Unit 2 vocab Ap Art History

Agora

a public open space in ancient Greece for assemblies and markets

Archaic smile

Archaic Greek facial expressions on statues intended to achieve a lifelike appearance

Athena

Greek goddess of war and wisdom, patron of Athens

Axial plan

design where walls of a building are either parallel or perpendicular

Canon

an accepted rule or law

Capital

the topmost member of a column

Cella

the inner area of a temple housing the cult image of a god

Classical

relating to the ancient Greek and Roman world

Contrapposto

relaxed pose where weight shifts onto one leg

Doric order

oldest Greek column style, with a simple capital and no baseG

gigantomachy

ancient Greek mythical war between gods and giants for rule of the universeIo

Ionic order

Architectual

order featuring capital with double scrolls and thin column on a base

Hellenistic

the spreading of Greek culture from the death of Alexander the Great to 31 BCE

Kouros (female:Kore)

Archaic Greek statue of a young man, standing and often nude

Krater

Greek bowl used for mixing water and wine

Lost-wax process

A way to make metal sculptures by shaping the design in wax, covering it with a mold, melting the wax out, and filling the mold with metal

Mortise and tenon

joint made by inserting one piece into holes in the other

Mosaic

picture or decoration made of small, colored pieces of inlaid stone or glassN

Nike

ancient greek goddess of victory

Pediment

the triangular upper part of the front of a building

peripteral

a building having a single row of columns on all sides

Phidias

Athenian sculptor and director of the Parthenon and sculptural program

Polykleitos

Greek sculptor, writer, and mathematician and creator of the Doryphoros, or canon

Procession

Several people moving forward in an orderly fashion as part of a ceremony

Red-figure vase painting

Greek pottery style with painted red figures on a black background

Arcade

a series of archesB

Black-figure vase painting

Early Greek pottery style with black figures incised on a red background

Encaustic

heated beeswax mixed with colored pigment

Niobe

mythical woman punished by the gods for boasting about her children

Zeus

Sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion who rules as king of the gods of Mount Olympus

Isocephalism

design in which heads of human figures are kept at the same height from the groundPro

Propylaeum

Ancient Greek gateway building leading to an open cort preceding a temple

Shaft

part of a column resembling a postA

Amphiprostyle

having four columns in the front and rear of a temple

Stoa

ancient greek covered walkway having columns on one side and a wall on the other

amphora

a two-handled ancient greek storage jar

Caryatid

a stone carving of a draped female figure used as a pillar

Entablature

the horizontal upper section of a classical building that rests on the columns

Ephemaral

lasting for a short time

Triglyph

tablet in a Doric frieze with three vertical grooves alternating with metopes

Amphitheater

A large oval or circular building with tiered seating around a central arena, used for public events like gladiatorial games

Barrel vault

A continuous arch-shaped ceiling (like a tunnel)

Basilica

A large rectangular building with a central nave, side aisles, and an apse; later adapted for Christian churches

Bust

A sculpture showing only a person’s head, neck, and sometimes shoulders/chest

Coffer

A sunken decorative panel in ceiling, often used to reduce weight in domes

Empire

A large territory ruled by a single authority, such as Rome under the emperors

Engaged column

A column partly embedded in a wall (decorative, not fully structural)

Foreshortening

A technique that makes objects appear to recede sharply into space for a dramatic depth

Forum

The central public square in a Roman city, used for politics, religion, and commerce

Fresco

Painting done on wet plaster so that the colors fuse into the wall surface

Oculus

A round opening at the top of a dome

Patrician

A member of Rome’s upper class, elite- families

pediment

the triangular section above the entrance of a building, often decorated with sculpture

Pilaster

A flat, rectangular column attached to a wall

Portico

A porch with a roof supported by columns, leading into a building

Round arch

a curved structure that spans an opening and supports weight

Sarcophagus

A stone coffin, often decorated with relief sculpture

Triclinium

Roman dining room with three couches arranged around a table

Trompe l’ oeil

A painting technique that creates the optical illusion of the three-dimensional objects

Tufa

A soft, porous volcanic stone used in Roman construction

Tuscan order

A simplified Roman column style with a plain shaft, base, and capital

Vault

An arched roof or ceiling

Veneer

a thin outer layer of decorative material applied over a surface

Verism

Extremely realistic style, especially in Roman portraiture

Voussoir

Wedge-shaped stone that forms part of an arch

Atmospheric perspective

technique of representing more distant objects as fainter and more blue

Atrium

open-roofed entrance hall or central court

Composite order

Roman order that combines characteristics of Ionic order and the Corinthian order

Concrete

pourable building material made from gravel, sand, cement, and water

Facade

the face of a building

Groin vault

The intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults

Impluvium

rectangular basin in Roman house used to collect rainwater

Perspective

representation of objects in the three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface of a picture

Spolia

the re-use of earlier building material or decorative sculpture on new monuments

Podium

raised platform

Aqueduct

An artificial channel for conveying water

Cubicula

bedroom of a Roman house (plural": cubiculum)

keystone

wedge-shaped stone at the top of an arch holding the other pieces in place

Orthogonal

diagonal lines leading to a vanishing point

Still life

work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter

Stucco

fine plaster used for wall decorations or molding

Tumulus (plural: tumuli)

mound of earth and stones raised over a grave Tuscan order

Vanishing point

inline perspective drawing, the spot on the horizon where the receding lines meet

Villa

a large Roman country house

Vitruvius

1st century BCE Roman author and architect, wrote influential work “De Architectura”