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Pinza, Ezio

(Encyclopedia)Pinza, Ezio ātsˈyō pēnˈtsä [key], 1892–1957, Italian bass, b. Rome, studied at the Bologna Conservatory. After military service (1915–19), he resumed his operatic career in Rome, later singi...

Medici, Italian family

(Encyclopedia)Medici mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], Italian family that directed the destinies of Florence from the 15th cent. until 1737. Of obscure origin, they rose to immense wealth as merchants and ba...

mandolin

(Encyclopedia)mandolin mănˌdəlĭnˈ, mănˈdəlĭnˌ [key], musical instrument of the lute family, with a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, plucked with the fingers or with...

Visconti

(Encyclopedia)Visconti vēskônˈtē [key], Italian family that ruled Milan from the 13th cent. until 1447. In the 12th cent. members of the family received the title of viscount, from which the name is derived. Ot...

Antelami, Benedetto

(Encyclopedia)Antelami, Benedetto bānādĕtˈtō äntāläˈmē [key], c.1150–c.1225, Italian sculptor. Considered the most important sculptor of the late Romanesque period in N Italy, Antelami was an aesthetic ...

Gundulić, Ivan

(Encyclopedia)Gundulić, Ivan jōvänˈnē gōndəˈlä [key], 1588–1638, Croatian poet. Born in Ragusa (Dubrovnik) of an aristocratic Dalmatian family, he became chief magistrate of Ragusa. In his early work he ...

Lombardo

(Encyclopedia)Lombardo lōmbärˈdō [key], Italian family of sculptors and architects. Emigrants from Lombardy c.1470, they were leaders in the architectural Renaissance in Venice. Pietro Lombardo, c.1435–1515, ...

Catena, Vincenzo di Biagio

(Encyclopedia)Catena, Vincenzo di Biagio vēnchĕnˈtsō dē byäˈjō kätāˈnä [key], c.1470–1531, Venetian painter. His early work, reflecting the influence of Giovanni Bellini, includes the two paintings of...

canzone, in music

(Encyclopedia)canzone or canzona, in music, a type of instrumental music in Italy in the 16th and 17th cent. The term had previously been given to strophic songs for five or six voices; usually the canzone had thre...

Sodoma, Il

(Encyclopedia)Sodoma, Il ēl sôˈdōmä [key], c.1477–1549, Sienese painter, whose real name was Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. Born in Vercelli, Piedmont, he went to Rome c.1508. Commissioned by Pope Julius II, he pai...