Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Vishniac, Roman vĭshˈnēăk [key], 1897–1990, Russian-American biologist, photographer, linguist, art historian, and philosopher, b. Pavlosk, near St. Petersburg. Vishniac took degrees in medicine...

(Encyclopedia) Rothko, Mark rŏthˈkō [key], 1903–70, American painter, b. Dvinsk, Russia (now Daugavpils, Latvia), as Marcus Rotkovitch. His family immigrated to the United States in 1913. He was a student of Ma...

(Encyclopedia) barium bârˈēəm [key] [Gr.,=heavy], metallic chemical element; symbol Ba; at. no. 56; at. wt. 137.327; m.p. 725℃; b.p. 1,640℃; sp. gr. 3.5 at 20℃; valence +2. Barium is a soft, silver-white, ...

(Encyclopedia) Giorgione jōrjôˈnā [key], c.1478–1510, Venetian painter, b. Castelfranco Veneto; fellow student of Titian under Giovanni Bellini in Venice. Giorgione was known also as Zorgo or Zorgi da Castelfr...

(Encyclopedia) censorship, official prohibition or restriction of any type of expression believed to threaten the political, social, or moral order. It may be imposed by governmental authority, local or national, by...

(Encyclopedia) impressionism, in painting, late-19th-century French school that was generally characterized by the attempt to depict transitory visual impressions, often painted directly from nature, and by the use ...

(Encyclopedia) Norwich terrier, breed of small, sturdy terrier developed in England in the second half of the 19th cent. It stands about 10 in. (25.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs about 11 lb (4.9 kg). The har...

(Encyclopedia) magnesite măgˈnəsīt [key], mineral, magnesium carbonate, MgCO3, white, yellow, or gray in color. It originates through the alteration of olivine or of serpentine by waters carrying carbon dioxide;...

(Encyclopedia) Lafosse or La Fosse, Charles de shärl də lä fôs [key], 1636–1716, French painter. A pupil of Le Brun, he was more influenced by Veronese and Correggio, whose works he saw when he was in Italy (1...

(Encyclopedia) Irish wolfhound, breed of very large hound whose origins may be traced back many centuries in Ireland. The tallest of dogs, it stands about 34 in. (86.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs about 140 l...