Larry Rivers: Rivers’s first major work was The Burial (1951), a grim depiction of his grandmother’s funeral, based on the Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet. His Washington Crossing the Delaware (1953) was based on the familiar work by a 19th-century American painter, Emanuel Leutze. Though criticized for its banal subject matter…

Archibald Campbell Tait: …to his support of the Burials Act (1880), which legalized non-Anglican burial services in Anglican churchyards, and to his dislike for the sternness of the Athanasian Creed’s clauses regarding salvation.

Emil František Burian was a Czech author, composer, playwright, and theatre and film director whose eclectic stage productions drew upon a wide variety of art forms and technologies for their effects. At the age of 19, while still a student, Burian completed the music for the first of his six

Austria: World War I: …again entrusted to a Hungarian, István, Count Burián. But Burián failed to keep Italy and Romania out of the war. German attempts to pacify the two states by concessions were unsuccessful because Franz Joseph was unwilling to cede any territory in response to the irredentist demands of the two nations.…

Buryat, northernmost of the major Mongol peoples, living south and east of Lake Baikal. By the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) their land was ceded by China to the Russian Empire. The Buryat are related by language, history, habitat, and economic type to the Khalkha Mongols of Outer Mongolia, the

Jean Buridan: …by the celebrated allegory of “Buridan’s ass,” though the animal mentioned in Buridan’s commentary on Aristotle’s De caelo (“On the Heavens”) is actually a dog, not an ass. His discussion centres on the method by which the dog chooses between two equal amounts of food placed before him. Discerning both…

Jean Buridan was an Aristotelian philosopher, logician, and scientific theorist in optics and mechanics. After studies in philosophy at the University of Paris under the nominalist thinker William of Ockham, Buridan was appointed professor of philosophy there. He served as university rector in 1328

Jean Buridan was an Aristotelian philosopher, logician, and scientific theorist in optics and mechanics. After studies in philosophy at the University of Paris under the nominalist thinker William of Ockham, Buridan was appointed professor of philosophy there. He served as university rector in 1328

Ryan Reynolds: Hollywood career: His thrillers include Buried (2010), in which he played an American contractor entombed in a coffin in Iraq; Safe House (2012), about a CIA agent trying to protect a criminal (played by Denzel Washington); and 6 Underground (2019), about a billionaire who recruits a team to overthrow a…

Buried Child, three-act tragedy by Sam Shepard, performed in 1978 and published in 1979. The play was awarded the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Shepard had his first critical and commercial success with this corrosive study of American family life. The play, set on an Illinois farm, centres on the

Kazuo Ishiguro: The Buried Giant (2015) is an existential fantasy tale inflected by Arthurian legend. His next novel, Klara and the Sun (2021), is set in the near future and centres on a droid who serves as an “Artificial Friend” to a lonely child.

permafrost: Types of ground ice: Buried ice in permafrost includes buried sea, lake, and river ice and recrystallized snow, as well as buried blocks of glacier ice in permafrost climate.

Carlos Fuentes: …cultures, El espejo enterrado (1992; Buried Mirror), which was published simultaneously in Spanish and English.

Antonio Benítez Rojo: …America, is “Estatuas Sepultadas” (“Buried Statues”), which narrates the isolation of a formerly well-to-do family in an enclosed mansion, where they can barely hear and must intuit the transcendental transformations taking place around them.

treasure trove, in law, coin, bullion, gold, or silver articles, found hidden in the earth, for which no owner can be discovered. In most of feudal Europe, where the prince was looked on as the ultimate owner of all lands, his claim to the treasure trove became, according to the founder of

burin, engraving tool with a metal shaft that is cut or ground diagonally downward to form a diamond-shaped point at the tip. The angle of the point of a particular tool affects the width and depth of the engraved lines. The shaft of the tool is fixed in a flat handle that can be held close to the

Cambrian Period: Boundaries and subdivisions of the Cambrian System: …at Fortune Head on the Burin Peninsula of southeastern Newfoundland in Canada. It contains a thick and continuous marine succession of mostly shale, siltstone, and sandstone. The stratotype point, representing a moment in time, is in the lower part of the Chapel Island Formation. It coincides with the base of…

