TERTINAX, PUBLICS HELVIUS. 



1'KUUZZI, BALDASSARE. 



fa 3 vela, STO, published, 1848-55, by liii wo, Clemens Theodor, who is 

 professor of law in the l'niv rmity of Bonn. Betides then*, some of hi* 

 corrwpoDdcnoo was published in 1819 in 'Ktwu iibcr den Deutachen 

 Adcl, in Bricfen,' a correspondence between Pi rtbes, Fouqm', Moser.and 

 other* ; and in ' Britrage xur Geschichte Dcutecblands in den Jnhrru 

 1805-1809, aus briefljcbcn Mitthtilmigeu.' letters between Pertbes, 

 Johann von Mulhr. add others, issued in 1S03. His eon Clemens, 

 bnide the Memoirs of his father, is tlie author of 'Der Dcutuche 

 SUataleben Tor dcr l>i\oluti. n. Kine Vorarb.it zuui deuL-chtn 

 Suat*recbt,'1845; and Einverleibung Krakaus. uud die Scblussacte 

 d Wiener Congresses,' 1846. The Memoirs have been translated 

 with tome condensation, in 2 voln. Svo, published ia 1856. 



PK'KTINAX, PU'BLIUS HE'LVICS, born about A.D. 126, at Villa 

 Marti*, near Alba Pompeis, now Alba in Piedmont, on the banks of 

 the Tanarus, was the son of a frecdmnn who dealt in charcoal, on 

 important article of fuel in Italy even at tho present day. His father 

 gave him a good education, placing him under the tuition of Sulpicius 

 Apollinaris, a celebrated grammarian, who is rcpiatedly quoted by 

 Aulus Gellius. Pertinax became a proficient in the Greek and Roman 

 languages; and afU-r the death of his master, he taught grammar 

 himself. But being dissatisfied with the email profits of bis profession, 

 he entered the army ; and being assisted by the interest of Lollianua 

 A vitas, a man of a consular family and his father's patroiius, he was 

 promoted to a command. 



He was sent to Syria at the head of a cohort, and served with 

 distinction against the Parthians, under L. Yerus, the colleague of 

 Marcus Aurelius. He was afterwards sent to Britain, where he 

 remained for some time. Subsequently he served in Mcraia, Germany, 

 and Dacia ; but upon some suspicion of his fidelity, ho was recalled by 

 Marcus Aurelius. Having cleared himself, he was made prector and 

 commander of the first legion, and obtained the rank of senator. 

 Bring sent to Rlitetia and Noricuui, he drove away the hostile German 

 tribes. His next promotion was to the consulate, and he publicly 

 received the praise of Marcus in the senate and in the camp for his 

 distinguished services. In Syria he assisted in repressing the revolt of 

 Aviius CoMius. He was next removed to the command of the legions 

 on the Danube, and was made governor of Mcosia and Dacia, and 

 afterwards returned to Syria as governor, where he remained till the 

 death of Marcus. Capitolinus says that his conduct was irreprehensible 

 till the time of his Syrian government, when he enriched himself, and 

 his conduct became the subject of popular censure. 



On his return to Rome, he waa banished by Perennis, the favourite 

 of Commpdus, to bis native country, Liguria. Here he adorned Villa 

 Martin with sumptuous buildings, in the midst of which however he 

 left his humble paternal cottage untouched. He remained three years 

 in Liguria. After the death of Perennis, Commodus commissioned 

 him to proceed to Britain, where the licentiousness of the troops had 

 degenerated into mutiny. On bis arrival, the soldiers wished to saluto 

 him emperor, and were with difficulty prevented by Pertinax, who 

 teems to have found the discipline of the legions in that remote part 

 of the empire in a moat deplorable state. One of the legions revolted 

 sgainst him ; and in tryiug to repress it, he was wounded, and left 

 among the dead. On his recovery, he punished tho mutineer', and 

 solicited the emperor for his recall, as big attempts at restoring 

 discipline had rendered him obnoxious to the army. He was then 

 sent proconsul to Africa, and was afterwards made pnefcct of Rome, 

 in which office he showed much temperance and humanity. 



Colo of Pertlnax. 

 BritUh Miuenm. Actual itzo. 



After the murder of Commodus, two of the conspirators, Ltetus and 

 Electiis, went to Pertinax and offered him the empire, which Pertinax 

 at first refused, but afterwards accepted, and was proclaimed emperor 

 by the senate in the night previous to the 1st of January, A.D. 103. 

 Pertinax readied those who bnd been exiled for treason under Com- 

 modus, nnd cleared from obloquy the memory of those who had been 

 unjustly put to death, but bis attcroj.U to restore discipline in the 

 srmy alienated the affection, of the soldier*, who bsd been accustomed 

 to licrnce undc-r the reign of Commodu*. As he found the trtasury 

 mpty, be s.ld the statues, the plate, and all tho valuable objects 

 aoiaxcd by Commodus, and ven his concubines. By this means he 

 collected money to pay the Prtotorians, and to make the usual gifts 

 to the |*ople of Rome. He publicly declared that he would receive 

 BO legacies or inheritance from any one, and he took away sevcrsl 

 taxes and tolls which bad been imposed by Commoduf. Pertiunx 



was cherished by the senate and the people ; but the turbulent Prat- 

 torians, secretly encouraged by the traitor Ltotus, oon-pired against 

 the new emperor. After offering the empire to several persons, they 

 went to the palaeo, three hundred in number. The friends of Pertinax 

 urged him to conceal himself till the storm had passed ; but the 

 emperor said that such conduct would be unworthy of his rank ; and 

 he appeared before the mutineers, and calmly remonstrated with them 

 upon the guilt of their attempt. He was making an impression upon 

 them, when one of the soldiers, a German by birth, threw bin spear at 

 him and wounded him in tho breast Pertiuax then covered his face, 

 and praying the gods to avem-o his murder, was finished by the other 

 soldier*. Electus alone defended him as long as he could, and was 

 killed with him. The soldiers cut off the head of Pertinax and carried 

 it into their camp, and then put the empire to auction, offering it to 

 the highest bidder. [Dimes, JuLiAKua] Pertinax was sixty-seven 

 years of age, and had rvigned eighty-seven days. 



