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BECERRA, GASPAR (1520-1570)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 602 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BECERRA, GASPAR (1520-1570) , See also:Spanish painter and sculptor, was See also:born at See also:Baeza in See also:Andalusia. He studied at See also:Rome, it is said under See also:Michelangelo, and assisted See also:Vasari in See also:painting the See also:hall of the Concelleria. He also contributed to the anatomical plates of Valverde. After his return to See also:Spain he was extensively employed by See also:Philip II., and decorated many of the rooms in the See also:palace at See also:Madrid with frescoes. He also painted See also:altar-pieces for several of the churches, most of which have been destroyed. His fame as a sculptor almost surpassed that as a painter. His best See also:work was a magnificent figure of the Virgin, which was destroyed during the See also:French See also:war. He became See also:court painter at Madrid in 1563, and played a prominent See also:part in the See also:establishment of the See also:fine arts in Spain. . BECHE-DE-MER (sometimes explained as " See also:sea-See also:spade," from the shape of the prepared See also:article, but more probably from the See also:Port. bicho, a See also:worm or See also:grub), or TREPANG (See also:Malay, tripang), an important See also:food luxury among the See also:Chinese and other Eastern peoples, connected with the See also:production of which considerable See also:trade exists in the Eastern See also:Archipelago and the coasts of New See also:Guinea, and also in See also:California. It consists of several See also:species of echinoderms, generally referred to the genus Holothuria, especially H. edulis. The creatures, which exist on See also:coral reefs, have bodies from 6 to 15 in. See also:long, shaped like a See also:cucumber, hence their name of " sea-cucumbers." The skin is sometimes covered with spicules or prickles, and sometimes quite smooth, and with or without " teats " or ambulacral feet disposed in rows. Five varieties are recognized in the See also:commerce of the Pacific Islands, the finest of which is the " See also:brown with teats." The large See also:black come next in value, followed by the small black, the red-bellied and the See also:white.

They are used in the gelatinous soups which See also:

form an important article of food in See also:China. They are prepared for use by being boiled for about twenty minutes, and then dried first in the See also:sun and afterwards over a See also:fire, so that they are slightly smoked.

End of Article: BECERRA, GASPAR (1520-1570)

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BECHER, JOHANN JOACHIM (1635-1682)