AP Art History Vocabulary

Yaksha

male figures of fertility in Buddhist and Hindu art

Yin and yang

“complementary polarities. The yin is a feminine symbol that has dark, soft, moist, and weak characteristics. The yang is the male symbol that has bright, hard, dry, and strong characteristics”

XP

“the Christian monogram made up of the Greek letters khi and rho, the first two letters of Khristos, the Greek form of Christ’s name”

Woodcut

“a printmaking process by which a wooden tablet is carved into with a tool, leaving the design raised and the background cut away (very much as how a rubber stamp looks)”

Wat

a Buddhist monastery or temple in Cambodia

Voussoir

“a wedge-shaped stone that forms the curved part of an arch”

Votive

“offered in fulfillment of a vow or a pledge”

Vishnu

the Hindu god worshipped as the protector and preserver of the world

Viceroy

a person appointed to rule a country as the deputy of the sovereign

Veristic

“sculptures from the Roman Republic characterized by extreme realism of facial features”

Venice Biennale

“a major show of contemporary art that takes place every other year in various venues throughout the city of Venice; begun in 1895”

Vellum

particularly fine parchment made of calf skin

Tapa

“a cloth made from bark that is soaked and beaten into a fabric”

Moai

large stone sculptures found on Easter Island

Mana

“a supernatural force believed to dwell in a person, or a sacred object”

Malagan

“a large, traditional ceremony from Papua New Guinea, as well as the masks and costumes used in that ceremony”

Ahu 'ula

Hawaiian feather cloaks

Torons

“wooden beams projecting from walls of adobe buildings”

Scarification

“scarring of the skin in patterns by cutting with a knife: when the cut heals, a raised pattern is created, which is painted”

Pwo

a female mask worn by women of the Chokwe people

Ndop

“a Kuba commemorative portrait of a king in an ideal state”

Nkisi n'kondi

a Kongo power figure

Mblo

“a commemorative portrait of the Baule people”

Lukasa

“a memory board used by the Luba people of central Africa”

Ikenga

“a shrine figure symbolizing traditional male attributes of the Igbo people”

Cire perdue

“the lost wax process. A bronze casting method in which a figure is modeled in clay and covered with wax and then recovered with clay. When fired in a kiln, the wax melts away, leaving a channel between the two layers of

Bundu

“masks used by the women’s Sande society to bring girls into puberty”

Byeri

“in the art of the Fang people, a reliquary guardian figure”

Aka

“an elephant mask of the Bamileke people of Cameroon”

Adobe

“a building material made from earth, straw, or clay dried in the sun”

Transformation mask

“a mask worn in ceremonies by people of the Pacific Northwest, Canada, or Alaska. The chief feature of the mask is its ability to open and close, going from a bird-like exterior to a human-faced interior”

T'oqapu

small rectangular shapes in an Inkan garmet

Tlaloc

“ancient American god who was highly revered; associated with rain, agriculture, and war”

Teepee

“a portable Indian home made of stretched hides placed over wooden poles”

Roof comb

“a wall rising from the center ridge of a building to give the appearance of greater height”

Repousse

“a type of metal relief sculpture in which the back side of a plate is hammered to form a raised relief on the front”

Pueblo

“a communal village of flat-roofed structures of many stories that are stacked in terraces; made of stone or adobe”

Potlatch

“a ceremonial feast among Northwest Coast American Indians in which a host demonstrates his or her generosity by bestowing gifts”

Kiva

“a circular room wholly or partly underground, used for religious rites”

Huitzilopochtli

“an Aztec god of the sun and war; sometimes represented as an eagle or as a hummingbird”

Coyolxauhqui

“an Aztec moon goddess whose name means “Golden Bells”

Corbel arch

“a vault formed by layers of stone that gradually grow closer together as they rise and eventually meet”

Chacmool

“a Mayan figure that is half-sitting and half-lying on his back”

Bandolier bag

“a large heavily beaded pouch with a slit on top worn at the waist with a strap over the shoulders”

Zoopraxiscope

“a device that projects sequences of photographs to give the illusion of movement”

Ziggurat

“a pyramid-like building made of several stories that indent as the building gets taller; thus, ziggurats have terraces at each level ”

Zoomorphic

having elements of animal shapes

Zen

“a metaphysical branch of Buddhism that teaches fulfillment through self-discipline and intuition”