Donald Trump: Ukraine scandal: …of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, Ltd., that threatened to uncover wrongdoing by Biden’s son Hunter, who was then serving on the company’s board of directors. No serious evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son was ever produced, however. In his phone conversation, Trump also repeatedly suggested to…

Donald Trump: Ukraine scandal: …of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, Ltd., that threatened to uncover wrongdoing by Biden’s son Hunter, who was then serving on the company’s board of directors. No serious evidence of wrongdoing by Biden or his son was ever produced, however. In his phone conversation, Trump also repeatedly suggested to…

Buritanika Kokusai Daihyakka-jiten, first major encyclopaedia of international scope written in the Japanese language. The first volumes of the 28-volume set were released in June 1972, and the last in 1975. The set is organized as follows: 20 volumes of comprehensive articles, 6 volumes that

Buritanika Kokusai Daihyakka-jiten, first major encyclopaedia of international scope written in the Japanese language. The first volumes of the 28-volume set were released in June 1972, and the last in 1975. The set is organized as follows: 20 volumes of comprehensive articles, 6 volumes that

Burj al-ʿArab, luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that was designed by architect Tom Wright and completed in 1999. Burj al-ʿArab (Arabic for “Tower of the Arabs”) is as much a landmark of Dubai as the Eiffel Tower is of Paris and the Opera House is of Sydney. It is a symbol of

Burj Khalifa, mixed-use skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that is the world’s tallest building, according to all three of the main criteria by which such buildings are judged (see Researcher’s Note: Heights of Buildings). Burj Khalifa (“Khalifa Tower”), known during construction as Burj

Burj Khalifa, mixed-use skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that is the world’s tallest building, according to all three of the main criteria by which such buildings are judged (see Researcher’s Note: Heights of Buildings). Burj Khalifa (“Khalifa Tower”), known during construction as Burj

Burj Khalifa, mixed-use skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that is the world’s tallest building, according to all three of the main criteria by which such buildings are judged (see Researcher’s Note: Heights of Buildings). Burj Khalifa (“Khalifa Tower”), known during construction as Burj

Mamluk: The Mamluk dynasty: …and the latter the “Burjī,” because of the political dominance of the regiments known by these names during the respective times. The contemporary Muslim historians referred to the same divisions as the “Turkish” and “Circassian” periods, in order to call attention to the change in ethnic origin of the…

burka, a loose outer garment worn primarily in public spaces by some Muslim women. It covers the body and face, usually incorporating a mesh panel through which the wearer can see. The burka comes in a variety of colours, but blue is the most common choice, and it often features embroidery on the

Robert O’Hara Burke: …explorer who led the first expedition known to attempt the crossing of Australia from south to north.

Burgh Family, a historic Anglo-Irish family associated with Connaught. Its founder was William de Burgo, of a knightly family from eastern England; he and his descendants were granted much of Connaught in the late 12th century, and his grandson Walter was also granted Ulster. Although Walter’s

Burke’s Peerage, listing of the peerage (titled aristocracy) of Great Britain and Ireland, first published as Burke’s General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom for MDCCCXXVI by John Burke in London in 1826. This series of family histories, republished

Burke’s Peerage, listing of the peerage (titled aristocracy) of Great Britain and Ireland, first published as Burke’s General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom for MDCCCXXVI by John Burke in London in 1826. This series of family histories, republished

Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.: …divorce in 1913, the actress Billie Burke.

