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Laeken

(Encyclopedia)Laeken läˈkən [key], part of Brussels, central Belgium. The palace built there (early 19th cent.) by Napoleon I is used as a Belgian royal residence. ...

Big Ben

(Encyclopedia)Big Ben, the bell in the Parliament tower (Westminster Palace), London, England. It was named for Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner of works when the bell was installed in 1856. The name is often used t...

Sebastiano del Piombo

(Encyclopedia)Sebastiano del Piombo sābästyäˈnō dĕl pyômˈbō [key], c.1485–1547, Italian painter of the Venetian school, whose real name was Sebastiano Luciani. Although he was trained by Giovanni Bellini...

Fontana, Domenico

(Encyclopedia)Fontana, Domenico fōntäˈnä [key], 1543–1607, Italian architect. He went to Rome, where he built (c.1580) the Sistine Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore for Cardinal Peretti. When his ...

Pekingese

(Encyclopedia)Pekingese pēˌkĭnēzˈ [key], breed of small toy dog developed over many centuries in China. It stands from 6 to 9 in. (15.3–22.9 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 6 to 14 lb (2.7–6.4 kg)...

Hermitage, museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Hermitage ĕrˌmētäzhˈ [key], museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, one of the world's foremost houses of art, consisting of six buildings along the embankment of the Neva River. Its central building, ...

Zuccaro

(Encyclopedia)Zuccaro tso͞okˈkārō [key], Italian painters, two brothers, who were leading exponents of the late mannerist style in Rome. Taddeo Zuccaro, 1529–66, won recognition by his decorative paintings in...

Versailles

(Encyclopedia)Versailles vərsīˈ, Fr. vĕrsīˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 91,029), capital of Yvelines dept., N central France. It was an insignificant rural hamlet when Louis XIII constructed a small retreat there ...

Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3d duke of, 1473–1554, English nobleman, prominent in the reign of Henry VIII; son of Thomas Howard, the 2d duke. He married (1495) a daughter of Edward IV and thus became br...

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