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Carmagnola, Francesco Bussone da

(Encyclopedia)Carmagnola, Francesco Bussone da fränchĕsˈkō bo͞os-sôˈnā dä kärmänyôˈlä [key], c.1380?–1432, Italian condottiere. He fought for Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, in his wars again...

mannerism

(Encyclopedia)mannerism, a style in art and architecture (c.1520–1600), originating in Italy as a reaction against the equilibrium of form and proportions characteristic of the High Renaissance. In Florence, Pont...

Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni, Conte

(Encyclopedia)Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni, Conte jōvänˈnē kōnˈtā pēˈkō dĕlˈlä mēränˈdōlä [key], 1463–94, Italian philosopher and humanist. To many in the age of the Renaissance, Pico was the ...

Lascaris, Constantine

(Encyclopedia)Lascaris, Constantine kŏnˈstəntēn lăsˈkərĭs [key], d. 1501?, Greek grammarian. After the fall of Constantinople, Lascaris went to Italy and in Milan obtained the patronage of Francesco Sforza....

Menzel, Donald Howard

(Encyclopedia)Menzel, Donald Howard, 1901–76, American astrophysicist, b. Florence, Colo. From 1926 to 1932 he was with the Lick Observatory in Calif. In 1932 he joined the faculty at Harvard, where he became pro...

Gemistus Pletho, Georgius

(Encyclopedia)Gemistus Pletho, Georgius jôrˈjəs jĭmĭsˈtəs plēˈthō [key], c.1355–1452, Byzantine scholar and philosopher, b. Constantinople. He represented the Orthodox Eastern Church at the Council of F...

Fliedner, Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Fliedner, Theodor tāˈōdôr flētˈnər [key], 1800–1864, German Protestant minister and philanthropist. In 1826 he organized the first prison society of Germany. Ten years later at Kaiserswerth h...

Amici, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Amici, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä ämēˈchē [key], 1786–1863, Italian astronomer, mathematician, and naturalist. He became director of the observatory and professor of astronomy...

Donati, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Donati, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä dōnäˈtē [key], 1826–73, Italian astronomer, b. Pisa. Serving as director of the Florence Observatory from 1864, he was a pioneer in the spec...

Ball, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Ball, Thomas, 1819–1911, American sculptor, b. Charlestown, Mass.; son of a house and sign painter. Thomas Ball was also a singer of reputation, the first in the United States to sing the title role...