Blondie: …pair—also longtime romantic partners—recruited drummer Clem Burke, bassist Gary Valentine, and keyboardist Jimmy Destri. Later members included bassist Nigel Harrison and guitarist Frank Infante.

d4vd is an American singer and songwriter who fused R&B and indie pop in such hit singles as “Romantic Homicide” (2022) and “Locked & Loaded” (2025), the official anthem of the electronic game Fortnite. His rising music career was derailed in 2025, however, when the decomposed and dismembered

Edmund Burke was a British statesman, parliamentary orator, and political thinker prominent in public life from 1765 to about 1795 and important in the history of political theory. He championed conservatism in opposition to Jacobinism in Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). Burke, the

American literature: Critics of society: , such as Fielding Burke’s Call Home the Heart and Grace Lumpkin’s To Make My Bread (both 1932). Other notable proletarian novels included Jack Conroy’s The Disinherited (1933), Robert Cantwell’s The Land of Plenty (1934), and Albert Halper’s Union Square (1933), The Foundry (1934), and

Who Invented the High Five?: The Baker-Burke story: …fielder Dusty Baker slapped teammate Glenn Burke’s upraised palm after Baker’s 30th home run of the season on October 2, 1977. The home run made the Dodgers the first Major League Baseball team to have four players hit 30 home runs each in a single season. Moments later, Burke also…

James Burke was a British bare-knuckle fighter who was the English heavyweight champion from 1833 to 1839. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.) Burke, who was hearing impaired from infancy, worked on the River Thames as a waterman before beginning his boxing career. He began

Lufthansa heist: The planning: …idea was then brought to James Burke, a known gangster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family. Burke was believed to have masterminded the heist, with the help of information from Werner. The intelligence supplied included maps, information about employees likely to be present, and the timing of the…

James Burke was a British bare-knuckle fighter who was the English heavyweight champion from 1833 to 1839. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.) Burke, who was hearing impaired from infancy, worked on the River Thames as a waterman before beginning his boxing career. He began

Kenneth Burke was an American literary critic who is best known for his rhetorically based analyses of the nature of knowledge and for his views of literature as “symbolic action,” where language and human agency combine. Burke attended universities briefly—Ohio State University (Columbus, 1916–17)

Kenneth Burke was an American literary critic who is best known for his rhetorically based analyses of the nature of knowledge and for his views of literature as “symbolic action,” where language and human agency combine. Burke attended universities briefly—Ohio State University (Columbus, 1916–17)

Calamity Jane was a legendary American frontierswoman whose name was often linked with that of Wild Bill Hickok. The facts of her life are confused by her own inventions and by the successive stories and legends that accumulated in later years. She allegedly moved westward on a wagon train when

Robert O’Hara Burke was an explorer who led the first expedition known to attempt the crossing of Australia from south to north. Sponsored by the Royal Society of Victoria, Burke left Melbourne with a party of 18 in August 1860. The plan was to establish bases from which an advance party would

Selma Burke was an American sculptor and educator whose most notable work is a portrait of U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, which some have credited with inspiring the depiction of him on the dime. In her lifetime she was associated with the Harlem Renaissance, studied under Henri Matisse, and

Selma Burke was an American sculptor and educator whose most notable work is a portrait of U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, which some have credited with inspiring the depiction of him on the dime. In her lifetime she was associated with the Harlem Renaissance, studied under Henri Matisse, and

Solomon Burke was an American singer whose success in the early 1960s in merging the gospel style of the African American churches with rhythm and blues helped to usher in the soul music era. Born into a family that established its own church, Burke was both a preacher and the host of a gospel

Peggy Lee: Songwriting career: …several films, and she and Sonny Burke collaborated on the entire score for Walt Disney’s animated feature Lady and the Tramp (1955), for which Lee also provided voices for four characters.

Tarana Burke is an American activist and business executive who founded (2006) the Me Too movement, which sought to assist survivors of sexual violence, especially females of colour. As a teenager, Burke became involved in campaigns focusing on social issues such as racial discrimination and

Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish: …walked across Phoenix Park with Thomas H. Burke, the permanent undersecretary for Ireland. Burke was attacked by a Fenian splinter group armed with knives, Cavendish tried to defend him, and both were killed. Five of their assassins, members of a secret society called the Invincibles, were betrayed and hanged in…

Paule Marshall was an American novelist whose works emphasized a need for black Americans to reclaim their African heritage. The Barbadian background of Burke’s parents informed all of her work. She spent 1938–39 in her parents’ home country and returned several times as a young adult. After

