Architectural and Art History Vocabulary: Medieval to Baroque

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering architectural elements of the Great Mosque of Cordoba and Amiens Cathedral, as well as art history concepts, materials, and stylistic terms from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Column

A cylindrical upright architectural support.

Corinthian column

A classical type of column in use in ancient Greece and ubiquitous in ancient Rome, distinguishable from other types thanks to the organized rows of sculpted acanthus leaves that stick out from the capital; at Cordoba, some of the spolia reused in the original prayer hall are Corinthian; at Amiens, Corinthian capitals inspired the design of those of the piers and colonnettes found throughout the building.

Composite column

A type of Roman column whose capital most commonly incorporates the volutes of Ionic columns with the sculpted acanthus leaves of Corinthian capitals; at Cordoba, some of the spolia reused in the original prayer hall are Composite, and the freshly carved capitals of later iterations of the mosque are also Composite.

Pier

An upright thicker than a column, which may or may not be cylindrical; at Cordoba, the upper arcade rests on piers; at Amiens, piers support the main arcade.

Arch

A curved structure composed of voussoirs; at Cordoba, a combination of columns and piers support the arches; at Amiens, piers support the arches.

Voussoir

A wedge-shaped unit used to form an arch; at Cordoba, the voussoirs of the original mosque alternate between stone and brick; at Amiens, the voussoirs are made exclusively of limestone, and the ones used to form the arches of the three west portals are carved in high relief with figural sculpture.

Round arch

An arch with a single center, a round arch describes the top half of a circle.

Horseshoe arch

An arch with a single center, a horseshoe arch describes more than half of a circle, so it curves inward at the bottom.

Cusped/polylobed arch

An arch that is scalloped at the top; at Cordoba, the maqsura and mihrab niche feature polylobed arches; at Amiens, cusped arches appear in the dado arcade along the outer walls, the western frontispiece, and the triforium and clerestory of the transept and choir.

Pointed arch

An arch with two centers, a pointed arch appears more triangular in form and comes to a point at the top; at Amiens, pointed arches appear in all three stories of the nave elevation, and they are used in concert with cusped arches in the transept and choir.

Arcade

A series of arches supported by columns or piers.

Roof

The part of a building that keeps the elements out; at Cordoba, a tile roof covers a timber structure, and at Amiens a lead roof covers a timber frame.

Ceiling

A non-structural element, often highly decorated, that encloses a space; at Cordoba, a painted wooden ceiling covered most of the prayer hall.

Dome

Usually a hemispherical structure that encloses a space; at Cordoba, a cluster of ribbed domes frame the maqsura and mihrab.

Vault

An arched structure that encloses a space; at Amiens, most of the vaults are quadripartite rib vaults.

Flying buttress

A system of external support consisting of an upright and a flyer; when placed at the correct height, the flyer absorbs the thrust of the stone vault inside the cathedral and transfers the load to the upright.

Relics

Physical remains of or material objects associated with a saint or holy person; at Cordoba, there was an important relic associated with Caliph 'Uthman, in the form of four bloodied leaves of the mushaf he was reading at the time of his assassination in Medina in 656, and both the Great Mosque of Damascus and Amiens Cathedral housed relics of John the Baptist.

Mosque

A congregational building largely designed to accommodate Muslim prayer.

Courtyard

An open-air space, often lined with covered arcades; at Cordoba, the courtyard was planted with fruit and palms trees.

Prayer hall

An enclosed space for Muslim prayer; at Cordoba, there is a hypostyle prayer hall.

Qibla wall

Often the longest wall in the mosque, the qibla wall indicates the direction of prayer; at Cordoba, the qibla wall faces southeast.

Mihrab

A niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of prayer; at Cordoba, the current mihrab was part of al-Hakam II's intervention.

Maqsura

An enclosure near the mihrab in a mosque, often reserved for a ruler and his associates; at Cordoba, the current maqsura was part of al-Hakam II's intervention, and it was surrounded by a wooden screen.

Minaret

A vertical pillar or tower, usually used as a platform for the call to prayer.

Minbar

A pulpit in a mosque, where the imam stands; at Cordoba, the minbar was inlaid with sandalwood, ebony, ivory, and Indian wood; while several extant medieval sources describe it, the minbar itself was destroyed in the 16th century.

Muezzin

The person who performs the call to prayer.

Imam

For Sunnis, the imam is the leader of worship in a mosque.

Emir

A local or regional Muslim ruler; at Cordoba, 'Abd al-Rahman I, 'Abd al-Rahman II, and Muhammad I were emirs, as was 'Abd al-Rahman III until he declared himself caliph.

Caliph

The chief Muslim ruler, successor to the Prophet Muhammad; 'Abd al-Rahman III and al-Hakam II, and al-Mansur were caliphs of Cordoba.

Church

A congregational building designed to accommodate Christian worship.

Cathedral

A Christian church containing the seat of a bishop.

Western frontispiece

The massive block at the west end of a cathedral or great church; at Amiens, the western frontispiece features three portals, two arcades (including a gallery of kings), a rose window, and two towers.

Portal

A monumental, arched entrance to a church or cathedral; at Amiens, there are three west portals, one south transept portal, and one north transept portal.

Lintel

A horizontal member placed on top of an upright; at Amiens, each portal contains a lower lintel and an upper lintel.

Tympanum

A field that is either rounded at the top or pointed; at Amiens, a tympanum appears directly above the two lintels in each portal.

Jambs

The zone to the left and right of a doorway; at Amiens, column-figures appear in the jambs.

Polychromed sculpture

Sculpture that is painted in multiple, often bright, colors; at Amiens, both the figural and the vegetal sculpture was originally painted, and some of the polychromy is still visible if you zoom in and look closely.

