Greek Art Vocab From Chapter 5

Front 1

Acropolis

Back 1

The site of the city's most important temples.

Front 2

Black-figure ware

Back 2

Ceramic vases with black figures on reddish ground.

Front 3

Caryatid

Back 3

A female figure that functions as a supporting column.

Front 4

Contrapposto

Back 4

The situating of the human figure so that the legs and hips are turned in one direction and the chest and arms in another. AKA the weight shift principle.

Front 5

Entablature

Back 5

In architecture, a horizontal structure supported by columns which, in turn, supports any other element, such as pediment, which is placed above. Reading from top to bottom the entablature consists of a cornice, a frieze, and an architrave.

Front 6

Entasis

Back 6

A swelling of a column.

Front 7

Fret

Back 7

An ornament consisting of interlocking geometric motifs, aka key or meander.

Front 8

Frieze

Back 8

A horizontal band between the architrave and the cornice which is often decorated with sculpture.

Front 9

Golden Section

Back 9

A mathematical formula for determining the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole.

Front 10

Greek Order

Back 10

The Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian styles each with different capitals.

Front 11

Hellenism

Back 11

The culture, thought, and ethical system of ancient Greece.

Front 12

Kouros

Back 12

The male figure represented in sculpture. Counterpart to the female figure Kore.

Front 13

Krater

Back 13

Wide-mouthed bowl for mixing wine and water.

Front 14

Lekythos

Back 14

Flask containing perfumed oil, often placed in graves.

Front 15

Pediment

Back 15

Any triangular shape surrounded by cornices.

Front 16

Red-figure ware

Back 16

In later Greek pottery, the silhouetting of red figures against a black background.

Front 17

Symmetria

Back 17

Polykleito's treatise on his canon of proportions incorporated the principle of symmetria.

Front 18

White-ground painting

Back 18

Vase painting technique in which the pot was first covered with white clay, over which black glaze was used to outline the figures.