was also an able patristics scholar, publishing several edi-
tions of the Church Fathers.
Gilbert, Sir Humfrey (c. 1539–1583) English explorer
and soldier
He served in Le Havre (1563) and Ireland (1567–70 and
1579) and in 1572 commanded 1500 English volunteers
assisting the Dutch struggle against Spanish rule. In 1566
he failed to persuade Queen Elizabeth to support his pro-
posed search for a NORTHWEST PASSAGEfrom England to
the East; later she rejected his plans to prey on Spanish
treasure ships. Armed with a royal charter to settle hea-
then land, he embarked on his first and unsuccessful ex-
pedition (1578–79) to North America. On his second
expedition (1583) he annexed Newfoundland for Eng-
land, but went down with his ship on the homeward voy-
age.
Gilbert, William (1544–1603) English physician and
physicist
After reading medicine at Cambridge, and a period of Eu-
ropean travel, Gilbert moved to London in 1573. His prac-
tice flourished, culminating in his becoming physician to
Elizabeth I and, in 1600, president of the College of Physi-
cians. It is, however, on De magnete (1600), long recog-
nized as the first major work of British science, that
Gilbert’s reputation rests. Dedicated to those who seek
knowledge from things, not books, the work made one of
the first serious attempts to show the value of the newly
established experimental method. In his most unexpected
conclusion he demonstrated that the earth itself was a
magnet, with lines of force running between the poles. No
traditionalist, Gilbert was intensely critical of Aristotle,
while at the same time supporting the claim of Coperni-
cus that the earth rotates.
Gioconda, La See MONA LISA
Giocondo, Fra (Giovanni da Verona) (1433–1515)
Italian architect
Best known for his edition of the Roman architectural
writer VITRUVIUS(1511), Giocondo was frequently con-
sulted by other leading architects, and his collection of
drawings of details of classical ruins in Rome was a valu-
able resource both to them and to his patrons. He worked
in both Italy and France, often as architectural adviser, but
also as a designer of gardens (at Naples and Blois). In his
native Verona he worked on the Palazzo del Consiglio
(1476–88), in Naples (1489–93) he was responsible for
fortifications, and in Paris he built the Pont-de-Notre-
Dame (1500–08). He also designed the defenses of Venice
(c. 1506), built city walls at Treviso (1509), and, follow-
ing BRAMANTE’s death in 1514, became supervisor at St.
Peter’s in Rome, sharing the post with RAPHAELand Giu-
liano da SANGALLO.
Giolito, Gabriele (fl. 1538–1578) Italian printer
The most important member of a Piedmontese family of
printers and publishers, Giolito settled in Venice in 1538.
In the next 40 years he published about 850 books, in-
cluding many editions of Ariosto and reprints of Petrarch,
Boccaccio, and Dante, as well as translations. As the intel-
lectual climate changed and the power of the Inquisition
grew, Giolito concentrated on books of spiritual advice.
The decorated initials and title-pages of his books, with
borders and panels of printers’ flowers and fine woodcut
illustrations, set new fashions, like those for enclosing
whole scenes in initials (an echo of manuscript illumina-
tion) or packing a series of small illustrations into one pic-
ture. His sons took over his firm, but they were less
successful and it did not survive beyond 1606.Giorgio, Maestro See ANDREOLI, GIORGIOGiorgione (Giorgio Barbarelli, Giorgio del Castel-
franco) (c. 1476–1510) Italian painter
Born at Castelfranco in the Veneto, Giorgione was a pupil
of Giovanni BELLINIat Venice during the 1490s and prob-
ably met TITIANthere. Little is known of his life, and only
a few paintings are firmly attributed to him; however,
there is general agreement that he initiated the High Re-
naissance style in Venetian art. His early works, such as
the Castelfranco Madonna Enthroned (c. 1500) with its
dreamy figures and passive mood, and Judith (c. 1504; St.
Petersburg), were profoundly influenced by the styles of
Bellini, GENTILE, and (increasingly) LEONARDO DA VINCI.
The Tempest (c. 1503; Venice) is an evocative pastoral
scene in which landscape for the first time is treated for its
own sake, rather than as a mere background, and estab-
lished a genre in Venetian art. In this and other works,
such as Sleeping Venus (Dresden), finished by Titian, The
Three Philosophers (Vienna) finished by SEBASTIANO DEL PI-
OMBO, and Laura (1506; Vienna), a portrait of a young
woman, Giorgione experimented with qualities of mood
and mystery, experiments that Titian went on to develop
after Giorgione’s death in an outbreak of the plague.
Among his mature portraits is a fine one of a Knight of
Malta (Uffizi, Florence), with an intense, brooding gaze.
Other works probably by Giorgione include The Pastoral
Concert (Louvre, Paris), Christ Carrying the Cross
(Boston), and Adoration of the Shepherds (Washington), al-
though several works are lost. Also active as a musician
and poet, Giorgione, although controversial in his time,
played a crucial role in the development of High Renais-
sance art, as expanded in the works of Titian.
Further reading: Jaynie Anderson, Giorgione: The
Painter of ‘Poetic Brevity’ (Paris: Flammarion, 1997); Teri-
sio Pignatti and Filippo Pedrocco, Giorgione (Milan, Italy:
Rizzoli, 1999).GGiioorrggiioonnee 2 21133