Art 1 - Greek Art
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22 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Abstract | The simplification of images by removing details. |
| Anti-monumental | That quality of Minoan architecture that emphasized the structure as an environment for living rather than a citadel for defense. It implies a building more in keeping with human scale. |
| Corbeled Arch | An architectural method for creating an opening by projecting stones of each course slightly further out from the stone below. Because the tails of the projecting stones must be supported, corbeled structures demand thick walls. |
| Curvilinear | Formed, bounded, or characterized by curved lines. |
| Dromos | The corridor-like approach to a Mycenaean tholos tomb entrance. |
| Emery | A form of carborundum mineral crushed or in flakes that was used to work marble to a fine, smooth finish. |
| Knossos | Most important and largest palace found on the island of Crete. The palace floorplan was so complex it resembled a labyrinth. The palace was anti-monumental in design and was built for living purposes, not defense. |
| Labyrinth | A maze-like structure named after the complex ruins of the palace of Knossos on Crete. According to mythology, Daedalus, father of Icarus, designed the labyrinth to hold the Minotaur for King Minos. |
| Lion Gate of Mycenae | Monumental entrance into the citadel of Mycenae upon which two lionesses flank a Minoan-style column in a heraldic fashion. |
| Megaron | The main hall or central room of a palace or house, especially of Mycenaean Greece, having a pillared porch and a more or less central hearth. |
| Minoan Column | Composed of the abacus, the echinus, the necking, and the shaft. The Minoan column is unique because it varies the natural shape of the tree trunk form from which it is derived. Minoan columns are larger at the top and narrower at the bottom. |
| Minotaur | A legendary monster that is half-man and half-bull. The minotaur was kept in the labyrinth |
| Mycenae | An ancient Greek city in the northeastern Peloponnesus that was the center of a civilization which existed from 1500 to 1100 BCE. It was the Mycenaean Greeks who fought the Trojan War. |
| Repousse | Method of creating an image or design in metal by pushing the figures out from the reverse side. |
| Sir Arthur Evans | Wealthy aristocrat and amateur archaeologist who bought land that surrounded the palace of Knossos in order to excavate it. Responsible for miscues in names and reconstruction. |
| Snake Goddess | Goddess or priestess figures of the Minoan female-oriented religion which focused on the worship of nature. |
| Tectonic | A type of design that is manipulated to fit the shape of the object it decorates. |
| The Cyclades Islands | A group of Greek islands in the southern part of the Aegean Sea. The Cyclades had a plentiful supply of beautiful marble and the emery to work it with. The primary artistic creations here were the marble idols used primarily as grave goods and representing, perhaps, rebirth. |
| The Old Palace period | The period beginning around 2000 bce during which new settlers to Crete introduced palace building and the fast wheel for making pottery. |
| Toreador Fresco | A painting found on the walls of the palace of Knossos which may depict a religious ritual involving bull jumping. |
| Treasury of Atreus | Actually a Mycenaean beehive tomb (tholos), so-called because of the nature of corbeled vaulting. |
| Trojan War | A conflict, once thought legendary, between rival trading powers the Mycenaean Greeks and the Trojans of Anatolia. The Trojan War was the subject of ancient Greek bards and was supposedly written down by Homer round the 7th cen. bce. |
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