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 Talk Talk - Communication terms
Category: General technical and industrial
Date & country: 28/05/2010, UK
Words: 18630


Richardson, Tony
(Cecil Antonio) English director and producer. With George Devine he established the English Stage Company in 1955 at the Royal Court Theatre, London, with such productions as John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956). He was a leading figure in the English realist cinema...

Richardson, Samuel
English novelist. He was one of the founders of the modern novel. Pamela (1740–41), written in the form of a series of letters and containing much dramatic conversation, was sensationally popular all across Europe, and was followed by Clarissa (1747–48) and Sir Charles Grandison (17...

Richard III
Click images to enlargeKing of England from 1483. The son of Richard, Duke of York, he was created Duke of Gloucester by his brother Edward IV, and distinguished himself in the Wars of the Roses. On Edward's death in 1483 he became protector to his nephew Edward V, and soon secured the crown for himself on the plea th...

Richard
(I) King of England 1189–99. He spent all but six months of his reign abroad. He was the third son of Henry II, against whom he twice rebelled. In the Third Crusade 1191–92 he won victories at Cyprus, Acre, and Arsuf (agains...

Richard II
King of England from 1377 (effectively from 1389), son of Edward the Black Prince. He reigned in conflict with Parliament; they executed some of his associates in 1388, and he executed a number of the opposing barons in 1397, whereupon he made himself absolute. Two years later, forced to abdicate...

Ribera, José
(Jusepe) Spanish painter. He was active in Italy from 1616 under the patronage of the viceroys of Naples. His early work shows the impact of Caravaggio, but his colours gradually lightened. He painted many full-length versions of saints as well as mythological figures and genre scenes, whi...

Ribbentrop, Joachim von
German Nazi politician and diplomat. As foreign minister 1938–45, he negotiated the nonaggression pact between Germany and the USSR (the Ribbentrop–Molotov pact of 1939). He was tried at Nürnberg as a war criminal in 1946 and hanged. Born in the Rhineland, Ribbentrop was awarded the Iron Cross in World War I, and from 1919 became wea...

Rigel
Brightest star in the constellation Orion. It is a blue-white supergiant, with an estimated diameter 50 times that of the Sun. It is 910 light years from Earth, and is intrinsically the brightest of the first-magnitude stars, its true luminosity being about 40,000 times that of the Sun. It is the seventh-brightest star in the night sky

Rigil Kent
Brightest star in the constellation Centaurus and the third-brightest star in the night sky. It is actually a triple star (see binary star); the two brighter stars orbit each other every 80 years, and the third, Proxima Centauri, is the closest star to the Sun, 4.2 light years away, 0.1 light years closer than the other two

RISC
In computing, a microprocessor (processor on a single chip) that carries out fewer instructions than other (CISC) microprocessors in common use in the 1990s. Because of the low number and the regularity of machine code instructions, the processor carries out those instructions very quickly

rib
Long, usually curved bone that extends laterally from the spine in vertebrates. Most fishes and many reptiles have ribs along most of the spine, but in mammals they are found only in the chest area. In humans, there are 12 pairs of ribs. The ribs protect the lungs and heart, and allow the chest to expand and contract easily. At the rear, each pair ...

ribonucleic acid
Full name of RNA

ritualization
In ethology, a stereotype that occurs in certain behaviour patterns when these are incorporated into displays. For example, the exaggerated and stylized head toss of the goldeneye drake during courtship is a ritualization of the bathing movement used to wet the feathers; its duration and form have become fixed. Ritualization may make displays c...

riboflavin
Vitamin of the B complex important in cell respiration. It is obtained from eggs, liver, and milk. A deficiency in the diet causes stunted growth

Richter scale
Quantitative scale of earthquake magnitude based on the measurement of seismic waves, used to indicate the magnitude of an earthquake at its epicentre. The Richter scale is logarithmic, so an earthquake of 6.0 is ten times greater than one of 5.0. The magnitude of an earthquake differs from its intensity, measured by the Mercalli scale, which is qu...

river
Click images to enlargeLarge body of water that flows down a slope along a channel restricted by adjacent banks and levees. A river starts at a point called its source, and enters a sea or lake at its mouth. Along its length it may be joined by smaller rivers called tributaries; a river and its tributaries are contain...

