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Firdausi

(Encyclopedia)Firdausi or Ferdowsi both: fərdouˈsē [key], c.940–1020, principal Persian poet, author of the Shah Namah [the book of kings], the great Persian epic. His original name was Abul Kasim Mansur; he i...

ink

(Encyclopedia)ink, pigmented fluid used for writing and drawing, or a viscous compound used for printing, both of various colors but most frequently black. The oldest known variety, India ink or China ink, is still...

Hanna, Marcus Alonzo

(Encyclopedia)Hanna, Marcus Alonzo (Mark Hanna), 1837–1904, American capitalist and politician, b. New Lisbon (now Lisbon), Ohio. He attended Western Reserve College for a short time, then entered his father's wh...

Margaret of Valois

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Valois välwäˈ [key], 1553–1615, queen of France and Navarre, daughter of King Henry II of France and of Catherine de' Medici. She was known as Queen Margot. Her wedding (1572) with He...

Mary Magdalene

(Encyclopedia)Mary Magdalene i.e., tearful [key] [traditionally Greek,=of Magdala], Christian saint, a woman widely venerated in Christendom. The name Madeleine is a French form of Magdalene. She appears in the New...

Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēˈstä tyĕˈpōlō [key], 1696–1770, Italian painter, b. Venice. A master of the rococo style, he was the most important Venetian painter and decorat...

Aegean Sea

(Encyclopedia)Aegean Sea, Gr. Aigaion Pelagos, Turkish Ege Denizi, arm of the Mediterranean Sea, c.400 mi (640 km) long and 200 mi (320 km) wide, off SE Europe between Greece and Turkey; Crete and Rhodes mark its s...

abstract expressionism

(Encyclopedia)abstract expressionism, movement of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the mid-1940s and attained singular prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action pa...

Delcassé, Théophile

(Encyclopedia)Delcassé, Théophile tāôfēlˈ dĕlkäsāˈ [key], 1852–1923, French foreign minister. He began his career as a political journalist and then turned to politics. First undersecretary and then min...

National Gallery of Art

(Encyclopedia)National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, established by an act of Congress, 1937. Andrew W. Mellon donated funds for construction of the building as well...