Art History 149 Exam 4 Vocab

Front 1

Ambulatory

Back 1

The passage (walkway) around the apse in a church, especially a basillica, or around the central space in a central-plan building.

Front 2

Archivolt

Back 2

A band of molding framing an arch, or a series of stone blocks that form an arch resting directly on flanking columns or piers.

Front 3

Apse

Back 3

a large semicircular or polygonal (and usually vaulted) recess on an end wall of a building. In a Christian church, it often contains the altar. "Apsidal" is the adjective describing the condition of having such a space.

Front 4

Baptistery

Back 4

the part of a church used for baptism.

Front 5

Bay

Back 5

A unit of space defined by architectural elements such as columns, piers, and walls.

Front 6

Buttress

Back 6

A projecting support built against an external wall, usually to counteract the lateral thrust of a vault or arch within.

Front 7

Campanile

Back 7

an Italian bell tower, esp. a freestanding one from the body of a church.

Front 8

Choir

Back 8

The part of a church reserved for the clergy, monks, or nuns, either between the transept crossing and the apse or extending farther into the nave; separated form the rest of the church by screens or walls and fitted with stalls (seats).

Front 9

Clerestory

Back 9

In a basilica, the topmost zone of a wall with windows, extending above the aisle roofs. Provides direct light into the nave.

Front 10

Cloister

Back 10

An enclosed space, open to the sky, especially within a monastery, surrounded by an arcaded walkway, often having a fountain and garden. Since the most important monastic buildings (e.g., dormitory, refectory, church) open off the cloister, it represents the center of the monastic world.

Front 11

Compound pier

Back 11

Gives extra support to hold up the vaults.

Front 12

Crossing

Back 12

Area of a church where the at nave, choir, and transept intersect.

Front 13

Crossing Tower

Back 13

where nave an transept meet.

Front 14

Cruciform

Back 14

Of anything that is cross-shaped, as in the cruciform plan of a church.

Front 15

Elevation

Back 15

The arrangement, proportions, and details of any vertical side or face of a building. Also: an architectural drawing showing an exterior or interior wall of a building.

Front 16

Finials

Back 16

A knoblike architectural decoration usually found at the top point of a spire, pinnacle, canopy, or gable. Also found on furniture. Also the ornamental top of a staff.

Front 17

Flying buttress

Back 17

In Gothic church architecture, a flying buttress is an arched bridge above the aisle roof that extends from the upper nave wall, where the lateral thrust of the main vault is greatest, down to a solid pier.

Front 18

Gable

Back 18

the portion of the front or side of a building enclosed by or masking the end of a pitched roof.

Front 19

Gallery

Back 19

A roofed passageway with one or both of its long sides open to the air. In church architecture, the story found above the side aisles of a church or across the width at the end of the nave or transepts, usually open to and overlooking the area below. Also: a building or hall in which art is displayed or sold.

Front 20

Jambs

Back 20

In architecture, the vertical element found on both sides of an opening in a wall, and supporting an arch or lintel.

Front 21

Lintel

Back 21

a horizontal element of any material carried by two or more vertical supports to form an opening.

Front 22

Nave

Back 22

The central space of a church, two or three stories high and usually flanked by aisles.

Front 23

Nave arcade

Back 23

marking the separation between a nave and its side aisles.

Front 24

Pinnacles

Back 24

In Gothic architecture, a steep pyramid decorating the top of another element such as a buttress. Also: the highest point.

Front 25

Portal

Back 25

A grand entrance, door, or gate, usually to an important public building, and often decorated with sculpture.

Front 26

Radiating chapel

Back 26

protrusions on the transept where reliquaries with their relics held.

Front 27

Ribs–transverse and diagonal

Back 27

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Front 28

Springer

Back 28

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Front 29

Tracery

Back 29

Stonework or woodwork forming a pattern in the open space of windows or applied to wall surfaces. In plate tracery, a series of openings are cut through the wall. In bar tracery, mullions divide the space into segments to form decorative patterns.

Front 30

Transept

Back 30

The arm of a cruciform church perpendicular to the nave. The point where the nave and transept intersect is called the crossing. Beyond the crossing lies the sanctuary, whether apse, choir, or chevet.

Front 31

Triforium

Back 31

The element of the interior elevation of a church found directly below the clerestory and consisting of a series of arched opening in front of a passageway within the thickness of the wall.

Front 32

Trumeau

Back 32

A column, pier, or post found at the center of a large portal or doorway, supporting the lintel.

Front 33

Tympanum

Back 33

In medieval and later architecture, the area over a door enclosed by an arch and a lintel, often decorated with sculpture or mosaic.

