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Massys, Quentin

(Encyclopedia)Massys, Matsys, Messys, or Metsys, Quentin kvĕnˈtĭn mäsīsˈ, mätsīsˈ, mĕ–, mĕt– [key], c.1466–1530, Flemish painter. After studying in Louvain, he moved to Antwerp by 1491, remaining i...

Thomson, Virgil

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, Virgil, 1896–1989, American composer, critic, and organist, b. Kansas City, Mo. Thomson studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Until about 1926 he wrote in a dissonant, neoclassic style, bu...

Leo X, pope

(Encyclopedia)Leo X, 1475–1521, pope (1513–21), a Florentine named Giovanni de' Medici; successor of Julius II. He was the son of Lorenzo de' Medici, was made a cardinal in his boyhood, and was head of his fami...

Pius IV

(Encyclopedia)Pius IV, 1499–1565, pope (1559–65), a Milanese named Giovanni Angelo de' Medici; successor of Paul IV. He was probably not related to the great Medici family. His career in Rome began in 1527, and...

Almeida, Francisco de

(Encyclopedia)Almeida, Francisco de dĭ älmāˈdə [key], c.1450–1510, Portuguese admiral, first viceroy of Portuguese India. He was first sent to India in 1503 as captain major of a fleet and helped Portuguese...

Champa

(Encyclopedia)Champa chämˈpä [key], the kingdom of the Chams, which flourished in Vietnam from the 2d cent. a.d. until the 17th cent. At its greatest extent it occupied Annam as far north as central Vietnam. Its...

Grand Canal

(Encyclopedia)Grand Canal, Chinese Da Yunhe [large transit river], longest in the world, extending c.1,000 mi (1,600 km) from Beijing to Hangzhou, E China, and forming an important north-south waterway on the North...

Gobi

(Encyclopedia)Gobi gōˈbē [key], Mandarin Yintai shamo, great stony desert of N central Asia, c.500,000 sq mi (1,295,000 sq km), extending c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) from east to west across SE Mongolia and N China fr...

Paraíba, state, Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Paraíba pərīēˈbə [key], state (1991 pop. 3,201,114), 21,765 sq mi (56,371 sq km), NE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is João Pessoa. The state extends inland from the Atlantic to the...

Martini, Simone

(Encyclopedia)Martini, Simone dē märtēˈnō [key], c.1283–1344, major Sienese painter. His art is admired for its Gothic spirituality combined with a vibrancy and a great elegance of line. A follower of Duccio...