Random Image

You are here: Random Image > Words beginning with x > Random Image for xyris

Possible definitions for xyris

-->Boris I

Khan of Bulgaria (852-89). He resolved to use Christianity to unite his ethnically divided country, and an unsuccessful war with the Byzantines led to his baptism in the Orthodox faith (864). Boris's attempt to enforce mass baptism set off a pagan rebellion, which he quelled, and he helped establish the Bulgarian church. He sponsored missionaries to foster Slavic learning and the use of the Old Church Slavic language. He abdicated in 889 to become a monk but returned to drive his reactionary son Vladimir from the throne. After installing another son, Simeon I, as khan, Boris went back to his monastery. He was later made an Orthodox saint.


Christo
Bulgarian-U.S. environmental artist. After attending Sofia's Fine Arts Academy, he moved to Paris in 1958, where he invented empaquetage, the wrapping of objects in various materials as art. He began with cans and bottles, and eventually his projects expanded to buildings and landscapes. In 1964 he moved to New York. He is noted for such monumental outdoor projects as Valley Curtain (1970-72) in Rifle Gap, Col., and Running Fence (1972-76) in Marin and Sonoma cos., Cal. In 1995 he wrapped the Berlin Reichstag in metallic silver fabric. Though his displays, which are temporary and involve hundreds of workers, are controversial among environmentalists, they have been critically well received. Since 1961, most have been collaborative efforts with his wife, Jeanne-Claude (b.1935).


Eris
Ancient Greek personification of strife. Her Roman counterpart was Discordia. The daughter of Nyx and the sister of Ares, she was best known for her role in starting the Trojan War. When she alone was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, she threw down among the guests a golden apple inscribed "for the most beautiful." Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each claimed it, and Zeus assigned the task of judging to the Trojan Paris. He awarded the apple to Aphrodite, who in turn helped him carry off the beautiful Helen, an act that triggered war.


Gris
Spanish painter active in Paris. He studied engineering at the Madrid School of Arts and Manufactures (1902-4). In 1906 he moved to Paris and began producing drawings in the Art Nouveau style for newspapers. He became involved with the Cubist artists, notably P. Picasso, and soon developed his own version of Synthetic Cubism, a style more severe and calculated than that of other Cubists. His technique included the use of paper collage. He also produced sculpture, book illustrations, and sets and costumes for S. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.


-->Idris I

King of Libya (1951-69). He succeeded his father in 1902 as leader of Cyrenaica but did not rule in his own name until 1916. Negotiations with Italy, which held the Libyan coast, resulted in agreements that confirmed Idris's authority (1917) and established a parliament (1919). His refusal to disarm his tribal supporters led to Italy's invasion of Tripolitania ...

Top words beginning with X: xylocopid, xeruses, xerography, xanthogen, xylulokinase, xenia, xanthocephalum, xenagogy, xanthoxenite, xanthelasmoidea, xenosaurus, xanthocobaltic, xylans, xiphoidian, xxyy, xylenes, xyloplastic, xiphister, xenisma, xanthomata

More words beginning with X.

Browse the alphabet: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z