Art Vocabulary: Chapters 9-11

Aniconic

the avoidance of figural imagery within a religion

Caricature

portrait containing features or characteristics exaggerated for comic effect

Documentary

in artistic or written forms, work that records actual events as they happened

Frieze

a horizontal row of relief sculpture or painting on a building

Genius

(from the Latin genui: to bring into being or create) a person of remarkable intelligence or with outstanding creative abilities

Muse

personification of knowledge and the arts, and inspiration to write, sculpt, and compose

Persuasion

the attempt to influence, convince or entice someone to make a choice (often a purchase)

Propaganda

information (written, verbal, artistic) that promotes a particular viewpoint or set of ideas about a person or event. The word indicates information that is biased, misleading, or sometimes hidden that is used in order to influence views, beliefs, or behavior

Synagogue

Jewish house of worship

Altar

a sacrificial or offertory table.

Animist

the belief that spirits are associated with objects in the natural world.

Burial Mounds

early cultural collections of skeletal remains and grave goods.

Cromlech

a circular arrangement of megaliths.

Dolmen

a large upright stone or marker.

Effigy Mounds

earth mounds formed in the shape of animals or symbols.

Egungun

a general term for Yoruba masquerade rituals.

Elevated Platform

a raised area intended to confer status.

Gateway

a structure intended to mark a passage from one state, world, or phase to another.

Grave Goods

artifacts interred with deceased members of family or tribes.

Imam

Islamic prayer leader, the one charged with the duty to issue the call to prayer at appointed times.

Mandala

a ritual diagram with cosmic significance. Used by many different religions, and either circular or containing circular components, often designed for contemplation of specific teachings or tenets related to the particular belief system. varieties are used in diverse sects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American tribal worship, and others.

Mausolea

plural of mausoleum. An above-ground structure designed for entombment of the deceased.

Megalith

literally, “large stone.”

Minaret

a tower, usually tall and slender, associated with a mosque and signifying Islamic presence in a location.

Pagoda

a Buddhist structure in China, Japan, elsewhere that signifies the practice of Buddhism in that place. The form evolved from the burial mound conception of the Stupa that appeared in India as the primary structural symbol of the belief system, as it spread to China and took on the native architectural form of the watchtower.

Portal

an exceptionally grand entrance, most often referring to cathedral or other church architecture.

Ritual Mask

masks designed to be used in religious or secular ceremonial events.

Sacred Interior

interior spaces devoted to ritual or ceremony invoking a highest good.

Sacred

held as a highest good.

Sarcophagi

plural of sarcophagus – a burial container, usually of stone or other masonry material, often embellished with sculptural decoration.

Stonehenge

a famous arrangement of vertical stones from prehistoric Britain.

Stupa

a Buddhist monument signifying the presence of relics of Sakyamuni Buddha or sacred objects associated with the beliefs. Formed of an earthen mound, faced with brick, stone, or stucco. Worshippers circumambulate outside the stupa, rather than enter it.

Temple Mound

earthen mounds formed to elevate a ceremony, ritual, or elite.

Terra Cotta

porous low fired ceramic.

Terracotta Army

famous arrangement of 6,000 clay soldiers meant to guard the grave of the first emperor of China.

Toranas

stone structures placed at the Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi and at other stupa sites which form gateways to the circular path around the stupa.

Appropriation

the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them.

Censorship

the suppression of art and other forms of communication considered to be objectionable or harmful for moral, political, or religious reasons.

Cloning

the repeated duplication of a digital effect.

Ethical Judgment

an alternative decision between being morally right or morally wrong.

Ethical Values

principles that determine one proper behavior in society.

Formal qualities

the elements and principles of design that make up a work of art.