1'KKUUl'NO, PIKTHO, or P1ETRO VANNUCCI DELLA 

 1'II.VK, or as he subscribed himself, 'DE CASTRO PLEBIS,' was 

 the son of a certain Cristofano, a poor man of Castello della Pieve, 

 where Pietro was born, in the year 1440. His father is said to have 

 placed him as a shop-boy (fattorino) with a painter of Perugia. When 

 about twenty-five years of age, according to Vatari, he vUited Florence, 

 and became a pupil of Andrea Ver< cchio, the master of Lorenzo di 

 Credi and Leonardo da Vinci ; but this fact seems very doubtful, and 

 Mariotti questions whether he visited Florence thus early. Be that as 

 it may, in the course of a few years be attained considerable reputa- 

 tion, and his works were so much esteemed as to be exported. In 

 1475 we find him employed by tho magistrates of Perugia, and the 

 order for a payment to him in that year appears on the public records 

 of the town. In 14SO he executed some frescoes for Sixtus IV. in the 

 Sistine chapel at Home : only one or two of these now remain, the 

 greater part having been destroyed to make room for the Last Judg- 

 ment of M. Angelo in the time of Paul III. The Dead Christ, and 

 other figuies so much praised by Vasari, were painted for the nuns of 

 Santu Chiara at Florence in 1485. Francesco del Pugliese is raid to 

 have bid for this picture three times the original price, and a duplicate 

 by Perufiiuo, but the offer was refused. In the year 1500 Pietro 

 executed the frescoes in the Cambio at Perucia. He afterwards visited 

 Florence, but, in consequence of a quarrel with the artists there, 

 returned to tho city whence he derives his name. He died at Cantello 

 dclla Pieve, in 1524. 



The fume of Perugino has certainly been widely spread, from the 

 circumstance of his having been the teacher of Raffaelle ; but, at the 

 same time, the superior genius of the pupil baa served to throw into 

 comparative obscurity the great merit of the master. Perugino was a 

 moat unequal painter : bis early works are far better than those exe- 

 cuted after 1500. The popularity of his pictures, and the facility \\ hi. h 

 he bad acquired, produced repetition and mechanical execution. 

 Vasari eays " he gave all his figures one aud the same air;" but that 

 "air" is unquestionably far superior to the contortions of Vasari 

 himself and his fellow pupil.-) in the school of M. Angelo. Perugino 

 lived to fee the conflict between the old and simple style, and the very 

 different principles of the great master just named. With M. Angelo 

 himself he is reported to have had a public quarrel : Vasari's account 

 therefore of bis moral character must be received with some little 

 suspicion. He says that Perugino was an infidel, who could never be 

 brought to believe in the immortality of the soul, and who would do 

 anything for money. At the same time he gives him great credit for 

 his technical skill, especially in colouring. Perugiuo's pictures how- 

 ever are singularly pure in style, and certainly such as seems scarcely 

 compatible with the character which Vasari gives of the painter. 



Among the beet pictures of Perugino now extant are : An ' Infant 

 Christ, Virgin, and Angels,' painted in 1480, and preserved in the 

 Albaui Palace at Home; a Fresco in Santa M. Maddalena dci Pazzl at 

 Florence, executed at a later period ; the ' Dead Christ,' before alluded 

 to (now in the Pitti Palace, No. 164); one or two pictures in the 

 Accademia at Florence ; aud his frescoes in the Cauibio at Perugia. 

 In the National Gallury are two pictures by Perugino ' The Virgin 

 and Infant Christ, with St. John ; ' and ' The Virgin adoring the Infant 

 rhri.it,' with, in one of the fide-compartments, the Archangel Michael 

 and in the other the Archangel Raphael and Tobias. 



Raffaelle was a pupil of Pi rugino, and his early works, such as tho 

 ' Marriage of the Virgin,' greatly resemble those of his master. After 

 Raffaelle tho following painters were among tho most eminent scholars 

 of I'erugino : Pinturicchio of Perugia ; Andrea Luigi d'Assisi, called 

 L'lngi'gno; Giovanni Spagnuolo, suruamcd Lo Spsgna; and Rocco 

 Zoppo of Florence. All of these closely imitated Perugino's manner, 

 and many of the works attributed to the master are doubtless by one 

 or other of the pupils. 



(Vasari, Vile <lci Piitori ; Mariotti, Ltltert Pittoriche Patigine ; 

 Rumobr, Italienitrht Fortchungtn ; Lanzi, Storia Piltorica, 



1'KRUZZI, BALUASSA'HE, an architect of less celebrity than 

 many greatly inferior to him in design, was born in 1481 at Volterra, 

 to which city his father Antonio had removed, in otder to avoid the 

 civil dissensions which agitated Florence. A few years afterwards 

 Volterra itself was besieged and sacked, aud Antonio flul t<> 

 where the family lived in reduced circumstances, having lost nearly 

 all their property. On his father's death, Baldos&arr, who had enjoyed 



