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George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was a composer of baroque music who was born in Germany but became an English citizen. His most famous works include his Messiah, Water Music, baroque Italian operas, and English oratorios. A hugely successful...
Definition
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici (l. 1519-1589) was the queen of France, mother of three kings and two queens and, between 1559 and c. 1576, the most powerful woman in France and, possibly, all of Europe. She was the strength behind the French throne...
Definition
Petrarch
Petrarch (1304-1374 CE), full name Francesco Petrarca, was an Italian scholar and poet who is credited as one of the founders of the Renaissance movement in art, thought, and literature. Petrarch actively searched for 'lost' ancient manuscripts...
Definition
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) was a British engineer and a key figure of the British Industrial Revolution (1760-1840). Brunel masterminded the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol, designed and built innovative giant steamships...
Definition
Titian
Titian (c. 1487-1576 CE), real name Tiziano Vecelli (or Vecellio), was an Italian Renaissance painter who during his lifetime was considered the finest of the Venice school of artists. In a long career working for dukes, kings, and popes...
Definition
Arretium
Arretium (modern Arezzo) was an important Etruscan town located in the extreme north-east of Etruria in central Italy. Flourishing as a trade and manufacturing centre, Arretium managed to overcome its rivalry with Rome and continue as a prosperous...
Definition
Totila
Totila (birth name, Baduila-Badua r. 541-552 CE) was the last great king of the Ostrogoths in Italy. He was the nephew of the Gothic king Ildibad who was succeeded by Eraric the Rugian (d. 541 CE). The Goths of Italy felt that Eraric was...
Book Review
Music in Golden-Age Florence, 1250–1750: From the Priorate of the Guilds to the End of the Medici Grand Duchy
As the title indicates, this book presents the music composed and performed in Florence during its most prolific and productive time: from the Middle Ages to the end of the Baroque. This 500-year time capsule saw Florence as a politically...
Book Review
The Springtime of the Renaissance: Sculpture and the Arts in Florence 1400-60
Springtime of the Renaissance: Sculpture and the Arts in Florence, 1400-60 is the exhibition catalogue of an international, retrospective exhibition currently on show at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy. Edited by Beatrice Paolozzi...
Definition
Renaissance Humanism
Renaissance Humanism was an intellectual movement typified by a revived interest in the classical world and studies which focussed not on religion but on what it is to be human. Its origins went back to 14th-century Italy and such authors...