Art history II midterm study guide

What is Fresco

a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid, wet lime plaster, as well as the resulting artwork itself.

What is humanism?

a progressive, non-theistic philosophical and ethical life stance that emphasizes the value, dignity, and agency of human beings.

What is Chiaroscuro?

an Italian art term meaning "light-dark" (chiaro meaning clear or bright, and scuro meaning dark or obscure).

It describes the use of strong contrasts between light and shadow to give two-dimensional objects or figures the illusion of three-dimensional volume, depth, and dramatic mood.

What is Linear Perspective?

a mathematical and drawing technique used to create the illusion of three-dimensional depth and space on a two-dimensional surface.

What is Foreshortening?

an art technique used to depict an object, figure, or body part as shorter or compressed than it actually is to create the illusion of three-dimensional depth and projection on a flat surface.

What is Reformation?

the act or process of making an improvement by changing a person's behavior, a social or political system, or an institution for the better.

What is Counter-Reformation?

a 16th- and 17th-century movement in the Roman Catholic Church to respond to the Protestant Reformation, reform internal corruption, and defend traditional Catholic doctrine.

What is Tenebrism?

a 17th-century Baroque painting technique that uses violent, extreme contrasts between light and dark to create a dramatic spotlight effect, leaving large portions of the composition in deep, pitch-black shadow.

What is a History painting?

a genre of fine art defined by its narrative subject matter rather than a specific time period or painting style. Deriving from the Italian word istoria (meaning "story"), it depicts a frozen moment in a story with multiple figures rather than a static pose like a portrait.

What is an Allegory?

a story, picture, or poem in which characters and events stand for a hidden, deeper moral, political, or abstract meaning.

What is Neo-Classicism?

a Western cultural and artistic movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 18th century (roughly from the 1750s through the 1850s) as a revival of the aesthetic and intellectual principles of ancient Greece and Rome