Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

273 results found

Bandello, Matteo

(Encyclopedia)Bandello, Matteo mät–tĕˈō bändĕlˈlō [key], 1485–1561, Italian storywriter, a Dominican priest. He is famous for his novellas, short tales in imitation of Boccaccio, that provided themes fo...

Troilus and Cressida

(Encyclopedia)Troilus and Cressida troiˈləs, krĕsˈĭdə [key], a medieval romance distantly related to characters in Greek legend. Troilus, a Trojan prince (son of Priam and Hecuba), fell in love with Cressida ...

Coornhert, Dirck Volckertszoon

(Encyclopedia)Coornhert, Dirck Volckertszoon dûrk vôlˈkərtzōn kôrnˈhârt [key], 1522–90, Dutch humanist. His translation (1561) of the first 12 books of the Odyssey is considered the first major poetic wor...

Santillana, Iñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de

(Encyclopedia)Santillana, Iñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de ēnyēˈgō lōˈpĕth dā māndōˈthä märkāsˈ dā säntēlyäˈnä [key], 1398–1458, Spanish poet and literary patron. Influenced by Dante, Pe...

Macchiaioli, I

(Encyclopedia)Macchiaioli, I ē mäk-kēīôˈlē [key], a group of Italian artists active primarily in Florence c.1855–65. Influenced by members of the Barbizon school, the Macchiaioli reacted against stilted ac...

Casanova de Seingalt, Giovanni Giacomo

(Encyclopedia)Casanova de Seingalt, Giovanni Giacomo kăzənōˈvə, Ital. jōvänˈnē jäˈkōmō käzänōˈvä dā sāngältˈ [key], 1725–98, Venetian adventurer, author, and celebrated libertine. He studied...

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 ...

Medici, Giovanni de', 1498–1526, Italian condottiere

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Giovanni de', or Giovanni delle Bande Nere jōvänˈnē dĕlˈlā bänˈdā nāˈrā [key] [Ital.,=of the black bands], 1498–1526, Italian condottiere; great-grandson of Lorenzo de' Medici (...

López de Ayala, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)López de Ayala, Pedro pāˈᵺrō lōˈpāth ᵺā äyäˈlä [key], 1332–1407, Spanish statesman, poet, and chronicler. As a royal official in Castile, he served Peter the Cruel, Henry II, John I,...

basil

(Encyclopedia)basil băzˈəl [key], any plant of the genus Ocimum, tender herbs or small shrubs of the family Labiatae (mint family), mostly of Old World warm regions and cultivated for the aromatic leaves. The ba...