maple family Family Aceraceae, composed of about 200 species (in the genera Dipteronia in China and Acer across the Northern Hemisphere)
Alessandro Manzoni, oil painting by Francesco Hayez; in the Brera Gallery, Milan.
AUNARI—ART RESOURCE
Portrait of a Lady, bronze sculpture by Giacomo Manzu, 1946; in the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK; A. CONGER GOODYEAR FUND
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1190 I mapmaking ► Maranon
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of ornamental, shade, and timber trees. Maples are important ornamen¬ tals for lawns, along streets, and in parks. They offer a great variety of form, size, and foliage; many display striking autumn colour. The red maple (A. rubrum) is one of the most common trees in its native eastern North America, where it tolerates compacted wet soils and city pollution. Box elder (A. negundo ) grows quickly to 30-50 ft (9-15 m) and resists drought, so early prairie settlers planted many for shade and for wood to make crates, furniture, paper pulp, and charcoal. The watery, sweet sap of the sugar maple (A. saccharum) is boiled down for syrup and sugar; the wood of certain sugar maples is used for furniture.
mapmaking See cartography
Maponos \ma-'po-nos\ or Mac ind Og Vma-kon-'dogV or Oeng- hus Ve-nas, 'oin-gosX In Celtic religion, a god similar to Apollo who is often associated with healing. He appears in Welsh mythology as Mabon, who was carried off from his divine mother when he was three nights old. In Irish mythology he is said to be the son of Dagda and of Boann, the personified sacred river of Irish tradition. He lived in the great Neolithic (and therefore pre-Celtic) passage grave of Newgrange.
Mapplethorpe Vma-pol-.thorpV Robert (b. Nov. 4, 1946, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. March 9, 1989, Boston, Mass.) U.S. photographer. He attended the Pratt Institute (1963-70). By the mid 1970s he was pursu¬ ing what were to remain his favourite subjects throughout his career: still lifes, flowers, portraits of friends and celebrities, and homoerotic explo¬ rations of the male body. His compositions were generally stark, with his combination of cold studio light and precise focus creating dramatic tonal contrasts. His muscular male models were generally framed against plain backdrops, sometimes engaged in sexual activity or posed with sadomas¬ ochistic props such as leather and chains. His clear, unflinching style challenged viewers to confront this imagery. Moreover, the combination of his choice of subject matter with the photographs’ formal beauty and grounding in art-historical traditions created what many saw as a tension between pornography and art. A posthumous retrospective exhibition of his work in 1990, funded partly by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), stirred a debate about government subsidies of “obscene” art and provoked Congress to enact restrictions on future NEA grants.
mappo Vmap-.poN In Japanese Buddhism, the age in which the Buddha’s law will degenerate. The period following the death of the Buddha is divided into three ages: the age of the true law, the age of the copied law, and the age of the latter law, or the degeneration of the law. A new period, in which true faith will again flower, will then be ushered in by the bodhi- sattva Maitreya (Japanese Miroku). Japanese Buddhists calculate that the age of mappo began in ad 1052. Since it is expected to continue for 10,000 years, the current era of human history continues to be the age of mappo.
Mapuche \ma-'pu-che\ Most numerous group of Araucanian-speaking South American Indians (see Araucanian), who live in the central valley of Chile. They are noted for their 350-year struggle against Spanish and Chilean domination. In the 16th—18th centuries they learned to use horses in battle and united over great distances to fight Spanish incursions. After Chile gained independence in the 19th century, the government settled them on reservations. In the 1980s the reservation land was transferred to individuals, but their rights have become endangered by debt accrued to support their traditional, non-intensive agriculture.
Maputo \ma-'pu-to\ formerly (until 1976) Lourenco Marques \l6-'ra n -su-'mar-kish\ Port city (pop., 1997: 989,386), capital of Mozam¬ bique. It lies on the northern bank of Espfrito Santo Estuary of Delagoa Bay, an inlet of the Indian Ocean. It derived its former name from the Portuguese trader who first explored the region in 1544. The town devel¬ oped around a Portuguese fortress completed in 1787. Created a city town in 1887, it superseded Mozambique as the capital of Portuguese East Africa in 1907. Since the nation’s independence in 1975, the collapse of tourism and reduced access to foreign trade have damaged the city’s economy.
maqam \ma-'kam\ Spiritual stage that serves as a milestone on the path followed by Muslim mystics (Sufis) as they strive to reach the vision of and union with God. The Sufi progresses through his own spiritual efforts and through the guidance of sheikhs. In each maqam the Sufi strives to purify himself of all worldly inclinations and prepare himself to attain an ever higher spiritual level. Most Sufis identify seven major maqams: repentance, fear of the Lord, renunciation, poverty, patience, trust, and satisfaction. See also Sufism.
Maqtul, al- See al-SuHRAWARDl
Mar del Plata Coastal city (pop., 1999 est.: 579,483), east-central Argentina. It was the site of a Spanish mission (1746-51). In 1856 Por¬ tuguese explorer Jose Coelho Mierelles founded the fishing village La Peregrina. Mar del Plata was established in 1874 and promoted as a sea¬ side resort; it became a city in 1907. It is famous for its luxurious casino. In addition to tourism, its economy is based on construction, textiles, and commercial fishing and canning. It is the seat of the National University of Mar del Plata.
Mar-pa (b. 1012, Lhobrag, Tibet—d. 1096, Tibet) Tibetan religious leader. According to tradition, he was born to wealthy parents, and to curb his violent nature he was sent to a Tibetan monastery to study Buddhism. He later spent three periods studying under the yogi Naropa in India, returning to Tibet during the intervals and gathering disciples. A major figure in the revival of Buddhism in Tibet, he is known for his transla¬ tions of Indian Vajrayana Buddhist texts and of mystical songs of the Indian Tantric tradition.
Mara Buddhist Lord of the Senses, who repeatedly tempted the Buddha Gautama. When Gautama seated himself under the bodhi tree to await enlightenment, the evil Mara appeared in the guise of a messenger claim¬ ing that a rival had usurped the family throne. After sending a storm of rain, rocks, ashes, and darkness to frighten away the gods who had gath¬ ered, he challenged Gautama’s right to sit beneath the tree and sent forth his three daughters, Trsna, Rati, and Raga (thirst, desire, and delight), to seduce Gautama, but to no avail. After the Buddha had achieved enlight¬ enment, Mara pressed him to abandon any attempt to preach, but the gods successfully persuaded him to preach the law.
marabou Vmar-o-.biA African stork ( Leptoptilos crumeniferus). Stand¬ ing 5 ft (1.5 m) tall with a wingspread of 8.5 ft (2.6 m), the marabou is the largest of all storks. Mainly gray and white, it has a bald pinkish face and neck; a reddish, inflatable throat pouch; and a straight, heavy bill. Marabous eat carrion, often feeding with vultures, which they dominate.
Maracaibo X.ma-ra-'kI-boX City (pop., 2000 est.: 1,764,038), north¬ western Venezuela. Located on the channel connecting Lake Maracaibo with the Gulf of Venezuela, it is Venezuela’s second largest city. Founded in 1571 as Nueva Zamora, it became a centre for inland trade after Gibral¬ tar, at the head of the lake, was destroyed in 1669. It changed hands sev¬ eral times during Venezuela’s struggle for independence from Spain. Within a decade of the discovery of oil in 1917, it became the oil metropo¬ lis of Venezuela and South America.