Art History Midterm Vocab

quiz luh

material culture

things that define a society

relief

sculptue attatched to a background

free standing

sculpture you can move around

megalithic architecture

large stone monuments associated with death

post/ lintel

two vertical supports carrying a horizontal element

stele

upright stone marker

register

a horizontal band used to organize an image or narrative

ziggurat

a monumental elevated Mesopotamian temple platform

votive

object offered in a religious context

Hypostyle Hall

a roofed interior space supported by many columns

axial

organized along a strong directional axis

pediment

triangle art on top of a building

frieze

long, decorated, narrow, horizontal band on the outside of a building

arch

curved structual shape

barrel vault

continuous architectural ceiling shaped like a half cylinder

groin vault

barrel vault that alternates on an angle

dome

large round spherical ceiling

heirarchal scale

size indicates importance

canon of proportions

structured egyptian format to compose bodies

idealization

portraying things in an unrealistically perfect form according to cultural norms

contrapposto

body weight placed mainly on one leg, producing a counter shift

naturalism

representing people as they appear in real life, accurate to detail

realism

accurate depictions without idealization

verism

highly individualized naturalistic portraits associated with Republican Romeih

high relief

forms project strongly from a background

true fresco

paint applied wet over a fine layer of plaster

entasis

subtle swelling/ curvature used in a column shaft