ria
Long narrow sea inlet, usually branching and surrounded by hills. A ria is deeper and wider towards its mouth, unlike a fjord. It is formed by the flooding of a river valley due to either a rise in sea level or a lowering of a landmass

right-angled triangle
Triangle in which one of the angles is a right angle (90°). It is the basic form of triangle for defining trigonometrical ratios (for example, sine, cosine, and tangent) and for which Pythagoras' theorem holds true. The longest side of a right-angled triangle is called the hypotenuse; its area is equal to half the product of the le...

rift valley
Click images to enlargeValley formed by the subsidence of a block of the Earth's crust between two or more parallel faults. Rift valleys are steep-sided and form where the crust is being pulled apart, as at mid-ocean ridges, or in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. In cross-section they can appear like ...

riveting
Method of joining metal plates. A hot metal pin called a rivet, which has a head at one end, is inserted into matching holes in two overlapping plates, then the other end is struck and formed into another head, holding the plates tight. Riveting is used in building construction, boilermaking, and shi...

rifle
Firearm that has spiral grooves (rifling) in its barrel. When a bullet is fired, the rifling makes it spin, thereby improving accuracy. Rifles were first introduced in the late 18th century

Ricardo, David
English economist. With the possible exception of German philosopher and economist Karl Marx, no great economist of the past has received so many divergent and even contradictory interpretations as David Ricardo. No sooner had his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817) appeared, but he attracted a number of ardent di...

Rift Valley, Great
Longest `split` in the Earth's surface; see Great Rift Valley

rights
An individual's automatic entitlement to certain freedoms and other benefits, usually, in liberal democracies such as the USA and UK, in the context of the individual's relationship with the government of the country. The struggle to assert political and civil rights against arbitrary government has been a major theme of Western political h...

Riyadh
Capital of Saudi Arabia and of the Riyadh region, situated in an oasis and connected by road and rail with Dammam 450 km/280 mi away on the Gulf; population (2004) 4,087,200. Exploitation of the country's huge oil deposits since the 1930s greatly increased the prosperity of the city, which has a modern airport and industries which inclu...

ribosome
Protein-making machinery of the cell. Active ribosomes are either located on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of eukaryotic cells or dissolved in the cytoplasm (of any kind of cell), and are made of proteins and a special type of RNA, ribosomal RNA. They receive messenger RNA (copied from the DNA) and amino acids, and `translate` the me...

Rimbaud,
(Jean Nicolas) French Symbolist poet. His verse was chiefly written before the age of 20, notably Les Illuminations (published 1886). From 1871 he lived with the poet Paul Verlaine

right wing
The more conservative or reactionary section of a political party or spectrum. It originated in the French national assembly in 1789, where the nobles sat in the place of honour on the president's right, whereas the commons were on his left (hence left wing)

ricin
Extremely poisonous extract from the seeds of the castor-oil plant. When incorporated into monoclonal antibodies, ricin can attack cancer cells, particularly in the treatment of lymphoma and leukaemia. Ricin acquired notoriety in 1978, when Georgi Markov, an exiled Bulgarian dissident queuing at a London bus stop, was hit by an umbrella spiked ...

Rio Grande do Norte
Federal unit (state) of northeast Brazil, bounded on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; area 53,100 sq km/20,500 sq mi; population (2000 est) 2,770,700; capital Natal. Apart from a narrow coastal zone with abundant rainfall, most of the state lies on a semi-arid plateau, crossed by several rivers, where there is stock-...

riot
Disturbance caused by a potentially violent mob. In the UK, riots formerly suppressed under the Riot Act are now governed by the Public Order Act 1986. Methods of riot control include plastic bullets, stun bags (soft canvas pouches filled with buckshot which spread out in flight), water cannon, and CS gas (tear gas). Riots in Britain include the Sp...

rice
Click images to enlargePrincipal cereal (Oryza sativa) of the wet regions of the tropics, derived from wild grasses probably native to India and Southeast Asia. Rice is unique among cereal crops in that it is grown standing in water. The yield is very large, and rice is the staple food of one-third ...

