Art History Vocab 1

Front 1

post and lintel

Back 1

two or more uprights supporting a horizontal piece

Front 2

corbelling

Back 2

stacking layers of rock in a maner that progressively moves inward to form walls

Front 3

henge

Back 3

a circle of stones or posts surrounded by a ditch with raised embankments

Front 4

cuneiform

Back 4

wedge-shaped writing invented by the Sumerians

Front 5

ziggurat

Back 5

stepped pyramid with a flat top and a temple on top

Front 6

lamassu

Back 6

mythical Assyrian creature with the body of a lionor bull, wings, and the head of a man

Front 7

relief sculpture

Back 7

sculpture carved into a flat surface

Front 8

registers

Back 8

horizontal bands that define space on an art object

Front 9

hieratic scale

Back 9

importance of figures shown by relative size

Front 10

stele

Back 10

upright stone that commemorates an important place or event

Front 11

hypostyle hall

Back 11

a room full of columns that support the roof

Front 12

mastaba

Back 12

single-story rectangular tomb

Front 13

pyramid

Back 13

triangular tomb of ancient Egyptian king

Front 14

hypostyle hall

Back 14

a room full of columns to support the roof

Front 15

Amarna style

Back 15

style of art under Akhenaten, with elongated, soft figures

Front 16

Sarcophagus

Back 16

coffin

Front 17

hieroglyphs

Back 17

picture-based writing of the ancient Egyptians

Front 18

Osiris

Back 18

god of the underworld

Front 19

Horus

Back 19

god of the earth

Front 20

White Crown

Back 20

symbol of upper Egypt

Front 21

Red crown

Back 21

symbol of Lower Egypt

Front 22

Nemes Headdress

Back 22

striped cloth headdress of Egyptian kings

Front 23

falcon

Back 23

symbol of the god, Horus

Front 24

ankh

Back 24

symbol of life

Front 25

buon fresco

Back 25

painting on wet plaster

Front 26

fresco secco

Back 26

painting on dry plaster

Front 27

repousse

Back 27

metalworking technique where design is hammered into flat metal

Front 28

minotaur

Back 28

mythical creature with the head of a bull and body of a man

Front 29

tholos

Back 29

building with a round plan

Front 30

portico

Back 30

covered entryway

Front 31

colonade

Back 31

a row of columns

Front 32

peristyle

Back 32

a row of columns that goes all the way around a temple

Front 33

stereobate

Back 33

stepped base of a Greek temple

Front 34

stylobate

Back 34

top level of the stereobate; the floor of a Greek temple

Front 35

facade

Back 35

front of a building

Front 36

flutes

Back 36

vertical grooves in a column

Front 37

capital

Back 37

the decorative top of a column

Front 38

entablature

Back 38

the horizontal piece of a Greek temple on top of the columns

Front 39

frieze

Back 39

the upper section of the entablature

Front 40

triglyph

Back 40

piece with 3 grooves that is part of a Dorice frieze

Front 41

metope

Back 41

square part between the triglyphs of a Doric frieze

Front 42

pediment

Back 42

triangular part of a temple on top of the entablature

Front 43

volute

Back 43

scroll-shape

Front 44

tholos

Back 44

building with a round plan

Front 45

meander

Back 45

_+_+__+ design

Front 46

archaic smile

Back 46

expression on the face of a kouros or kore

Front 47

kouros

Back 47

ideal male figure, nude

Front 48

kore

Back 48

ideal female figure, clothed

Front 49

black-figure

Back 49

style of vase painting with figures painted black

Front 50

red-figure

Back 50

style of vase painting with figures left in red silhouette

Front 51

amphora

Back 51

vessel used for storage

Front 52

humanism

Back 52

belief in the importance of the individual

Front 53

contrapposto

Back 53

counterbalance; a stance with the weight on one leg

Front 54

canon

Back 54

standard set of proportions

Front 55

krater

Back 55

vessel used for mixing wine and water

Front 56

lekythos

Back 56

vessel used for storing olive oil

Front 57

Aphrodite

Back 57

goddess of love

Front 58

Athena

Back 58

goddess of wisdom, war, and victory; patron of Athens

Front 59

terra cotta

Back 59

a type of ceramic clay

Front 60

round arch

Back 60

arch with rounded top

Front 61

keystone

Back 61

the stone at the top of a round arch that holds it all in place

Front 62

voussoir

Back 62

wedge-shaped stone that forms round arch

Front 63

arcade

Back 63

a row of arches

Front 64

barrel vault

Back 64

tunnel formed by row of joined round arches

Front 65

buttress

Back 65

exterior wall support

Front 66

engaged columns

Back 66

columns that are attached to the wall

Front 67

groin vault

Back 67

perpendicular intersection of 2 barrel vaults

Front 68

Bacchus

Back 68

Roman god of wine

Front 69

aqueduct

Back 69

structure that carries water from one place to another

Front 70

pilasters

Back 70

flat, squared columns

Front 71

mosaic

Back 71

picture formed with units of stones, tiles, or colored glass

Front 72

concrete

Back 72

mixture of sand, gravel, and mortar used for construction

Front 73

coffers

Back 73

recessed areas in ceiling that are decorative and lighten weight

Front 74

apse

Back 74

rounded end of a basilica

Front 75

Torah

Back 75

the Jewish holy book

Front 76

synagogue

Back 76

a jewish place of worship

Front 77

basilica

Back 77

a building plan that is rectangular with an apse at the end

Front 78

ambulatory

Back 78

in a church, a curved walkway or aisle

Front 79

nave

Back 79

the central aisle of a basilica-plan church

Front 80

clerestory

Back 80

a raised level of windows in a building to let in light

Front 81

dome

Back 81

a round vault

Front 82

transept

Back 82

in a basilica plan, the arm that crosses the nave

Front 83

icon

Back 83

a painting that is usually small, portable and made for personal use

Front 84

iconoclasm

Back 84

a period of breaking and banning icons

Front 85

triptych

Back 85

a three-panel artwork

Front 86

psalter

Back 86

a book of psalms