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Signorelli, Luca

(Encyclopedia)Signorelli, Luca lo͞oˈkä sēnyōrĕlˈlē [key], 1441?–1523, Italian painter of the Umbrian school, who probably studied with Piero della Francesca. He worked in Cortona, where some of his painti...

madrigal

(Encyclopedia)madrigal, name for two different forms of Italian music, one related to the poetic madrigal in the 14th cent., the other the most common form of secular vocal music in the 16th cent. The poetic madrig...

Saragat, Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Saragat, Giuseppe jo͞osĕpˈpē säräˈgät [key], 1898–1988, Italian political leader. He was president of the constituent assembly that framed (1946) Italy's republican constitution. In 1947 he ...

Boniface IX

(Encyclopedia)Boniface IX, c.1345–1404, pope (1389–1404), a Neapolitan named Pietro Tomacelli; successor of Urban VI. The Avignon antipopes Clement VII and Benedict XIII were his contemporaries during the Great...

Spagna, Lo

(Encyclopedia)Spagna, Lo lō späˈnyä [key], c.1450–c.1528, Italian painter, b. Spain, whence his nickname. His real name was Giovanni di Pietro. His art belongs to the Umbrian school and reveals his indebtedne...

Poissy, Colloquy of

(Encyclopedia)Poissy, Colloquy of pwäsēˈ [key], 1561, conference of Roman Catholic prelates and Protestant ministers, initiated by Catherine de' Medici and Michel de L'Hôpital in the hope of bringing about a pe...

Guarneri

(Encyclopedia)Guarneri gwärnĕrˈēəs [key], family of violinmakers of Cremona, Italy. The first craftsman of the family was Andrea Guarneri, c.1626–1698, a pupil of Niccolò Amati. He designed and built his in...

Cappello, Bianca

(Encyclopedia)Cappello, Bianca byängˈkä cäpĕlˈlō [key], 1548–87, grand duchess of Tuscany (1579–87). Of a noble Venetian family, she eloped (1563) with a Florentine, Pietro Bonaventuri, who was later kil...

Cornaro, Caterina

(Encyclopedia)Cornaro, Caterina kätārēˈnä kōrnäˈrō [key], 1454–1510, queen of Cyprus. A celebrated Venetian beauty, she was married in 1472 to James II of Cyprus, who was eager to secure Venetian support...

Sangallo

(Encyclopedia)Sangallo säng-gälˈlō [key], three Italian Renaissance architects, two brothers and their nephew. Giuliano da Sangallo, 1445–1516, designed the Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri at Prato and pa...