Piedmont Geographic region, eastern U.S. Lying between the Appala¬ chian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain, it is about 600 mi (950 km) long and stretches between the Hudson River and central Alabama. A relatively low, rolling plateau crossed by many rivers, it is a fertile agri¬ cultural region.
Pielinen \'pe-9-,le-n9n\, Lake Lake, southeastern Finland. Located near the border with Russia, Lake Pielinen is 56 mi (90 km) long and has an area of 422 sq mi (1,093 sq km). The lake has many islands and is drained southward into Lake Saimaa by the Pielis River. It is surrounded by dense forests, especially on its western shore. The shore is capped by Koli hill, the centre of a winter sports area.
Pieman River VpI-msnV River, northwestern Tasmania, Australia. It is formed near Tullah by the confluence of the Macintosh and Murchison riv¬ ers. Rising on the western edge of the central highlands, it is about 70 mi (115 km) long and flows west to the Indian Ocean. There was some gold and tin mining in the area during the 1870s and 1890s. It was named for an
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1498 I pier ► pig
infamous convict, Alexander Pierce (Jimmy the Pieman), who was recap¬ tured at its mouth after escaping from the Macquarie Harbour penal colony.
pier In building construction, a vertical load-bearing member such as an intermediate support for adjacent ends of two bays or spans. Bulkier than a column but smaller than a wall, a pier can support an arch or beam. The lower portion of a pier may be widened to better distribute the downward pressure of a massive overlying structure. In Romanesque and Gothic architecture, a feature of the nave arcade is the compound pier, which is cross-shaped in cross section, with shafts placed in the recesses.
Pierre \'pir\ City (pop., 2000: 13,876), capital of South Dakota, U.S. It is located on the Missouri River, in the geographic centre of the state. The
area was originally inhabited by Arikara Indians. The city was founded in 1880 as the western terminus of the Chicago and North Western Rail¬ way, which spurred its growth as a mining and trade centre. It became the state capital in 1889. It is the hub of a large, diversified agricultural area with a significant tourist industry based on nearby lakes.
Pieta \pya-'ta\ Italian "Pity" Depiction of the Virgin Mary supporting the body of the dead Christ. The theme grew out of that of the Lam¬ entation, the moment between the Descent from the Cross and the Entombment. It first appeared in Germany in the early 14th century. It enjoyed greater popularity in north¬ ern Europe than in Italy through the 15 th century, yet the supreme repre¬ sentation is Michelangelo’s sculpture (1499) in St. Peter's Basilica. The Pieta was widely represented in both painting and sculpture. Michelange¬ lo’s conception of Mary bearing Jesus’ body on her knees was stan¬ dard until the 16th century, when art¬ ists began to place Jesus at Mary’s feet. Though most religious art declined after the 17th century, the Pieta retained its popularity through the 19th century.
Pietism Vpi-a-.ti-zonA Reform movement in German Lutheranism that arose in the 17th century. Phil¬ ipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705), a Lutheran pastor, originated the move¬ ment when he organized an “assembly of piety,” a regular meeting of Christians for devotional reading and spiritual exchange. Spener advo¬ cated greater involvement of the laity in worship, more extensive study of scripture, and ministerial training that emphasized piety and learning rather than disputation. Under Spener’s successor, August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), the University of Halle became a centre of the movement. Pietism influenced the Moravian and Methodist churches (see Methodism).
Pietro da Cortona orig. Pietro Berrettini (b. Nov. 1, 1596, Cor¬ tona, Tuscany—d. May 16, 1669, Rome, Papal States) Italian painter, architect, and decorator. The son of a stonemason, he was apprenticed to a painter in Florence. His first major work, a series of frescoes in the small church of Santa Bibiana in Rome (1624-26), was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, and the patronage of the pope’s family, the Barberinis, advanced Pietro’s career. The rich exuberance of those Baroque frescoes was a prelude to his best-known work, the large ceiling fresco Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power (1632-39) in the Barberini Palace. Here he demonstrated his mastery of illusion, for the centre of the vault appears open to the sky and the figures seem to hover in space. He provided a series of frescoes for the Pitti Palace in Florence. Also a mas¬ ter architect, his greatest architectural accomplishment is the church of Santi Martina e Luca in Rome (1634), the first Baroque church built as a unitary whole.
piezoelectricity Xpe-.a-zo-o-.lek-'tri-so-teX Appearance of an electric field in certain nonconducting crystals as a result of the application of mechanical pressure. Pressure polarizes some crystals, such as quartz, by slightly separating the centers of positive and negative charge. The result¬ ant electric field is detectable as a voltage. The converse effect also occurs: an applied electric field produces mechanical deformation in the crystal. Using this effect, a high-frequency alternating electric current (see alter¬ nating current) can be converted to an ultrasonic wave of the same fre¬ quency, while a mechanical vibration, such as sound, can be converted into a corresponding electrical signal. Piezoelectricity is utilized in micro¬ phones, phonograph pickups, and telephone communications systems.
pig Any wild or domestic even-toed ungulate (family Suidae) that is a stout-bodied, short-legged omnivore, with thick, sparsely bristled skin, a long mobile snout, small tail, and hooves with two functional and two nonfunctional digits. Pigs are native to European, Asian, and North Afri¬ can forests. Wild pigs use their tusklike teeth to forage and for defense; the teeth of domestic pigs, which were developed from wild pigs in
Pieta, marble sculpture by Michelan¬ gelo, 1499; in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.
SCALA/ART RESOURCE, NEW YORK
Pierce, Franklin (b. Nov. 23, 1804, Hillsboro, N.H., U.S.—d. Oct. : 1869, Concord, N.H.) 14th president of the U.S. (1853-57). He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1833 to 1837 and in the Senate from 1837 to 1842. At the dead¬ locked Democratic Party convention of 1852, he was nominated as a com¬ promise presidential candidate; though largely unknown nationally, he unexpectedly trounced Winfield Scott in the general election. For the sake of harmony and business pros¬ perity, he was inclined to oppose antislavery agitation. His promotion of U.S. territorial expansion resulted in the diplomatic controversy of the Ostend Manifesto. He reorganized the diplomatic and consular service and created the U.S. Court of Claims. Pierce encouraged plans for a transcontinental railroad and approved the Gadsden Purchase. To pro¬ mote northwestern migration and conciliate sectional demands, he approved the Kansas-Nebraska Act but was unable to settle the resultant problems. Defeated for renomination by James Buchanan in 1856, he retired from politics.
Franklin Pierce.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Piero della Francesca \fran-'ches-ko\ (b. c. 1420, Sansepolcro?, Republic of Florence—d. Oct. 12,
1492, Sansepolcro) Italian painter.
Son of a prosperous tanner and wool merchant, he became known for his serene, disciplined exploration of perspective. His fresco cycle for San Francesco at Arezzo, The Legend of the True Cross (1450s), exemplifies his simplicity and clarity of struc¬ ture, controlled use of perspective, and aura of serenity. His famous dip¬ tych portrait of his patrons, Count Federico da Montefeltro and his wife (c. 1470), is known for its unideal¬ ized depiction of their features and the use of landscape in the back¬ ground. Though he had little influ¬ ence on his contemporaries, Piero’s important scientific and poetic con¬ tributions to Renaissance painting are now well recognized. Also a writer, he produced theoretical treatises on geometry and perspective.