Vocab: Early Medieval Art

animal style

a medieval art form in which animals are depicted in a stylized and often complicated pattern, usually seen fighting with one another

Chasing

to ornament metal by indenting into a surface with a hammer

Cloisonné

enamel work in which colored areas are separated by thin bands of metal, usually gold or bronze

Codex

a manuscript book

Colophon

1) a commentary on the end panel of a Chinese scroll, 2) an inscription at the end of a manuscript containing relevant information on its publication

Fibula (plural: fibulae)

a clasp used to fasten garments

horror vacui

(Latin, "fear of empty spaces") a type of artwork in which the entire surface is filled with objects, people, designs, and ornaments in a crowded and sometimes congested way.

Parchment

a writing surface made from animal skins; particularly fine parchment made of calf skin is called vellum

Scriptorium (plural: scriptoria)

a place in a monastery where monks wrote manuscripts

zoomorphic

having elements of animal shapes

Spolia

the reuse of architectural or sculptural pieces in buildings generally different from their original contexts.

Catacomb

an underground passageway used for burial

Loculi

Openings in the walls of catacombs to receive the dead.

Cubicula

Small underground rooms in catacombs serving as mortuary chapels

Ornant Figure

a figure with its hands raised in prayer

Lunette

A crescent-shaped space, sometimes over a doorway, that contains sculpture or painting.

Pastoral

1. Related to keeping or grazing of sheep or cattle

2. (in the Christian Church) concerning or appropriate to the giving of spiritual guidance:"He was tasked with pastoral care for the congregation."

Basilica

An axial planned church, with a long nave, side aisles, and an apse for the altar

Atrium

a courtyard in a Roman house or before a Christian church

Narthex

The closest part of the atrium to the basilica, it serves as vestibule, or lobby, of a church.

Nave

the main aisle of a church

Transept

an aisle in a church perpendicular to the nave, where the clergy originally stood

Apse

the endpoint of a church where the altar is located

Coffer

a sunken panel in a ceiling

Ambulatory

a place for walking, especially an aisle

Gospels

Four books in the New Testament that tell the story of Christ's life and teachings. Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Pendentive

A construction shaped like a triangle that transitions the space between flat walls and the base of the round dome.

Squinch

The polygonal base of a dome that makes a transition from the round dome to a flat wall.

Central plan (church)

A church having a circular plan with the altar in the middle.

Martyrium

a shrine built over a place of martyrdom or a grave of a martyred Christian saint

Mosaic

a decoration using pieces of stone, marble, or colored glass, called tesserae, that are cemented to a wall or a floor

Paten

a plate, dish, or bowl used to hold the Eucharist at a Christian ceremony

Eucharist

The bread sanctified by the priest at the Christian ceremony commemorating the last supper.

Scriptoria

A room set apart for writing, especially in a monastery where manuscripts were copied

illuminated manuscript

A manuscript that is hand decorated with painted initials, marginal illustrations, and larger images that add a pictorial element to the written text.

Codex

A manuscript book, made of antelope or calf hide, called vellum, or sheep or goat hide, called parchment (both more durable than papyrus and therefore a vast improvement on the scroll.)

Genesis

The first book of the Bible. It begins with the story of creation and ends with the death of Joseph in Egypt.

Icon

A devotional panel depicting a sacred image.

Theotokos

The Virgin Mary in her role as the Mother of God.

Encaustic

painting technique in which pigments are mixed with hot liquid wax

Iconoclasm

The destruction of religious images in the Byzantine Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries.

Axial Plan

When seen in a church, the building has a long nave whose focus is the apse; so called because it is designed along an axis.

Clerestory

In Late Antique architecture- the third, or window, story of a church