Ap Art History Vocabulary Ch. 1-4

Front 1

adobe

Back 1

sun-dried brick made of clay and straw

Front 2

amphora

Back 2

a large two-handled storage jar having an oval body

Front 3

ben-ben

Back 3

A stone resembling an obelisk, representative of a sun ray

Front 4

black-figure technique

Back 4

a style of ancient Greek pottery painting in which the decoration appears as black silhouettes on a red background

Front 5

burin

Back 5

a prehistoric pointed or chisellike flint tool used for incising

Front 6

cartouche

Back 6

an oval containing a royal Egyptian name

Front 7

caryatid

Back 7

a sculptured female figure used as a column

Front 8

colonnade

Back 8

a series of regularly spaced columns supporting an entablature and usually one side of a roof

Front 9

cool color

Back 9

a color that is calming; gives the appearance of receding (green,blue or violet)

Front 10

corbel

Back 10

a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight

Front 11

Cro-magnon

Back 11

early group of homo-sapiens known for producing art

Front 12

cromlech

Back 12

A prehistoric monument consisting of monoliths encircling a mound.

Front 13

cuneiform

Back 13

"wedge-shaped" writing of the Sumerians

Front 14

di sotto in su

Back 14

"Seen from below" an illusionistic technique used for ceilings to provide perspective. The elements above the viewer are rendered as if viewed in true vanishing point perspective.

Front 15

dolmen

Back 15

two or more large, upright stones set with a space between and capped by a horizontal stone

Front 16

earth colors

Back 16

colors obtained from mining, usually made of compound metals;(yellow,ochre,umber)

Front 17

flute

Back 17

a channel, groove, or furrow, as on the shaft of a column

Front 18

fresco

Back 18

paintings done on wet plaster, while a secco paintings are completed on dried plaster

Front 19

gesso

Back 19

a prepared surface of plaster or plasterlike material for painting

Front 20

hieroglyphics

Back 20

ancient egyptian writing

Front 21

hypostyle hall

Back 21

a flat ceiling which is supported by columns,the central avenue are of greater height than those of the side aisles, and this admits of openings in the wall above the smaller columns, through which light is admitted over the aisle roof

Front 22

iconography

Back 22

symbolic representation, esp. the conventional meanings attached to an image or images.

Front 23

incising

Back 23

etching or carving into a surface

Front 24

isocephaly

Back 24

the arrangement of figures so that the heads are at the same height(on the same line)

Front 25

ka

Back 25

spiritual soul of the dead

Front 26

kiln

Back 26

a large stove or oven in which pottery is fired

Front 27

lapis lazuli

Back 27

precious blue gemstone used to ornate

Front 28

lintel

Back 28

A horizontal structural member, such as a beam or stone, that spans an opening

Front 29

mastaba

Back 29

arabic for "bench," a flatroofed, mudbrick, rectangular building with sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians

Front 30

megalith

Back 30

A very large stone used in various prehistoric architectures or monumental structures

Front 31

menhir

Back 31

an upright monumental stone standing either alone or with others

Front 32

monolith

Back 32

a single block or piece of stone of considerable size, esp. when used in architecture or sculpture

Front 33

mural

Back 33

a large picture painted or affixed directly on a wall or ceiling.

Front 34

necropolis

Back 34

a cemetery, esp. one of large size and usually of an ancient city.

Front 35

oeuvre

Back 35

the whole of an artist's output or work

Front 36

papyrus

Back 36

a material on which to write, prepared from thin strips of the pith of this plant laid together, soaked, pressed, and dried, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans

Front 37

pilaster

Back 37

a slightly-projecting column built into or onto a wall

Front 38

pillar

Back 38

an upright shaft or structure, of stone, brick, or other material,used as a building support

Front 39

plinth

Back 39

the lower mouldings of a podium, or column/pillar

Front 40

post and lintel

Back 40

a horizontal member is supported by two vertical beams at either end

Front 41

potsherds

Back 41

broken pottery discarded by earlier civilizations that provides archaeological information.

Front 42

provenance

Back 42

where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence

Front 43

red-figure technique

Back 43

the background is filled in with black paint and only the figures' details are painted red

Front 44

relief

Back 44

the projection of a figure or part from the ground or plane on which it is formed, as in sculpture

Front 45

repousse'

Back 45

a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side

Front 46

sarcophagus

Back 46

a stone coffin

Front 47

serdab

Back 47

a closed room containing a statue

Front 48

shaman

Back 48

a person who acts as intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic to cure illness, foretell the future, control spiritual forces

Front 49

stele

Back 49

An upright stone or slab with an inscribed or sculptured surface, used as a monument or as a commemorative tablet

Front 50

stylus

Back 50

a writing utensil,usually refers to a narrow, elongated staff

Front 51

symmetry

Back 51

esthetic balance that is achieved by having one side correspond exactly to the other side

Front 52

tectiform

Back 52

shapes resemblin man-made structures found on the walls of Paleolithic caves

Front 53

tempera

Back 53

a water paint used in this technique in which the egg-water or egg-oil emulsion is used as a binder

Front 54

terra cotta

Back 54

a hard, fired clay, brownish-red in color when unglazed, that is used for architectural ornaments and facings, structural units, pottery, and as a material for sculpture

Front 55

tholos

Back 55

a subterranean domed tomb chamber of the Mycenaean age

Front 56

totem

Back 56

an animal or object considered to be a symbol of a given family or clan

Front 57

trabeated

Back 57

the use of horizontal beams or lintels which are borne up by columns or posts

Front 58

trilithon

Back 58

a prehistoric structure consisting of two upright stones supporting a horizontal stone.

Front 59

trompe l'oeil

Back 59

visual deception, esp. in paintings, in which objects are rendered in extremely fine detail emphasizing the illusion of tactile and spatial qualities

Front 60

value

Back 60

degree of lightness or darkness in a color.

Front 61

warm color

Back 61

a color intended to be exciting, emphatic and affirmative; seems to advance or project(red, orange or yello)

Front 62

ziggurat

Back 62

a rectangular tiered temple or terraced mound erected by the ancient Sumerians

Front 63

zoomorphism

Back 63

the representation of gods in the form or with the attributes of an animal