929 



PONTIUS PILATE. 



POOLE, PAUL FALCONER, A.R.A. 



960 



Pontius was the pupil of Vosterman, and he is chiefly distinguished 

 for his excellent prints after Rubens, which he executed under that 

 great painter's inspection. He engraved also a celebrated set of 

 portraits after Vandyck, including those of many of the most distin- 

 guished Flemish painters. 



PONTIUS PILATE. [PILATE, PONTIUS.] 



PONTO'PPIDAN, ERIC, was born at Aarhuus in Jutland, and was 

 the son of Louis Pontoppidan, a clergyman who wrote several ascetic 

 works, besides a ' Theatrum Nobilitatis Danicse,' 2 vols. foL Eric 

 studied at Fredericia, and afterwards at Copenhagen, where he took 

 his degree in divinity. He then became preceptor to several young 

 noblemen, with whom he travelled. Subsequently he was appointed 

 minister of a country parish in Holstein, and in 1735 he was numbered 

 among the king's chaplains. In 1738 he was appointed to a chair 

 of theology in the University of Copenhagen; and in 1747 he was 

 made bishop of Bergen in Norway. He was the author of numerous 

 works, both in Danish and Latin, upon historical, religious, and anti- 

 quarian subjects. The principal are : 1, 'Theatrum Daniae veteris et 

 modernse,' 4to, 1730, being a description of the geography, natural 

 history, antiquities, &c. of the kingdom of Denmark. The author 

 afterwards treated the same subject at much greater length in a work 

 written in the Danish language. 2, ' Den Danske Atlas,' in 7 thick 

 vols. 4to, most of which were published after his death, and which 

 give a complete and elaborate topographical description of Denmark, 

 accompanied by maps, views, and plans of the various towns, engrav- 

 ings of curious coins, inscriptions, monuments, costumes, and other 

 remarkable objects, with an introduction to the history of the country, 

 the genealogy of its kings, and other particulars relative to its history. 

 3, 'Gesta et Vestigia Danorum extra Daniam,' 2 vols. 8vo, 1740. In 

 this work Pontoppidan gives the history of the old Danish race ; its 

 migrations to Britain, France, and other countries ; the exploits of its 

 warriors, &c. In his narrative the author is considered as having 

 allowed himself to be carried by national feelings beyond the bounds 

 of critical discrimination. 4, ' Annales Ecclesise Danicee,' 4 vols. 4to, 

 a good history of the church of Denmark. 5, ' Marmora Dauica 

 select iora,' in fol., in which the author copies a number of inscriptions 

 of various ages, which elucidate the history of his country. 6, ' Det 

 fo'rste forsog paa Norges naturlige historic,' 4 to, 1752, being an essay 

 on the natural history of Norway, translated into English in 1755 ; a 

 curious work, but exhibiting marks of considerable credulity, especially 

 concerning the enormous sea-serpents, the kraaken, and other fabulous 

 monsters. 7, 'Memorise Hafnia;,' a good description of the city of 

 Copenhagen. 8, ' Origines Havnienses,' a history of the same city. 9, 

 1 Glossarium Norvegicum,' or collection of obsolete words in that lan- 

 guage, Bergen, 1749. 10, ' A Manual of Religion, in Danish, or Explana- 

 tion of Luther's Catechism,' a work which was translated into German 

 and Icelandic, and used in schools throughout all the Danish monarchy. 

 Pontoppidan died at Bergen, in 1764. His relative, Christian Joachim 

 Pontoppidan, published two good maps of Norway in 1785 and 1795. 



PONTORMO, JA'COPO DA, or JACOPO CABBUCCI, a distinguished 

 Florentine pinter, was born at Pontormo in 1493, and died at Florence 

 in 1558. He was a short time the pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, and he 

 studied under Albertinelli, Piero di Cosimo, and Andrea del Sarto. 

 He painted for some time in a similar style to Andrea, and was that 

 painter's rival ; but he frequently changed his manner, and three 

 distinct styles are ascribed to him, the last imitated from the works of 

 Albert Diirer. Towards the close of his life he spent eleven years in 

 painting some frescoes of the ' Deluge ' and the ' Last Judgment ' in 

 the church of San Lorenzo, in the manner of the imitators of Michel 

 Angelo, but they have long since been whitewashed over. 



PONZ, ANTONIO, a highly meritorious Spanish topographer and 

 writer on the fine arts, was born in 1725, at Bexix, in the district of 

 Segorbe iu Valencia. His parents, who were persons of great respect- 

 ability and considerable property, intended to bring him up for the 

 church, and he was sent to pursue his studies accordingly, first at 

 Segorbe, and afterwards at the University of Valencia, at both which 

 places he gave proofs of more than ordinary ability and application. 

 Yet, though he made sufficient progress in theology to be able to take 

 the degree of doctor, he had very little relish for it, while he had a 

 decided inclination for the belles-lettres, for the study of foreign 

 languages, and for the fine arts. His taste for the latter induced him 

 to take lessons from his friend Antonio Richart, an artist of some 

 repute at Valencia. Renouncing all idea of entering the Church he 

 repaired to Madrid, where he enrolled himself among the first pupils 

 of the Academy^of the Fine Arts. The course of instruction there given 

 was far too methodical to suit his eager impatience, and he determined 

 to set out at once for Rome in the company of some Jesuits who were 

 going thither. He proceeded to Italy iu 1751, and, after visiting some 

 other places, fixed himself at Rome, where he continued between nine 

 and ten years, diligently examining all the chief antiquities and works 

 of art, nd also acquired considerable skill in the practice of painting, 

 so as to be able not only to support himself, but to collect a number of 

 the molt valuable publications on art and antiquity. 



