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Petrarch

(Encyclopedia)Petrarch fränchĕsˈkō pāträrˈkä [key], 1304–74, Italian poet and humanist, one of the great figures of Italian literature. He spent his youth in Tuscany and Avignon and at Bologna. He returne...

Bellarmine, Saint Robert

(Encyclopedia)Bellarmine, Saint Robert bĕlärˈmĭn [key], 1542–1621, Italian theologian, cardinal, Doctor of the Church, and a principal influence in the Counter Reformation. His full name was Roberto Francesco...

Montferrat

(Encyclopedia)Montferrat mŏntfərătˈ, –rätˈ [key], Ital. Monferrato, historic region of Piedmont, NW Italy, south of the Po River, now mostly in Alessandria prov. It is largely hilly, and wine, fruit, and ce...

Medici, Cosimo I de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Cosimo I de', 1519–74, duke of Florence (1537–69), grand duke of Tuscany (1569–74); son of Giovanni de' Medici (Giovanni delle Bande Nere). In 1537, Lorenzino de' Medici murdered Cosimo'...

Orsini

(Encyclopedia)Orsini ōrsēˈnē [key], powerful Roman family that included three popes and numerous other churchmen, soldiers and statesmen. The eponymous ancestor was one Ursus. Giacinto Orsini, who became Pope C...

Alberti, Leone Battista

(Encyclopedia)Alberti, Leone Battista, 1404–72, Italian architect, musician, painter, and humanist, active at the papal court, Florence, Rimini, and Mantua. Alberti was the first architect to argue for the correc...

Gaddi, family of Florentine artists

(Encyclopedia)Gaddi gädˈdē [key], celebrated family of Florentine artists. Gaddo Gaddi, c.1260–c.1333, painter and mosaicist, is said by Vasari to have been associated with Cimabue and Giotto. Among the mosaic...

Ghirlandaio, Domenico

(Encyclopedia)Ghirlandaio or Ghirlandajo, Domenico both: dōmĕˈnēkō gērländäˈyō [key], 1449–94, Florentine painter, whose family name was Bigordi. He may have studied painting and mosaics under Alesso Ba...

neoexpressionism

(Encyclopedia)neoexpressionism, term given to an international art movement, mainly in painting, that began in the 1960s and 1970s, was a dominant mode in the 1980s, and has continued04/98 into the 1990s. A reactio...

Stradivari, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Stradivari, Antonio ăntōˈnēəs strădĭvârˈēəs [key], 1644–1737, Italian violin maker of Cremona; pupil of Niccolò Amati. He was apprenticed to Amati c.1658 and may have remained with him u...