Flashcards on Art History Vocabulary
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Neolithic
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relating to or denoting the later part of the Stone Age, when ground or polished stone weapons and implements prevailed.
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Paleolithic
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relating to or denoting the early phase of the Stone Age, lasting about 2.5 million years, when primitive stone implements were used.
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Megalithic
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relating to or denoting prehistoric monuments made of or containing megaliths
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Representational
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Any art that attempts to depict an aspect of the external, natural world in a visually understandable way.
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Abstract
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Art that does not attempt to describe the appearance of visible forms but rather to transform them into stylized patterns or to alter them in conformity to ideals.
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Sculpture in the round
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Three-dimensional sculpture that is carved free of any background or block.
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Relief sculpture
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A sculpted image or design whose flat background surface is carved away to a certain depth, setting off the figure(s).
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Circa
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(often preceding a date) approximately.
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Dolmen
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A prehistoric structure made up of two or more large (often upright) stones supporting a large, flat, horizontal slab or slabs.
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Passage tomb or passage grave
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A prehistoric tomb under a cairn, reached by a long, narrow, slab-lined access passage or passageways.
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Corbel arch
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Arch or vault formed by courses of stones, each of which projects beyond the lower course until the space is enclosed; usually finished with a capstone.
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Posts
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Two uprights
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Lintels
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A horizontal element
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Mortise and tenon joint
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pieces that fit like a lego
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Stele
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An upright stone slab decorated with inscriptions or reliefs.
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Hierarchic Scale
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The use of differences in size to indicate relative importance.
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Ziggurat
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A tall stepped pyramidal structure of earthen materials, often supporting a shrine.
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Cuneiform
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An early form of writing with wedge-shaped marks impressed into wet clay with a stylus; used primarily by ancient Mesopotamians
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Inlay
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A decorative process in which pieces of one material are set into the surface of an object fashioned from a different material.
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Votive
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An image created as a devotional offering to a god or other deity.
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Register
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A device used in systems of spatial definition.
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Cylinder Seal
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A small cylindrical stone decorated with incised patterns.
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Mastaba
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A flat-topped, one-story building with slanted walls over an ancient Egyptian undeground tomb.
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Necropolis
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A large cemetery or burial area, literally "city of the dead"
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Pylon
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A massive gateway formed by a pair of tapering walls of oblong shape.
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Hypostyle Hall
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A large interior room characterized by many closely spaced columns that support its roof.
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Filigree
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Delicate decoration with fine wires
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Granulation
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A technique for decorating gold in which tiny balls of the precious metal are fused to the main surface in a pattern
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Repousse
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A technique of pushing or hammering metal from the back to create a protruding image.
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Niello
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A metal technique in which a black sulfur alloy is rubbed into fine lines engraved into a metal. When heated, the alloy becomes fused with the surrounding metal and provides contrasting detail.
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Corbel Arch
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Arch or vault formed by courses of stones, each of which projects usually finished with a capstone.
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Dressed Stone
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Highly finished, precisely cut blocks of stone laid in even courses, creating a uniform face with fine joints. Often used as a facing on the visible exterior of a building, especially as a veneer for the facade.
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Black Figure
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A technique of ancient Greek pottery in which black figures are painted on a red clay ground.
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Red Figure
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A technique of ancient Greek ceramic painting in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. Characterized by red-clay-colored figures reserved on s black background.
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Caryatid
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A sculpture of a draped female figure acting as a column supporting an entablature.
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Contrapposto
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An Italian term meaning "set against," used to describe the Classical convention of representing human figures with opposing alternations of tension an relaxation on. either side of a central axis to imbue figures with a sense of the potential for movement.
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Peristyle Colonnade
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A surrounding colonnade in Greek architecture. A peristyle building is surrounded on the exterior by a colonnade.
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Doric Order
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The column shaft of the Doric Order can be fluted or smooth-surfaced and has no base. The Doric capital consists of an undecorated echinus and abacus. The Doric entablature has a plain architrave, a frieze with metopes and triglyphs, and a simple cornice.