William Burke and William Hare: …lodging house in Edinburgh, where Burke, also Irish-born, arrived in 1827. On November 29 an old pensioner died in the house, and Hare, angry that the deceased still owed 4 pounds in rent, devised a plan to steal the corpse from its coffin and sell it to recover the money…

William Burke and William Hare were a pair of infamous murderers for profit who killed their victims and sold the corpses to an anatomist for purposes of scientific dissection. Hare immigrated to Scotland from Ireland and wandered through several occupations before becoming keeper of a lodging

myth: Formalist: …the German historian of religion Walter Burkert. Burkert detected certain recurrent patterns in the actions described in Greek myths, and he related these patterns (and their counterparts in Greek ritual) to basic biologic or cultural “programs of action.” An example of this relation is given in Burkert’s Structure and History…

Robert Faesi: …Faesi wrote the libretto for Willy Burkhard’s opera Die schwarze Spinne (“The Black Spider”). Faesi also wrote important critical studies of Rainer Maria Rilke, Gottfried Keller, Thomas Mann, and other writers. His correspondence with Mann was published in 1962.

Georg Spalatin was a humanist friend of Martin Luther and a prolific writer whose capacity for diplomacy helped advance and secure the Protestant Reformation in its early stages. As a student Spalatin came in contact with various humanists, and he followed their custom in choosing a last name that

lobotomy: …late 1880s, when Swiss physician Gottlieb Burkhardt, who supervised an insane asylum, removed parts of the brain cortex in patients suffering from auditory hallucinations and other symptoms of mental illness (symptoms later defined medically as schizophrenia). Burkhardt performed his operation on six patients, with the specific purpose not of returning…

melioidosis: …caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei (Pseudomonas pseudomallei). Transmission to humans occurs through contact of a skin abrasion with contaminated water or soil rather than through direct contact with a contaminated animal. Inhalation of the pathogen in dust or water droplets also is suspected as a route of infection. The term…

Burkina Faso, landlocked country in western Africa. The country occupies an extensive plateau, and its geography is characterized by a savanna that is grassy in the north and gradually gives way to sparse forests in the south. A former French colony, it gained independence as Upper Volta in 1960.

Burkina Faso, landlocked country in western Africa. The country occupies an extensive plateau, and its geography is characterized by a savanna that is grassy in the north and gradually gives way to sparse forests in the south. A former French colony, it gained independence as Upper Volta in 1960.

Captain Thomas Sankara, formerly prime minister, seized control of the government of the Republic of Upper Volta on August 4, 1983, and exactly a year later introduced his program for revitalizing the land. To inspire people to that task, the name and symbols of the country were altered. The name

history of Burkina Faso, survey of the important events and people in the history of Burkina Faso. A landlocked country in western Africa, Burkina Faso gained independence from France in 1960 and was originally known as Upper Volta before adopting its current name in 1984. The capital, Ouagadougou,

Burkitt lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that has an especially high incidence in equatorial Africa among children 3 to 16 years of age. The disease is characterized by tumours of the jaw bones and abdomen and is named after Denis Burkitt, who mapped its peculiar geographic distribution

Burkitt lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that has an especially high incidence in equatorial Africa among children 3 to 16 years of age. The disease is characterized by tumours of the jaw bones and abdomen and is named after Denis Burkitt, who mapped its peculiar geographic distribution

Denis Parsons Burkitt was a British surgeon and medical researcher. Burkitt graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1933 and earned his medical degree there in 1946 after serving as a doctor in the British army during World War II. In 1946 he joined the British colonial service in Uganda, where

Native American art: Far West, Northeast, Central South, and Southeast: …art made effective use of burls (hemispherical outgrowths on a tree), from which bowls and containers were fashioned. Pottery was almost nonexistent.

