A figure in the Old Testament of the Bible who is considered a forefather of the Hebrews.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBallegoryB
A story in which people, objects and events have symbolic meaning; often instructive.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBaltarpieceB
A decorative work of art, or panel, directly behind an altar.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAmsterdamB
Thriving international port and trade center; largest city in the United Province of the Northern Netherlands (Holland).
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAntwerpB
Seaport and principal city in the Southern Netherlands, Flanders (now Belgium).
Ec[000000]f[16]LBapseB
A semicircular or polygonal projection of a church, usually domed or vaulted.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBariaB
A key element within the format of opera; a song solo or duet with instrumental accompaniment.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBauthoritarianB
Ruled by an authority with great power, such as a monarch; a monarch is an authoritarian ruler.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBacchusB
In Roman mythology, the god of wine; his counterpart in Greek myths was Dionysus.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBachB
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), German composer of the Baroque period and considered one of the great composers.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBbaldacchinoB
A canopy on columns; usually built over an altar.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBaroqueB
The period in European art from 1600-1750; characterized by strong gestures, heightened emotions, massiveness and movement.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBerniniB
Giovanni Lorenzo (Gianlorenzo) Bernini; great sculptor and architect of the high Baroque period who lived from 1598 to 1680.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCalvinismB
Doctrine of the Protestant theologian, John Calvin (1509-1564), followed by many religious groups in many countries of Europe.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcantataB
The Italian term for music that is sung rather than played on instruments.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCaravaggioB
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610); influential Italian painter.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCarracciB
Annibale Carracci (1560-1609); Italian painter from Bologna.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBICathedra PetriBI
Throne of St. Peter in St. Peter's in Rome; a luxurious setting designed by Bernini for the wooden chair believed to have belonged to Peter himself.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcherubB
An angel; often represented as a chubby, rosy-cheeked infant with wings.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBchiaroscuroB
Modeling of figures or objects in light and dark to produce a three-dimensional effect on a flat surface.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBclassical mythologyB
Legends and stories from the Greek and Roman period which seems to reveal and express the world view and traditions of the people of that time.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcolonnadeB
A row of columns, usually connected by lintels.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBconcerto grossoB
Musical form in which a small group of solo instruments is set against the sound of the whole orchestra.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCorelliB
Archangelo Corelli (1653-1713); Italian composer, conductor and violinist.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcorpseB
A dead body, especially of a person.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcosmopolitanB
Worldly, feeling comfortable in all parts of the world and in all places.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcredulousB
Gullible, or easily deceived by something or someone.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBDavidB
The second king of Israel (1013-973 BC); one of the great figures of the Old Testament and, as an heroic figure, a popular subject during the Renaissance and Baroque period.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBDonatelloB
Not only the greatest Florentine sculptor before Michelangelo, he was the most influential individual artist of the 15th century (1386?-1466).
Ec[000000]f[16]LBembellishmentsB
Added decorations or adornments.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBetchingsB
Prints created by the use of a metal plate on which designs have been etched by means of acid.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBexcursionB
A trip or jaunt to some place, as an excursion to a park or down a river.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBFarnese familyB
Wealthy and powerful Roman family during the Baroque period.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBFarnese GalleryB
Large room in the palace of the Farnese family in Rome; decorated by Annibale Carracci with pictures from classical mythology, it became one of the most famous galleries in Europe.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBFlorenceB
Historic city in central Italy; in the 14th and 15th centuries a great center for Renaissance art and humanist studies as well as a leading banking center and birthplace of modern capitalism.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfloweringB
The blooming of something, especially used when referring to the flowering of culture or art.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfool the eyeB
A type of representation in painting in which the illusion of form, space and light appears three-dimensional on a two-dimensional surface; often identified by the French phrase, "trompe-l'oeil".
Ec[000000]f[16]LBforeshorteningB
The use of perspective to represent the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfrescoB
A process of painting on plaster, wet or dry, in which the pigments, mixed with water, become one with the plaster.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBFrescobaldiB
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643); Italian musician; organist at St. Peter's in Rome starting in 1608.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBGabrieliB
Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612); organist and composer, recognized as one of the great masters of Italian Renaissance music.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBGonzaga FamilyB
Ruling family of the Italian state of Mantua during the Baroque era.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBGood FridayB
A holiday on the Christian calendar; the day that Jesus died on the cross.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBgrandioseB
Grand in the sense of being imposing, magnificent.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBgrandioseB
Having grandeur; imposing; pompous and showy.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBhallelujahB
From the Hebrew, "Praise be the Lord."
Ec[000000]f[16]LBHandelB
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), German composer especially famous for his oratorios, such as IThe MessiahI.U
U Ec[000000]f[16]LBHelen FourmentB
Second wife of Peter Paul Rubens; after the death of his first wife Rubens married the much younger Helen Fourment, then only sixteen; she became the theme and inspiration of his late mythologies and subject of many portraits.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBimprovisationB
Composition and performance without preparation; spontaneous musical composition; also in the performance of music, adding to the basic composition decorative embellishments such as chords and new melodies.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBintrospectiveB
Being inward looking, or quietly thoughtful.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBIsaacB
The only Son of Abraham, q.v., and who was almost sacrificed by Abraham.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBIsabella BrandtB
First wife of painter and diplomat, Peter Paul Rubens.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBKing Philip IV of SpainB
Reigned from 1621 to 1625; during this period Spain declined as a European power.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBILas MeninasBI
(Spanish for "The Handmaidens") The title of a painting of the Infanta Margareta Teresa with her retinue of ladies and dwarfs painted by Velazquez in 1656; considered by many art historians and critics as one of the greatest paintings of all time.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBLeipzigB
A major industrial and cultural center of Germany, at one time famous for its musical life.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBLeonardoB
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519); One of the greatest of the "universal men" produced in the Italian Renaissance; known for his work in art, science, philosophy etc.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBLouis XIIIB
(1601-1643) French king from 1610 to 1643; his reign marked by strong leadership from his ministers who centralized royal authority and laid the foundation for absolutism in France.
