Survey Of Western Art - Vocab. Part 1

Front 1

Subtractive Method

Back 1

in sculpture, a technique in which materials are taken away from the orgianl mass; cutting into/carving a material, such as stone or wood, to create a sculpture

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Additive Method

Back 2

in sculpture, a technique in which materials are built up to create a form; casting (e.g. in bronze) or using plastics, clay, or other flexible materials

Front 3

Ziggurat

Back 3

a temple tower in the form of a truncated pyramid built in diminishing stages, each stage being reached by ramps; in the Ancient Near East, a monumental platform for a temple

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Battered

Back 4

having inclined or slope sides/walls

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Polytheism

Back 5

belief in many (not all) gods

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Hierarchy

Back 6

a group of persons organized according to rank, capacity, or authority, or a body of ntities arranged in a graded series

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Relief

Back 7

in scuplture, figures or designs projecting froma background of which they are a part; the degree of carving or modeling may vary from low to high; there are three types

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Bas-Relief

Back 8

shallow (low) carving where the design barely projects from its background

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Sunken Relief

Back 9

(also known as intaglio or hollow-relief) when the artist cuts the design into the surface so that the image's highest projecting parts are no higher than the surface itself; often the elements of the compostion sink beneath the plane; notably associated with inscriptions in ancient cultures

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High Relief

Back 10

deep carving in which the dsign projects quite far from its background

Front 11

Scale

Back 11

system for determining the sizes of figures and/or ojects in a work of art, relative to the sizes of figures and objects in the real world

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Single Scale

Back 12

one system for determining the sizes of figures and/or objects in a work of art used consistently throughout; if a one-foot figure in the work of art stanks for a six-foot man in the real world, this size relationship is consistently applied throughout the work (thus, all objects and/or figures "make sense" in comparison to one another)

Front 13

Double Scale

Back 13

more than one system for determining the sizes of figures/objects in an artwork, often based on the importance of certain figures; some will appear unnaturally smaller or larger than others

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Proportion

Back 14

a part considered in relation to the whole

Front 15

Canon of Proportions

Back 15

a set of rules that governs the relationship of all boyd parts

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Hieroglyphs (Hieroglyphics)

Back 16

a system of writing/communicating using pictures and/or sound; could be used horizontally or vertically; meant to communicate with the gods

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Ka

Back 17

the immortal human "substance" or life force; the "other self" that was present since birth; this concept is similar to the Westeran idea of the spirit

Front 18

Rea/Re

Back 18

name of the Eyptian sun god

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Negative Space

Back 19

the open or empty space enclosed by positive mass; most associated with sculpture

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Naturalism

Back 20

rendering something in a believable or life-like way; representation based on close observation of the natural/visible world

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Idealism

Back 21

representation of things as they "should be"; perfection according tot he standards of a givent ime period

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Realism

Back 22

representation of things as they really are; when an artist tries to capture, to the best of his ability, what something actually looks like, including its flaws and imperfections

Front 23

Fresco Secco

Back 23

a mural patining technique involving permanent (limeproof) pigments on a freshly dried lime plaster wall

Front 24

Amphora

Back 24

a two-handled jar used for general storage purposes, usually for wine or oil

Front 25

Black-Figure Ware

Back 25

involves the technique/style of ecorating Greek ceramic vases where the design was [ainted in black glaze directly on the glay, which was usally reddish-brown in color; inner details were drawn by scratching (incising) through the black glaze

Front 26

Red-Figure Ware

Back 26

refers to the technique/style of Greek vase painting (developed after black-figures painting) where black glaze was painted around the forms and figures of the reddish-brown clay, with inner details painted in; characteristic of the finest Greek vases

Front 27

Bilingual Pottery

Back 27

describes a type of terracotta pottery that uses a dual "language" or technique where one side features the old black-figure painting style and the other side features the new red-figure style, sometimes showing the same scene

Front 28

Kouros

Back 28

Greek for young man; refers to a sculpted representtion of a young men

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Freestanding

Back 29

"sculpture in the round," carved or modeled in three dimensions so that, if desired, it can be viewed from all sides

Front 30

Encaustics

Back 30

mixing pigments with wax, applied hot for binding strength

Front 31

Contrapposto

Back 31

often called weight shift because the weight of the body tends to be thrown to one foot, creating tension on one side of the body and relaxation on the other; disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to another part

Front 32

Canon of Proportions

Back 32

the acient Greeks considered beauty to be a matter of correct proportions (or parts of the body related to the whole)

Front 33

Peripteral

Back 33

refers to a building with a single row o columns (a perityle) surrounding it

Front 34

Octstyle

Back 34

refers to a portico with eight columns across the front

Front 35

Perfect Temple Ratio

Back 35

a relationship of building parts thought to be the most beautiful: 2x+1 to x

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Portico

Back 36

the voered entreance to a buidling, containing columns and a pediment (as in a temple front)

Front 37

Cella

Back 37

the main body of a clasical temple (containing the cult image), as distinct from the portico, etc.

