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art history

(Encyclopedia)art history, the study of works of art and architecture. In the mid-19th cent., art history was raised to the status of an academic discipline by the Swiss Jacob Burckhardt, who related art to its cul...

Horta, Victor, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Horta, Victor, Baron, 1861–1947, Belgian architect. The Tassel House in Brussels (1892–93), his first mature work, was the earliest monument of art nouveau. It was excelled only by his later works...

Glyptothek

(Encyclopedia)Glyptothek glüpˌtōtākˈ [key], museum in Munich on the Königsplatz, founded by Louis I of Bavaria to house his collection of ancient and modern sculptures. Among these is the famous Barberini fau...

Giessen

(Encyclopedia)Giessen gēˈsən [key], city, Hesse, central Germany, on the Lahn River. It is an industrial...

Oncken, Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Oncken, Hermann hĕrˈmän ôngˈkən [key], 1869–1946, German historian. He taught at the universities of Heidelberg, Munich, Chicago, and (1928–35) Berlin. He was forced to retire because of his...

Makart, Hans

(Encyclopedia)Makart, Hans häns mäˈkärt [key], 1840–84, Austrian history painter, studied with Karl von Piloty. His early success was phenomenal. The emperor of Austria provided him with a studio, and his sho...

Wrangell Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Wrangell Mountains, S Alaska, extending c.100 mi (160 km) SE from the Copper River to the Canadian border, where they meet the St. Elias Mts. Mt. Blackburn (16,523 ft/5,036 m) is the highest peak. The...

Sophia Charlotte

(Encyclopedia)Sophia Charlotte zōfēˈä shärlôtˈə [key], 1668–1705, first queen of Prussia, second wife of King Frederick I, daughter of Electress Sophia of Hanover, and sister of King George I of England. ...

Rheticus

(Encyclopedia)Rheticus (Georg Joachim von Lauchen) rāˈtēko͝os, gāˈôrk yōäˈkhĭm fən louˈkhən [key], 1514–76, German astronomer, mathematician, and first disciple of Copernicus. In 1540 he printed a s...

metaphysics

(Encyclopedia)metaphysics mĕtəfĭzˈĭks [key], branch of philosophy concerned with the ultimate nature of existence. It perpetuates the Metaphysics of Aristotle, a collection of treatises placed after the Physic...