Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

General Art History Terms

Terms in this set (16)

Form
Shape in 2 or 3 dimensions (circular or spherical, triangular or pyramidal, etc.)
Composition
Organization of forms in a work of art
Medium
Materials used to create a work of art
Texture
Surface quality ( examples rough, smooth, shiny, plush)
Scale
Relative size of an object (examples: miniature, life-size, colossal)
Proportion
Relationship of parts to the whole
Space
Mass and volume in 3-D objects, fictive space in 2-D objects
Patron
A person who provides financial support for the arts or pays for the creation of a particular work
Provenance
Origin or source of a work of art; also ownership history of a work of art
Perspective
A method of presenting an illusion of the three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface.
Relief sculpture
A sculpture in which figures or forms project from a background of which they are a part; relief can be low, high, or sunken
Iconography
Refers to the content or subject of a work of art, including its symbolic meaning
Style
Distinguishing visual characteristics that mark the work an individual artist, period, or culture.
Sculpture in the round
Sculpture which is freestanding and designed to be viewed from all sides.
Formal or Visual Analysis
analysis of a work of art based on its visual or formal elements such as composition, color, texture, scale, proportion, etc.
Contextual Analysis
analysis of a work of art based on its historical and social context considering its period, artist, patron, place of origin, and function.
Sets found in the same folder