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Desiderio da Settignano

(Encyclopedia)Desiderio da Settignano dāzēdĕˈrēō dä sĕtˌtēnyäˈnō [key], c.1429–64, Florentine sculptor, a follower of Donatello. His exquisitely delicate marble carving is best seen in his church dec...

figurehead

(Encyclopedia)figurehead, carved decoration usually representing a head or figure placed under the bowsprit of a ship. The art is of extreme antiquity. Ancient galleys and triremes carried rostrums, or beaks, on th...

Seneca, the younger, c.3 b.c.–a.d. 65, Roman philosopher, dramatist, and statesman

(Encyclopedia)Seneca, the younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) lo͞oˈshəs ənēˈəs sĕnˈəkə [key], c.3 b.c.–a.d. 65, Roman philosopher, dramatist, and statesman, b. Corduba (present-day Córdoba), Spain. He was...

cameo

(Encyclopedia)cameo kămˈēō [key], small relief carving, usually on striated precious or semiprecious stones or on shell. The design, often a portrait head, is commonly cut in the light-colored vein, and the dar...

Day of the Dead

(Encyclopedia)Day of the Dead, Span. Día de los Muertos, annual festival in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, commonly on November 1st and 2d. Its ancient Mesoamerican roots now augmented by Christian custo...

history painting

(Encyclopedia)history painting, the painting of scenes from classical and Christian history and mythology. It was taught in the academies of art, from the Renaissance to the 19th cent., as the highest form of art i...

Gossart, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Gossart or Gossaert, Jan, c.1478–1532, Flemish painter, b. Maubeuge, also known as Jan de Mabuse after his birthplace. He may have studied in Bruges before joining the Antwerp guild in 1503. In 1508...

Signs of the Zodiac (table)

(Encyclopedia)Signs of the Zodiac

Book of the Dead

(Encyclopedia)Book of the Dead, term used to describe Egyptian funerary literature. The texts consist of charms, spells, and formulas for use by the deceased in the afterworld and contain many of the basic ideas of...

Warburg, Aby

(Encyclopedia)Warburg, Aby (Abraham Moritz Warburg), 1866–1929, German historian of art and culture, b. Hamburg, studied art history in Bonn, Munich, Florence, and Strasbourg, where he received a doctorate with a...