Hebrew literature: Émigré and Palestinian literature: An exception was Yehuda Burla, who wrote about Jewish communities of Middle Eastern descent. The transition from ghetto to Palestine was achieved by few writers, among them Asher Barash, who described the early struggles of Palestinian Jewry. S.Y. Agnon, the outstanding prose writer of this generation (and joint…

Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian operatic lyric soprano noted for her powerful voice and commanding stage presence. Gheorghiu early realized her love of singing, and she was supported by her family in working toward a career in opera. She left home at age 14 to study at the Academy of Music in

bullfighting: Act one: …moves behind one of the burladeros (the wooden shields positioned just in front of the four openings in the perimeter wall where the bullfighter can slide behind and take refuge but the bull cannot). A trumpet signals the opening of the toril gate. As the bull rushes out of the…

Don Juan: …personality in the tragic drama El burlador de Sevilla (1630; “The Seducer of Seville,” translated in The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest), attributed to the Spanish dramatist Tirso de Molina. Through Tirso’s tragedy, Don Juan became an archetypcal character in the West, as familiar as Don Quixote, Hamlet,…

jute: …of finer quality being called burlap, or hessian. Burlap bags are used to ship and store grain, fruits and vegetables, flour, sugar, animal feeds, and other agricultural commodities. High-quality jute cloths are the principal fabrics used to provide backing for tufted carpets, as well as for hooked rugs (i.e., Oriental…

Bil and Cora Baird: He married Cora Eisenberg, who had acted under the name of Cora Burlar, in 1937. In the following years, they made their own puppets, built scenery, wrote scripts, and composed the music for their puppet shows.

Soviet Union: Political restructuring: In early 1988 Fyodor Burlatsky was a member of a small group under the chairmanship of Anatoly Lukyanov. The latter proposed a two-stage approach to the election of a Supreme Soviet. Legal authority was to be vested in local soviets, but the relationship between the party and the…

Soviet Union: Political restructuring: In early 1988 Fyodor Burlatsky was a member of a small group under the chairmanship of Anatoly Lukyanov. The latter proposed a two-stage approach to the election of a Supreme Soviet. Legal authority was to be vested in local soviets, but the relationship between the party and the…

Roberto Burle Marx was a Brazilian landscape architect who created many outstanding gardens in association with important modern buildings. He replaced European-style formal gardens with his own country’s lush tropical flora. While studying in art (1928) in Germany, Burle Marx became interested in

Harry Thacker Burleigh was an American baritone and composer, a noted arranger of African American spirituals. Burleigh studied under Antonín Dvořák at the National Conservatory of Music, New York City, and through his singing acquainted Dvořák with the traditional Black vocal music of the United

history of logic: Developments in the 13th and early 14th centuries: Another Oxford logician was Walter Burley (or Burleigh), an older contemporary of Ockham. Burley was a bitter opponent of Ockham in metaphysics. He wrote a work De puritate artis logicae (“On the Purity of the Art of Logic”; in two versions), apparently in response and opposition to Ockham’s views,…

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley was the principal adviser to England’s Queen Elizabeth I through most of her reign. Cecil was a master of Renaissance statecraft, whose talents as a diplomat, politician, and administrator won him high office and a peerage. By service to the Tudors and marriage to

burlesque, in literature, comic imitation of a serious literary or artistic form that relies on an extravagant incongruity between a subject and its treatment. In burlesque the serious is treated lightly and the frivolous seriously; genuine emotion is sentimentalized, and trivial emotions are

Christina Aguilera: >Burlesque, as a young small-town woman with dreams of becoming an entertainer. The following year she became a judge on the television singing competition The Voice; she remained with the show until 2016. During this time Aguilera continued to act. Her notable TV credits included…

burlesque show, stage entertainment, developed in the United States, that came to be designed for exclusively male patronage, compounded of slapstick sketches, dirty jokes, chorus numbers, and solo dances usually billed as “daring,” or “sensational,” in their female nudity. Introduced in the United

agricultural technology: Harvesting machinery: Burley tobacco has usually been harvested by workers using a machete-type knife. After cutting, the large end of the stalk is fixed onto the sharpened end of a stick, which—when loaded with a number of stalks—is hung by hand in a tobacco barn for curing.…

Canberra: …the original plans, which included Lake Burley Griffin, an ornamental water axis formed in 1963 by a dam across the Molonglo River. Residential development has been mainly in satellite towns, including Weston Creek (1962), Belconnen (1966), and Tuggeranong (1975). Planning for that growth was controlled by the National Capital Development…

