Western Art Exam 3 Terms and Periods

Cloisonne

decorative work in which enamel, glass, or gemstones are separated by strips of flattened wire placed edgeways on a metal backing.

Animal style

represent animals in a very simplistic and stylized way

Hiberno-Saxon

an art style that flourished in the monasteries of the British Isles in the early Middle Ages

vellum/parchment

Calfskin prepared as a surface for writing or painting.

reliquary

a container for holy relics

radiating chapels

In medieval churches, chapels for the display of relics that opened directly onto the ambulatory and the transept.

buttress

a support or prop

compound pier

A pier with a group, or cluster, of attached shafts, or responds, especially characteristic of Gothic architecture.

crossing

the space in a cruciform church formed by the intersection of the nave and the transept

jambs

In architecture, the side posts of a doorway.

trumeau

In church architecture, the pillar or center post supporting the lintel in the middle of the doorway.

lintel

A horizontal beam used to span an opening.

historiated capital

A capital having carvings that depict an event or story.

Migration art

styles of Germanic and other peoples who moved into Europe between roughly 300 and 900 AD. This art is known for its abstract animal forms, intricate interlacing patterns, and portable objects like jewelry and metalwork, created during the fall of the Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages

animal/ribbon interlace

decorative art style featuring long, twisting animal forms and ribbon-like bands woven together in complex patterns, particularly prominent in Migration Period, Hiberno-Saxon, and Viking art

cruciform plan

a cross-shaped floor-plan; not typically seen until the Gothic era

pilgrimage

A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes.

westwork

The facade and towers at the western end of a medieval church, principally in Germany.

portal

an entrance, door or gate

gallery

a physical architectural feature, such as an upper-story room overlooking the main nave or a covered, open-sided passageway

tympanum

the space enclosed by a lintel and an arch over a doorway

archivolts

the continuous molding framing an arch. In Romanesque or Gothic architecture, one of the series of concentric bands framing the tympanum

mandorla

an almond-shaped nimbus surrounding the figure of christ or other sacred figure

Latin cross plan

A cross-shaped building plan, incorporating one longer stem (nave) and three arms of equal length. The common form for a Christian church.

triforium

a gallery or arcade above the arches of the nave, choir, and transepts of a church.

tracery

ornamental stonework holding stained glass in place, characteristic of Gothic cathedrals

rib groin vaults

formed by the perpendicular intersection of two barrel vaults. A rib (or ribbed) vault is supported by a series of arched diagonal ribs that divide the vault's surface into panels.

grisaille

a painting done in neutral shades of gray to simulate the look of sculpture

court style

style of late Gothic figural art in northern Europe characterized by mannered elegance and often scenes of courtly love, chivalry and romance

Rayonnant style

The "radiant" style of Gothic architecture, dominant in the second half of the 13th century and associated with the French royal court of Louis IX at Paris.

punchwork

Designs punched into the gold leaf of a panel painting with special tools.

bas-de-page

literally "bottom of the page." An illustration or decoration that is placed below a block of text in an illuminated manuscript.

flying buttress

a buttress that stands apart from the main structure and connected to it by an arch

British Isles

500-1000 AD

Carolingian Empire

768-877 AD

Ottonian Empire

919-1002 AD

Romanesque Period

1050-1150 AD

French Gothic

1150-1400 AD

English Gothic

1150-1400

German Gothic

1150-1400 AD

Italian Gothic

1150-1400 AD