Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo, a book that described the then-mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China under the Yuan dynasty, giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan, and other Asian societies.
A sackbut is an early form of the trombone used during the Renaissance and Baroque eras. A sackbut has the characteristic telescopic slide of a trombone, used to vary the length of the tube to change pitch, but is distinct from later trombones by its smaller, more cylindrically-proportioned bore, and its less-flared bell. Unlike the earlier slide trumpet from which it evolved, the sackbut possesses a U-shaped slide with two parallel sliding tubes, rather than just one.
In music, ornaments or embellishments are musical flourishes—typically, added notes—that are not essential to carry the overall line of the melody, but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line, provide added interest and variety, and give the performer the opportunity to add expressiveness to a song or piece. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central, main note.
In art history, "Old Master" refers to any painter of skill who worked in Europe before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period. The term "old master drawing" is used in the same way.
Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of 15. In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele.
Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including regional varieties and vernacular dialects.
Federico Borromeo was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, a prominent figure of Counter-Reformation in Italy. Federico was a hero of the plague of 1630, described in Alessandro Manzoni's historical novel, The Betrothed. He was a great patron of the arts and founded the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, one of the first free public libraries in Europe. In 1618 he added a picture gallery, donating his own considerable collection of paintings. His published works, mainly in Latin, number over 100. They show his interest in ecclesiastical archaeology, sacred painting, and collecting.
The Archdiocese of Bologna is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Italy. The cathedra is in the cathedral church of San Pietro, Bologna. The current archbishop is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who was installed in 2015.
The Diocese of Vigevano is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church which lies almost entirely in the Province of Pavia, Lombardy. It has existed since 1530. The diocese is suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan, having been suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli until 9 April 1578.
The Archdiocese of Ferrara-Comacchio is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church. It has existed since 1986, when the diocese of Comacchio was combined with the historical archdiocese of Ferrara. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bologna.
The Diocese of Albenga–Imperia is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Liguria, northern Italy; the traditional name of the Diocese of Albenga was changed by decree of the Congregation of Bishops in the Roman Curia, with the approval of Pope Paul VI, on 1 December 1973. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Genoa.
The Italian Catholic diocese of Venosa, in southern Italy, existed until 1986. In that year it was united into the Diocese of Melfi-Rapolla-Venosa. From 1976 to 1986, Venosa had been a suffragan of the archdiocese of Potenza e Marsico Nuovo.
The Diocese of Alessandria is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Piedmont, northern Italy. Originally a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan, since 1817 it has been a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli.
Genoa is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2023, 558,745 people lived within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 813,626 inhabitants, more than 1.5 million people live in the wider metropolitan area stretching along the Italian Riviera.
A military treatise or treatise on war is any work that deals with the "art of war" in some basic aspect. Fundamentally military treatises are treatises on military strategy. Other works may also be included in the definition that, although they deal with other topics, include sensitive information about military matters. These may include, among others, description of specific battles, sieges, general campaigns, reports of military authorities, and commented works about ground or naval battles.
The Arese are a prominent family of the Milanese nobility.
Armenis, in Italian and older English literature Armeni, is a Greek family from Corfu. The Armeni family is an ancient Byzantine-, and later Greco-Venetian gens that produced many important individuals in the history of Europe. With origins in Byzantium, the family achieved levels of wealth and prominence over the centuries in branches found across the territories of modern Greece and Italy. The Armeni are listed in numerous registers of nobility, including Teatro della Nobiltà dell'Europa, ovvero notizia delle famiglie nobili, che in Europa vivono di presente, e che in lei vissero prima (1725), Origine de' cognomi gentilizi nel Regno di Napoli (1756), Dictionnaire Historique et Généalogique des Grandes Familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople (1983), Livre d'Or de la Noblesse Ionienne (1925), and La Dalmazia Giornale Letterario Economico Inteso Agli Interessi Della Provincia, Volume 2 (1846), among others.
Ludovico Settala was an Italian physician who lived during the Renaissance.
