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Italian literature

(Encyclopedia)Italian literature, writings in the Italian language, as distinct from earlier works in Latin and French. In the second half of the 19th cent. Francesco De Sanctis, literary critic and historian, la...

Italian greyhound

(Encyclopedia)Italian greyhound, breed of sleek, active toy dog that stands from 13 to 15 in. (32–38 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 7 to 11 lb (3–5 kg). Its short, thin coat is glossy and may be any s...

Porphyry, Greek scholar

(Encyclopedia)Porphyry pôrˈfĭrē [key], c.232–c.304, Greek scholar and Neoplatonic philosopher. He studied rhetoric under Cassius Longinus and philosophy under Plotinus. He later lectured in Rome on the philos...

Italian architecture

(Encyclopedia)Italian architecture, the several styles employed in Italy after the Roman period. Nineteenth-century Italian architecture, such as Giuseppe Sacconi's Victor Emmanuel monument, shows a decline in qu...

Italian art

(Encyclopedia)Italian art, works of art produced in the geographic region that now constitutes the nation of Italy. Italian art has engendered great public interest and involvement, resulting in the consistent prod...

Italian East Africa

(Encyclopedia)Italian East Africa, former federation of the Italian colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland and the kingdom of Ethiopia. The federation was formed (1936) to consolidate the administration of the ...

Italian Wars

(Encyclopedia)Italian Wars, 1494–1559, series of regional wars brought on by the efforts of the great European powers to control the small independent states of Italy. Renaissance Italy was split into numerous ri...

Medici, Lorenzo de', 1449–92, Italian merchant prince

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Lorenzo de' dā mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1449–92, Italian merchant prince, called Lorenzo il Magnifico [the magnificent]. He succeeded (1469) his father, Piero de' Medici, as...

Este, Italian noble family

(Encyclopedia)Este ĕsˈtā [key], Italian noble family, rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597) and of Modena (1288–1796) and celebrated patrons of the arts during the Renaissance. Probably of Lombard origin, they took ...

Medici, Italian family

(Encyclopedia)Medici mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], Italian family that directed the destinies of Florence from the 15th cent. until 1737. Of obscure origin, they rose to immense wealth as merchants and ba...