Art And Architectural Terms

Front 1

mosaic

Back 1

is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials

Front 2

fresco

Back 2

is any of several related mural painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings

Front 3

relief sculpture

Back 3

is a sculptured artwork where a carved or modelled form is raised

Front 4

arch

Back 4

is a structure that spans a space while supporting weight

Front 5

Vault

Back 5

an arched form above an enclosed space

Front 6

dome

Back 6

is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere

Front 7

pendentive

Back 7

is a constructive device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or an elliptical dome over a rectangular room

Front 8

basilica

Back 8

was originally used to describe a Roman public building

Front 9

nave

Back 9

is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church

Front 10

side aisles

Back 10

a space for walking with rows of seats on either side or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other

Front 11

ambulatory

Back 11

a place for walking

Front 12

transept

Back 12

is the area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture. The transept separates the nave from the sanctuary

Front 13

apse

Back 13

is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome. In Romanesque, Byzantine and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral and church architecture, the term is applied to a semi-circular or polygonal termination of the main building at the liturgical east end (where the altar is), regardless of the shape of the roof, which may be flat, sloping, domed, or hemispherical.

Front 14

clerestory

Back 14

is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows.

Front 15

ribbing

Back 15

??

Front 16

arcade

Back 16

a passage or walkway, often including retailers

Front 17

stained glass

Back 17

can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works made from it

Front 18

labyrinth

Back 18

is generally synonymous with maze,

Front 19

column

Back 19

in structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below