Late Medieval, Pre-Renaissance & Early Renaissance Vocab

annunciation

The announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of her conception of Christ.

atmospheric perspective

An artistic technique involving the use of different shades of color to convey the illusion of depth and perspective in an art piece. Objects that are closer to the viewer have clearer outlines and warmer colors, while objects that are further away from the viewer appear to be more blurry and cooler colors.

buon fresco

A type of fresco where pigments are mixed with water and then immediately painted onto fresh lime plaster so that a chemical reaction occurs and makes the colors permanent.

cartoon

A full scale preparatory drawing done before a painting.

chapter house

A meeting room for Fransiscan monks.

chiaroscuro

The use of light and shadow to create the illusion of being three dimensional and having depth.

deposition

An artwork that depicts taking Jesus off of the cross.

entablature

The section on a classical building containing the architrave, the cornic, and the frieze.

foreshortening

A technique that portrays something as having less depth and distance.

lamentation

A passionate expression of grief and sorrow.

linear perspective

Linear perspective is a system used by artists for creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface by having parallel lines converge at a vanishing point on the horizon line.

oculus

A central hole in the top of a dome, often used to let light inside the building.

pendentive

The triangular pieces that hold up a dome.

perspective

A certain viewpoint of something or how something is perceived.

pieta

A picture or sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus Christ on her lap or in her arms.

pietra serena

A greenish gray sandstone that is used in Florentine architecture.

pilasters

A rectangular column that often projects from a wall.

pulpit

A raised platform in a church, from which the sermon is delivered or the service is conducted.

pyramidal composition

A type of composition where the subjects in the work are placed in a triangular shape, common of the Italian Renaissance period.

Renaissance humanism

An intellectual movement in Italy that emphasized the values of scholarship, arts, and individualism while deemphasizing the importance of God. The movement also experienced a revival in the interest of studying classics from ancient Greeks and Romans.

Renaissance neoplatonism

A philosophical movement that reinterpreted the ideas of ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Many Neoplatonism values reflect the idea that the world which people experience is only a copy of an ideal reality which lies beyond the material world.

roundels

A circular ornamental element used as a decoration piece.

rustication

Stonework done on a surface that leaves before rough and deeply channeled joints, common of Renaissance period buildings.

tempera

A type of paint that combines egg yolk and pigments.

trompe l’oeil

A visual illusion in art that is meant to deceive the viewer by disguising a painted detail as a real three dimensional object.

usurer

A money lender that implements unreasonably high interest rates.

Botticelli

One of the painters of the Florentine Renaissance period that created the Birth of Venus.

Cosimo de Medici

An Italian banker and leader of Florence who commissioned Donatello to create David. He is also a part of the Medici family, a wealthy and powerful family that ruled Florence.

Florence

A city in Italy that was the center of the Italian Renaissance.

Fra Filippo Lippi

One of the significant Italian Renaissance artists of the Quattrocento. His works, while religious in context, reinvented the representation of biblical figures.

Fra Girolamo Savonarola

A Dominican friar and preacher, he called for an end to secular culture and art. His rule only lasted approximately 6 years, but it put an end to Florence as the center of the Renaissance.

Giotto di Bondone

A pivotal figure of this age, Giotto was a Florentine painter whose masterwork is the interior fresco of the Arena Chapel. He based his paintings off of the natural world.

Lorenzo de Medici

An Italian statesman who supported many Florence artists and humanists like Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli, etc.

Rucellai

Family of wealthy Florentine patricians prominent in the cloth trade, politics, and cultural life during the 15th and early 16th centuries. The Palazzo Rucellai was built for them.

Pazzi

A wealthy Florence family that was a rival of the Medici family.