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Pescia (river)
Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name. History Archaeological excavations have suggested that the Lombards built the first settlement here on the river banks. The name of the city comes in fact from the Lombardic word ' (cognate to ' in German), meaning "river". Lucca occupied and destroyed Pescia during the 13th century, but the town was quickly rebuilt. During the entire Middle Ages Florence and Lucca contended for the city, as the latter was located on the border between the two republics. In 1339, after almost ten years of war, Florence occupied it. The economy of the town was founded on mulberry cultivation and silkworm breeding. Heavily struck by the Black Death, Pescia overcame the demographic and economic depression which had ensued only at the end of the 15th century. At the end of the 17th century, the grand-du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and of the foundations of the Italian language. The prestige established by the Tuscan dialect's use in literature by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini led to its subsequent elaboration as the language of culture throughout Italy. It has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti. Tuscany is also known for its wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Brunello di Montalcino and white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Having a strong linguisti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silkworm
The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food are white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even the osage orange. Domestic silk moths are entirely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths (other species of ''Bombyx'') are not as commercially viable in the production of silk. Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Nepal, Japan, and the West. The domestic silk moth was domesticated from the wild silk moth ''Bombyx mandarina'', which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neri Di Bicci
Neri di Bicci (1419–1491) was an Italian painter active in his native Florence. A prolific painter of mainly religious themes, he studied under his father, Bicci di Lorenzo, who had in turn studied under his father, Lorenzo di Bicci. The three thus formed a lineage of great painters that began with Neri's grandfather. Neri di Bicci's main works include a fresco of ''Saint John Gualbert Enthroned with Ten Saints'' (1455) for the church of San Pancrazio, Florence (now in the nearby church of Santa Trinita), an ''Annunciation'' (1464) for Santa Maria alla Campora (now in the Florentine Academy), two altarpieces (one dated 1452) in the Diocesan Museum of San Miniato, a ''Coronation of the Virgin'' (1472) on the high altar of the abbey church at San Pietro a Ruoti (Bucine), and the ''Madonna with Child with Four Female Saints'' (1474) on loan to the Sacred Art Museum in Casole d'Elsa from the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena. Neri is most famous for his ''Ricordanze,'' a series of j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, planner, and sole construction supervisor. In 1421, Brunelleschi became the first person to receive a patent in the Western world. He is most famous for designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, a feat of engineering that had not been accomplished since antiquity, as well as the development of the mathematical technique of linear perspective in art which governed pictorial depictions of space until the late 19th century and influenced the rise of modern science. His accomplishments also include other architectural works, sculpture, mathematics, engineering, and ship design. His principal surviving works can be found in Florence. Biography Early life Brunelleschi was born in Florence, Italy, in 1377. His family consisted of his father, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pietra Serena
Pietra serena is a blue-gray sandstone used extensively in Renaissance Florence for architectural details. It is also known as Macigno stone. The material obtained at Fiesole is considered the best and is also quarried at Arezzo, Cortona, and Volterra, although it is no longer being actively mined and has been placed under conservation status due to depleting resources. Examples of its use in Florence include the interior pilasters, entablatures, and other decorative elements of Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel and Michelangelo's Medici Chapel. The most well-known of its quarries in the Florentine area is the Trassinaia quarry. History Pietra serena was first largely discovered by the Etruscans in the Archaic period who occupied the medieval Italian area of Fiesole. It was used in the construction of much notable Italian architecture during the "Golden Age of Rome", including that of artists such as Michelangelo, Donatello, Brunelleschi, and Vasari. It was also used in building str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francesco, Pescia
San Francesco is a Romanesque and Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church located at Piazza San Francesco in Pescia, region of Tuscany, Italy. History Tradition holds that in 1211, St Francis, stayed three days in the house of Venanzio Orlandi which was located on the via dei Forni. Orlandi prior to the century, in turn built an oratory at the site where the tribune of this church stands. Construction of the church began circa 1295 and continued for decades. The oratory was enlarged into a church with an adjacent convent, and prominent families of the town added their chapels over the years. The church and convent were suppressed in 1810. The church was restored in 1911 to 1930. In 1328, representatives of the Guelf communities of the Valdinievole and Florentine Valeriana, joined in a league to oppose the Ghibelline city of Lucca. This league would lead to the annexation of the territory in 1339 to Florence. questo territorio al dominio di Firenze (1339). Interior The church has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raffaello Da Montelupo
Raffaello da Montelupo (c. 1504/1505 – c. 1566/1567), born Raffaele Sinibaldi, was a sculptor and architect of the Italian Renaissance, and an apprentice of Michelangelo. He was the son of another Italian sculptor, Baccio da Montelupo. Both father and son are profiled in Vasari's ''Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori'' (or, in English, ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects''). Works Raffaello was born in Montelupo Fiorentino, near Florence. As a young artist in his twenties, he assisted Lorenzetto in Rome with the execution of statues of Elijah and Jonah for the Chigi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo (on designs by Raphael). He is also attributed a marble relief of the mystical marriage of St. Catherine (c. 1530), in a chapel at Santa Maria della Consolazione. Raffaello then went to Loreto, where the ''Visitazione'' and ''Adorazione dei Magi'' (c. 1534) at the Basilica of the Holy House (Chiesa della Casa Santa) a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pescia Cathedral
Pescia Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Pescia; Cattedrale di Maria Santissima Assunta e di San Giovanni Battista) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Pescia, Tuscany, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and to Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti .... It is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Pescia. Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Pescia Cathedrals in Tuscany {{Italy-RC-cathedral-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Podestà
Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city state, the counterpart to similar positions in other cities that went by other names, e.g. ''rettori'' ("rectors"). In the following centuries up to 1918, the term was used to designate the head of the municipal administration, particularly in the Italian-speaking territories of the Austrian Empire. The title was taken up again during the Fascist regime with the same meaning. The podestà's office, its duration and the residence and the local jurisdiction were called ''podesteria'', especially during the Middle Ages, and in later centuries, more rarely during the fascist regime. Currently, ''podestà'' is the title of mayors in Italian-speaking municipalities of Graubünden in Switzerland, but is not the case for the rest of the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sugar Beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with other beet cultivars, such as beetroot and chard, it belongs to the subspecies ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris.'' Its closest wild relative is the sea beet (''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''maritima''). Sugar beets are grown in climates that are too cold for sugar cane. The low sugar content of the beets makes growing them a marginal proposition unless prices are relatively high. In 2020, Russia, the United States, Germany, France and Turkey were the world's five largest sugar beet producers. In 2010–2011, Europe, and North America except Arctic territories failed to supply the overall domestic demand for sugar and were all net importers of sugar. The US harvested of sugar beets in 2008. In 2009, sugar beets accounted for 20% of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm ''Bombyx mori'' reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors. Silk is produced by several insects; but, generally, only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, but some insects, such as webspinners and raspy crickets, produce silk throughout their lives. Silk production also occurs in hymenoptera ( bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
