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Pylon

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A pair of truncated, pyramidal towers flanking the entrance to an Egyptian temple. (Temple of Horus at Edfu)

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Hypostyle

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A hall with a roof supported by rows of columns. (Temple of Amon-Re at Karnak)

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Hierarchical scale

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The representation of more important figures as larger than less important ones (Victory Stele of Narim-Sin)

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Register

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One of a series of rows in a pictorial narrative (Standard of Ur^, Palette of King Narmer)

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Repousse

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A technique in which a relief is formed on the front by hammering a metal plate from the back. (Funerary masks of Mycenae)

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Corbelled vault

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A vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in horizontal courses, cantilevered inward until the two walls meet in an arch. (Lions Gate at Mycenae, also includes relieving triangle)

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Kouros

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An Archaic Greek statue of a standing nude male.

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Kore

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An Archaic Greek statue of a standing, draped female.

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Caryatid

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A column carved to represent a woman. (The Erechtheum)

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Pediment

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In Classical architecture, the triangular section of a temple root often decorated with sculpture.

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Entablature

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In Classical architecture, the part of a building above the columns and below the roof. The ________ of a Classical temple includes the architrave, frieze, and cornice.

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Contrapposto

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The relaxed natural pose, or "weight shift" first introduced in Greek sculpture in 480 bce, separating Classical from Archaic (Kritios Boy - not featured)

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Frieze

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In Classical architecture, a continuous horizontal band of sculptural decoration. (Ionic ______ in the Parthenon depicting Panathenaic Procession)

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Mosaic

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Images composed of small pieces of colored glass or stone; used often by Romans (Alexander _______, Alexander the Great persues Darius III at the Battle of Issus)

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Voussoir

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A wedge-shaped block used in the construction of a true arch. The central ________, which sets the arch, is called the Keystone.

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Pendentive

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"Dome supports"; The concave triangular section of a vault that forms the transition between a square or polygonal space and the circular base of a dome. (Hagia Sofia)

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Iconoclasm

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A movement in the Byzantine Empire that favored banning and destroying images (especially of Biblical figures).

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Encaustic

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A painting technique in which pigment is mixed with wax and applied to the surface while hot. 6th & 7th century Byzantine artists used encaustic to create panel paintings (Jasper Johns did the same in "Flag")

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Enamel

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A technique in which powdered glass is applied to a metal surface in a decorative design.

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Mihrab

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A semicircular niche set into the qibla wall of a mosque.

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Westwork

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The facade and towers at the western end of a medieval church, principally in Germany.

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Ambulatory

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The passageway around the apse and choir of a church, originally a feature of Romanesque churches that developed in connection wither their use as pilgrimage centers.

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Tympanum

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The lunette-shaped space above the portals of Romanesque and Gothic churches.

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Clerestory

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A row of windows in the upper part of a wall.

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Barrel vault

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A vault is a roof or ceiling. A _____ vault is, in effect, a deep arch or uninterrupted series of arches. Roman architects used _____ vaults in the construction of the Colosseum and the Baths of Caracalla. One of the characteristic features of Romanesque churches.

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Groin vault

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Vault formed at the point at which two barrel vaults intersect at right angles. _____ vaults are one of the characteristic features of Gothic cathedrals.

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Crypt

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A vaulted space usually located under the apse of a church. Because a _____ is wholly or partly underground, it is not found in the nave elevation of a church.

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Vellum

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Calfskin prepared as a surface for writing or painting. (The Lindisfarne Gospels use tempera on this, and the calendar pictures of Les Tres Richels use ink on this.)

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Diptych

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A two-paneled painting or altar piece. (The Melun ______ by Jean Fouquet)

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Triptych

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A 3-paneled painting or altarpiece. ("Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymous Bosch, "Merode Altarpiece" by Robert Campin, "Portinari Altarpiece" by Hugo van der Goes)

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Predella

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The painted or sculpted lower portion of an altarpiece that relates to the subjects of the upper portion.

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Chiaroscuro

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In drawing or painting, the treatment and use of light and dark, especially by gradations of light that produce the effect of mottling. Masaccio demonstrated his mastery of _____ in the "Tribute Money".

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Cartoon

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In painting, a full-size preliminary drawing from which a painting is made. Da Vinci's "Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and the Infant Saint John" is a famous example.

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Ecorche

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A figure painted or sculpted to show the muscles of the body as if without skin. (Pollaioulo's "Battle of 10 Nudes")

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Orthogonal

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A line imagined to be behind and perpendicular to the picture plane. In painting, appear to recede toward a vanishing point. Can be clearly seen in Perugino's Christ Delivering the Keys of Heaven

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Intaglio

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A graphic technique in which the design is incised, or scratched, on a metal plate, either manually (engraving) or chemically (etching). Reverse of woodcut technique.

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Impasto

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Technique in which the artist applies thick layers of oil paint. Both Rembrandt & Van Gogh used this in their works.

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Japonisme

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The French fascination with all things Japanese. Emerged in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Impressionists & post-Impressionists were particularly impressed with the use of bold contour lines, flat areas of color, and cropped edges in Japanese woodblock prints.

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Avant-garde

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Late 19th & 20th century artists whose work emphasized innovation and challenged established conventions.

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Bauhaus

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A school of architecture in Germany in the 1920s under the leadership of Walter Gropius.

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Ready-made

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An ordinary object that, when an artist gives it a new context and title, is transformed into an art object. Were important features to Dada and Surrealism movements of early 20th century. (Marcel Duchamp's Fountain.)

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Cantilever

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A beam of structure that is anchored at one end and projects beyond its vertical support. (Fallingwater, Frank Lloryd Wright)

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Biomorphic

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An adjective used to describe forms that resemble or suggest shapes found in nature. Not abstract shapes. (Painting and Composition by Joan Miro)

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Assemblage

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An artwork constructed from existing objects. (Louise Nevelon's Sky Tower and Tropical Garden)

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Photomantage

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A composition made by pasting together pictures or parts of pictures, especially photographs. (Hannah Hoch and Romare Bearden)

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Stupa

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A large, mound-shaped Buddhist shrine.

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Pagoda

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A multistoried Chinese tower, usually associated with a Buddhist temple, having multiplicity of projecting eaves.

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Peublo

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A communal multistoried dwelling made of stone or adobe brick by the Native Americans of the Southwest. (Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde)

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Mudrah

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In Buddhist and Hindu iconography, a stylized and symbolic hand gesture.

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Ukiyo-e

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Japanese for "pictures of the floating world". Style of Japanese genre painting that influenced 19th century western art.

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