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Amati

(Encyclopedia)Amati ämäˈtē [key], Italian family of violinmakers of Cremona. The founder of the Cremona school was Andrea Amati (c.1520–c.1578), whose earliest violins date from c.1564. His labels bore the na...

Bononcini

(Encyclopedia)Bononcini bwō– [key], musical family of Modena, Italy. Giovanni Maria Bononcini, 1642–78, choirmaster and organist at Bologna and Modena, was a composer and the author of Musico prattico (1673). ...

Marston, John

(Encyclopedia)Marston, John, 1576–1634, English satirist and dramatist, b. Oxfordshire, grad. Oxford, 1594. In accordance with his father's wishes he studied law at Middle Temple, but his interests soon turned to...

Alamo, the

(Encyclopedia)Alamo, the ălˈəmōˌ [key] [Span.,=cottonwood], building in San Antonio, Tex., “the cradle of Texas liberty.” Built as a chapel after 1744, it is all that remains of the mission of San Antonio ...

Altichiero da Zevio

(Encyclopedia)Altichiero da Zevio ältēkyāˈrō dä tsāvˈyō [key], c.1330–c.1395, Italian painter, follower of Giotto. He worked in Verona and then Padua. His frescoes in the churches of Sant' Antonio and Sa...

White, Edward Higgins, 2d

(Encyclopedia)White, Edward Higgins, 2d, 1930–67, American astronaut, b. San Antonio. While serving as pilot of Gemini 4 (June 3–7, 1965), he became the first American to perform extravehicular activity. He had...

Escobedo, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Escobedo, Juan de hwän dā āskōbāˈᵺō [key], d. 1578, Spanish politician, secretary to John of Austria in the Netherlands. He was murdered while on a mission in Madrid. Antonio Pérez was, perh...

Benedetto da Majano

(Encyclopedia)Benedetto da Majano bānādĕtˈtō dä mäyäˈnō [key], 1442–97. Italian sculptor and architect of the Florentine school. His pulpits, altarpieces, and other church furniture are beautifully exec...

Pichincha

(Encyclopedia)Pichincha pēchēnˈchä [key], active volcano, 15,918 ft (4,852 m) high, N Ecuador, near Quito. Its most serious recent eruption was in 1998–2001. On its lower slopes, in the decisive battle of Pic...

flamenco

(Encyclopedia)flamenco, Spanish music and dance typical of the Romani (Gypsy), or gitano. Flamenco dancing is characterized by colorful costumes, intense and erotic movements, stamping of the feet (zapateado), and ...