Art History Vocabulary

Front 1

Henge

Back 1

Circular

Front 2

Post

Back 2

The uprights of a doorway (the sides).

Front 3

Lintel

Back 3

The cap of a doorway (the top).

Front 4

Paleolithic

Back 4

Old stone age.

Front 5

Mesolithic

Back 5

Middle stone age.

Front 6

Neolithic

Back 6

New stone age.

Front 7

Tencil strength

Back 7

The weight that something can bear.

Front 8

Duality

Back 8

(Relating to deities) - the positive and negative (sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad).

Front 9

Social compact

Back 9

A contract for everyone to agree on.

Hint 9

Thou shalt not kill.

Front 10

Mud bricks

Back 10

Made from clay dried in the sun.

Front 11

Obsidian

Back 11

Black volcanic glass

(Used from Paleolithic ---> modern times for sharp blades.)

Front 12

Lapis lazuli

Back 12

A bright blue metamorphic rock consisting largely of lazurite, used for decoration and in jewelry.

Front 13

Diorite

Back 13

A very hard imported stone.

Front 14

Crenellations

Back 14

Notched walls-the notches were called crenels-built as a part of military defenses.

Front 15

Mushhushshu

Back 15

Horned dragons with the head and body of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind legs of a bird of prey.

Front 16

Cuneiform

Back 16

Wedge shaped writing

Front 17

Syncretism

Back 17

When a religion or culture adopts parts of another culture or religion.

Front 18

Memory images

Back 18

The generic form that suggests a specific object.

Front 19

Ankh

Back 19

The symbol of life.

Front 20

Cartouche

Back 20

an oval formed by a loop of rope.

Front 21

Faience

Back 21

Type of ceramic coverer with colorful, opaque glazes that form a smooth surface.

Front 22

Peristyle court

Back 22

Surrounded in the exterior by a colonnade.

Front 23

Hyppstyle hall

Back 23

Vast hall filled with columns

Front 24

Sunken relief

Back 24

The outlines of the figures have been carved into the surface of the stone, instead of being formed by cutting away the background.

Front 25

Ba

Back 25

Life source

Front 26

Ka

Back 26

Soul after death

Front 27

Necropolis

Back 27

City of the dead

Front 28

Mastaba

Back 28

A burial ground for the wealthy

Hint 28

Made for people who don't have enough money for a pyramid but are still rich.

Front 29

Nemes headdress

Back 29

Worn only by the pharoah

Front 30

Canopic jars

Back 30

Carved sandstone jars of Horus's sons

Front 31

Obelisk

Back 31

Monument with hieroglyphs on its surface.

Front 32

Crook

Back 32

Shepherd's staff

Hint 32

Symbolizes pharoah's guidance and leadership

Front 33

Flail

Back 33

Used to separate wheat plant parts; also a defensive weapon.

Hint 33

Symbolizes strength and power.

Front 34

Repousse

Back 34

The technique of hammering from behind to aform a shape.

Front 35

Burn fresco

Back 35

Wet plaster

Front 36

Fresco

Back 36

A painting technique in which water based pigments are applied to a surface of set plaster. The color ia absorbed by the plaster, becoming a permanent part of the wall.

Front 37

Fresco secco

Back 37

Created by painting on dried plaster, and the color may flake off.

Front 38

Amphora

Back 38

Vessel used for holding oil or wine, it had an egg shaped body and two curved handles.

Front 39

Goldleaf

Back 39

Sheets of hammered gold.

Front 40

Rhytons

Back 40

Vessels used for pouring liquids.

Front 41

Shaft graves

Back 41

Vertical pits 20-25 ft deep

Front 42

Tholos graves

Back 42

Large above-ground burial places.

Front 43

Gilt

Back 43

Hammered gold used to cover objects.

Front 44

Stoa

Back 44

A long roofed walkway usually having columns on one long side and a wall on the other. (Columned pavilion open on 3 sides.)

Front 45

Slip

Back 45

A mixture of clay and water.

Front 46

Pediment

Back 46

A triangular gable found over major architectural elements such as Classic Greek.

Front 47

Façade

Back 47

The face or front wall of a building.

Front 48

Cella

Back 48

The main interior room at the center of a Greek/Roman temple which contained the cult statue.

Hint 48

Naos

Front 49

Naos

Back 49

The main room in a temple or church.

Front 50

Pronaos

Back 50

The enclosed hall of a Greek/Roman temple, found in front of the cella and marked by a row of columns at the entrance.

Front 51

Olpe

Back 51

Wide-mouthed pitcher.

Front 52

Rosette

Back 52

Stylized flower forms.

Front 53

Gloss

Back 53

Clay slip mixed with metallic color pigments.

Front 54

Peplos

Back 54

A draped rectangle of cloth, folded over at the top, pinned at the shoulders, and belted to give a bloused effect.

Front 55

Encaustic painting

Back 55

A mixture of pigments and hot wax that left a shiny, hard surface when it cooled.

Front 56

Foreshortening

Back 56

The illusion created on a flat surface in which figures appear to recede or project sharply into space

Front 57

Contrapposto

Back 57

The cross balancing of supporting and free elements in a figure.

Front 58

Caryatids

Back 58

Columns carved in the form of clothed women

Front 59

Stele

Back 59

A stone slab placed vertically and decorated with inscriptions or reliefs. Used as a grave marker or memorial

Front 60

Panathenaic amphora

Back 60

Only used for wine, body same as an amphora, but the mouth is smaller.

Front 61

Hydria

Back 61

Used to hold water, body same as an amphora, but the neck was shorter b

Front 62

Krater

Back 62

Vessel used to mix water and wine.

