nessed by his authorship of Opusculum epigrammatum
(1494), a collection of inflammatory epigrams.
Balboa, Vasco Nuñes de (c. 1475–1517) Spanish
explorer
Balboa was born into a good Estremaduran family and
went to the West Indies in 1501. In 1510 he assumed com-
mand of an expedition to Darien, and, making friends
with the native peoples, he heard rumors about the great
ocean beyond the mountains west of the gulf of Darien.
While at Darien Balboa heard that his enemies had com-
plained of him to King Ferdinand II, so, endeavoring to re-
cover the king’s favor, he set out on an expedition over the
mountains, from which he caught his first sight of the Pa-
cific Ocean (September 1513). A few days later he took
possession of the new sea for the Spanish crown. He re-
turned to Darien with considerable booty and when news
of his exploits reached Spain the king rewarded him with
the title of admiral. Nonetheless his enemies managed to
frustrate his intended search for the gold of Peru and fi-
nally managed to have him executed for alleged treason at
Acla, near Darien.
Baldovinetti, Alesso (c. 1426–1499) Italian painter and
mosaicist
His work, which was mainly in and around Florence, is
documented by his diary recording his commissions.
Some of his paintings, such as the Madonna and Child in
the Louvre, Paris, and the damaged Nativity fresco in SS.
Annunziata, Florence, have attractive, if unsophisticated,
landscape views of the Val d’Arno in the background.
Among his mosaics are decorations in the baptistery, Flo-
rence, and the tympanum over the south door of Pisa
cathedral. The main influences visible upon his work are
those of DOMENICO VENEZIANOand ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO.
Baldung Grien, Hans (Hans Baldung Grün)
(1484/85–1545) German painter and print maker
While he was still a child, Baldung’s family moved from
his native Schwäbisch-Gmünd to Strasbourg, where he
probably received his initial training. By about 1500 he
was in DÜRER’s Nuremberg workshop, where he remained
until 1508, when he returned to Strasbourg. There he re-
mained for the rest of his career, save for the years
1512–17, when he was based at Fribourg. At Nuremberg,
Baldung contributed numerous woodcuts to the books
Beschlossen Gart (1505) and Speculum Passionis (1507) by
Ulrich Pinder and painted two altarpieces for the city of
Halle. The latter’s remarkably lustrous coloristic effects
imply knowledge of the early works of CRANACH. Bal-
dung’s key early work is the huge high altar of Fribourg
minster. Although related to earlier compositions by
Dürer, its central panel of the Coronation of the Virgin has
a flamboyance of form and color quite distinct from
Dürer’s disciplined style. Baldung’s woodcuts of the same
period, notably the famous Witches (1513), reveal a grow-
ing interest in the demonic. This tendency reached a high
point of mingled horror and eroticism in the Woman Em-
braced by Death at Basle, painted in about 1517. With the
coming of the Reformation to Strasbourg, Baldung’s sub-
ject matter shifts away from religious themes, towards sec-
ular ones. These include portraits, such as the woodcut
likeness of Luther (1521) and the oil painting of a young
man in Nuremberg (1526). Baldung also painted genre
scenes, such as the moralizing Ill-Matched Couple (1527)
in Liverpool, and classical legends, such as Pyramus and
Thisbe (1530) in Berlin. A highly intellectual artist, Bal-
dung was far more than merely Dürer’s greatest pupil. His
style was always quite distinct from that of his master or
any other painter, culminating in a highly personal con-
tribution to European MANNERISM.Bale, John (1495–1563) English bishop, controversialist,
and dramatist
Born at Cove, Suffolk, Bale was a convert to Protestantism
whose uncompromising views provoked great hostility
(he was known as “Bilious Bale”). He was twice forced
into exile—to Germany in 1540–47 and to Basle during
the reign (1553–58) of Mary I. However, Edward VI made
him bishop of Ossory (1552) and under Elizabeth I he
ended his days in peace as a prebendary of Canterbury. He
produced numerous polemical writings, a history of Eng-
lish literature, and several dramas, the most notable of
which is King John (1548), often seen as the first English
historical play.balìa A committee with special powers, set up in an Ital-
ian city to handle particular constitutional situations.
While overtly a republican institution, the Florentine balìa
fell inexorably under the control of the MEDICIduring the
15th century.ballade A French medieval metrical form, not to be con-
fused with the English “ballad.” It consists of a poem of
fixed form and strict rhyme scheme with three stanzas of
either 10 lines (dizains) or eight lines (huitains) each, the
lines being most commonly of six or eight syllables; there
is a concluding four-line envoi, in which the poet usually
addresses his patron. All four parts end with the same line,
constituting the refrain, though departures from the regu-
lar forms exist. The greatest exponent of the ballade was
François Villon (1431–??), who included a number of
them in his Testament (1461).ballet de cour A form of entertainment combining
DANCE, spectacle, music, song, and drama, which evolved
at the French court in the mid-16th century. CATHERINE
DE’ MEDICI, who would have encountered similar enter-
tainments at the Florentine court in her youth, laid on the
sumptuous Balet comique de la Reine in 1581 to celebrate(^4422) BBaallbbooaa,, VVaassccoo NNuunn~eess ddee