUgemeine Uebersichten und Getchichte der I'lailik bei 

 Jen Oriechen, in his A ndcntungen zu Yortrdgen iiber die Archaeologie ; 

 Qb'the, Propyliien ; Barry, Jfdrtj, vol. i. See aUo Specimen! "f Ancient 

 Sculpture, published by the Society of Dilettanti, voL L, ami vol. i. of 

 Tke Tovnley Gallery of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Know- 

 ledge, in both of which the Discobolus is engraved.) 



MYTENS, I'ANIKL, a native of the Hague, where he was born 

 about 1590, was the best portrait-painter in England during the reign 

 of James I., and previous to the arrival of Vandyck, to whom he was 

 little inferior. He was in KuglnnJ in the time of Van Soiner, but he 

 did not attain to great celebrity until he was appointed ono of his 

 court painters by Charle- I. in 1625, with a salary of 201. per annum, 

 and in the following year he receive I in addition l'2nl. for picture* 

 painted for the king. Hytens now executed many portraits of royal 

 and distinguished personages, some of which are at Hampton Court : 

 and he was in great favour until about 1 632, when he was so much 

 disconcerted at the favour shown by the king to Vaudyck, that ho 

 solicited Charles for leave to retire to his own country ; but the king, 

 learning the cause of his dissatisfaction, entreated him to remain, and 

 told him that he should have work enough both for him and Vandyck. 

 Mytens remained, but apparently for a t-hort time only, as none of hid 

 works in England bear a date subsrqucnt to the arrival of Vaudyck. 

 The two rivals however parted apparently on good terms, for Vanityck 

 painted the portrait of Mytens, and it is engraved in the collection of 

 Vaodyck'i portraits, by Pontius. Mytens returned to the Hague, and 

 was still living there in 1656, when he painted a portion of the ceiling 

 of the town-house of that place. His style was bold, firm, and natural, 

 his colouring mellow and harmonious, and his pictures are frequently 

 enriched by warm landscape backgrounds. There are many of his 

 portraits at Hampton Court, of which the full-length of James, first 

 Marquis of Hamilton, is an excellent picture : there are here also Prince 

 Uupert when a boy, and the dwarf, Sir Jeffrey Hudson. My tens intro- 

 duced this dwarf in a large portrait of Charles and his queen, which 

 was in the possession of the Earl -of Duumore. 



N 



V ABIS, tyrant of Sparta, attained the supreme power after the death 

 i> of the tyrant Uachauida*, who wa* killed about u.u. 208. He 

 proved a cruel despot, and put to death a number of citizens. He had 

 an ingrniou* engine of torture, described by Polybiu* (xiil), which 

 wa* called ' Nabis's wife,' and which he applied to those who would 

 not deliver up their money to him. He allied himself with Philip II. 

 of Hacedon, and took po*sn ion of Argos and other parts of the 

 Peloponnmu*. After the defeat of Philip, and the peace which fol- 

 lowed between him and Rome, the consul rlamininua marched against 

 Kab**, defeated him, but afterward* muted him peace, taking hi* son 

 a* bxxtage to Rome. After the departure of the liomana, Nabis 

 having bgun to annoy hi* neighbour* afresh, the Aobtoans lent against 

 him their gentral 1'hilopccmen, who defatted him and drove him back 

 into Sparta, when Mabi* waa soon after treacherously killed by his 

 own .-Mohan auxiliaries, &C. 192. (Livy, xxv. 35.) He appears to 

 have been a very able commander in war. 



NADAB, the ion of Jeroboam, became king of Israel on the death 

 of hi* father B.C. 968, and adopted the worship that hi* father had 

 established. In the second year of his reign, while besieging Qibbe- 

 tiion, which belonged to the Philistine*, and against which he bad 

 led " all Iirarl," Paha, the non of Abtjab, one of hi* captain*, formed 

 oooefiiracy agaiutt him, and slew him. Baaaha then occupied the 

 throne, which ho continued to do for twenty-three years, during which 

 timr, according to the oriental custom, " be smote all the house of 

 Jeioboam ; be left not to Jeroboam any that breathed , " thus fulfilling 

 the prophecy of Ahijali the Sl.il.. 



VADIfi .SHAH was born on the llth of November 1688, at the 

 small village of Abuver, near Killaat, about 80 mile* north-east of 



Mushed in the province of Rhorassan. He was originally called 

 ' Nadir Kouli,' that is, 'a slave of the Wonderful,' or 'of God.' When 

 he entered the service of Ti'unasp, king of Persia, he asmimed the 

 name of ' Tamoip Kouli Khan,' that is, ' Khan, slave of Tamftep ; ' 

 but on his accession to the throne he returned his original name of 

 1 Nadir.' 



The father of Na<lir belonged to the tribe of Afeshar, which was 

 one of the seven Turkish tribes which had attached themselves to the 

 kings of Persia, He was a person of no note or rank, and earned his 

 livelihood by mean* of making coat* and caps of sheep-skins. N:\dir 

 after his elevation to the throne, used frequently to allude to hi* low 

 birth. When tho royal house of Delhi required that his eon, who wa* 

 about to marry a princes* of that family, should give an account of 

 hi* male ancestor* for (even generations, Nadir exclaimed, " Tell 

 them that he is the ion of Nadir Shah, the son of the sword, the 

 grandson of the (word, and so on till they have a descent of seventy 

 instead of seven generation*," 



Nadir was distinguiahed in early years by his boldness and intre''- 

 pidity. At the age of seventeen he waa taken prisoner by the Usbegs, 

 who made annual incursions into Khorosaan; but ho effected his 

 eecape after a captivity of four year*. On his return to Khonuaan, 

 he entered the service of a petty chief of his native country ; but ho 

 became oon afterwards the leader of a formidable baud of robbers. 

 From this employment he rose, by a transition by no means uncommon 

 in the East, to a high rank in the service of the governor of Kboraesan ; 

 but having displeased his master, he was degraded and severely 

 punished. After this he resumed his occupation as a robber; and iu 

 cousequc uce of the unsettled state of tho country, he acquired in a 



