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The Florence Duomo, also known as Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, is located in Duomo Square, its construction began at the end of the 13th century under the design of Arnolfo di Cambio, a famous architect and sculptor who loved the Gothic style. -
The Pietà or "The Pity" (1498–1499) is a work of Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. It is the first of a number of works of the same theme by the artist. The statue was commissioned for the French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères, who was a representative in Rome. -
Renaissance is a French word meaning “rebirth.” It refers to a period in European civilization that was marked by a revival of Classical learning and wisdom. The Renaissance saw many contributions to different fields, including new scientific laws, new forms of art and architecture, and new religious and political ideas.
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The School of Athens is a fresco by Renaissance artist Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael), representing the greatest intellectual figures of the time. It is one of the four frescoes commissioned by Pope Julius II and is still on display in its original place of creation in Vatican City -
The Revolt began with mobs of urban workers attacking government officials, grew to low-level combat between small militias, and eventually saw massed armies fighting battles and sieges.
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Eighty Years’ War,the war of Netherlands independence from Spain, which led to the separation of the northern and southern Netherlands and to the formation of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (the Dutch Republic)
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The First Rebellion of the Alpujarras,were a series of uprisings by the Muslim population of the Kingdom of Granada, Crown of Castile (formerly, the Emirate of Granada) against their Catholic rulers.
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At midnight on August 7–8,the English launched eight fire ships before the wind and tide into the Spanish fleet, forcing the Spanish ships to cut or slip their cables (thus losing their anchors) and stand out to sea to avoid catching fire. The Spanish ships’ formation was thus completely broken. -
The term Baroque, derived from the Portuguese ‘barocco’ meaning ‘irregular pearl or stone’, refers to a cultural and art movement that characterized Europe from the early seventeenth to mid-eighteenth century. Baroque emphasizes dramatic, exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted, detail
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Apollo and Daphne – a marble sculpture in the Baroque style in natural size, made by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini and executed in 1622-1625. Placed in the Borghese Gallery in Rome, this work depicts the culmination of the history of Apollo and Daphne (Phoebe and Daphne) in Ovid’s Metamorphosis. -
A trip to Rome is not complete without visiting Saint Peter's Square (Italian: Piazza San Pietro) in the Vatican, perhaps one of the most famous outdoor landmarks in the world. -
One of the most famous of the paintings by Velázquez, and an example of his great mythological works, is The Spinners, also known as The Fable of Arachne (Las Hilanderas). It was painted not for the king but for a private patron. -
Neoclassicism is characterized by clarity of form, sober colors, shallow space, strong horizontal and verticals that render that subject matter timeless (instead of temporal as in the dynamic Baroque works), and classical subject matter (or classicizing contemporary subject matter).
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The story of Oath of the Horatii came from a Roman legend first recounted by the Roman historian Livy involving a conflict between the Romans and a rival group from nearby Alba. -
Charles IV of Spain and His Family is an oil-on-canvas group portrait painting by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. He began work on the painting in 1800, shortly after he became First Chamber Painter to the royal family, and completed it in the summer of 1801.