ARTH TEST 1 Important Facts

Vocabulary and key historical facts covering art history concepts, dates, mediums, and significant figures from antiquity through the Renaissance.

Year 1

The year in the western (Gregorian) calendar marking Christ's birth.

B.C.

"Before Christ" or BCE "before the common era"; placed after a date to indicate a number of years before the birth of Christ.

A.D.

"anno domini" meaning "in the year of our lord" or CE "common era"; placed before or after a date to indicate a number of years after the birth of Christ.

Terracotta

Pottery made from clay baked at a relatively low temperature and decorated with paint rather than glaze (which gets re-baked to become shiny).

Fresco

A wall painting technique in which pigments are applied to a wet plaster surface, which dries to become part of the wall.

The Iliad

An epic Greek story in verse written by Homer, recounting the Trojan war fought between Athens and Troy after the abduction of Helen, dating to the early 8th century BC.

Athena

The Greek goddess of war, wisdom, and the arts, and patron goddess of Athens (equivalent to Minerva in Roman mythology).

Aphrodite

The Greek goddess of love and beauty, later associated with the Roman goddess Venus.

Lost-wax bronze casting

A bronze sculpting technique used in early Greece where a form is shaped in clay, covered with wax, encased in a clay mold, melted out, and filled with molten bronze to produce a hollow form.

Roman Republic

The era of Roman history spanning from 509 BC to 27 BC.

Roman Empire

The era of Roman history spanning from 27 BC to 330 AD (with Rome being sacked in 410 AD).

79 AD

The year the volcano of Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Dionysus (Bacchus)

The Greek and Roman god of fruitfulness or natural life force, often associated with wine and sex, whose female worshippers (Maenads or Bacchantes) performed ecstatic dances in the forest.

The Bible

The holy book of Christianity, comprised of the Old Testament (history of the world before Christ) and the New Testament (events from Christ's life and the future end of the world).

313 AD

The year the Roman emperor Constantine made Christianity legal.

330 AD

The year Constantine moved the Roman capital to Constantinople (later Byzantium, now Istanbul), where it remained the capital of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) empire until 1453.

Mosaic

A technique for decorating walls, floors, or ceilings using bits of colored stone, ceramic tile, or glass fixed in place with cement.

Tempera

Paint made by mixing pigments with water and egg, commonly used alongside ink on parchment or vellum (animal skin) for illuminated manuscripts.

Reliquary

A container holding holy relics, such as the bones of saints.

Santiago de Compostela

A town in northwest Spain where the Apostle St. James was buried; it became Europe's most important pilgrimage site from the 9th century on.

Stained glass

A technique for making images in windows using colored glass pieces inserted into thin lead frames, with details painted in black enamel.

Medici family

A family of bankers and businessmen who ruled Florence for most of the 15th century and commissioned extensive amounts of art.

On Painting (1435)

A theoretical treatise on art published by Leon Battista Alberti in 1435.

Linear perspective (one-point perspective)

A system creating the illusion that picture space continues viewer space, where lines perpendicular to the picture plane recede to a vanishing point at eye level and distant objects appear smaller.

Atmospheric perspective

A system creating the illusion of real light effects by painting the sky and landscape lighter toward the horizon and rendering distant objects less distinct than near ones.

1088

The year Europe's first university was officially formed in Bologna, Italy, initially focusing on law and theology before developing medicine and philosophy.

1210

The year the Franciscan order of Christian monks was founded.

1216

The year the Dominican order of Christian monks was founded.

The Divine Comedy (1321)

An epic Christian poem in three books published by Dante Alighieri in 1321, recounting his journey through Hell (guided by Virgil), Purgatory, and Heaven in the year 1300.

1348

The year Europe was struck by the bubonic plague.

Chiaroscuro

The use of varying tints of a color to give the impression of roundness.

12th century (Paper technology)

The period when paper technology arrived in Europe, after having been invented in China by the 2nd century B.C.

1455

The year Johannes Gutenberg published a Bible in Germany, the first western book printed on a moveable-type printing press.

Oil paint

A painting medium in which pigments are bound with plant oil (usually linseed oil from flax); it became dominant in the 15th century, originating in the Netherlands.

1517

The year German monk Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the doors of Wittenberg Cathedral, sparking the Protestant Reformation.

Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550)

The first art historical book in the West, focused on biography, published by Giorgio Vasari in 1550.

Woodcut

A printmaking technique developed in the Middle Ages where an image is carved in relief on a wooden block, inked, and pressed onto dry paper.

Engraving

A printmaking technique developed in the 15th century in which an image is incised into a metal plate, inked, and pressed against damp paper in a high-pressure press.