Art History Definitions
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lanerness10 on October 20, 2010
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42 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Paleolithic Period | the historical period believed to have lasted from 30,000 BC util about 10,000 BC |
| Twisted Perspective | A convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part of the same figure is shown frontally |
| megalithic architecture | monuments that are erected using huge stones which are transported over long distances (Stonehedge) |
| Cuneiform | Sumerian system of writing made by pressing a wedge-shaped tool into clay tablets ( |
| Ziggurat | a tiered, pyramid-shaped structure that formed part of a sumerian temple |
| Votive Figure | an image created as a devotional offering to a god or other deity; placed in shrines or temples (Ex: Worshipers at Square Temple of Eshnunna) |
| Registers | also known as bands, one of a series of super imposed bands/friezes in a pictorial narrative, or the particular levels on which motifs are placed |
| Hierarchy of scale | An artistic convention in which greater size indicates greater importance. |
| mastaba | an ancient Egyptian mudbrick tomb with a rectangular base and sloping sides and flat roof (ex: stepped pyramid of djoser began as one) |
| Necropolis | a cemetery—literally, a "city of the dead." |
| ka | an Egyptian concept referring to one's immortal life force which would continue to live on after death |
| Serdab | A small concealed chamber in Egyptian mastaba for the statue of the deceased for the Ka to find |
| Engaged Column | A half-round column attached to a wall, only for decoration |
| hieroglyphics | an ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds |
| cartouche | An oval shape inside which a pharaoh's name was inscribed in hieroglyphics. |
| Relieving Arch | an arch that protects the lintel by redirecting the weight of the wall above (ex: Lion Gate) |
| Ashlar Masonry | carefully cut and regularly shaped blocks of stone used in construction, fitted together without mortar (ex: Palace at Knossos, Treasury of Atreus) |
| Cyclopean construction | a method of building using HUGE blocks of rough stone often that only giant cyclops (giants!) could construct |
| Corbel Arch | Courses of stone in which each course projects beyond the one beneath it, meeting at the topmost course |
| Corbel Vault | A vault formed by progressively projecting courses of stone or brick, which eventually meet to form the highest point of the vault. (ex: Protective wall around Citadel of Tiryns) |
| Repousse | formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back, leaving the impression on the face (ex: Funerary Mask) |
| Black figure vase painting | in Greek pottery, the silhouetting of black figures against a light background of natural, reddish clay, with linear details incised through the silhouettes (ex: Corthinthian black-figure amphora with animal friezes) |
| Red figure vase painting | in Greek pottery, the silhouetting of red figures against a black background with painted linear details. firgures are red background darker. allows more detial and to play with colors. (ex: Herakles wrestling Antaios) |
| Contrapposto | Human posture in which the shoulders and head are turned one way and the hips and legs another; weight off the body is put on one foot, creating a feeling of tension on one side of the body and relaxation on the other |
| Mosaic | art consisting of a design made of small pieces of colored stone or glass |
| Peripteral temple | temple having columns on all sides (Ex: Parthenon) |
| Acropolis | an "upper city"; a common feature of ancient Greek cities; an elevated site for religious observances, where city residents sought shelter and safety in times of war and met to discuss community affairs. |
| entasis | swelling on vertical columns to counteract optical illusion of concavity |
| bilingual amphora | vessels featuring both red-figure and black-figure techniques (Achilles and Ajax playing dice) |
| amphora | an ancient jar with two handles and a narrow neck |
| Osiris | Egyptian god of the underworld and judge of the dead (Ex: Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer) |
| Ionic | One of the three main styles of Greek architecture. The column is slender and finely fluted; its capital is in the shape of a scroll. |
| Doric | One of the three main styles of Greek architecture. The column is fluted with no base. |
| cella | the chief room of a Greek temple, where the statue of the god was located and, frequently, the temple's treasure was kept. |
| pronaos | The space, or porch, in front of the cella, or naos, of an ancient Greek temple. |
| Stylobate | In Greek architecture, the stone foundation on which a temple colonnade stands. |
| capital | In Greek Architecture, the upper part of a column that supports the entablature |
| Volute | In Greek Architecture, an ornament from Ionic capital resembling a rolled scroll |
| Triglyph | Greek- in a Doric frieze, the rectangular area between the metopes, decorated with three vertical grooves (glyphs) |
| metope | panel between the triglyphs in a Doric frieze, often sculpted in relief (ex: Lapith versus centaur is a ____ from south side of Pantheon) |
| Horus | the falcon- He was the son of Isis and Osiris, shown with the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The pharaohs were thought to represent Horus on earth. (Ex: Palette of Narmer) |
| Hathor | Egyption goddess of love; cow head (Ex: Top of Palette of Narmer) |
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