Art History: Midterm Exam – Flashcards
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buon fresco
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Italian for "true fresco", pigments are applied to wet plaster
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fresco secco
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paints (tempura-egg/egg with water) applied to dry plaster
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faience
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glazed and fired twice, makes it expensive and time consuming (Example: Goddess with Snakes)
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sacral knot
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symbol of holiness on human figures or cult-objects, double-axe can be compared with the Egyptian ankh (eternal life)
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contrapposto
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Italian for "counterpose" describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs (Polykleitos'/David)
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canon of Polykleitos
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theoretical work that discusses ideal mathematical proportions for the parts of the human body and proposes for sculpture of the human figure a dynamic counterbalance—between the relaxed and tensed body parts and between the directions in which the parts move (based on a ratio of units and the length of various body parts)
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pediment
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triangular place under the roof of a Greek Temple --he triangular upper part of the front of a building in classical style, typically surmounting a portico of columns
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veristic
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extremely or strictly naturalistic- "warts and all" shows the imperfections of the subject, such as warts, wrinkles and furrows, minuscule details of the human head, avours wrinkles, furrows, signs of age as indicaters of gravity and authority
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idealized
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Regarded or treated as ideal, or made or envisioned as ideal, preconception of ideal form or type, perfect
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adlocutio (orator's) pose
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outstretched hand of speech as well as the contrapposto pose with the weight clearly shifted to one leg, shown as leader, addressing the troops
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tetrachy
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3-man rule established by Emperor Diocletion in the Late Empire during the crisis of rule
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porphyry
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an extremely hard, durable reddish stone that resembles marble, is expensive to quarry, comes mainly from Egypt and has imperial connotations (The Tetrachs)
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lauratron
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sculpture that symbolizes imperial presence in a basilica without which business could not be legally conducted in the emperor's absence (Example: Constantine The Great)
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hieractic
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Pose is direct, frontal, symmetrical, and large in scale, and therefore signifies power (Example: BLANK)
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pozzolana (volcanic stone)
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ancient "concrete" made of volcanic ash and lime
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oculus
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round opening, as in the center of the dome (vault) of the Pantheon
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chi rho
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the name of the first two letters of the greek word for Christ=XPI?TO?=earliest christogram for Christ
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orants
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pious figures praying
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narthex
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an antechamber, porch, or distinct area at the western entrance of some early Christian churches, separated off by a railing and used by catechumens, penitents, etc. --architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar
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transept
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is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture
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clerestory
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a portion of an interior rising above adjacent rooftops and having windows admitting daylight to the interior
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tesserae(ae?)
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is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a cube, used in creating a mosaic
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pendentive
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curving triangular structural element which acts as a transitional device between the base of the dome that is round and four piers (surrounded by a square space) that support it below
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Neoplatonism
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A Greek philosophy adopted by a Christian Theologian in the 6th century and applied to christianity in the East. As a mystical philosophy, organized all matter and all beings into a rigid hierarchy with God at the top in pure light and matter at the bottom in total darkness. Humans could achieve a spiritual union with God through several means, one of which was meditation facilitated by the arts. (Only when a worshipper ceased to concentrate on the material world would he/she make contact with God.)
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Sutton Hoo
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Anglo-Saxon burial mounds in Suffolk, England, undisturbed ship burial, along with many other artifacts
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animal style
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approach to decoration characterized by its emphasis on animal motifs
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cloisonné
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technique in which metal fillets are turned on end and soldered to a flat surface and then filled in with enamel or gems. The cells are called cloisons.
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millefiori
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Bundled rods of enamel are fired, cooled and then cut crosswise to form pieces that are set into cells or cloisons
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La Tène style
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Ancient Celtic style of beautifully interwoven, curvy and usually symmetrical designs and patterns that include: -pelta(ae): -triskele: -trumpet curves
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pelta(ae)
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An ancient semi-circular shield shape that commonly features in Roman mosaics. Modified pelta shapes can interlock into a tessellating pattern, for which contrasting colours may be used. The plural is "peltae"
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triskele
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triple spiral, complex Celtic symbol
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Pilgrimage-type churches
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nave, side aisles, transept and apse with radiating chapels. An ambulatory within the apse connected the inner aisles. Vaults are used with interior bay articulations. The interior spatial design of these churches is "readable" from the exterior,
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eschatological
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relating to the end of world
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tympanum
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semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments
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flying buttress
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Flying buttresses are another character-defining feature of medieval Gothic cathedrals. A flying buttress is made up of two parts: the buttress, a large masonry block; and the "flyer," an arch spanning between the buttress and the exterior wall
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quadripartite vaults
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a rib vault which is divided into four sections by two diagonal ribs
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Statue columns
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a figure that fuctions as a supporting column
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Aristotelianism
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harmony and logic, scholasticism--medieval philosophy of method of how one learns
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Renaissance
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Centrality of everything that steam from concept of human being
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altarpiece
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a work of art, especially a painting on wood, set above and behind an altar
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fresco
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is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall
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city-state
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a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state
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allegory
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a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one
