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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...

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...

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 ...

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, ...

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...

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...

Volterra

(Encyclopedia)Volterra, town (1991 pop. 12,879), Tuscany, central Italy. A powerful Etruscan town, it later (12th–13th cent.) was a free commune and passed to Florence in the 14th cent. Of note are well-preserved...

Marianus Scotus, 1028–c.1082, Irish monk and chronicler

(Encyclopedia)Marianus Scotus mărēāˈnəs skōˈtəs [key], 1028–c.1082, Irish monk and chronicler, whose Gaelic name was Mael-brigte. He left Ireland in 1056 and lived on the Continent until his death. His ch...

Varchi, Benedetto

(Encyclopedia)Varchi, Benedetto bānādĕtˈtō värˈkē [key], 1502?–1565, Italian poet and historian. A protégé of Filippo Strozzi and Cosimo de' Medici, he was commissioned to write the history of Florence....

grisaille

(Encyclopedia)grisaille grĭzīˈ, –zālˈ, Fr. grēzäˈyə [key], a monochrome painting and drawing technique executed in tones of gray. Such works were often produced in the Renaissance to simulate sculpture, ...