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Loreto

(Encyclopedia)Loreto lōrĕˈtō [key], town (1991 est. pop. 10,780), in the Marche, central Italy, on a hill overlooking the Adriatic Sea. It has silk industries and is a famous place of pilgrimage. According to l...

Bembo, Pietro

(Encyclopedia)Bembo, Pietro pyāˈtrō bĕmˈbō [key], 1470–1547, Italian humanist, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. A favorite of the Medici, he was secretary to Pope Leo X and was made a cardinal by Paul...

Orcagna

(Encyclopedia)Orcagna ärkäˈnyōlō [key], c.1308–1368, Florentine painter, sculptor, and architect, whose original name was Andrea di Cione. He was one of the leading artists of his day. According to Vasari, w...

Ambrosian Library

(Encyclopedia)Ambrosian Library, Milan, Italy; founded c.1605 by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo. Named for Milan's patron saint, it was one of the first libraries to be open to the public. Its earliest collection was a...

Monti, Vincenzo

(Encyclopedia)Monti, Vincenzo vēnchānˈtsō mōnˈtē [key], 1754–1828, Italian poet and dramatist. Under French rule he became official historiographer of the Italian kingdom and later accommodated himself to ...

Benedict XV

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XV, 1854–1922, pope (1914–22), an Italian (b. Genoa) named Giacomo della Chiesa; successor of Pius X. He was made archbishop of Bologna in 1907 and cardinal in 1914, two months before his...

Tartaglia, Niccolò

(Encyclopedia)Tartaglia, Niccolò nēk-kōlôˈ tärtäˈlyä [key], c.1500–1557, Italian engineer and mathematician. Largely self-educated, he taught mathematics at Verona, Brescia, and Venice. A pioneer in appl...

Prato

(Encyclopedia)Prato ēn tōskäˈnä [key], city (1991 pop. 165,707), Tuscany, central Italy. It is a major textile-making center, known for its wool industry since the 13th cent. Weaving machinery, leather goods, ...

Peruzzi, Baldassare

(Encyclopedia)Peruzzi, Baldassare bäldäs-säˈrā pāro͞otˈtsē [key], 1481–1536, Italian architect and painter of the High Renaissance and mannerist periods. His outstanding architectural works are the Villa...

madrigal

(Encyclopedia)madrigal, name for two different forms of Italian music, one related to the poetic madrigal in the 14th cent., the other the most common form of secular vocal music in the 16th cent. The poetic madrig...

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