Nave

A zone stretching from the west end to the crossing; at Amiens, there is a three-aisled nave.

Aisles

The narrower zones to either side of the main vessel of the nave; at Amiens, there are two nave aisles.

Nave chapels

Devotional spaces off the nave aisle, often roughly the size of one or two aisle bays; at Amiens, the nave chapels were not part of the original design, but they were added over time by knocking down the outer wall and adding the chapels between the buttresses of the nave.

Transept

The zone that intersects with the rest of the building at a 90-degree angle; at Amiens, the transept project out at least one bay from the nave and chevet.

Crossing

The bay at the center of the transept; at Amiens, the crossing is emphasized, and it was used as a module in the design of the plan and elevation of the cathedral.

Choir

The zone in the main aisle of the chevet where the clergy sat, often in wooden choir stalls; at Amiens, the liturgical choir is in the first three bays of the chevet.

Sanctuary

The zone in the main aisle of the chevet where the high altar is placed; at Amiens, the sanctuary occupies the fourth bay of the chevet and the hemicycle.

Ambulatory

The zone behind the choir and sanctuary; at Amiens, the ambulatory consists of four straight bays on either side and seven turning bays.

Radiating chapel

Radially-arranged devotional spaces off the ambulatory; at Amiens, there are seven radiating chapels, including the axial chapel.

Arcade (elevation)

The first story of the elevation; at Amiens, it is composed of a row of piers supporting a series of pointed arches.

Triforium

The level designed to hide the aisle roof; at Amiens, it is the second story of the elevation.

Clerestory

The fenestrated level at the top; at Amiens, it is the third story of the elevation.

Clergy

In Christianity, a person who has been ordained to perform a religious duty.

Alabaster

A fine-grained, slightly translucent stone with a smooth milk-white surface.

Cartoon

A full-size preparatory drawing, sometimes colored, from which an original work such as a fresco or tapestry is copied.

Chiaroscuro

The fine art painting modeling effect of using a strong contrast between light and dark to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality; comes from the Italian words meaning light (chiaro) and dark (scuro).

Contrapposto

The principle of weight shift in the visual arts. It is commonly used to depict a figure in a relaxed stance, one leg weight-bearing, the other bent, the torso slightly shifted off axis.

Foreshortening

The artistic effect of shortening lines in a drawing so as to create an illusion of depth.

Fresco

Simply defined, painting on plaster; executed via two methods, buon fresco and fresco secco.

Buon fresco

Sometimes called 'true fresco,' a painting technique in which pigment suspended in water is applied to wet plaster; this method is very durable.

Fresco secco

A painting technique where pigment is mixed with a binding agent and painted on dry plaster; this method is not as durable as true fresco painting.

Humanism

The movement of the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries when all branches of learning, literary, scientific and intellectual, were based on the culture and literature of classical Greco-Roman antiquity.

Grisaille

A style of monochromatic painting in shades of gray, used especially for the representation of relief sculpture.

Illusionism

A style of painting which makes two-dimensional objects appear to be three-dimensional.

Perspective (linear and atmospheric)

The techniques of representing the illusion of a three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface (a flat piece of paper or canvas).

Predella

A decorative frieze or border element running along the front of an altarpiece at the foot usually consisting of several pictures.

Paragone

A term referring to the polemical comparison of one art with another, specifically a long-running debate on the relative merits of painting and sculpture.

Disegno

From the Italian word for drawing or design, carries a more complex meaning in art, involving both the ability to make the drawing and the intellectual capacity to invent the design.

Sculpture in the round

A three-dimensional figure not attached to a flat background, unlike relief.

Portraiture

A representation of a particular person or group of people; a self-portrait is a portrait of the artist by the artist.

Oil painting

A type of painting produced using oil-based paints, involving pigments that use a medium of drying oil as the binder and painting with them on a canvas.

Tempera

A paint whose defining component is a water-soluble binder or emulsion, most commonly egg yolk, but also including gums, proteins, or other emulsions.

Renaissance Man

A man who has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished in areas of both the arts and the sciences; a 'universal man' or polymath.

Sfumato

Coined by Leonardo da Vinci, a painting technique of blurring or softening of sharp outlines by subtle and gradual blending of one tone into another through the use of thin glazes to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality; stems from Italian sfumare ('to evaporate' or 'fade out') and Latin fumare ('to smoke').

Terribilita

A term applied typically to the art of Michelangelo describing the heroic and awe-inspiring power and grandeur of his work.

Trompe l'oeil

A French term meaning 'trick the eye,' also known as illusionism; a painting style designed to give the appearance of three-dimensionality.

Grandeur and Opulence

A characteristic of Baroque art, known for its elaborate ornamentation and magnificent scale.

Drama and Emotion

A characteristic of the Baroque style that seeks to evoke strong emotional responses through intense and passionate expressions.

Movement and Dynamism

A Baroque characteristic where figures and scenes are often depicted with a sense of motion, tension, and energy.

Theatricality

A Baroque quality where art often has a staged or theatrical quality, aiming to capture a viewer's attention through grand spectacle.

Viewer Engagement

A quality of Baroque works wherein they often invade the viewer's space, creating an active relationship with the surrounding environment.

Polychrome

The art of painting sculpted figures, especially wooden ones, with vibrant, naturalistic colors to achieve a lifelike appearance.

Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church's efforts to reassert its authority and inspire faith in response to the Protestant Reformation, to which the Baroque style was closely tied.

Patronage

The commissioning of elaborate and awe-inspiring artworks by Catholic monarchs and patrons to showcase their power and piety.

Bel composto

A method using sculpture, painting, and architecture to make works seem alive, with figures interacting with their setting.