Mary Lou Williams was a jazz pianist who performed with and composed for many of the great jazz artists of the 1940s and ’50s. Williams received early instruction from her mother, a classically trained pianist. Picking out simple tunes at age two, Mary Lou was a prodigy with perfect pitch and a

history of logic: Developments in the 13th and early 14th centuries: Another Oxford logician was Walter Burley (or Burleigh), an older contemporary of Ockham. Burley was a bitter opponent of Ockham in metaphysics. He wrote a work De puritate artis logicae (“On the Purity of the Art of Logic”; in two versions), apparently in response and opposition to Ockham’s views,…

Natalie Curtis Burlin was an American ethnomusicologist whose interest in Native American and African-American musics extended not only to archiving but to vigorous cultural advocacy for those musical traditions. Natalie Curtis attended the National Conservatory of Music in her native city and

Anson Burlingame: Seward the Burlingame Treaty, guaranteeing most-favoured-nation treatment to each country’s residents or visitors in the other nation and putting on record the traditional U.S. policy of respect for China’s territorial integrity.

Anson Burlingame was an American diplomatic minister to China (1861–67) who helped assure that country’s territorial integrity; he later represented China itself in international negotiations. Burlingame entered public life as a Massachusetts state senator (1853–54) and member of the U.S. House of

Burlington, county, central New Jersey, U.S., bounded by Pennsylvania to the west (the Delaware River constituting the border) and the mouth of Great Bay in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mullica River to the southeast and south. It consists of a coastal lowland drained by the Bass, Batsto, Mullica,

Burlington, city, seat (1787) of Chittenden county, northwestern Vermont, U.S. It lies on a hillside sloping toward Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains to the west, with the Green Mountains to the east. It is the largest city of the state and a port of entry; with South Burlington and

Burlington, city, Alamance county, north-central North Carolina, U.S., between Greensboro (west) and Durham (east). Maintenance shops of the North Carolina Railroad were erected on the site in 1851, and the town of Company Shops was incorporated in 1866; it was rechartered in 1887 as Burlington.

Burlington, city, Burlington county, western New Jersey, U.S. It lies along the Delaware River (bridged), opposite Bristol, Pennsylvania. Settled (1677) by Quakers, it was known as New Beverly, then Bridlington (for a village in Yorkshire, England), and later Burlington (an alternate spelling of

Burlington, city, regional municipality of Halton, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, opposite Hamilton, from which it is separated by Hamilton Harbour (Burlington Bay). Settled about 1810, the town served as a beach resort and fruit-growing centre until it

Burlington, city, seat (1838) of Des Moines county, southeastern Iowa, U.S. It is a port on the Mississippi River (there bridged to Illinois), 78 miles (126 km) south-southwest of Davenport. The site was once a Mesquakie village called Shoquoquok, in an area where Native Americans gathered flint to

Burlington: The Burlington and Missouri River Rail Road (later Railroad) began operations in 1856 and made the town a bustling railroad center.

Burlington: The Burlington and Missouri River Rail Road (later Railroad) began operations in 1856 and made the town a bustling railroad center.

Burlington Industries v. Ellerth, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 1998, ruled (7–2) that—under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids employment discrimination on the basis of sex—employers are liable for workers who sexually harass subordinates, even if the

Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC (BNSF) is a U.S. freight railroad company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. It operates one of the largest rail networks in North America through its main subsidiary, BNSF Railway Company. Berkshire acquired the company in 2010 for

Burlington Worldwide, major textile manufacturer, producer of finished and unfinished fabrics for garments, upholstery fabrics, and other home accessory fabrics. The company also makes specialty fabrics for athletic, medical, waterproof, and windproof garments. Headquarters are in Greensboro, N.C.

Richard Boyle, 3rd earl of Burlington was an English architect who was one of the originators of the English Palladian (Neo-Palladian) style of the 18th century. Burlington was born into an enormously wealthy aristocratic family. From a young age he was a patron of the arts, interested in the