Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Perugino pāro͞ojēˈnō [key], c.1445–1523?, Umbrian painter, b. near Perugia. His real name was Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci. Perugino is, after Raphael, the greatest painter of the Umbrian scho...

(Encyclopedia) Thomson, Virgil, 1896–1989, American composer, critic, and organist, b. Kansas City, Mo. Thomson studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Until about 1926 he wrote in a dissonant, neoclassic style, bu...

(Encyclopedia) reliquary rĕlˌəkwĕrˈē [key], receptacle containing the relics of saints and other sacred objects of the Christian religion. Reliquaries were often designed in shapes that reflected the nature of...

(Encyclopedia) Columba, Saint kŏlˈəmkĭlˌ [key] [Irish,=dove of the church], 521–97, Irish missionary to Scotland, called the Apostle of Caledonia. A prince of the O'Donnells of Donegal, he was educated at Mov...

(Encyclopedia) vegetarianism, theory and practice of eating only fruits and vegetables, thus excluding animal flesh, fish, or fowl and often butter, eggs, and milk. In a strict vegetarian, or vegan, diet (i.e., one ...

(Encyclopedia) Bollandists bŏlˈəndĭsts [key], group of Jesuits in Belgium, named for their early leader, Jean Bolland, a Flemish Jesuit of the 17th cent. They were charged by the Holy See with compiling an autho...

(Encyclopedia) Finelli, Giuliano jo͞olyäˈnō fēnĕlˈlē [key], 1605–57, Italian sculptor. Working as assistant to Bernini, Finelli rejected the baroque aesthetic and adopted a mannered style of expression inf...

(Encyclopedia) Major, John, 1469–1550, Scottish theologian and historian. He studied and taught at the Univ. of Paris. His works, all in Latin, were published there. He was one of the most famous teachers of schol...

(Encyclopedia) blockhouse, small fortification, usually temporary, serving as a post for a small garrison. Blockhouses seem to have come into use in the 15th cent. to prevent access to a strategically important obje...

(Encyclopedia) asceticism əsĕtˈĭsĭzəm [key], rejection of bodily pleasures through sustained self-denial and self-mortification, with the objective of strengthening spiritual life. Asceticism has been common i...