In the War of 1812, caused by British restrictions on U.S. trade and America’s desire to expand its territory, the United States took on the greatest naval power in the world, Great Britain.
On two levels, then, Washington Irving profoundly influenced the American Christmas. His melding of jolly St. Nick and an English commemoration of old into a wintry celebration of nostalgia attests to the rich cultural legacy bequeathed to us by this native New Yorker..
1. Benedict.
2. Missionaries.
<span>Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci were the nucleus of fifteenth-century Florentine art. Also worth citing is the painter and historian Giorgio Vasari, whose Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects first came out in 1550, with the enlarged edition appearing in 1568. Lastly, there was Michelangelo's close friend and first biographer, Ascavio Condivi. Whatever the shortcomings of these two men's works, they provide invaluable insight into the Florentine Renaissance and the people who made it happen.
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