RIP
(general) Abbreviation for requiescat in pace (Latin `may he/she rest in peace`)

risk capital
Finance provided by venture capital companies, individuals, and merchant banks for medium- or long-term business ventures that are not their own and in which there is a strong element of risk

rights issue
In finance, new shares offered to existing shareholders to raise new capital. Shareholders receive a discount on the market price while the company benefits from not having the costs of a relaunch of the new issue. The number of shares offered depends on the capital the company needs. In a `one for one rights issue`, a shareholder is offe...

Richards, Gordon
English jockey and trainer who was champion on the flat a record 26 times between 1925 and 1953. Career highlights Derby 1953 Oaks 1930, 1942 St Leger 1930, 1937, 1940, 1942, 1944 1,000 Guineas 1942, 1948, 1951 2,000 Guineas 1938, 1942, 1947 Champion jockey 1925, 1927–29, 1931–40, 1942–53 He started riding in 1920 and rode 4,870 winn...

Rig-Veda
Oldest of the Vedas, the chief sacred writings of Hinduism. It consists of hymns to the Aryan gods, such as Indra, and to nature gods

Richard, Cliff
English pop singer. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, he soon became a Christian family entertainer. One of his best-selling early records was `Livin' Doll` (1959); it was followed by a string of other successful singles. His original backing group was the Shadows (1958–68 and later re-formed). During the 1960s h...

rigor
Medical term for shivering or rigidity. Rigor mortis is the stiffness that ensues in a corpse soon after death, owing to chemical changes in muscle tissue

Ribble
River in northern England, formed by the confluence of the Gayle and Cam; length 120 km/75 mi. From its source in the Pennine hills, North Yorkshire, it flows south and southwest past Preston, Lancashire, to join the Irish Sea. The Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve is the largest in England. It is a wintering ground for migrating water...

ring circuit
Household electrical circuit in which appliances are connected in series to form a ring with each end of the ring connected to the power supply. It superseded the radial circuit

Ribbentrop–Molotov pact
Non-aggression treaty signed by Germany and the USSR on 23 August 1939. The pact is named after the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Russian foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, working under German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin respectively. Under the terms of the treaty both countries agreed to...

Richmond
Capital and seaport of Virginia, on the James River, 336 km/209 mi from its mouth on the Atlantic, 160 km/100 mi south of Washington, DC; population (2000 est) 197,800. It is a major tobacco market and a distribution, commercial, and financial centre for the surrounding region. Industries include the manufacture of tobacco products, pro...

Ricci, Sebastiano
Venetian painter. Working in the style of Veronese, he became one of the leading decorative painters of his day, working throughout Italy as well as in Vienna and London 1712–16. His Resurrection is in the chapel of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London. Ricci's revival of the Venetian tradition of history painting was so ...

river capture
The diversion (capture) of the headwaters of one river into a neighbouring river. River capture occurs when a stream is carrying out rapid headward erosion (backwards erosion at its source). Eventually the stream will cut into the course of a neighbouring river, causing the headwaters of that river to be diverted, or `captured`. The headw...

river terrace
Part of an old flood plain that has been left perched on the side of a river valley. It results from rejuvenation, a renewal in the erosive powers of a river. River terraces may be fertile and are often used for farming. They are also commonly chosen as sites for human settlement because they are safe from flooding. Many towns and cities throughout...

Rio Grande do Sul
Southernmost federal unit (state) of Brazil, to the east of the Uruguay River, bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Argentina, and on the south by Uruguay; area 282,184 sq km/108,993 sq mi; population (1991) 9,138,700; capital Porto Alegre. The region consists mainly of vast grasslands where there is extensive s...

Rioja, La
See La Rioja, a region of Spain

Rivadavia, Bernardino
Argentine politician, first president of Argentina 1826–27. During his rule he made a number of social reforms including extending the franchise to all males over 20 and encouraging freedom of the press. Unable to control the provincial caudillos, he was forced to resign and spent most of his remaining years in exile in Europe. Rivadavia was s...