Front 34

Vault – barrel, groin, rib, fan

Back 34

An arched masonry structure that spans an interior space.
Barrel or tunnel vault: an elongated or continuous semicircular vault, shaped like a halfcylinder.
Corbeled vault: a vault made by projecting courses of stone; see also under corbel.
Groin or cross vault: a vault created by the intersection of two barrel vaults of equal size which created four side compartments of identical size and shape.
Quadrant vault: a half-barrel vault.
Rib vault: a groin vault with ribs (extra masonry) demarcating the junctions. Ribs may function to reinforce the groins or may be purely decorative.

Front 35

Voussoirs

Back 35

Wedge-shaped stone block used to build an arch. The topmost voussoir is called a keystone. See also joggled voussoirs.

Front 36

Webbing – of a vault

Back 36

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Front 37

Canon table

Back 37

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Front 38

Carpet page

Back 38

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Front 39

Codex

Back 39

A book, or a group of manuscript pages (folios), held together by stitching or other binding along one edge.

Front 40

Folio

Back 40

...

Front 41

Illuminated manuscript

Back 41

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Front 42

Parchment

Back 42

A writing surface made from treated skins of animals. Very fine parchment is known vellum.

Front 43

Scriptoria

Back 43

A room in a monastery for writing or copying manuscripts.

Front 44

Vellum

Back 44

A fine animal skin prepared for writing and painting. See also parchment.
calf skin.

Front 45

Carolingian

Back 45

...

Front 46

Cathedral

Back 46

The principal Christian church in a diocese, the bishop's administrative center and housing his throne (cathedra).

Front 47

Cloisonne

Back 47

An enclosed space, open to the sky, especially within a monastery, surrounded by an arcaded walkway, often having a fountain and garden. Since the most important monastic buildings (e.g., dormitory, refectory, church) open off the cloister, it represents the center of the monastic world.

Front 48

The Crusades

Back 48

First Crusade by Pope Urban II 1095-99, Jerusalem re-captured.
Second Crusade by St. Bernard 1147-48, Jerusalem in Muslim hands.
Third Crusade ended with a Treaty.

Front 49

Enamel

Back 49

Powdered, then molten, glass applied to a metal surface, and used by artists to create designs. After firing, the glass forms an opaque or transparent substance that fuses to the metal background. Also: an object created by the enameling technique. See also cloisonne.

Front 50

Gothic

Back 50

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Front 51

Hiberno/Hiberno-Saxon

Back 51

Hibernia is Latin for winter. Insular art for the Irish/English.

Front 52

Ottonian

Back 52

Ottonian combines barbarian and antique style.
843 – Treaty of Verdun divides Carolingian empire among Louis’ sons; Viking invaders.
936 – Otto I crowned at Aachen; Succeeded Charlemagne in place and power; Otto II & Otto III– strong German-Saxon lineage; Artistically developed style of Carolingians.

Front 53

Pilgrimage

Back 53

during the relative peace throughout Europe, people began to travel around to see important monuments and relics.
Santiago de Compastela was one of the main routes for the pilgrimage.

Front 54

Relics

Back 54

Venerated object or body part associated with a holy figure, such as a saint, and usually housed in a reliquary.
an object associated with a saint or martyr.

Front 55

Reliquary

Back 55

A container, often elaborate and made of precious materials, used as a repository for sacred relics.
Container that holds the relic to display and protect it.

Front 56

Romanesque

Back 56

(“Romanlike”) is a term only coined in the early 19th century that refers specifically to the type of monumental stone architecture with rounded arches that reminded scholars of Rome.
Regional variations in style.
Revival of architectural sculpture.
Style: Solid, massive and reflects strength; Space is compartmentalized; Ornamental complexity.
Purpose: Teach Christian doctrine; Encourage piety; Inspire worshipers.
Roman arches are seen.

Front 57

Rose window

Back 57

A round window, often filled with stained glass set into tracery patterns in the form of wheel spikes, found in the facades of the naves and transepts of large Gothic churches,

Front 58

Lancet window

Back 58

A tall, narrow window crowned by a sharply pointed arch, typically found in Gothic architecture.

Front 59

Stained window

Back 59

Glass stained with color molten, using metallic oxides. Stained glass is most often used in windows, for which small pieces of different colors are precisely cut and assembled into a design, held together by lead cames. Additional details may be added with vitreous paint.

Front 60

Cartoon

Back 60

A full-scale drawing of a design that will be executed in another medium, such as wall painting, tapestry, or stained glass

Front 61

Cames

Back 61

A lead strip used in the making of leaded or stained-glass windows. Cames have an indented groove on the sides into which individual pieces of glass are fitted to make the overall design.