for S. Maria de' Fossi mow S. Anna), to be i ipleted
in two years. This is the most finished of his works, and more full of feeling than any other. He next adorned the collegiate church ofSpello; but his works there are fast disappearing from the effects of dampness.
PIXY
221
PIOMBO
lie was next called to Siena by cardinal Francesco Pic- colomini, to decorate the library of the Duomo. Here he painted the ceiling in a variety of designs, with the Bhield and arms of the Piccolomini in the centre; and the walls with ten scenes from the life of ^Eneas Syl- vius, or Pius II. This work was commenced in 1503, but was interrupted by deaths in the family of his pa- tron, and was not completed until 1507, he having filled various other commissions in the mean time. It is said with great probability that he was assisted in the library by the then youthful Raffaelle, and some critics have been wont to attribute the best features of all Pinturic- cbio's pictures to aid from the same source. But this can hardly have been the case. They were associated more or less, without doubt, and it is not improbable that Raf- faelle was one of the many assistants whom the master hired in Perugia for his work in Siena; but there are many reasons why the credit of the best of Pinturicchio should not be given to Sanzio, who certainly does not need any such praise. There are many circumstances connected with certain cartoons, many similarities of figures in the works of the two masters, which make us feel sure of their association, but these Siena frescos are conceived in the system of Pinturicchio. This library is one of the few Italian halls that retain their original character. The frescos are discolored and injured in parts, but are, on the whole, fairly preserved. It is probable that after the completion of these works the master went to Rome, and returned to Siena in 1509 with Signorelli, who stood as godfather to the son born to Pinturicchio in the beginning of that year. He then probably entered the service of Pandolfo Petrucci. His last authentic picture is now in the Palazzo Borromeo at Milan, and is a cabinet size of Christ bearing his Cross. It was painted in 1513, the year of his death. Dreadful stories have been told of the manner in which his wife Grania treated him. It is said that when very sick she left him to die of starvation, but this lacks con- firmation. His works are seen in all large, and in some smaller collections of Europe. See Clement, Handbook ,;/ ' Sculptors, Painters, etc., s. v. ; Spooner, Biog. Hist, of the Fine A rts, s. v. (J. H. W.)
Piny, Alexandre, a French ascetic writer of much celebrity, was born at Barcelonnette in 1640. He joined the Dominican Order, and then taught theology at Aix; was called to Paris in 1076, and there was the director of the novitiate in the houses of his order. He was more distinguished for the holiness of his life than for his writings. He died at Paris Jan. 28, 1709. Of these we mention Cursus philosojihicus (Lyons, 1G70, 5 vols. 12mo) : — Summm S. Thomm Compendium (ibid. 1680,4 vols. 12mo): — La Clefdu par amour (ibid. 1682, 12mo) :— La Vie cachee (Paris, 1685, 12mo), etc. — Hoe- fer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, xl, 285.
Pinytus is mentioned by Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. iv, 29, 31) as bishop of Cnossus, in the isle of Crete, and as a contemporary of Dionysius of Corinth (q. v.). Ac- cording to the notices given by Eusabius, Dionysius ad- dressed an epistle to Pinytus, exhorting him that, con- cerning abstinence (ayvsia), not to lay too heavy a yoke on the brethren (rote, act\<pol<j), but rather pay regard to the weakness of the majority. It seems that Pinytus tried tn promote in his congregation a Montanistic or Gnostico - ascetic tendency. Pinytus. however, perse- vered in his course, and replied to Dionysius that it was time to offer to his congregation a stronger meat than milk. Some have thought that the point of difference between Dionysius and Pinytus was rather concerning celibacy, which the latter intended to introduce among his clergy ; but this is a mistake. In other respects, Eu- sebius speaks of this rejoinder of Pinytus as containing the best proof of the latter's orthodoxy, his care for the salvation of the souls committed to his charge, his rhet- oric, and understanding of divine things. See Herzog, Real-EncyM. s. v. ; Theol. Univ.-Lex. s. v. ; Jocher, Ge- khrt.-Lex. s. v. ; Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. iv, 29, 31. (B. P.)