AP Art History Vocab (All Units)

Official AP Art History Vocab flashcards for all the units in the 2024-2025 curriculum.

Paleolithic

Old stone age.

Neolithic

New stone age.

Abstract

An image that suggests a form but isn’t realistic.

Naturalistic

An image that is realistic or natural.

Silhouette

Completely solid figure, usually black.

Profile View

Side view.

Composite figure

A figure made of multiple types or parts.

Bucrania

Horns in an expression of power.

Twisted Perspective

Multiple angles or views at once.

Sympathetic Magic

An art piece that potentially has magical powers in rituals led by a spiritual leader.

Shaman

Spiritual leader.

Mural

Wall painting.

Scarification

The intentional creation of scars on the body.

Hierarchy of Scale

A scale that suggests larger figures are more powerful.

Contour Drawing

An outline of a figure, not a silhouette.

Ground Line

A line that represents the ground on which a figure stands.

In-Situ

Art meant to be displayed.

Posts and Lintel

A way of orienting stones (like in Stonehenge).

Cromlech

A circle made of stones.

Trilithon

Three stones.

Megaliths

Big stones.

Monoliths

One stone.

Subtractive Sculpture

A technique that involves taking away from the original material.

Anthropomorphic

An object with a human-like form.

Stele

A vertical stone slab.

Relief

Sculptural detail or sculpture that is still attached to the original material.

Bas Relief

When details aren’t very 3d, subtle relief.

Cong

Square object with circular hole in the center (typically with abstract faces on corners and sides).

Bi

A completely round disk with a round hole in the center. No detail, smooth and thin.

Modeling

Molding/shaping of a material using the hands.

Stylized

When a certain detail is exaggerated or emphasized.

Sacrum

The bone at one’s lower spine and it surrounds reproductive organs.

Incise

Cut into something.

Sculpture in the Round

A sculpture completely detached from its original material.

Burin

A sharp tool for cutting.

Ka

A spiritual energy (one’s soul) in the afterlife. From Egypt.

City States

Independent communities with a leader, laws, religion, and gods.

Theocracy

Under god’s leadership.

Cuneiform

Earliest written language.

Stylus

A writing tool.

Polytheism

The believe in multiple gods.

Heieroglyphics

Written language based on pictures.

Fresco Secco

Wall painting where you paint on a dry wall which helps exact measurements.

Ziggurat

4 sided structure with sloping sides and usually lays atop a platform.

Bitumen

Waterproof tar.

Cella

A room.

Bent axis

When an important part of a structure is placed after a 90 degree turn after entering the structure.

Axis mundi

Object or place in Earth that connects to the cosmos/divine.

Inlay

Inserting an object into an open space.

Votive Figure

A figure making an offering.

Lapis Lazuli

Beautiful, valuable, blue stone.

Standard

A military symbol.

Registers

Areas used to write/record information on.

Investiture Scene

A scene where someone is given the right to rule.

Shamash

God of justice and the sun.

Composite View

Similar to twisted perspective.

Apadana

Audience hall.

Hypostyle Hall

A large room with a roof supported with many columns.

Column

A vertical support that in round.

Capital

A decorative top to a column.

Zoomorphic

Taking an object or material and turning it into an animal figure.

High Relief

Relief detail that is still attached to the original material but very prominent.

Citadel

A walled fortress/city.

Papyrus

A plant used to make paper.

Necropolis

A large cemetery.

Niche

A cutout or space in a wall.

Dyad

A sculpture of two people.A

Ashlar Masonry

The cutting and shaping of stone.

Dressed Stone

Many stones that were cut to the same shape and size.

Causeway

A passageway that is used to transport bodies.

Khafre

A pharoh.

Sarcophogus

A coffin.

Benben Stone

A sacred stone in Ra’s temple.

Pylon

A trapezoid-shaped gateway.

Axial/Longitudinal Plan

A single line that goes down the middle of a structure.

Sunken Relief

Relief detail that is carved into the original material, instead of poking out.

Clerestory

An area carved out of a wall that allows for light and/or airflow.

Colonade

A line/repetition of columns.

Thutmose

Hatshepsut’s step-son.

Punt

A land far away from Egypt.

Encaustic

To paint with hot wax.

Ankh

Symbol of life.

Genre Scene

A scene of everyday life.

Repoussé

To push out an image from the back side of a material.

Crook and Flail

A symbol for power that is associated with Osiris.

Continuous Narrative

To repeat characters and have multiple scenes in a continuing story.

Dark Ages

A 400 year time period where art and culture was lost, and people had to rebuild society.

Art Mobilier

Small, movable art.

Korus

A young male.

Kore

A young female.

Peplos

A rectangular piece of clothing.

Stoa

A covered walkway which has a wall on one side and a colonnade on the other.

Panathenaic Way

A sacred road that leads from the Athenian Agora to the Acropolis.

Agora

A public meeting space.

Red-Figure Ware

Figures are red and background is black.

Krater

A vase with a wide neck and two handles.

Calyx Krater

A krater vase with handles at the bottom.B

Hubris

The sin of excessive pride.

Contrapposto

Weight shift to one side of the body.

Chiastic Pose

Cross-balance.