Art History Keyword 4

Aegean

a center for civilizations which flourished in the 2nd and 3rd millenniums BC

Attic

the uppermost story of a building

Attribution

the assignment of a work to the makers

Citadel

a fortress that commands and protects the city

Corbelled Vaulting 

is one in which the blocks are piled in horizontal courses and cantilevered inward until the two walls meet in an arch

Course

in masonry construction a horizontal row of stone blocks

Cyclopean Lintel

is a style of construction that has triangle above the lintel and uses rough irregular blocks without mortar

Cyclopean Masonry

a method of stone construction, named after a mythical, using massive, irregular blocks without mortar, characteristic of the Bronze Age fortifications of Tiryns and other Mycenaean sites.

Faience

low-fired opaque glasslike silicate

Iliad and Odyssey

Greek legends written by Homer

Krater

a bowl for mixing wine and water

Labyrinth

a place constructed so it is full of intricate passageways and blind alleys

Megaron

the reception hall of the king

Minoan

art is lively, playful and spontaneous

Monolith 

is a column that is all one piece (not using drums)

Mycenaean

art is heavier, stronger and more “masculine” than the Minoan

Niello

a black metallic alloy

Piers

square or rectangular supports

Relieving Triangle 

in a corbeled arch, it is the empty space above the lintel that serves to lighten the weight which the lintel caries

Repoussè

formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back, leaving the impression on the face.  The metal sheet is hammered into a hollow mold of wood or some other pliable material and finished with graver.

Schematic 

is a graphic plan

Stele

upright stone slab or pillar having a picture or writing on its surface

Tholos

circular structures or beehive tombs

Treasury of Atreus 

tomb built of concentric layers of blocks precisely cut in a conical form