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history painting

(Encyclopedia)history painting, the painting of scenes from classical and Christian history and mythology. It was taught in the academies of art, from the Renaissance to the 19th cent., as the highest form of art i...

Jacquard, Joseph Marie

(Encyclopedia)Jacquard, Joseph Marie zhôzĕfˈ märēˈ zhäkärˈ [key], 1752–1834, French inventor, whose loom is of the greatest importance in modern mechanical figure weaving. After several years of experime...

experience

(Encyclopedia)experience, living through events and the impression on a person or animal of events. In epistemology, a distinction is made between things known inductively, from experience, and those known deductiv...

Truro , city, England

(Encyclopedia)Truro tro͝orˈō [key], city (1991 pop. 16,130), W Cornwall, England, the administrative and commercial center of Cornwall, at the confluence of the Kenwyn and Allen rivers (which form the Truro Rive...

black humor

(Encyclopedia)black humor, in literature, drama, and film, grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters or situations are usu...

Kazantzakis, Nikos

(Encyclopedia)Kazantzakis, Nikos nēˈkôs käˌzändzäˈkēs [key], 1883?–1957, Greek writer, b. Crete. After obtaining a law degree he studied philosophy under Henri Bergson in Paris and traveled widely in Eur...

anchor

(Encyclopedia)anchor, device cast overboard to secure a ship, boat, or other floating object by means of weight, friction, or hooks called flukes. In ancient times an anchor was often merely a large stone, a bag or...

decathlon

(Encyclopedia)decathlon dĭkăthˈlŏn [key], in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. It consists of the long jump; the high jump; the discus throw; ...

Schapiro, Meyer

(Encyclopedia)Schapiro, Meyer shəpĭrˈō [key], 1904–96, American art historian, b. Siauliai, Lithuania. Schapiro came to the United States in 1907 and later attended Columbia Univ., where he began teaching in ...

Menotti, Gian-Carlo

(Encyclopedia)Menotti, Gian-Carlo jänˈ-kärˈlō mānôtˈtē [key], 1911–2007, Italian composer. Menotti was taught music by his mother and composed his first opera at 10. He studied at the Verdi Conservatory,...