Peruzzini, Cav. Giovanni, an Italian painter of Pesaro or Ancona, was born in 1G29. Canon Laz- zarini asserts that both Domenico and Giovanni Pe- ruzzini were natives of Pesaro, and that they trans- ferred their services to Ancona, their adopted country. Giovanni studied under Siraone Cantarini ; acquired dis- tinction, and painted several pictures for the churches at Ancona, Bologna, and other places. He was invited to the court of Turin, where he executed several works both in oil and in fresco, so much to the satisfaction of his protector that he made him knight of the Or- der of St. Maurice. He possessed a lively imagina- tion, ready invention, and facility of execution. He formed a style of his own, founded on those of Canta- rini, the Caracci, and Guido. He was vain of his facil- ity, as appears on one of his lunettes of the portico de' Scrvi at Bologna, on which he inscribed, Opus 24 Hor. Eq. Jo. P. (the work of twenty-four hours, by Gio. Pe- ruzzini, knight), which caused manj' sarcastic remarks from his brother artists. His best works are finished with more care. The principal at Ancona are the Decollation ofSt..Iohn, at Spedale,and St. Teresa, at the Carnielitani ; at Bologna, The Descent of the Holy Ghost, in the church of SS. Vitale and Agricola, and an altar- piece of St. Cecilia in the church dedicated to that saint. Lanzi saj-s, " In his picture of St. Teresa are traces of Baroccio's manner ; that of the 'Beheading of St. John' is extremely beautiful, and there he appears a scholar of the Bolognese." He afterwards took to a wandering life, and painted in various churches and theatres, if not with much study, yet with tolerable correctness, a knowledge of perspective, and with a certain facility, grace, and spirit which delight the ej'e. His paintings are dispersed through various places in the Picenum, even as far as Ascoli, where are a num- ber of his works. There are also some of his works at Rome and Milan. He died at Milan in 1694. See Spooner, Biog. Hist, of the Fine Arts, ii, 681.
PERUZZINI
994
PESCIA
Penizzini, Domenico, an Italian engraver, was born at Posan) or Ancona ; Nourished, according to the dates in tlie prints attributed to him, from 1640 to IGGl. He is supposed to have been the elder brother of Gio. Peruzzini, and, like him, to have studied under Sinione Cantarini. Lanzi says that in a MS. at Pesaro it is mentioned that Domenico was a native of that city, and a scholar of Pandolli. There is much confusion and contradiction about both artists, and still more uncertainty about Domenico. The list of prints given below were formerly attributed to Domenico Piola; but Bartsch repudiates the idea, and adduces several cogent reasons for transferring them to Domenico Pe- ruzzini. They are etched in a masterly style, resem- bling those of Cantarini. It would seem that both brothers were natives of Pesaro, but preferred to be called after Ancona, the place of their adoption. The following are the prints attributed to him by Bartsch : 1. The Holy Virgin (half length) uith the Infant Jesus (1661); 2. The Virgin seated, toith the Ivfant on her Knees (1661); 3. Christ tempted by the Devil, in the form of an old man (1642) ; 4. Christ hearing his Cross, with other figures half length ; 5. The Holy Family and Saints (1661). The figures in this print are half length. Heineken, in his Dictionnaire des Artistes, at- tributed this print to Gio. Dom. Cerrini, known under the name of II Cavaliere Perugino. 6. St. Anthony of Padua praying, and the infant Jesus appearing to him in a cloud supported by three cherubim. This print has been erroneously attributed to D. Cresti. 7. The Assassination, a man in his shirt on a bed assailed by three soldiers, one of whom thrusts a lance into his body (1640); 8-11. Landscapes; 12. St. Jerome doing Penance in the De<sert. The letters D. P. F. are on a plant to the right. Bartsch, however, considers it doubtful whether it belongs to Domenico Peruzzini, as there is a sensible difference in the style from that of others. See Spooner, Biog. Hist, of the Fine Arts, ii, 678.
Per Viam, a technical title of certain forms of ec- clesiastical election.
1. Per viam Compromissi (by vay of compromise') was an election of a superior by the sworn delegates of a convent, who retired into a secret chamber, and, after invocation of the Holy Ghost, named the person on whom their choice had fallen.
2. Per viam Spiritus Sancti (by way of the Holy Spirit} was a unanimous election by the whole con- vent, as if by divine inspiration.
3. Per viam Scrutixii {by way of scrutiny) was when each monk voted singly in the chapter-house, in the presence of the bishop.
Pesachim. See Talmud.
Pesari, Giovanni Battista, an Italian painter, flouristied at Modena about 1650. Tiraboschi says that he was either a pupil of Guido, or made that master his example. I^anzi says he resembles Guido very closely in his picture of the Madonna in the church of S. Paolo at Modena, and in other works. He afterwards went to Venice, where he died, in the flower of life. See Spooner, Biog. Hist, of the Fine Arts, ii, 681.
Pesaro, Aaron di, of Italy, a celebrated rabbi of the 16th century, undertook and accomplished the lier- culean task of furnishing a sort of concordance to every passage of Scripture quoted or commented upon in the Babylonimi Talmud, and called it after his own name, ','-inX rilbin, "the offering of Aaron." It was first published at Freiburg and Basle in 1.581, in folio. Of such importance did the great Buxtorf consider the work that he published the whole of it as an Appendix to the first edition of his Chaldaic, Talmudical, and Rab- binical Lexicon, in 1639, with the following Latin par- aphrase of its title-page: "Index locupletissimus om- nium locorum in toto Talmudico opere de sacris Bibliis compraihensorum, summo studio et fidelitate coUcctus"