Front 63

Lekythos

Back 63

Used to carry oil. Thin body, small mouth, and one handle.

Front 64

Shaft

Back 64

The main vertical section of a column between the capital andbase, usually circular in the cross section.

Front 65

Capital

Back 65

The sculpted block that tops a column.

Front 66

Abacus

Back 66

The fat slab at the top of a capital.

Front 67

Frieze

Back 67

One long band of carved structure.

Front 68

Metopes

Back 68

The carved or painted rectangular panel between the triglyphs of a Doric frieze.

Front 69

Triglyphs

Back 69

Rectangular blocks between the metopes of Doric frieze.

Front 70

Entablature

Back 70

In the Classical orders: the horizontal elements above the columns and capitals. The entablature consists of, from bottom to top, an architrave, a frieze, and a cornice.

Front 71

In situ

Back 71

In place; something that hasn't been moved from its original location.

Front 72

Temple

Back 72

Dedicated to one deity

Front 73

Sanctuary

Back 73

Dedicated to multiple or all deities.

Front 74

Coffers

Back 74

A recessed decorative panel that is used to reduce weight of and to decorate ceilings or vaults.

Front 75

Oculus

Back 75

Central opening

Front 76

Tesserae

Back 76

Cubes of glass or stone

Front 77

Emblemata

Back 77

Fine mosaic image panels; the elaborate central motif on a floor, usually a self-contained unit done in a more refined manner, with smaller tesserae of both marble and semiprecious stones.

Front 78

Chimera

Back 78

An imaginary animal that is made up of incongruous parts

Front 79

Aniconism

Back 79

Avoidance of figural imagery

Front 80

Arabesque

Back 80

A type of linear surface declaration based on foliage and calligraphic forms usually characterized by flowing lines and swirling shapes

Front 81

Galleries

Back 81

Stories open to and overlooking the naos.

Front 82

Icon

Back 82

An image in any material representing a sacred figure or event in the Byzantine, and later the Orthodox, Church. Icons were respected by the faithful, who believed them to have miraculous powers to transmit messages to God.

Front 83

Iconoclasm

Back 83

The banning or destruction of images, especially icons and religious art.

Front 84

Iconostasis

Back 84

The partition screen in a Byzantine or Orthodox Church between the sanctuary and the body of the church. It displays icons.

Front 85

Illumination

Back 85

A painting on paper or parchment used as illustration and/or decoration for manuscripts or albums.

Front 86

Narthex

Back 86

The vestibule or entrance porch of a church.

Front 87

Putto (putti)

Back 87

A plump, naked little boy, often winged. In classical art, called a cupid; in Christian art, a cherub.

Front 88

Transept

Back 88

The arm of a cruciform church, perpendicular to the nave.

Front 89

Crossing

Back 89

The point in a church where the nave and transept cross.

Front 90

Axis mundi

Back 90

a concept of an "axis of the world," which marks sacred sites and denotes a link between human and celestial realms.

Front 91

Barrel vault

Back 91

A enlongated or continuous semicircular vault, shaped like a half-cylinder.

Front 92

Cornice

Back 92

A horizontally projecting element found at the top of the building or pedestal.

Front 93

Finial

Back 93

A knob like decoration at the top point of a spire.

Front 94

Incising

Back 94

A technique in which a design or inscription is cut into a hard surface with a sharp instrument.

Such a surface is said to be incised.

Front 95

Mandala

Back 95

An image of the cosmos represented by an arrangement of circles or concentric geometric shapes containing diagrams or images.

Used for meditation and contemplation by Bhuddists.

Front 96

Reliquary

Back 96

A container, often made of precious materials, used as a repository to protect and display sacred relics.

Front 97

Stupa

Back 97

In Buddhist architecture, a bell-shapee or pyramidal religious monument, made if piled earth or stones, and containing sacred relics.

Front 98

Bodhisattva

Back 98

In Buddhism, a being who has attained enlightenment but chooses to remain in this world in order to help others advance spiritually.

Front 99

Naturalism

Back 99

A style of depiction that seeks to imitate the appearance of nature. A naturalistic work appears to record the visible world.

Front 100

Idealized

Back 100

A process in art through which artists strive to make their own forms and figures attain perfection, based on pervading cultural values and/or their own mental image of beauty.

Front 101

Cloister

Back 101

An open space, part of a monastery, surrounded by an arcaded or colonnaded walkway, often having a fountain and garden, and dedicated to non liturgical activities and the secular life of the religious.

Front 102

Scriptorium (scriptoria)

Back 102

A room in a monastery for writing or copying manuscripts.

Front 103

Vellum

Back 103

A dine animal skin prepared for writing and painting.

Front 104

Vignette

Back 104

Each section of a stained glass window.

Front 105

Pinnacle

Back 105

Cap of a flying buttress.

Front 106

Corbel

Back 106

An early roofing and arching technique in which each course of stone projects slightly beyond the previous layer until the uppermost corbels meet. Results in a high, almost pointed arch or vault. A corbel table is a ledge supported by corbels.

Front 107

Register

Back 107

A device used in systems of spatial definition.

In painting, a register indicated the use of differing groundlines to differentiate layers of space within an image.

In sculpture, the placement of self-contained bands of relief in a vertical arrangement.

In printmaking, the marks at the edges used to align the print correctly on the page, especially in multiple-block color printing.

Front 108

Grisaille

Back 108

A style of monochromatic painting in shades gray.

Also: a painting made in this style.

Front 109

Intuitive perspective

Back 109

A method of giving the impression of recession by visual instinct, not by the use of an overall system or program.