Rivera, José Fructuoso
Uruguayan general and politician, president 1830–34, 1839–43. Rivera fought under José Artigas and submitted to Brazilian occupation before rejoining the revolution in 1825. When he became president his financial mismanagement and favouritism provoked open dissent. He led a revolt 1836 against his successor Manuel Oribe (1792–18...

riddle
Verbal puzzle or question that offers clues rather than direct aids to solving it, and often involves unlikely comparisons. Riddle poems were common in Old English poetry. In ancient literature, finding the answer to a riddle could be a matter of life and death. Oedipus, for example, became the ruler of the ancient Greek city of Thebes by solving t...

rite of passage
Ritual that accompanies any of the most significant moments or transitions (birth, puberty, marriage, and so on) in an individual's life. For details of rites of passage in world religions, see rites of passage (Buddhism), rites of passage (Christianity), rites of passage (Hinduism), rites of passage (Islam), rites of passage (Judaism), and rit...

Rivaldo
Brazilian footballer. An attacking midfielder who sometimes plays as a striker, he is renowned for his explosive pace, dribbling skills, and his powerful shooting and heading ability. He made his international debut in 1993, but it was not until the 1998 World Cup finals, when he was one of the tournament's outstanding players, that he establis...

risalah
In Islam, the will of God made known to people through the prophets

Rinpoche, Guru
Buddhist missionary and bodhisattva (an enlightened one who remains to help others). He helped to establish Buddhism in Tibet, and his birthday is commemorated by Buddhists in July. Observances include meditation, including chanting meditations, as well as the sharing of food, storytelling, and other joyful celebration

rites of passage
(Buddhism) Ceremonies marking important events in the life of a Buddhist

rites of passage
(Christianity) In the Christian religion, rituals that accompany any of the most significant stages in an individual's life. Christian rites of passage include baptism, confirmation, marriage, ordination, and funeral rites. These rites of passage are also considered to be sacraments by Rom...

rites of passage
(Hinduism) In Hinduism, the ceremonies, called samskaras, marking events in a Hindu's life. A Hindu may follow four stages of life, or ashrama: student, householder, hermit, and wandering holy man

rites of passage
(Islam) In Islam, the ceremonies commemorating events in a Muslim's life

rites of passage
(Sikhism) In Sikhism, ceremonies marking important events in a Sikh's life include Nam Karan (naming), Amrit Sanskar (initiation into the Khalsa, the Sikh community), Anand Karaj (wedding), and the rites surrounding a funeral

right livelihood
In Buddhism, aspect of the Eightfold Path that concerns earning one's living appropriately. A Buddhist's livelihood should not go against the teachings of the Buddha. For example, Buddhists should not become soldiers or butchers because harming others or killing animals is forbidden. Buddhists are not allowed to make a living from their rel...

rites of passage
(Judaism) In Judaism, the ceremonies that mark a Jew's passage through life, including brit milah (the covenant of male circumcision), naming, bar mitzvah (or bat mitzvah for girls), marriage, and funeral rites. Naming Jewish boys are given a family name during brit milah (the covenant of ...

Rice, Condoleezza
US politician, national security advisor 2001–04 and secretary of state from 2005. As secretary of state, she launched a diplomatic initiative aimed at finding regional solutions to problems such as terrorism, and criticized Iran for its sponsorship of terrorism and its aspirations to develop nuclear weapons. As national security advisor she h...

RNA
Nucleic acid involved in the process of translating the genetic material DNA into proteins. It is usually single-stranded, unlike the double-stranded DNA, and consists of a large number of nucleotides strung together, each of which comprises the sugar ribose, a phosphate group, and one of four bases (uracil, cytosine, adenine, or guanine). ...

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Canadian national police force, known for their uniform of red jacket and broad-brimmed hat. Founded as the North West Mounted Police in 1873, it was renamed in 1920 with the extension of its territory. It is the sole police force operating in the Northwest and Yukon territories. It is administered by the solicitor general of Canada, and its he...

Royal Air Force
The air force of Britain. The RAF was formed 1918 by the merger of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps

Rowley, William
English actor and dramatist. He collaborated with Thomas Middleton on The Changeling (1622) and with Thomas Dekker and John Ford on The Witch of Edmonton (1621)

Rowlandson, Thomas
English painter and illustrator. One of the greatest caricaturists of 18th-century England, his fame rests on his humorous, often bawdy, depictions of the vanities and vices of Georgian social life. He illustrated many books, including Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque (1809), which was followed by two sequels be...

