Early Christian Art & Byzantine Art - Miscellaneous

Catacomb

An underground cemetery consisting of a subterranean gallery with recesses for tombs, as constructed by the ancient Romans.

Syncretism

The amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought

Basilica

A large oblong hall or building with double colonnades and a semicircular apse, used in ancient Rome as a court of law or for public assemblies

Cross plan

This architectural style is the ideals of harmony and balance that were central to Renaissance art and architecture. The Greek often symbolizes the spiritual significance of Christianity, representing equality in the distribution of religious spaces.

Nave

The central part of a church, extending from the main entrance or rear wall to the transepts or chancel

Transept

A transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building

Crossing

It gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir, as the first part of the chancel, on the east

Apse

A semicircular recess, often covered with a hemispherical vault

Clerestory

Any fenestrated (windowed) wall of a room that is carried higher than the surrounding roofs to light the interior space

476 AD

The fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided among several successor polities.

Constantinople

The capital of the Roman Empire during the reign of Constantine the Great in 330

Ravenna, Italy

By the fifth century, Rome lost its political, although not its spiritual, importance. The capital of the Western Roman Empire was moved to Milan in the late third century and then to _________, on the Adriatic coast, at the beginning of the fifth century.

Central plan

A collection of simple homogeneous, non-communicative agents that are managed by a single control center in a master–slave relationship

Ambulatory

The covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar

Icon

A building considered to be groundbreaking, or to claim uniqueness because of its design

Iconoclasm

The attempt to ban the veneration of icons (the representation of saintly or divine personages)

The Iconoclast Controversy (c. 726-843)

The Byzantine emperor, Leo III took a public stand against the perceived worship of icons, and in 730 their use was officially prohibited

Byzantium

An ancient Greek colony and transit point that became the location of the Byzantine Empire's capital city, Constantinople