LANIERE, NICOLAS, a painter, engraver, and musician, was born in 1568, and was an Italian by birth. -He was a favourite with Charles I., who employed biro in the purchase of pictures. Walpole supposes that he was employed in the purchase of the gallery of the Duke of Mantua, for which Charles gave 20,0001., and which com prised the Triumph of Ctesar,' by Mantegna, now at Hampton Court.
Lanier? was a better musician than a painter. He was appointed in 1626 Charles's chapel-master, for which he had a salary of 200/. per annum ; he was also closet-keeper to Charles. There is in Ben Jon sou's works a masque, which was performed in 1617 at the house of Lord Hay for the entertainment of the French ambassador, and for which Laniere both painted the scenes and composed the music. Laniere is also said to have set to musio the hymn which was written by Thomas Pierce for the funeral dirge of Charles I., but it was probably another person of the same name.
Laniere lived to see the dispersion of the collection which he him self had been mainly instrumental in forming. He purchased four pictures at the sale of Charles's effects for 230l.; others were pur chased by his brothers Jerome and Clement. Lauiere appears to have been a general dealer in pictures, and, according to Sanderson (`Orsphice,' p. 16), to have been not overscrupulous, for that writer accuses him of passing copies as originals : the colours he is asserted to have obscured by soot, and he cracked the pictures by rolling them up face inwards. Laniere purchased many pictures for Charles, and marked them with a rosette or a small figure resembling six radiating leaves : the mark is given by Walpole. Walpole gives the ordinary statement that Lanier° was buried on the 4th of November 1646, overlooking the somewhat glaring inconsistency of having made him write the music to Charles's funeral dirge three years after his own burial : the date is not a misprint, because Walpole adds his age— seventy-eight years. The date of Lauicre's birth (1563) is correct, because in an engraving dated 1636 he writes himself at the juvenile age of sixty-eight—"ts l'eta sea giovauilo di sessanta-otto auni." But, as already indicated, the probability is that two persons of the same name have been confounded ; and the second Laniere was probably a relative and successor of the first, both as a picture-dealer and a musician. Pepys notices in his Diary,' under October 27, 1665, that "among other things, Laniero did at the request of Mr. Hill bring
two or three of the finest prints for my wife to see that over I did see in all my life ;" and be further mentions several times in that and the following year Laniere having takeu part in his musical parties. Now as the Laniere who forma the subject of this notice would have been thee ninety-eight years old he could hardly be the person referred to Lord In a note to I'epya (under the above date), says that " the letters patent under which the Society of Musicians were incor porated at the Restoration, mentioua Nicola" Laniere as first marshal, and four others of his name as warden or assistants of the company," and this was most likely the Nicolas Laniere who composed the notes to Pierce's hymn. Vandyck painted Laniere'a portrait during his first visit to England, and it was this picture which induced Charles I. to request Sir Kenelm Digby to invite Vandyck back again after his departure. There is a portrait of Lanier. by himself in tho Music School at Oxford, with palette and brushes in his hands, and some music-notes on a piece of paper.
• LANKESTkilt, El/WIN, M.D., distinguished as a writer and lecturer, chiefly on subjects of natural science, was born at Milton, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, in 1514. He was educated at NVoodbridge, was apprenticed there to a surgeon, and afterwards studied at Ilui versity College, London, from 1834 to 1837, having the advantage of pursuing botany under Professor Liodley, and comparative anatomy under Professor Grant. Having become a member of the College of Surgeons and of the Apothecaries' Society, he visited the Continent, and graduated at Heidelberg. In 1841 he was chosen a Licentiate of the College of Physicians. Before this period Dr. Lankester was known as a writer on subjects of medicine and natural history ; and he has since contributed many valuable papers to various scientific journals. He was a writer on botanical subjects in ' The Penny Cyclopeedia;' and by him, as editor of the Division of Natural History of 'The English Cycloptedia,' the various articles of 'The Penny Cycle ptedirs' were brought into a more systematic shape, and the most recent information communicated iu very largo additions to the original work. Dr. Lankester is a Fellow of the ltoyal Society and of the Linntean Society, Secretary to the Ray eociety, and Professor of Natural History at New College, Loudon.