Raiment. See Clothing; Dress; Garment.
Raimondi, Giovanni Battista, a eel, brand Italian Orientalist, was born at Cremona in loin, re- moved in his youth to Nap], ~. w hi ie he sludh d at the university theology, philosophy, and mathematics, and then spent some lime in Asia stud} ing Eastern civiliza- tion and languages. Returning to Italy, he became en- gaged in various literary enterprises, and enjoyed the society of the great and the ham,,!. He brought out an edition of the (los|,cls in Arabic with a Latin inter- linear translation 1 1591 1, an,1, wrote grammars of Syriac and Arabic. He was also engaged on a polyglot Bible more complete than that of Alcala or of Antwi rp, and only ceased labor when the death of pope Gregory XIII (1585) and the departure of cardinal Ferdinand de1 Medici (1587) deprived him of the necessary funds for
such an enterprise. He died about 1610. He was en- gaged after l .">.s7 in the compilation of Oriental MSS. and other like labors. See Tiraboschi, Delia Letteratura Italiana.— -Hoefer. Nouv. Biog. Genirale, b.v.
Raimondi, Marc Antonio, an Italian engraver who devoted himself to classical and sacred art. was born at Bologna in 1487. lb' was a student lirst of Francesco Francia, but perfected himself under Raphael, who fa\ore, 1 him so greatly that Raimondi may be placed by the side of his great master. The two artists together exerted such a meat influence upon this par- ticular branch of art thai the works of that time have never been excelled in drawing and clearness of outline, though much surpass,,! in gradation of tone and deli- cacj of modelling. It should be remembered that it was from the drawings, and not the finished pictures, of Raphael that Marc Antonio worked. He was especial- ly remarkable for the exactness with which he copied : h, seems to have been willing to lose himself entirely in the master he reproduced. His life may be said n> have been devoted to multiplying the works of Ra- phael, lie also executed a few plates after Michael Angelo,Mantegna, Bandinelli, and Giulio Romano. He was imprisoned on account of some plates after the de- signs of the latter, which were so indecent as lo enrage Clement \ II. and it was with difficulty that his release was obtained by s,une of the cardinals and Bandinelli. In 1627 Raimondi was in full favor in Rome, when he was driven away by the Backing of the Spaniards. He was plundered, and fled to Bologna. His last work was done in 1539, in which year he is said to have been killed by a nobleman of Rome, because he had engraved a sec- ond plate of the Hfurderofthi Innocents, contrary to his agreement. His works are numerous, and in selecting them -real attention should be paid to the different im- pressions, fir some of the plates have been retouched by those who have bad them, until they are greatly changed. The best impressions have no publisher's
name. Ileinekcii gives a complete catalogue '1 his prints. Very fine collections arc iii the Locvrc and in
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the British Museum. At Venice Ralmoncli engraved, after Diirer, two sets of prints — viz. those illustrating the life of the Virgin and the life and Passion of Christ. See Hoefer, Nouv. Bioej. Generate, s. v.
Rain, Heb. "113^, matdr, and also C':3,j«/«i, which, however, rather signifies a shower of more violent rain; it is also used as a generic term, including the early and latter rain (Jer. v, 24 ; Joel ii, 23). Another word, of a more poetical character, is D'12'12"i, rebibim (a plural form, connected with rab, "many," from the multitude of the drops), translated in our version "showers" (Deut. xxxii, 2; Jer. iii, 3; xiv, 22; Mic. v, 7 [Heb. 6]; Psa. lxv, 10 [Heb. 11] ; lxxii, G). The Hebrews have also the word d"lT, zerem,, expressing violent rain, storm, tempest, accompanied with hail — in Job xxiv, 8, the heavy rain which comes down on mountains; and the word *"P"05, sagrir, which occurs only in Prov. xxvii. 15, continuous and heavy rain (Sept. tv fifiepa xallt' pivy).
Early Rain means the rains of the autumn, iTl"*, yoreh, part, subst. from inT1, " he scattered" (Deut. xi, 14; Jer. v, 24); also the Hiphil part. !"!""", moreh (Joel ii, 23) ; Sept. vztoq irpioifiog.
Latter Rain is the rain of spring, ©ipPTa, malkosh, (Prov. xvi, 15; Job xxix, 23; Jer. iii, 3; Hos. vi, 3; Joel ii. 23 ; Zech. x, 1) ; Sept. vtrbe, ih/^or. The early and latter rains are mentioned together (Deut. xi, 14; Jer. v, 24 ; Joel ii, 23 ; Hos. vi, 3 ; James v, 7).
In a country comprising so many varieties of eleva- tion as Palestine, there must of necessity occur corre- sponding varieties of climate. An account that might correctly describe the peculiarities of the district of Leb- anon would be in many respects inaccurate when ap- plied to the deep depression and almost tropical climate of Jericho. In any general statement, therefore, allow- ance must be made for not inconsiderable local varia- tions. Contrasted with the districts most familiar to the children of Israel before their settlement in the land of promise — Egypt and the Desert — rain might be spoken of as one of its distinguishing characteristics (Deut. xi, 10, 11; Herodotus, iii, 10). For six months in the year no rain falls, and the harvests are gathered in without any of the anxiety with which we are so familiar lest the work be interrupted by unseasonable storms. In this respect, at least, the climate has re- mained unchanged since the time when Boaz slept by his heap of corn; and the sending of thunder and rain in wheat harvest was a miracle which filled the people with fear and wonder (1 Sam. xii, 16-18); so that Solomon could speak of " rain in harvest" as the most forcible ex- pression for conveying the idea of something utterly out of place and unnatural (Prov. xxvi, 1). There are, how- ever, very considerable, and perhaps more than compen- sating, disadvantages occasioned by this long absence of rain: the whole land becomes dry, parched, and brown; the cisterns are empty; the springs and fountains fail; and the autumnal rains are eagerly looked for, to prepare the earth for the reception of the seed. These, the early rains, commence about the end of October or beginning of November, in Lebanon a month earlier — not suddenly, but by degrees : the husbandman has thus the opportunity of sowing his fields of wheat and barley. The rains come mostly from the west or south-west (Luke xii, 54), continuing for two or three days at a time, and falling chiefly during the night. The wind then shifts round to the north or east, and several days of fine weather succeed (Prov. xxv, 23). During the months of November and December the rains continue to fall heavily, but at intervals ; afterwards they return, only at longer intervals, and are less heavy ; but at no period during the winter do they entirely cease. Jan- uary and February are the coldest months, and snow falls, sometimes to the depth of a foot or more, at Jeru- salem, but it does not lie long : it is very seldom seen