From Rome he wa? attracted, in 1759, to Kaples, by the discoveries 

 made at Herculancum and Pompeii, and tbe treasures of art ho there 

 met with to excited his enthusiasm, that he determined to visit Greece, 

 Syria, and Egypt, and was deterred from that project only by the 

 advice of Aroategui, the Spanish minister at Naples. 



BIOO. DIV. VOL. IV. 



Ponz accordingly returned to Madrid ; nor was it long before he 

 obtained a commission that engaged him for a very considerable time. 

 The king (Charles III.) was desirous of adorning the library of the 

 Escurial with a series of portraits of eminent literary characters, and 

 Ponz was selected to paiut them. He passed between five and six 

 years within the walls of the Escurial, where, when not occupied with 

 his pencil, he found ample employment and recreation in the stores 

 of literature and art there treasured. He there copied Raffaelle's 

 celebrated Virgen del Pez, Guido's Virgen della Silla, and one or two 

 other master-pieces. 



Almost immediately after he had completed his series of portraits 

 in the Escurial library, he was appointed to visit the colleges, &c. of 

 the Jesuits, then recently suppressed in Spain, for the purpose of 

 taking an account of the paintings, &c. contained in them. It is to 

 the circumstance of his being so employed that we are indebted for 

 his 'Viage de Espana,' in 18 vols., a work of very great interest and 

 value in itself as a contribution to the history of art, and not the less 

 so because it affords a fund of information scarcely to be obtained 

 from other sources : it is further interesting on account of the original 

 remarks and criticisms with which it is interspersed, and which attest 

 the author's taste and learning. This publication aud the different 

 tours he made (chiefly through the southern provinces of the king- 

 dom) occupied him from about 1771 to 1790, when bis declining 

 health prevented him from completing his plan. He died at Madrid, 

 December 4, 1792. 



Ponz was secretary to the Academy of the Fine Arts, to which office he 

 was appointed in 177C, a corresponding member of the Royal Academy 

 of History, and also member of tbe Society of Antiquaries, London, 

 and of several other learned bodies. Besides his principal work he 

 published another in two volumes, entitled ' Viage fuera de Espana,' 

 in which we meet with observations on some of the buildings in 

 London. 



POOLE, MATTHEW, a learned non-conforming divine of tho 

 English Church, author of the well known and useful book ' Synopsis 

 Criticorum Biblicorum.' He was bom at York about the year 1624, 

 and inherited from his family a good estate in that county. He was 

 educated in Emmanuel College, Cambridge ; but we have been unable 

 to trace the circumstances of his history, till we find him, in 1662, in 

 possession of the church of St. Michael le Querne in London, which 

 he resigned, being unable to comply with the terms of ministerial 

 conformity imposed by the Act of Uniformity passed in that year. 

 Previously however he had exerted himself successfully in a scheme 

 for the education of persons intended for the ministry, which was 

 liberally patronised, of which, in 1658, he printed an account, in a 

 book entitled 'A Model for the maintaining of Students of Choice 

 Abilities in the University, and principally iu order to the Ministry.' 



Being ejected from his cure, and prohibited from the exercise of his 

 ministry, he had leisure to devote himself to the completion of the 

 great work which has made his name so extensively known. The 

 design was nothing less than to bring into one view whatever had 

 been written by critics of all ages aud nations on the books of Holy 

 Scripture. This, after ten years' labour, he completed, and the first 

 two volumes appeared iu 1669. These were followed by three other 

 volumes, forming together five large folios, of which an extensive 

 edition was printed. The work was perhaps as good as a work of the> 

 kind can be, and few will deny that it is a very valuable and useful 

 abridgement ; but synopses and abridgements are rather for the mul- 

 titude than for scholars, who are rarely satisfied with the opinions of 

 any author which are thus presented to them at second-hand and 

 without that fulness of illustration which the author himself had 

 given ; yet, being -written in the Latin language, it is manifest that 

 the compiler contemplated a work adapted to the necessities and 

 tastes of Biblical scholars. Its chief use may perhaps be said to be 

 as a convenient body of exegetic criticism for Biblical students who 

 are placed in situations which cut them off from convenient access to 

 large libraries, and for them it has been to a great extent rendered 

 obsolete by the important results of recent research. 



Besides this, there is an English work by the same author, ' Anno- 

 tations on Scripture,' which was left by him unfinished, but com- 

 pleted by several of his non-conforming brethren. This work 

 appeared in 2 vols. fol., 1685. He was also engaged in most of the 

 controversies of his time : he attacked Biddle on the Socinian ques- 

 tion; he published a defence of the non-conforming clergy iu 1062; 

 he wrote against the intrusion of laymen into the ministerial office ; 

 and ho was the author of ' The Nullity of the Romish Faith,' 1666, 

 and of other treatises iu the controversy with the Papists. He retired 

 to Holland to find the toleration which was denied him at home, and 

 died at Amsterdam in 1679. 



* POOLE, PAUL FALCONER, A.R.A., was born at Bristol in 

 1810. In our notices of eminent English historical painters wo have 

 generally had to speak of them as having learned their art iu the 

 schools of the Royal Academy : Mr. Poole, on the contrary, was self- 

 taught. In his earlier works especially, the absence of academic 

 training might be readily detected in certain deficiencies of drawing, 

 and a somewhat too palpable neglect of recognised principles; yet it 

 might well be doubted whether these shortcomings were not compen- 

 sated by the brave neglect of petty conventionalisms and the free play 

 given to original thought unrestrained by academic rules and prece. 



So 



