MINERVA MINIATUHE PAINTING. 



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Enceiadus. In the wars of mortals, she aids and 

 protects heroes. She conducted Hercules to Olym- 

 pus, instructed Bellerophon (see HipponoUs) how to 

 tame Pegasus, and conquer the Chimaera, accom- 

 panied Perseus on his expedition against the Gordons, 

 conferred immortality on Tydeus, honoured Achilles, 

 accompanied Ulysses, protected his wife, and guided 

 his son Telemachus under the figure of Mentor. She 

 also favoured the inventors of warlike instruments, 

 built the Argo, and taught Epeus to construct the 

 wooden horse, by means of which Troy was captured. 

 She is likewise represented as the patroness of the 

 arts of peace ; and, as & virgin, is distinguished for 

 her skill in all the employments, in which, in the 

 heroic age, the daughters of kings occupied them- 

 selves. The loom, the spindle, the embroidering 

 needle, are her attributes ; and, as the wives of the 

 heroes prepared the garments of their households, so 

 she made the dresses of the goddesses ; hence her 

 epithet Ergane. Skilful artists were, therefore, 

 under her protection, though she would not tolerate 

 any marks of pride. (See Arachne.) All the peaceful 

 arts which display an active and inventive spirit, 

 found a patron in her. The sculptor, the architect 

 and the painter, as well as the philosopher, the 

 orator and the poet, considered her their tutelary 

 deity. As bodily health is necessary to the success- 

 ful exertion of the inventive powers of the mind, she 

 is also represented among the healing gods, and in 

 this character is called Peeonia. In all these repre- 

 sentations she is the symbol of the thinking faculty, 

 the goddess of wisdom, science, and art; the latter, 

 however, only, in so far as invention and thought are 

 comprehended. Athens, the city of the arts and 

 sciences, was her favourite residence. She is also 

 styled the inventress of the flute ; but having seen, 

 in a fountain, how much the playing upon that instru- 

 ment distorted her face, she threw it into the water, 

 with maledictions on the person who should take it 

 out. Marsyas suffered the effects of this malediction. 

 Despising love, she consecrated herself to perpetual 

 virginity ; and the unhappy wretch, who directed to- 

 wards her a glance of desire, suffered the severest 

 penalties for his rashness. Tiresias, who surprised 

 her in the bath, was struck blind. 



The arts have imbodied this conception of pure 

 reason in the images of the goddess. A manly gra- 

 vity, and an air of reflection, is united with female 

 beauty in her features. As a warrior, she is repre- 

 sented completely armed, her head covered with a 

 gold helmet, from which streams a crest of horse- 

 hair, her hand bearing her lance, and her body 

 mailed with the armour of her father. As the god- 

 dess of peaceful arts, she appears in the dress of a 

 Grecian matron. To her attributes belong, also, the 

 ^Egis, the Gorgon's head, the round Argive buckler, 

 and the owl, as the symbol of vigilance (on co'ns, 

 the cock). As the preserver of health, she is 

 also represented as feeding a dragon, and the olive- 

 branch is a symbol of the peaceful commerce, which 

 is tendered prosperous through her favour. An 

 Athenian tradition relates that Neptune and Minerva 

 (Mnvr!) once contended which should give the name 

 to their city ; the gods, to decide the dispute, declared 

 that it should be called from the one who should pro- 

 duce the most useful gift for the human race. Nep- 

 tune, therefore, struck the ground with his trident, 

 and the war-horse sprang forth ; Minerva threw her 

 spear, and from the spot where it fell sprouted forth 

 the peaceful olive-tree. Her present was determined 

 to be the most salutary, and the city received her 

 name. All Attica, but particularly Athens, was 

 sacred to her, and she had numerous temples there. 

 (See Parthenon.) Her most brilliant festival at 

 Athfns was the Panatheniea. Another festival was 



the solemn washing of her statues at Athens, and 

 more particularly at Argos, which was done yearly 

 in running water, by the hands of virgins. The 

 Romans worshipped her at first only as the goddess 

 of war (Bellona) ; but she afterwards became one of 

 the guardian gods of Rome. The principal temple in 

 the capitol was dedicated to her, in common with Jupi- 

 ter and Juno, and a yearly festival was observed in hon- 

 our of her, which continued five days (Quinquatria.) 



MINGOTTI, CATHARINE ; an eminent singer, born 

 at Naples in 1728, of German parents. After the 

 death of her father, who was in the Austrian military 

 service, Catharine entered an Ursuline convent. The 

 music made such an impression upon her, that she 

 implored the abbess, with tears, to allow her to re- 

 ceive musical instruction, that she might be able to 

 accompany the choir : her request was granted. At 

 the age of fourteen she returned to her mother, and 

 some years after married Mingotti, a Venetian, who 

 had the direction of the opera at Dresden. On her 

 first appearance in Dresden, she attracted general 

 admiration, and Porpora (q. v.), who was then in the 

 king's employ, procured her an engagement at tilt- 

 theatre. Her reputation soon extended through Eu- 

 rope, and she was engaged to sing at the grand opera 

 in Naples, where she was received with undivided 

 applause. On her return to Dresden, in 1748, Hassa 

 was at the head of the chapel, and endeavoured to 

 place difficulties in her way, which she escaped with 

 such success as to silence her enemies, and even 

 Faustina. In 1751, she went to Spain, under the di- 

 rection of Farinelli, visited Paris and London in 1754, 

 and afterwards the different cities of Italy, but always 

 considered Dresden as her home during the life of 

 Augustus. After his death, she resided at Munich. 

 She died in 1807. Mingotti spoke German, French, 

 and Italian, with elegance, Spanish and English with 

 ease, and understood Latin. Her style of singing was 

 grand and dramatic, and such as discovered her to 

 be a perfect mistress of her art. She was a judicious 

 actress, her intelligence extending to the poetry, de- 

 corations, and every part of the drama. 



MINGRELIA; an Asiatic province of Russia, 

 bounded north by the Caucasus, which separates it 

 from Circassia, west by the Black sea, south by 

 Guria, and east by Imeretia. It is in general moun- 

 tainous, with a fertile soil, producing excellent fruits. 

 Wine, honey, silk, and women are the chief articles 

 of commerce. The population is composed of about 

 1 4,000 families Georgians, Armenians, Tartars, and 

 Jews. The Greek church is the predominant reli- 

 gion. The inhabitants are divided into three distinct 

 castes, the Dchinandi, or that of princes, the Ssk- 

 kour, or nobles, and the Moniali, or commons : the. 

 last are the cultivators of the soil. Mingrelia is 

 governed by a prince, called the Dadian, who, in 

 1803, declared himself the vassal of Russia. In 1813, 

 Persia renounced all claims of sovereignty over it, in 

 favour of Russia. 



MINHO, or, in Spanish, Mino (Minius), a river of 

 Spain and Portugal, which rises near Mondonedo, 

 among the mountains in the north of Galicia, crosses 

 that province nearly from north to south, till it arrives 

 at the frontiers of Portugal, where it takes a western 

 direction, and forms the boundary between the two 

 kingdoms. It flows into the Atlantic at Guardia. It 

 is only navigable to a small distance for boats, on ac- 

 count of the sand-banks. It gives its name to the 

 northernmost province of Portugal, called also Entre 

 Douro e Minho, remarkable for its fertility and 

 delightful climate, of which Braga is the capital, and 

 Oporto the principal port. See Portugal. 



MINIATURE PAINTING ; that branch of paint- 

 ing, in water colours, in which the colours are put on 

 by the mere point of the brush. It differs from other 



