The whole system of Pordage claimed to rest upon a series of supernatural visions. With the other " Phila- delphians," lie regarded the actual state of the Church as one of utter degeneration, and as incapable of refor- mation. Even the Quakers he regarded as among the antichristian sects. He believed himself called to or- ganize and restore the primitive Church. Up to his death, Pordage was the most influential of the "Phila- delphians." When he died, in 1098. the society seemed ready to perish. But it lingered awhile, as will be seen by reference to the art. Leade, Jane. See the litera- ture there quoted. See also Morell, Modem Philosophy, p. 213; Mosheim, Eccles. Bict. iii, 481 ; Neal, Hist, of the Puritans ; Haag, Les Dogmes Chretiennes ; Blackey, Hist, of Philosophy, ii, 414. (J. P. L.)
Pordenone, Giovanni Antonio Licin(i)o Re- gillo da, generally called simply " 77 Pordenone," an Italian painter ot great celebrity, was born at Porde- none, in Friuli, in 1484. From the vigor of conception,
PORPHYRIANS
the elevation of mind, and the style of execution which distinguish his works, it has been presumed, though it is not certain, that he frequented the school of Gior- gione. Though on the whole inferior to Titian, he presumed to be his rival. Pordenone chiefly excelled in fresco. His composition was very simple, his heads rarely speak of deep passion, and his chief excellence was color. He -painted flesh with a marvellous soft- ness. His portraits were fine, and he frequently rep- resented several persons on one canvas. It is difficult to see on what qualities his competition with Titian is founded; for though Pordenone painted lifelike and rich- toned portraits, and grouped his compositions in a spir- ited manner, he is not by any means to be compared with Titian, of whom he professed himself in such dread that he painted with his shield and poniard lying at his side. Certainly the saints and virgins of Pordenone, which hang in the gallery of Venice beside the works of Titian, do not look as if it had cost the latter much trouble to distance his competitor. As Pordenone prin- cipally painted frescos in North or Upper Italy, he was known in Lower Italy only by his tine oil-paintings. His most splendid work in oil is the altar-piece of Santa Maria dell' Orto at Venice, representing a *S'<(« Lorenzo Giustiniani surrounded bg other Saints, among whom are St. John the Baptist and St. Augustine. The frescos of Pordenone are spread over the towns and castles of Friuli ; some are at Genoa, Mantua, and Venice, but the best-preserved are on N.-T. subjects at Piacenza, and especially in the cathedral at Cremona. He was highly esteemed by the emperor Charles V, who ennobled him. Hercules II, duke of Mantua, called him to Mantua to paint cartoons for tapestry to be made in Flanders, but he soon afterwards died (in 1539), as it was suspected, of poison. We have very few easel pictures by Por- denone, and those which are attributed to him in gal- leries are oftentimes proved not to be his, or are under so much doubt that it is unsafe to risk a list of them. The Glory of S. Lorenzo Giustiniani, in the Academy of Venice, is one of his finest works. Much has been said of The Woman taken in Adultery, in the Berlin Museum, but it is so repainted (the heads of the Sav- iour and the woman being almost new) that it can do little honor to any artist of the 10th century. Several of Pordenone's pictures are in England. In the Nation- al Gallery is a colossal figure of A n Apostle. See Mrs. Clement, Handbook of Painters, Sculptors, etc., s. v.; Radcliffe, Schools and Masters of Painting, p. 209 sq., et al. ; Vasari, Lives of the Painters ; Lanzi, History of Painting in Italy ; Spooner, Biog. Hist, of the Fine Arts, s. v. (J. II. W.)
Poree, Charles, a noted French Jesuit, was born in 1075. He became a member of the Society of Jesus in 1092. and flourished as a trainer of youth all his life, and it is presumed that no man ever exceeded him in this work. Voltaire says of him that " he was eloquent after the style and taste of Seneca, a very beautiful poet ; but that his greatest merit consisted in inspiring his pupils with the love of learning and virtue." He died in 1741. His writings are of a secular character.
Porodakhsta is a personage of the Persian my- thology, the father of the famous hero Eshevand. He is to be one of the assistants of Sosiash, son of Zoroaster, in his great work, the resurrection of the dead.
Porphyrians was the name given to the Arians in an edict of the emperor Constantine issued in the year 325, the reason stated being that, as they had emulated the impiety of Porphyry in their errors, so they ought to be named after him (Socrat. Hist. Eccles. i, 0). This decree was afterwards quoted as a precedent by Theo- dosius the Younger, who ordered that the Nestorians should, in a similar manner, be called Simonians. It may be doubted whether either name extended much beyond the four corners of the edicts in which they were given. See Baronius, A nnales, ad ami. 325, vol. lxxxiv, lxxxv.