MAPEH Arts - Western Classical Art Traditions (Painting, Sculpture, Architecture) - Vocabulary Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering prehistoric to Gothic art and architecture topics from the lecture notes, including painting, sculpture, and architectural features.

Prehistoric Era

The period before writing; art serves as a clue to early life and culture, studied with fossils and pollen.

Cave paintings

Paintings found inside caves, possibly used for communication, religion, or ceremonial purposes; often artifact of archaeological evidence.

Lascaux Cave

Site of Paleolithic cave paintings in France dating roughly 15,000–10,000 BCE.

Ancient Egyptian paintings

Art intended to ensure a pleasant afterlife; symbolic, highly stylized with profile views; colors (red, black, blue, gold, green) from mineral pigments.

Tutankhamun sarcophagus paintings

Paintings depicted on the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun, part of tomb symbolism and afterlife scenes.

Classical Greek painting

Paintings mainly on vases, panels, and tombs; natural figures, dynamic composition, examples include battles, myths, daily life; uses linear perspective.

Fresco

Water-based pigments painted on freshly laid plaster; durable, ideal for murals, matte finish.

Encaustic

Pigments mixed with hot wax used in painting (notably on ships for hulls); later adapted as a painting technique.

Kerch Style

Red-figured Greek pottery style named Kerch; shapes include Pelike, Lekanis, Lebesgamikos, Krater.

Polychromy

Use of multiple colors in painting, especially in Greek and other ancient artworks.

Pitsa Panel

Earliest known panel painting from archaic Greece (540–530 BCE).

Tomb/Wall paintings

Classical-period paintings on tombs or walls; fresco, tempera, or encaustic methods; often sharply outlined; few survive.

Tomb of the Diver

Famous Classical-era tomb painting from Paestum (430 BCE).

Mosaic

Art created by arranging small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials into a larger image; decorative use.

House of the Faun mosaic (Alexander vs. Darius)

Roman floor mosaic (c. 100 BCE) from Pompeii depicting the battle between Alexander the Great and Darius III.

Venus of Willendorf

Paleolithic limestone figurine emphasizing exaggerated female features; fertility symbol.

Venus of Brassempouy

Upper Paleolithic ivory figurine showing a realistic human face and hairstyle.

Sculpture in Ancient Egypt

Symbolic elements (hieroglyphs, relative size, material, gesture); tomb sculptures common; notable works include the Nefertiti bust.

Queen Nefertiti bust

Painted limestone sculpture representing Queen Nefertiti, emblematic of Egyptian royal portraiture.

Menkaure and his Queen

4th Dynasty statuary pairing of king with his queen (c. 2548–2530 BCE).

Myron and Discobolus

Greek sculpture exemplifying dynamic tension and energy; Myron’s Discobolus is a famous example.

Portonaccio Sarcophagus

Terra cotta sarcophagus (c. 180–190 BCE) with relief scenes of battles; illustrative of Roman/Italian funerary art.

Byzantine sculpture

Religious and everyday life themes; symbolic motifs and acrostic signs; animals used as symbols.

Last Judgement tympanum (Autun)

Medieval Romanesque relief sculpture depicting the Last Judgment on the tympanum of Autun Cathedral.

Gothic sculpture

Sculpture with greater freedom of form; figures project from walls; more lively attitudes, e.g., Resurrection of the Virgin (late 12th c., Amiens).

Megalith

A large stone used in prehistoric architecture; basis for megalithic monuments.

Menhir

A single upright standing stone in a megalithic arrangement.

Dolmen

A tomb or altar structure formed by two or more vertical stones supporting a horizontal capstone.

Cromlech

Circular arrangement of standing stones; often a stone circle or stone circle with triliths.

Stonehenge

Well-known European megalithic site with concentric circles of standing stones and triliths; aligns with solar events for ritual purposes.

Pyramids of Giza

Funerary monuments of the Fourth Dynasty kings (Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure); massive stone blocks with tunnels and chambers.

Mastaba

Flat-roofed, rectangular Egyptian tomb with outward sloping sides; predecessor of pyramids.

Egyptian temples

Temples served as residences for gods and centers of economic activity; walls decorated with carved scenes; built with perishable materials and enduring stone surfaces.

Parthenon

Great Classical temple of Athens (447–432 BCE) engineered with optical corrections (entasis) to counteract visual distortion.

Greek architectural orders

Three classical orders in Greek architecture: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, guiding temple design and ornament.

Roman architecture

Sturdy stone structures using arches, bricks, and concrete; included grand halls, baths, and the Colosseum (AD 70–82).

Hagia Sophia

Means Holy Wisdom; monumental Byzantine church in Istanbul, later a mosque and now a museum; renowned for its large dome (constructed around 537 CE).

Romanesque architecture

Early medieval European architecture with solid masonry walls, rounded arches, and groin vaults; heavy, fortress-like structures.

Gothic architecture

Late medieval architecture featuring pointed arches, flying buttresses, and ribbed vaults; heightened verticality and light; examples include Chartres and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame Cathedral (Gothic example)

Iconic Gothic cathedral illustrating the era’s emphasis on light, height, and sculpted decoration.