Rousseau, Henri Julien Félix
French painter. A self-taught naive artist, he painted scenes of the Parisian suburbs, portraits, and exotic scenes with painstaking detail, as in Tropical Storm with a Tiger (1891; National Gallery, London). He was much admired by artists such as Gauguin and Picasso, and writers such as the poet Apollinaire. Rousseau ser...

Roundhead
Member of the Parliamentary party during the English Civil War 1640–60, opposing the Royalist Cavaliers. The term referred to the short hair then worn only by men of the lower classes. Men at the court of Charles I fashionably wore their hair in long ringlets, so the Parliamentarians chose to wear theirs short in contrast. Many Parliamentarian...

Rouen
Industrial port and administrative centre of the Seine-Maritime département in France, situated on the River Seine 120 km/75 mi northwest of Paris; population (1999) 106,600. Rouen is the world's leading port for grain exports, and the leading port in the European Union (EU) for the export of agricultural pro...

Roubiliac, Louis François
French sculptor. A Huguenot, he fled religious persecution to settle in England in 1732. He became a leading sculptor of the day, creating a statue of German composer Georg Handel for Vauxhall Gardens, London, in 1737

Rotterdam
Industrial city and port in South Holland province, the Netherlands, in the Rhine-Maas delta, 90 km/56 mi southwest of Amsterdam; population (2006 est) 588,700. The Rotterdam-Europoort complex is the biggest oil refining centre in the world, and one of its foremost ocean cargo ports. ...

Rothschild
European family active in the financial world for two centuries. Mayer Amschel (1744–1812) set up as a moneylender in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, and business houses were established throughout Europe by his ten children. Nathan Meyer (1777–1836) settled in England, and his grandson Nathan Meyer (1840–1915) was created a baro...

Rothko, Mark
Russian-born US painter. He was a leading exponent of abstract expressionism and a pioneer, towards the end of his life, of colour-field painting. Typically, his works are canvases covered in large hazy rectangles of thin paint, the colours subtly modulated, as in Light Red over Black (1957; Tate Gallery, London). Bor...

Rotherham
Industrial town in South Yorkshire, northern England, at the confluence of the rivers Don and Rother, 10 km/6 mi northeast of Sheffield; population (2001) town 117,300; borough 248,200. Industries include engineering, pottery, glass, iron and steel, brassware, machinery, and coal

Roth, Philip Milton
US novelist. His witty, sharply satirical, and increasingly fantastic novels depict the moral and sexual anxieties of 20th-century Jewish-American life, most notably in Goodbye Columbus (1959) and Portnoy's Complaint (1969). He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel American Pastoral&...

Rostropovich, Mstislav
(Leopoldovich) Russian cellist, pianist, and conductor. Known as one of the world's greatest cellists of his time, he directed the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC, 1977–94

Rostov-na-Donu
Capital of Rostov oblast (region), southwestern Russian Federation; population (2002) 1,068,300. A major industrial and commercial city and the centre of a fertile agricultural region, it lies on the River Don, 46 km/29 mi from its mouth. Rostov is home to many large engineering concerns manufacturing chemicals, agricultural machinery, airc...

Rostock
Industrial port in the Land (administrative region) of Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, Germany, on the River Warnow, 13 km/8 mi south of the Baltic; population (2005 est) 199,300. Industries include shipbuilding, ship repair, electronics, and fish processing. There is a technical university here. Founded in 1189, in the ...

Rostand, Edmond
French poetic dramatist. He wrote Cyrano de Bergerac (1898) and L'Aiglon (1900) (based on the life of Napoleon III), in which Sarah Bernhardt played the leading role

Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
English painter and poet. He was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) in 1848. As well as romantic medieval scenes, he produced many idealized portraits of women, including the Beata Beatrix (1864). His verse includes `The Blessed Damozel` (1850)....

Rossetti, Christina Georgina
Click images to enlargeEnglish poet and a devout High Anglican (see Oxford movement). Her best-known work is Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862); among others are The Prince's Progress (1866), Annus Domini (1874), and A Pageant (1881)...

