Unit Six Vocab AP Art History

Ambulatory

Passageway around the apse or altar of a church

Apse

rounded end of a building, often in a basilica

Axial plan

design where parts of a building are organized longitudinally with parallel or perpendicular walls

Basilica plan

building with a central nave, side aisle, and a semicircular apse

Bay

vertical segments of a building that are repeated several times

Cloisonné

enamelwork in which colored areas are separated by thin bands of metal

Codex (plural: codices)

pages held together by stitching, the earliest form of book

Embroidery

woven product in which the design is stitched into premade fabric

Flying buttress

masonry arch extending from outside of building supporting walls of a Gothic church

Fresco

painting in watercolor on wet plaster (buon fresco = wet, fresco secco is painted on dry plaster)

Gospels

first four books of New Testament that chronicle the life of Jesus

Haggadah

Book containing the liturgy for the Seder service on the Jewish festival of Passover

Groin vault

intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults

Humanism

Renaissance intellectual movement that emphasized the study of classical culture

Lamentation

expression of grief over the dead body of Jesus

Last Judgment

day following Armageddon when God decides fates according to good and evil

Longitudinal plan

a building that is longer than it is wide (opposed to a central plan); see basilica plan

Parchment

thin material made from the prepared skin of an animal used as a writing surface

Passover

Jewish festival that commemorates exodus of Jews from Egypt marked the Seder ritual

Pietá

Italian name for image of Virgin Mary holding dead body of Jesus Christ (Vesperbild in German)

Pilgrimage plan church

space w/ ambulatories & aisles to accommodate travelers venerating relics

Portal

grand entrance to an important structure

Reliquary

vessel for holding a sacred object

Seder

ceremonial dinner that commemorates Jewish Exodus from Egypt

Tympanum

semi-circular decorative wall surface over an entrance