Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

179 results found

Berenson, Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Berenson, Bernard bĕrˈənsən [key], 1865–1959, American art critic and connoisseur of Italian art, b. Lithuania, grad. Harvard, 1887. An expert and an arbiter of taste, he selected for art collec...

Victorian style

(Encyclopedia)Victorian style, in British and American architecture, an eclectic mode based on the revival of older styles, often in new combinations. Although the style is named after the reign (1837–1901) of Qu...

ammoniac

(Encyclopedia)ammoniac or gum ammoniac əmōˈnēăkˌ [key], yellowish substance with a sickening, bitter taste, obtained from the milky exudate of the injured stem of a plant (Dorema ammoniacum) found in Iran, In...

fusel oil

(Encyclopedia)fusel oil fyo͞oˈzəl [key], oily, colorless liquid with a disagreeable odor and taste. It is a mixture of alcohols (largely amyl alcohols) and fatty acids, formed during the alcoholic fermentation o...

Milstein, Nathan

(Encyclopedia)Milstein, Nathan, 1904–92, Russian violinist, b. Odessa. Milstein attended the music school in Odessa before entering the St. Petersburg conservatory, where he studied under Leopold Auer. He toured ...

Legros, Alphonse

(Encyclopedia)Legros, Alphonse älfôNsˈ ləgrōˈ [key], 1837–1911, French etcher, painter, and sculptor. Legros's draftsmanship was similar to that of Ingres, but his approach was sentimental. He moved to Engl...

Brillat-Savarin, Anthelme

(Encyclopedia)Brillat-Savarin, Anthelme äNtĕlmˈ brēyäˈ-sävärăNˈ [key], 1755–1826, French lawyer, economist, and gastronomist, famous for his witty treatise on the art of dining, La Physiologie du goût ...

Toyokuni

(Encyclopedia)Toyokuni tōyōˈko͞onē [key], 1769–1825, Japanese color-print artist, whose name in full was Toyokuni Utagawa. He was one of the leading masters of the period of the popular ukiyo-e school. After...

Puttenham, George

(Encyclopedia)Puttenham, George pŭtˈənəm [key], d. 1590, English author. The Arte of English Poesie (1589), generally considered the best treatise on English versification of its time, has been attributed to hi...

mouth

(Encyclopedia)mouth, entrance to the digestive and respiratory tracts. The mouth, or oral cavity, is ordinarily a simple opening in lower animals; in vertebrates it is a more complex structure. In humans, the mouth...