Ross, James Clark
English explorer. He discovered the north magnetic pole in 1831. He also went to the Antarctic 1839; Ross Island, Ross Sea, and Ross Dependency are named after him. He was knighted in 1843

Ross Dependency
All the Antarctic islands and territories between 160° east and 150° west longitude, and situated south of 60° south latitude; it includes Edward VII Land, the Ross Sea and its islands (including the Balleny Isles), and parts of Victoria Land. It is claimed by New Zealand; area 450,000 sq km/173,745 sq mi

Ross, Ronald
Indian-born British physician and bacteriologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the role of the Anopheles mosquito in transmitting malaria. From 1881 to 1899 he served in the Indian Medical Service, and during 1895–98 ident...

Rosicrucians
Group of early 17th-century philosophers who claimed occult powers and employed the terminology of alchemy to expound their mystical doctrines (said to derive from Paracelsus). The name comes from books published in 1614 and 1615, attributed to Christian Rosenkreutz (`rosy cross`), most probably a pen-name but allegedly a writer l...

Rosetta Stone
Slab of basalt with inscriptions from 197 BC, found near the town of Rosetta, Egypt, 1799. Giving the same text in three versions – Greek, hieroglyphic, and demotic script – it became the key to deciphering other Egyptian inscriptions. Discovered during the French Revolutionary Wars by one of Napoleon's officers in the town now called...

Roseau
Click images to enlargeCapital of Dominica, West Indies, on the southwest coast of the island; population (2001) 14,800. It is a sea port, with a trade in tropical fruit and vegetables. The town suffered severe damage in a hurricane in 1979. The cathedral dates from 1841 and another notable building is the Victoria Me...

Roscommon
County of the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Connacht; county town Roscommon; area 2,460 sq km/950 sq mi; population (2002) 53,800. It has rich pastures and is bounded on the east by the River Shannon, with bogs and lakes, including Lough Key and Lough Gara. The three largest lakes (loughs Allen, Boderg, and Ree) lie only p...

rosary
String of beads used in a number of religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, to count off prayers. In the Roman Catholic and some Anglican churches the most common of these prayers is the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin, which refers to a series of prayers consisting of 150 Ave Marias (Hail Marys) and 15 Paternosters (Lord's Prayers...

Rorschach test
In psychology, a method of diagnosis involving the use of inkblot patterns that subjects are asked to interpret, to help indicate personality type, degree of intelligence, and emotional stability. It was invented by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach

Roosevelt, Theodore
Click images to enlarge26th president of the USA 1901–09, a Republican. After serving as governor of New York 1898–1901 he became vice president to McKinley, whom he succeeded as president on McKinley's assassination in 1901. He campaigned against the great trusts (associations of enterprises that reduce com...

Roosevelt, Franklin D(elano)
Click images to enlarge32nd president of the USA 1933–45, a Democrat. He served as governor of New York 1928–33. Becoming president during the Great Depression, he launched the New Deal economic and social reform programme, which made him popular with the people. After the outbreak of World War II he introduced ...

Ronsard, Pierre de
French poet. He was the leader of the Pléiade group of poets. Under the patronage of Charles IX, he published original verse in a lightly sensitive style, including odes and love sonnets, such as Odes (1550), Les Amours/Lovers (1552–53), and the `Marie` cycle, ...

Romulus Augustulus
Last Roman emperor in the western Roman empire. He was made emperor, while still a child, by his father the patrician Orestes about 475. He was compelled to abdicate 476 by Odoacer, leader of the barbarian mercenaries, who nicknamed him Augustulus (meaning `little Augustus`). Orestes was executed and Romulus Augustulus was sent to live on...

Romulus
In Roman legend, the founder and first king of Rome; the son of Mars and Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa. Romulus and his twin brother Remus were thrown into the Tiber by their great-uncle Amulius, who had deposed Numitor, but the infants were saved and suckled by a she-wolf, and later protected by the shepherd Faus...

Romney, George
English painter. Active in London from 1762, he became, with Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, one of the most successful portrait painters of the late 18th century. His best work is to be found in the straightforward realism of The Beaumont Family (1777–79; National Gallery, London) or the simple charm of
Rome
(city in Italy) Click images to enlargeCapital of Italy and of Lazio region, on the River Tiber, 27 km/17 mi from the Tyrrhenian Sea; population (2001 est) 2,459,800. Rome is an important transport hub and cultural centre. A...

Romanticism
(art and literature) In literature and the visual arts, a style that emphasizes the imagination, emotions, and creativity of the individual artist. Romanticism also refers specifically to late-18th- and early-19th-cent...