AP Art History Unit 9 Medieval Europe Art - Romanesque Art Vocabulary

Abbey

a monastery for monks, or a convent for nuns, and the church that is connected to it

Ambulatory

A passageway around the apse or altar of a church.

Apse

the end point of a church where the altar is

Arcade

a series of arches supported by columns. When the arches face a wall and are not self-supporting, they are called a blind arcade

Archivolt

a series of concentric moldings around an arch

Axial plan (Basilican plan, Longitudinal plan)

a church with a long nave whose focus is the apse, so-called because it is designed along an axis

Bay

a vertical section of a church that is embraced by a set of columns and is usually composed of arches and aligned windows

Campanile

a bell tower of an Italian building

Cathedral

the principal church of a diocese, where a bishop sits

Clerestory

the window story of a church

Compound pier

a gathering of engaged shafts around a pier

Continuous narrative

a work of art that contains several scenes of the same story painted or sculpted in continuous succession

Embroidery

a woven product in which the design is stitched into a premade fabric

Gallery

a passageway inside or outside a church that generally is characterized by having a colonnade or arcade

Jamb

the side posts of a medieval portal

Last Judgement:

in Christianity, the judgment before God at the end of the world

Mandorla

Italian for "almond," an almond-shaped circle of light around the figure of Christ or Buddha

Portal

a doorway. In medieval art they can be significantly decorated.

Radiating chapel

a chapel that extends out in a radial pattern from an apse or an ambulatory

Reliquary

a vessel for holding a sacred relic. Often reliquaries took the shape of the objects they held. Precious metals and stones were the common material

Rib vault

a vault in which diagonal arches form riblike patterns. These arches partially support a roof, in some cases forming a web-like design

Tapestry

a woven product in which the design and the backing are produced at the same time on a device called a loom

Transept

an aisle in a church perpendicular to the nave

Transverse arch

an arch that spans an interior space connecting opposite walls by crossing from side to side

Triforium

A narrow passageway with arches opening onto a nave, usually directly below a clerestory

Trumeau (plural: trumeaux)

The central pillar of a medieval portal that stabilizes the structure. It is often elaborately decorated.

Tympanum (plural: tympana)

a rounded sculpture placed over the portal of a medieval church

Vault

a roof constructed with arches; when an arch is extended in space, forming a tunnel, it is called a barrel vault; when two barrel vaults intersect at right angles, it is called a groin vault

Voussoir (pronounced "voo-swar")

a wedge-shaped stone that forms the curved part of an arch. The central voussoir is called a keystone