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Donato Bramante
Donato Bramante (c. 1444-1514 CE) was an Italian Renaissance architect whose most famous project was the design for a new Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, even if this work remained unfinished at his death. Bramante had also designed the influential...
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Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c. 90 - c. 20 BCE), better known simply as Vitruvius, was a Roman military engineer and architect who wrote De Architectura (On Architecture), a treatise which combines the history of ancient architecture and engineering...
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Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472 CE) was an Italian scholar, architect, mathematician, and advocate of Renaissance humanism. Alberti famously wrote the treatise On Architecture where he outlines the key elements of classical architecture...
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Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French scientist, mathematician, and philosopher whose work influenced both the Scientific Revolution and later European thought. Pascal is known for his practical achievements in science, such as a calculating...
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Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam (also given as Umar Khayyam, l. 1048-1131 CE) was a Persian polymath, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher but is best known in the West as a poet, the author of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. His famous work has been embraced...
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Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a Dutch philosopher who combined rationalism and metaphysics to create a unique system of thought. Spinoza was held up as an atheist philosopher in the 18th century, but this is not an entirely accurate representation...
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Lepenski Vir
Lepenski Vir (Serbian Cyrillic: Лепенски Вир, “Lepena Whirlpool”) is an ancient settlement on the banks of the Danube in eastern Serbia; more precisely, in Boljetin village, near Donji Milanovac. The site shows evidence of a culture which...
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Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca (c. 1420-1492 CE) was an Italian Renaissance artist whose paintings and frescoes are characterised by their solid figures, bright colours, and harmonious composition. His masterpieces include the painted panel the Flagellation...
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Sebastiano Serlio
Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554 CE) was an Italian Renaissance architect, painter, and scholar. His most successful building design is the classically-inspired Château d'Ancy-le-Franc in France. Serlio's lifetime of scholarship came together...
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Constantine VII
Constantine VII was Byzantine emperor from 945 until 959 CE. Sometimes known as Constantine Porphyrogennetos because of his birth in the purple chamber of the royal palace, he was served by various regents from 912 CE until reigning in his...