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Dutch art

(Encyclopedia)Dutch art, the art of the region that is now the Netherlands. As a distinct national style, this art dates from about the turn of the 17th cent., when the country emerged as a political entity and dev...

illumination, in art

(Encyclopedia)illumination, in art, decoration of manuscripts and books with colored, gilded pictures, often referred to as miniatures (see miniature painting); historiated and decorated initials; and ornamental bo...

Dostoyevsky, Feodor Mikhailovich

(Encyclopedia)Dostoyevsky or Dostoevsky, Feodor Mikhailovich fyôˈdər mēkhīˈləvĭch dəstəyĕfˈskē [key], 1821–81, Russian novelist, one of the towering figures of world literature. Notes from the Unde...

Estienne

(Encyclopedia)Estienne, Étienne stĕfˈənəs [key], family of Parisian and Genevan printers of the 16th and 17th cent., distinguished through five generations in scholarship as well as in their craft. The first ...

Keats, John

(Encyclopedia)Keats, John, 1795–1821, English poet, b. London. He is considered one of the greatest of English poets. The son of a livery stable keeper, Keats attended school at Enfield, where he became the frien...

Riga

(Encyclopedia)Riga rēˈgə [key], city (2011 provisional pop. 657,424), capital of Latvia, on the Daugava (Western Dvina) River near its entry into the Gulf of Riga. A major Baltic port, it is also a rail junction...

Springfield

(Encyclopedia)Springfield. 1 City (1990 pop. 105,227), state capital and seat of Sangamon co., central Ill., on the Sangamon River; settled 1818, inc. as a city 1840. In a rich agricultural region (sorghum, corn, c...

Buddhism

(Encyclopedia)Buddhism bo͝odˈĭzəm [key], religion and philosophy founded in India c.525 b.c. by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha. There are over 300 million Buddhists worldwide. One of the great world reli...

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

(Encyclopedia)Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772–1834, English poet and man of letters, b. Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire; one of the most brilliant, versatile, and influential figures in the English romantic movement. ...

Visconti

(Encyclopedia)Visconti vēskônˈtē [key], Italian family that ruled Milan from the 13th cent. until 1447. In the 12th cent. members of the family received the title of viscount, from which the name is derived. Ot...