Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fontana, Lavinia

(Encyclopedia)Fontana, Lavinia, 1552–1614, Italian painter, daughter of Prospero Fontana, who trained her in the Mannerist style. Noted for her sensitivity in color and detail, she was a fashionable portrait pain...

Joseph, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Joseph, Saint, husband of the Virgin Mary, a carpenter, a descendant of the house of David. He was apparently dead at the time of the Passion, for his last appearance in the Gospels is at the finding ...

Mattathias

(Encyclopedia)Mattathias mătˌəthīˈəs [key] [Gr. variant of Mattithiah]. 1, 2 Two in Luke's genealogy. 3 Father of the Maccabees. 4 Captain under Jonathan, the Maccabee. 5 Son of Simon, the Maccabee, murdered ...

Baal-zebub

(Encyclopedia)Baal-zebub bāˈəl-zēˈbəb [key] [Heb.,=lord of flies], a deliberate Hebrew distortion of the name of the god of Ekron in 2 Kings. In the Gospels of Mark and Luke, Beelzebul, the Greek form of the ...

Benedictus

(Encyclopedia)Benedictus bĕnədĭkˈtəs [key], hymn of Zachary, taken from Luke 1.68–79. It begins in Latin, “Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel” [blessed be the Lord God of Israel]. It is used at funerals and ...

Capernaum

(Encyclopedia)Capernaum or Capharnaum kəpûrˈnēəm; kəfärˈnēəm [key], town, NE ancient Palestine, on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee; in the Gospels, it is closely associated with Jesus' minist...

Helst, Bartholomeus van der

(Encyclopedia)Helst, Bartholomeus van der bärˌtōlōmāˈəs vän dər hĕlst [key], 1613–70, Dutch portrait painter. In Amsterdam the wealthy citizens preferred his flattering, tasteful portraits to those of R...

Gloria in excelsis

(Encyclopedia)Gloria in excelsis ĕksĕlˈsĭs [key] [Lat.,=glory in the highest], the Angelic Hymn or greater doxology, ancient Christian hymn beginning, according to the Authorized Version, “Glory be to God on ...

Muziano, Girolamo

(Encyclopedia)Muziano, Girolamo jērōˈlämō mo͞otsyäˈnō [key], c.1528–1592, Italian mannerist painter, also known as Girolamo Bressano. His large painting, The Resurrection of Lazarus (Pinacoteca, Vatican)...

Candlemas

(Encyclopedia)Candlemas kănˈdəlməs [key], Feb. 2, Christian festival commemorating the Purification of the Blessed Virgin and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. The name Candlemas is derived from the proc...