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Semper, Gottfried

(Encyclopedia)Semper, Gottfried gôtˈfrēt zĕmˈpər [key], 1803–79, German architect. Semper was among the most influential architects of the 19th cent. In his book Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen...

Shubun

(Encyclopedia)Shubun sho͞oˈbo͞onˈ [key], fl. 1st half of 15th cent., Japanese painter and Zen Buddhist priest. He studied under Josetsu, and became the central figure in the renaissance in Japan of the Chinese ...

Peruzzi, Baldassare

(Encyclopedia)Peruzzi, Baldassare bäldäs-säˈrā pāro͞otˈtsē [key], 1481–1536, Italian architect and painter of the High Renaissance and mannerist periods. His outstanding architectural works are the Villa...

Riemenschneider, Tilman

(Encyclopedia)Riemenschneider, Tilman tĭlˈmän rēˈmənshnīˌdər [key], c.1460–1531, German Renaissance sculptor, who worked in stone and wood. He was in Würzburg by 1483. In 1520 he was made burgomaster, b...

Corinthian order

(Encyclopedia)Corinthian order, most ornate of the classic orders of architecture. It was also the latest, not arriving at full development until the middle of the 4th cent. b.c. The oldest known example, however, ...

Ionic order

(Encyclopedia)Ionic order īŏnˈĭk [key], one of the early orders of architecture. The spreading scroll-shaped capital is the distinctive feature of the Ionic order; it was primarily a product of Asia Minor, wher...

window

(Encyclopedia)window, in architecture, the casement or sash, fitted with glass, which closes an opening in the wall of a structure without excluding light and air. It may have a square, round, or pointed head; may ...

earring

(Encyclopedia)earring, a personal adornment, sometimes an amulet, worn attached to the ear lobe. Since prehistoric times the ear has been pierced for the insertion of the earring; certain primitive tribes distort t...

Delmedigo, Elijah ben Moses Abba

(Encyclopedia)Delmedigo, Elijah ben Moses Abba dālmĕˈdēgō [key], c.1460–1497, Jewish philosopher and Talmudist, b. Crete, known also as Elijah Cretensis. He emigrated to Italy as a young man. He studied the ...

Empson, William

(Encyclopedia)Empson, William, 1906–84, English critic and poet. His Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930), a study of the meanings of poetry, is a classic of modern literary criticism. It was followed by Some Versions...

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