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Torricelli, Evangelista

(Encyclopedia)Torricelli, Evangelista āvänjālēˈstä tōr-rēchĕlˈlē [key], 1608–47, Italian physicist and mathematician. He was Galileo's secretary (1641–42) and his successor as professor of philosophy...

Guicciardini, Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Guicciardini, Francesco fränchāsˈkō gwēt-chärdēˈnē [key], 1483–1540, Italian historian and statesman. He represented (1512–14) his native Florence at the court of Spain, held offices in t...

Vasari, Giorgio

(Encyclopedia)Vasari, Giorgio jôrˈjō väzäˈrē [key], 1511–74, Italian architect, writer, and painter. He is best known for his entertaining biographies of artists, Vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pitto...

baptistery

(Encyclopedia)baptistery băpˈtĭstrē [key], part of a church, or a separate building in connection with it, used for administering baptism. In the earliest examples it was merely a basin or pool set into the flo...

Renzi, Matteo

(Encyclopedia)Renzi, Matteo, 1975–, Italian political leader. Renzi was a member of the Italian People's party, which merged (2002) with other parties to form Democracy Is Freedom—The Daisy, which then merged (...

art conservation and restoration

(Encyclopedia)art conservation and restoration, the preservation of structurally sound works of art, the halting of processes that lead to the damage of works of art, and the repair of already damaged works of art....

Brandeis University

(Encyclopedia)Brandeis University, at Waltham, Mass.; coeducational; chartered and opened 1948. Although Brandeis was founded by members of the American Jewish community, the university operates as an independent, ...

Sacchetti, Franco

(Encyclopedia)Sacchetti, Franco frängˈkō säk-kĕtˈtē [key], c.1330–1400, Italian author. He held a number of public offices in Florence and wrote lyric verse and moral discourses. He is best remembered for ...

John VIII, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)John VIII (John Palaeologus), 1390–1448, Byzantine emperor (1425–48), son and successor of Manuel II. When he acceded, the Byzantine Empire had been reduced by the Turks to the city of Constantino...

Niccolò di Piero Lamberti

(Encyclopedia)Niccolò di Piero Lamberti nēk-kōlôˈ dē pyāˈrō lämbĕrˈtē [key], c.1370–1451, Italian sculptor and architect of the early Renaissance, sometimes called Niccolò d'Arezzo. He worked mostly...