Religion. — Christianity was introduced into the Ork-
neys by the Norsemen in the beginning of the 11th century. Down to the time of the Reformation the Orkneys and Shetland Isles formed a separate bishop- ric, under the archbishop of Trondhjem, and the bish- op's seat was Kirkevaag, the present Kirkwall. After the establishment of Presbyterianism Orkney was di- vided into 32 parishes, having 8 parishes of the Church of Scotland. At present, however, the Orkneys are divided into 22 parishes, forming 3 presbyteries and 1 synod. There are also about 30 congregations be- longing to the Free and United Presbyterian church- es, besides 3 Independent, and one or two others. See Orkneyinga Saga; Munch, Dei norske Folks Ilis- torie,
Orlali. See Talmud.
Orlaudini, Niccolo, one of the most noted char- acters of the Order of the Jesuits, was born at Florence, Itah', in 1554. He entered the society in 1572, where he was distinguished by the purity of his morals and proficiency in literature. He became rector of the col-' lege at Nola, and afterwards president of the seminary for novices at Naples. He died at Rome in 1606. He was engaged on a history of his order, but did not live to complete more than the first volume of it. It was afterwards continued by Sacchini, Everard, Jouvency, and Cordara ; in all seven volumes. The work is pub- lished under the title Ilistorice Societatis Jesu prima pars (sive Ignatius, A.D. 1540-1556) (Roma, 1615, fol.). See Sacchini, Notice, which forms the introduction to the history' above referred to.
Orlando, Bernardo, a Piedmontese painter, flour- ished at Turin in the first part of the 17th century. At that time the rich collections of pictures and drawings in the royal galleries at the court were made subservi- ent to the instruction of young artists, which was in- trusted to a painter of the court. Orlando was invested with this charge, and appointed painter to the duke in 1617. But we call attention to him here because he also painted some pictures for churches. See Spooner, Biograjihical Dictionary of the Fine Arts, vol. ii, s. V.
Orlay, Bernard van, or Bernard of Brussels, a celebrated [lainter, largely devoted to the development of sacred art, was born in that city about the year 1490. He went to Rome when he was very young, where he had the good fortune to become a pupil of Raphael. On his return to Brussels he was appointed principal painter to the governess of the Netherlands, and was likewise emploj'ed for many j-ears by the em- peror Charles V. The style of his design was noble, and his tone of coloring agreeable. He very frequent- ly painted on a ground of leaf-gold, especially if he was engaged on a work of importance, a circumstance which is said to have preserved the freshness and lustre of his colors; in his hunting-pieces, in which he introduced portraits of Charles V and the nobles of his court, he usually took the scenery from the forest of Soignies, which afforded him ample variety. He was engaged by the prince of Nassau to paint sixteen cartoons, as models for tapestry, intended for the decoration of his palace. Each cartoon contained only two figures, a knight and a lady on horseback, representing some members of the Nassau family. They were designed in an elevated style; and by the prince's order they were afterwards copied in oil by Jordaens. He painted for the chapel of a monastery at Antwerp a picture of the Last Judgment, which was much admired. Ber- nard van Orlay died in 1.560. AVaagen mentions sev- eral excellent pictures by him in the collections in Eng- land, especially in those of the duke of Devonshire at Devonshire House, Piccadilly, and at Chiswick ; at Ked- dleston Hall, the seat of the earl Scarsdale, where is a picture of the Virgin with the infant Christ blessing St. John in the presence of Joseph and Elizabeth— the figures are three quarters the size of life — which is one of the fuiest remaining by Van Orlay ; and at lord Spen-
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cer's, at Althorpe, where is a bust of Anne of Clevcs, very carefully painted. — English Cyclop, s. v.
Orleans, an important commercial town of France, capital of tlie department of Loiret, and formerly capital of the old province of Orleannais, which now forms the greater part of the departments of Loiret, Eure-et-Loir, and Loir-et-Cher, is situated on the right bank of the Loire, here crossed by a bridge of nine arches, and is seventy-five miles and a half south-south-west of Paris by railwaj'. Close to the city is the forest of Orleans, one of the largest in the country, consisting of 94,000 acres, planted with oak and other valuable trees. The city stands on the verge of a magniticcnt plain sloping towards the Loire, and watered by that river and the Loiret, and is surrounded on the land-side by a wall and dry ditches, on either side of which there are pleasantly shaded boulevards. Around it are eight prosperous and populous suburbs. Among its principal buildings are the cathedral, with two lofty and elegant towers, one of the finest Gothic edifices in the country; the tower; bishop's residence ; the houses of Joan of Arc, of Agnes Sorel, of Diane de Poitiers, of Fran(;ois I, of Pothier; the churches and hospitals, which are numerous, etc. The place is noted in ecclesiastical history for the sever- al Church councils which have been held there.