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Ionic Order
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The columns have a base, a fluted shaft, and capital decorated with volutes. The entablature consists of n architrave of three panels and moldings, a frieze usually containing sculpted relief ornament, and a cornice with dentils.
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Corinthian Order
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Includes a base, a fluted column shaft with a capital elaborately decorated with acanthus leaf carvings. Its entablature consists of an architrave decorated with moldings, a frieze often containing sculptured reliefs, and a cornice with dentils.
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Pediment
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A triangular gable found over major architectural elements such as Classical Greek porticoes, windows, or doors.
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Entablature
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The horizontal elements above the columns and capitals.
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Triglyph
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Rectangular blocks between the metopes of a Doric frieze.
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Metope
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The carved, painted, or plain rectangular spaces between the triglyphs of a Doric frieze.
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Shaft
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The main vertical section of a column and the base, usually circular in cross section.
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Capital
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The sculpted block that tops a column.
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Stylobate
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In Classical architecture, the stone platform on which a temple stands
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Stereobate
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The series of steep steps that form a platform for Greek temples.
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Fluting
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Shallow concave grooves running vertically on the shaft of a column, pilaster, or other surfaces.
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Aqueduct
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A trough to carry flowing water supported, if necessary, by arches
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Engaged Columns
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Columns attached to the wall.
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Cella/Naos
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The principal interior room in a Greek or Roman temple within which the cult statue was usually housed.
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Cameo
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A low-relief carving on a semiprecious stone or gemstone.
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Coffer
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A recessed decorative panel that is used to reduce the weight of and to decorate ceilings or vaults.
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Modeling
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In painting, the process of creating the illusion of three-dimensionality by the use of highlights and shading.
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Spandrel
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The area of wall adjoining the exterior curve of an arch between its springing and the keystone, or the area between two arches, as in an arcade
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Keystone
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The topmost voussoir at the center of an arch, and the last block to be placed. The pressure of this block holds the arch together. Often of a larger size than the other voussoirs and/or decorated.
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Voussoirs
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The oblong, wedge-shaped stone blocks used to build an arch.
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Springing
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The start of the arch.
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Impost
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A block imposed between the top of a pier or above the capital of a column in order to provide extra support at the spring of the arch.
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Jamb
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In architecture, the vertical element found on both sides of a door or an opening in a wall, often supporting an arch or lintel
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Basilica
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A type of building used throughout Roman Empire for civic public functions.
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Nave
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Big aisle in the middle of basilica
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Apse
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A large semicircular or polygonal niche protruding from the end wall of a building.
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Colonnade
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A row of columns, supporting a straight lintel or a series of arches.
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Clerestory
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Ceiling that goes higher than side aisles, usually with open space that allows light to come into building.
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Catacomb
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An underground cemetery consisting of tunnels of different levels, having niches for burials, urns, and sarcophagi, and often incorporating rooms.
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Loculus
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A recess in an ancient catacomb or tomb, where a body or cinerary urn was placed.
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Cubiculum
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A small private room for burials in the catacombs.
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Narrative Image
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A picture the recounts an event drawn from a story, either factual or fictional. In a continuous narrative, multiple scenes from the same story appear within a single compositional frame.
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Iconic Image
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A picture that expresses or embodies an intangible concept or idea
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Mosaic
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Images formed by small colored stone or glass pieces affixed to a hard, stable surface.
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Spolia
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A repurposed building stone for new construction, or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments, is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut, and used in a built structure, is carried away to be used elsewhere.
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Marble revetment/veneer
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In architecture, the exterior facing of a building, often in decorative arts, a thin exterior layer of finer material laid over less valuable material.
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Diptych
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Two panels of equal size, usually decorated with paintings or reliefs and hinged together.
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Iconoclasm
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The banning and/or destruction of icons and religious images.
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Encaustic
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A painting medium using pigment suspended in hot wax.
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Sanctuary/Choir
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The section of a Christian church reserved for the clergy, monks, or nuns, either between the transept crossing and the apse or extending into the nave-separated from the rest of the church by screens or walls and fitted with stalls.
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Reliquary
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A container, often made of a precious material, used as a repository for sacred relics.
