AP art history unit 3

Archaic Greek style

Stiff Egyptian stance with slightly more musculature and the Archaic smile

Kouros

Nude male youth

Classical Greek style

Increasing emphasis on realism and naturalism

Genre scene

Scene of everyday people

High relief

Deep carving that almost breaks away from the background

Doric Order

Heavy columns consisting of fluted shafts, round capitals and no base

Ionic Order

Slender, fluted columns with a large base and two opposed volutes

Pediment

Triangular shape of a roof's gable, often decorated with relief sculpture and above the horizontal entablature

Metopes

Carved pictorial panels on the frieze

Triglyphs

Vertical channeled tablets of the Doric frieze

Peristyle

Continuous row of columns surrounding a building or courtyard on all 4 sides

Athena

Patron goddess of Athens; goddess of wisdom and war

Agora

Central public space in ancient Greek city-states

Stoa

Covered walkway or portico, commonly for public use

Panathenaic Way

Road where the great procession of the Athenians to the Acropolis took place every four years

Tholos

Circular structure in ancient Greece and Rome, often in temples

Kore

Archaic Greek statue of a young woman, standing and clothed in long loose robes

Peplos

Rich outer robe or shawl worn in ancient Greece

Contrapposto

Asymmetrical arrangement of the human figure in which the line of the arms and shoulders contrasts with while balancing those of the hips and legs; weight shift

Sophrosyne

Quality of moderation, discretion, prudence

Canon

Body of rules, principles, or standards

Epheboi

Youth of ancient Greece just entering manhood or commencing training for full Athenian citizenship

Sensuality

Indulgence in sensual pleasures; unchastity

Krater

Mixing bowl used to mix wine and water

Red-figure technique

Part of 3-stage firing process; allowed more modeling and details to be painted on figures than the black-figure technique

Slip

Liquid mixture of clay

Kiln

Furnace or oven for drying clay

Herakles

Celebrated Greek hero, son of Zeus, possessing exceptional strength; also known as Hercules

Niobe

Provoked Apollo and Artemis to vengeance by taunting their mother Leto with the number and beauty of her own children; her weeping turned her into stone

Pergamene kingdom

Outpost of the Greek Empire in Asia Minor

Gigantomachy

Giants known for their battles with the Olympian gods

Isocephalism

Equal height of heads in a row of figures

Mosaic

Picture made of small usually colored pieces of stone, glass, etc.

Tesserae

Small pieces used in mosaic work

Foreshortening

To reduce or distort parts of an object in order to convey the illusion of 3D space

Hellenistic Greek style

Time period characterized by increasing naturalism, expression, and extremes of emotion, no longer idealized

Nike

Greek goddess who personifies victory

Promontory

High point of land or rock projecting in the sea or other water beyond the line of coast

Bronze

Brown metal consisting primarily of copper and tin

Pathos

Quality of evoking pity, sorrow, or compassion

Casting

Process using clay and wax; when the wax is melted out by bronze, a hollow bronze cast sculpture results; also known as lost-wax

Etruscans

Inhabitants of Etruria (equivalent to modern Tuscany) before the Roman empire

Terracotta

Hard, fired clay, brownish red in color

Archaic smile

Slight smile of Greek sculptures in the 6th century BCE

Tufa

Porous limestone that can be carved out

Fresco

Technique of painting on a moist plaster surface

Necropolis

Cemetery, usually of an ancient city; city of the dead

Triclinium

Dining room usually containing couches for reclining on at meals; a dining table used in ancient Rome

Roman Republic

509 BCE to 27 BCE, ended with the establishment of the Roman Empire; characterized by rule by a senate

Verism/Veristic

Belief in true representation in art, including the ugly and vulgar

Verisimilitude

Appearance of truth

Patrician

Person of noble rank; aristocrat

Domus

Type of house occupied by the upper classes and wealthy freedmen

Impluvium

Shallow, rectangular sunken portion of the Atrium to gather rainwater, which drained into an underground cistern

Tablinum

Office

Cliens

Client or person protected by a Roman patron in a hierarchical relationship

Patronus

Patron who would help or do favors for the client

Pentheus

In Greek mythology, resisted the cult of Dionysos and was torn to pieces as punishment; depicted in wall painting at House of the Vettii

Dionysus

God of fertility, wine, and drama

Peristyle court

Garden surrounded by a Greek-style colonnade

Portico

Porch leading to the entrance of a building

Tuscan Order

Simplified Doric order, with unfluted columns and a simpler entablature

Tinia

God of the sky in Etruscan mythology, equivalent to Zeus

Uni

Goddess of protection in Etruscan mythology, equivalent to Juno/Hera

Menvra

Goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare in Etruscan mythology, equivalent to Minverva/Athena

Dome

Vault having a circular plan and constructed so as to exert an equal thrust in all directions

Oculus

Circular opening, especially one at the apex of a dome

Coffers

Sunken panels in a dome or vault ceiling

Drum

Base on which a dome rests

Niches

Also known as exedrae; niches to hold statues of the gods

Corinthian columns

Most ornate, with slender fluted columns and a capital decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls

Julian-Claudian dynasty

Refers to first five emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero

Augustus

First Roman emperor; he restored the outward facade of the free republic but in reality retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator

Pontifex maximus

Most important position in the ancient Roman religion; title assumed by Augustus, who had both religious and political authority

Pax Romana

200 year span of relative peace from the time of Augustus to Marcus Aurelius

Aeneas

Trojan hero of Virgil's Aeneid

Cupid

God of desire, love, and affection

Parthians

Persians

Adlocutio

Address given by a general, usually the emperor, to his army

Flavian Dynasty

Rule by Flavians that encompassed Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian

Amphitheatre

Open-air venue used for sports, entertainment, and performances

Attic

Story or low wall above the cornice of a classical facade

Engaged columns

Column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall

Pilasters

Used to give the appearance of a supporting column, but with only an ornamental function; has a flat surface

Concrete

Composite material made of coarse aggregate that hardens over time; allows for large spaces to be enclosed, is relatively fireproof and inexpensive

Travertine

Form of limestone used in Italy for building

Elliptical

Plane curve; circle extended

Five Good Emperors

Series of emperors chosen by adoption from their predecessor: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Marcus Aurelius

Forum

Rectangular plaza surrounded by several important government buildings in Rome; originally a marketplace; akin to the Greek Agora

Dacian Wars

Two campaigns of conquest ordered by Emperor Trajan against the Dacians, who lived across the Danube in current Romania

Basilica

Type of building with a central nave and aisles and usually an apse at one or both ends

Apse

Covered semicircular or polygonal recess; also an Exedra

Nabataeans

Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant; Trajan conquered the Nabataean kingdom and linked it to the Roman Empire

Castor and Pollux

Twin brothers in Roman mythology, transformed into the constellation Gemini

Incense

Aromatic substance producing a sweet odor when burned, often used in religious ceremonies

Facade

Front of a building, especially an imposing or decorative one

Horror vacui

Fear of empty space, filling of an entire artwork with detail

Mithras

Mystery religion of the Roman Empire from 1st to 4th century CE, inspired by worship of Persian god Mithra; followers met in underground temples and had a secret handshake

Goths

One of a Teutonic people who in the 3rd to 5th centuries invaded and settled in parts of the Roman Empire

Spoils

Loot or plunder taken in war or robbery