Front 38

Column

Back 38

an upright member, circular in plan and usually tapering slightly; in classical architecture it consists of base, shaft, and capital; it is usually designed to carry an entablature

Front 39

Shaft

Back 39

the trunk of a column, between the base and the capital

Front 40

Fluting

Back 40

shallow concave groozes, runing vertically, usually on the shaft of a column or pilaster

Front 41

Captial

Back 41

the head or crowning feature of a column

Front 42

Doric (order)

Back 42

characterized by unadorned capitals, columns without bases, and a frieze of triglyphs and metopes

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Ionic (Order)

Back 43

features crowing volutes (scroll-like shapes), columns with bases, and an uninterrupted frieze

Front 44

Corinthian

Back 44

capital consists of a double row of acanthus leaves from which tendrils and flowers grow around a bell-shapped crown (strictly speaking there is no Corinthian order; rather, this style of capital can be used on the Ionic order)

Front 45

Entablature

Back 45

the part of a building above the columns and below the rood; it contains three parts: architrave, frieze, and cornice

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Architrave

Back 46

the lintel or lowest of the three main parts of the entablature

Front 47

Frieze

Back 47

the part of the entablature between the architrave and the cornice, may also refer to any sculpted or ornamented band in a building or on funiture

Front 48

Doric Frieze

Back 48

contains alternating triglyphs (vertical grooves) & metopes (blocks, plain or sculpted)

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Ionic Frieze

Back 49

contains a contunuous (uninterrupted) block of stonework that may be plain or sculpted

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Cornice

Back 50

the projecting, cornwing memeber framing the pediment; also any crowning projection

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Pediment

Back 51

in classical architecture, the triangular space (gable) at the end of a building, formed by the ends of hte sloping roof above the colonnade; also an ornamental feature having this shape

Front 52

Optical Corrections

Back 52

very substle curves and spacing differences used to make the Parthenon (and some subsequent structures) look perfect: the stylobate and entablature are convex; and the columns tilt inward, are not uniformly spaced (closer at the corner), are not the same diameter (slightly larger at the corners), and have entasis

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Entasis

Back 53

a slgiht convex tapering (an apparent swelling) in the shaft of a column; used on Greek and later columns to correct he optical illusion of concavity whihc would result if the sides were straight

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Panathenaic Procession

Back 54

a real even with took play every four years, where Athenians gathered in the agora (market place) and, among other things, carried a robe to the stature of Athena

Front 55

Wet Drapery Technique

Back 55

a technique of sculpting whre the drapery almost appears to be wet and clings to reveal the various shapes of the body underneath

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Pantheism

Back 56

belief in and worship of all gods

Front 57

Pseudoperipteral

Back 57

refers to a temple with a front portico of freestanding columns and a series of engaged columns or pilasters surrounding the sides and back to give hte appearance of a peripteral colonnade

Front 58

Pilaster/Engaged Column

Back 58

a flat, rectangular, or semi-circular vertical membered projecting form a wall of which it forms a part (it usually has a base of capital, and is often fluted); a half-round column attached to a wall; it is decorative rather than structural

Front 59

Central Plan

Back 59

when the horizontal arrangement of the parts of a building (as in the floor plan) raiate from a central point, often the building is round or polygonal, and domed

Front 60

Rotunda

Back 60

a circular building or hall, often surrounded by a colonnade, and usually domed

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Dome

Back 61

a hemispheric vault; theoretically, an arch rotated on its axis 360 degrees

Front 62

Drum

Back 62

a vertical wall supporting a dome or cupola; it may be circular, square, or polygonal in plan

Front 63

Oculus

Back 63

a round window or opening

Front 64

Coffers (Coffered)

Back 64

sunk panels, often ornamental, in a vault, dome, or ceiling

Front 65

Niche

Back 65

a recess in a wall usually used for holding a stature or ornament