Yamato-e

“a style of Japanese painting that is characterized by native subject matter, stylized features, and thick bright pigments"

Yakshi

female figures of fertility in Buddhist and Hindu art

Pietraserena

“a dark-gray stone used for columns, arches, and trim details in Renaissance buildings”

Pieta

“a painting or sculpture of a crucified Christ lying on the lap of his grieving mother, Mary”

Pier

“a vertical support that holds up an arch or a vault”

Photomontage

“The technique of creating an image by combining photographs, sometimes with other materials, to form a unified image”

Photogram

“an image made by placing objects on photosensitive paper and exposing them to light to produce a silhouette”

Pharoah

a king of ancient Egypt

Predella

“The base of an altarpiece that is filled with small paintings, often narrative scenes ”

Potter's wheel

“a device that usually has a pedal used to make a flat circular table spin, so that a potter can create pottery”

Positivism

“a theory that expresses that all knowledge must come from proven ideas based on science or scientific theory; a philosophy promoted by French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–1857)”

Porcelain

“a ceramic made from clay that when fired in a kiln produces a product that is hard, white, brittle, and shiny”

Plein-air

“painting in the outdoors to directly capture the effects of light and atmosphere on a given object ”

Perspective

“depth and recession in a painting or a relief sculpture.”

Peristyle

“a colonnade surrounding a building or enclosing a courtyard”

Peplos

“a garment worn by women in ancient Greece, usually full length and tied at the waist”

Vault

“a roof constructed with arches”

Vanitas

“a theme in still life painting that stresses the brevity of life and the folly of human vanity”

Vanishing point

a common point orthogonals draw the viewer back into

Vairocana

“the universal Buddha, a source of enlightenment; also known as the Supreme Buddha who represents, 'emptiness,' that is, freedom from early matters to help achieve salvation”

Ushnisha

“a protrusion at the top of the head, or the top knot of a Buddha ”

Urna

“a circle of hair on the brows of a deity, sometimes represented as a focal point”

Ukiyo-e

“translated as “pictures of the floating world,” a Japanese genre painting popular from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century”

Tympanum

“a rounded sculpture placed over the portal of a medieval church”

Tuscan order

“an order of ancient architecture featuring slender, smooth columns that sit on simple bases; no carvings on the frieze or in the capitals”

Tufa

“a porous rock similar to limestone”

Trumeau

“the central pillar of a portal that stabilizes the structure. It is often elaborately decorated”

Trompe l'oeil

“a form of painting that attempts to represent an object as existing in three dimensions, and therefore resembles the real thing

Triptych

a three-paneled painting or sculpture

Triglyph

“a projecting grooved element alternating with a metope on a Greek temple ”

Triforium

A narrow passageway with arches opening onto a nave, usually directly below a clerestory

Triclinium

a dining table in ancient Rome that has a couch on three sides for reclining at meals

Transverse

“an arch that spans an interior space connecting opposite walls by crossing from side to side”

Transept

“an aisle in a church perpendicular to the nave, where the clergy originally stood”

Tracento

the 1300s, or fourteenth century, in Italian art

Torana

“a gateway near a stupa that has two upright posts and three horizontal lintels. They are usually elaborately carved”

Throwing

molding clay forms on a potter's wheel

Tholos

“an ancient Greek circular building”

The sublime

“any cathartic experience from the catastrophic to the intellectual that causes the viewer to marvel in awe, wonder, and passion”

Theotokos

the Virgin Mary in her role as the Mother of God

Tessellation

decoration used polygonal shapes with no gaps

Tenebroso

“a dramatic dark and light contrast in a painting”

Terra cotta

a hard ceramic clay used for building or for making pottery

Tenebrism

“a dramatic dark and light contrast in a painting”

Tarashikomi

“a Japanese painting technique in which paint is applied to a surface that has not already dried from a previous application”

Tapestry

“a woven product in which the design and the backing are produced at the same time”

Sunken relief

“a carving in which the outlines of figures are deeply carved into a surface so that the figures seem to project forward”

Stylized

a schematic, nonrealistic manner of representing he visible world and its contents, abstracted from the way that they appear in nature

Stupa

a dome-shaped Buddhist srine

Stucco

a fine plaster used for wall decorations or moldings

Stoa

“an ancient Greek covered walkway having columns on one side and a wall on the other”

Still life

a painting of a grouping of inanimate objects, such as flowers or fruit