Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Baraka, Amiri

(Encyclopedia)Baraka, Amiri amērē bəräˈkə [key], 1934–2014, American poet, playwright, and political activist, b. Newark, N.J., as Everett LeRoy Jones, studied at Rutgers Univ., Howard Univ. In college he a...

motet

(Encyclopedia)motet mōtĕtˈ [key], name for the outstanding type of musical composition of the 13th cent. and for a different type that originated in the Renaissance. The 13th-century motet, a creation (c.1200) o...

Borgia, Cesare

(Encyclopedia)Borgia, Cesare or Caesar bōrˈjä [key], 1476–1507, Italian soldier and politician, younger son of Pope Alexander VI and an outstanding figure of the Italian Renaissance. Throughout his pontificat...

Verona, city, Italy

(Encyclopedia)Verona vərôˈnä [key], city (1991 pop. 255,824), capital of Verona prov., Venetia, NE Italy, on the Adige River. It is a transportation junction and a major industrial and agricultural center, with...

Florence, city, Italy

(Encyclopedia)Florence flôrˈəns, flŏrˈ– [key], Ital. Firenze, city (2021 est. metro area pop.709,064...

Lüneburg

(Encyclopedia)Lüneburg lüˈnəbo͝orgər hīˈdə [key], a vast heath, SW of Lüneburg, lies between the Elbe and Aller rivers. It is a sandy region; sheep are raised and petroleum is produced. Parts of the heath...

lute

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Lute lute, musical instrument that has a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, which are plucked with the fingers. The long lute, with its neck much longer t...

Koetsu Hon'ami

(Encyclopedia)Koetsu Hon'ami kōˈĕtso͞oˌ hônäˈmē [key], 1558–1637, Japanese artist, poet, calligrapher, tea master, and landscape gardener. Considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of t...

National Gallery

(Encyclopedia)National Gallery, London, one of the permanent national art collections of Great Britain, est. 1824. The nucleus of museum was the 38-picture collection of the late English banker John Julius Angerste...

Moulins

(Encyclopedia)Moulins mo͞olăNˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 23,353), capital of Allier dept., central France, on the Allier River. Clothing, shoes, dyes, automobile parts, and household products are manufactured. It i...

Browse by Subject