Art History Midterm Vocab

Front 1

kouros

Back 1

young man

Front 2

contrapposto

Back 2

the disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in oppoisition to another part creating a counterpostioning of the body about the central axis. Sometimes called weight shift

Front 3

post and lintel construction

Back 3

a system of construction in which two posts support a lintel

Front 4

relief sculpture

Back 4

figures projecting from a background of which they are part

Front 5

pediment

Back 5

the triangular space at the end of a building formed by the ends of the sloping roof above the colonnade

Front 6

ampitheater

Back 6

a roman building resembling two greek theaters put together the roman ampitheater featured an contiuonuos elliptical cavea around a central arena

Front 7

arch

Back 7

a curved member that spans the opening and is generally composed of wedge shaped blocks that transmit the downward pressure latterally

Front 8

barrel vault

Back 8

semicylindrical in cross section is in effect a deep arch or an uninterrupted series of arches one behind the other over an oblong space

Front 9

groin vault

Back 9

is formed at the point at which two barrel vaults intersect at right angles

Front 10

dome

Back 10

a hemispherical vault theoretically an arch rotated on its vertical axis

Front 11

fresco

Back 11

painting on lime plaster either dry or wet. In wet/true pigment binds with the plaster creating a permenant image

Front 12

concrete

Back 12

a building material invented by the romans and consisting of various proportions of lime mortar, volcanic sand, water and small stones

Front 13

peripteral (peristyle)

Back 13

a colonnade all around the cella and its porches, single row of collumns on all sides

Front 14

basilica vs central plan

Back 14

in central plan, the parts of the structure are equal or almost equal dimenisions around the center. in basilica rectangular with entrance on one side and apse on other

Front 15

nave

Back 15

the central area of a basilica church demarcated from aisles by piers or columns

Front 16

aisles

Back 16

the portion of the basilica flanking the nave and seperated from it by rows of piers or columns

Front 17

apse

Back 17

a recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a building, commonly found at the east end of a church

Front 18

transept

Back 18

the part of the church with an axis that crosses the nave at a right angle

Front 19

narthex

Back 19

a porch or vestibule of a church, generally colonnaded or arcaded and precedding the nave

Front 20

ambulatory

Back 20

a covered walkway outdoors (as in a church cloister) or indoors esp the passageway around the apse and the choir of a church

Front 21

mosaic

Back 21

patterns or pictures made by embeding small pieces (tesserae) of stone or glass in cement on surfaces such as walls and floors

Front 22

illuminated manuscript

Back 22

a luxurious handmade book with painted illustrations and decorations

Front 23

monastery

Back 23

a group of buildings in which monks live together set apart from the secular community of a town

Front 24

sarcophagus

Back 24

latin consumer of flesh, coffin usually stone

Front 25

radiating chapels

Back 25

chapels for the display of relics that openned directly onto the ambulatory and the transept

Front 26

buttress

Back 26

an exterior structure that opposes the lateral thrust of an arch or a vault

Front 27

portal

Back 27

A doorway, entrance, or gate, especially one that is large and imposing.

Front 28

tympanum

Back 28

the space enclosed by a lintel and arch over a doorway

Front 29

rib vault

Back 29

a vault in which the diagonal and transverse ribs compose a structural skeleton that partially supports the masonry web between them

Front 30

pointed arch

Back 30

a narrow arch of pointed profile in contrast to a semicircular arch

Front 31

flying buttress

Back 31

consists typically of an inclined member carried on an arch or a series of arches and a solid buttress to which it transmits lateral thrust

Front 32

stained glass

Back 32

the colored glass used for windows

Front 33

rose window

Back 33

a circular stained glass window

Front 34

jamb

Back 34

the side posts of a doorway

Front 35

relic/reliquary

Back 35

the body parts, clothing, or objects associated with a holy figure/a container for holding relics

Front 36

book of hours

Back 36

a christian book for private devotion containing prayers to be read at specified times of the day

Front 37

Louis IX

Back 37

St Chapel

Front 38

Augustus

Back 38

first Roman emperor, wanted to be seen as youthful

Front 39

Constantine

Back 39

founded Byzantium/constantinople, "first Christian emperor,"

Front 40

Justinian

Back 40

oversaw building of Haga Sophia

Front 41

Charlemagne

Back 41

Carolingian Renaissance, flowering of scholarship, literature, art and architecture

Front 42

Abbot Suger

Back 42

improved and rebuilt St Denis