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Panofsky, Erwin

(Encyclopedia)Panofsky, Erwin pănŏfˈskē [key], 1892–1968, American art historian, b. Germany, Ph.D. Univ. of Freiburg, 1914. After teaching (1921–33) at the Univ. of Hamburg and serving as professor of fine...

Portuguese literature

(Encyclopedia)Portuguese literature, writings in Portuguese. The literature of Brazil is considered separately (see Brazilian literature). The modern period in Portuguese letters dates from the establishment o...

drawing

(Encyclopedia)drawing, art of the draftsman. In its broadest sense it includes every use of the delineated line and is thus basic to the arts of painting, architecture, sculpture, calligraphy, and geometry. The wor...

Irving, Sir Henry

(Encyclopedia)Irving, Sir Henry, 1838–1905, English actor and theatrical manager, originally named John Henry Brodribb. He made his debut in 1856 and achieved fame in 1871 with his portrayal of Mathias in Leopold...

Maria II

(Encyclopedia)Maria II (Maria da Glória), 1819–53, queen of Portugal (1834–53), daughter of Peter IV (Pedro I of Brazil). Pedro, having succeeded to the Portuguese throne on the death (1826) of his father, Joh...

Massys, Quentin

(Encyclopedia)Massys, Matsys, Messys, or Metsys, Quentin kvĕnˈtĭn mäsīsˈ, mätsīsˈ, mĕ–, mĕt– [key], c.1466–1530, Flemish painter. After studying in Louvain, he moved to Antwerp by 1491, remaining i...

Thomson, Virgil

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, Virgil, 1896–1989, American composer, critic, and organist, b. Kansas City, Mo. Thomson studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Until about 1926 he wrote in a dissonant, neoclassic style, bu...

Champa

(Encyclopedia)Champa chämˈpä [key], the kingdom of the Chams, which flourished in Vietnam from the 2d cent. a.d. until the 17th cent. At its greatest extent it occupied Annam as far north as central Vietnam. Its...

Grand Canal

(Encyclopedia)Grand Canal, Chinese Da Yunhe [large transit river], longest in the world, extending c.1,000 mi (1,600 km) from Beijing to Hangzhou, E China, and forming an important north-south waterway on the North...

Gobi

(Encyclopedia)Gobi gōˈbē [key], Mandarin Yintai shamo, great stony desert of N central Asia, c.500,000 sq mi (1,295,000 sq km), extending c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) from east to west across SE Mongolia and N China fr...