Portales, Diego, 1793–1837, Chilean statesman. Founder of constitutional order and of the conservative regime in Chile, he was general minister (1830–31) and minister of war and marine (1831–3...

Portcullis, grating or framework of strong bars of wood or iron, sharp-pointed at their lower ends, sliding vertically in the grooved jambs of a fortified portal as a protection in case of ass...

Poison gas, any of various gases sometimes used in warfare or riot control because of their poisonous or corrosive nature. These gases may be roughly grouped according to the portal of entry i...

Ghiberti, Lorenzo, c.1378–1455, Florentine sculptor. He received his early training in the workshop of Bartoluccio. In 1401 he entered the competition for a bronze portal for the baptistery in...

Middlesborough, city (1990 pop. 11,328), Bell co., S Ky., in the Cumberland Mts. near the point where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia meet; inc. 1890. It is a coal-mining center with meat an...

Montt, Manuel, 1809–80, president of Chile (1851–61). From a poverty-stricken childhood he rose to become one of Chile's most notable jurists. He held many prominent academic and governmental ...

Portalis, Jean Étienne Marie, 1746–1807, French statesman and lawyer. A moderate, he was suspected of royalist sympathies during the French Revolution but was made a councilor of state and dir...

Quercia, Jacopo della, c.1374–1438, Italian sculptor. His work shows the transition from medieval to Renaissance art. He is especially noted for his imposing allegorical figures for the Gaia F...

Facade, exterior face or wall of a building. The term implies ordered placement of its openings and other features and thus seems inapplicable to a wall without design. Any freestanding struct...

Urgench, ancient city of central Asia, on the site of present-day Kunya-Urgench (Köhne Ürgenç), in Turkmenistan. It lies c.85 mi (140 km) NW of modern Urganch, Uzbekistan. A major trade and cr...