art history midterm one- vocab

prehistoric

prehistoric

before written record

bce

before common era

ce

common era

paleolithic

old stone

neolithic

new stone

c.

circa

utilitarian

has a function ex) hammer, tool

ochre

red/yellow, iron ore, used as a pigment

in-the-round

In sculpture, a work fully finished on all sides and standing free of a background, 360 carved

relief

sculpture consisting of shapes carved on a surface with flat back

twisted perspective/composite view

a representation of a figure, part in profile and part frontally

groundline

a painted or carved baseline showing standing

megalith

huge stone

henge

a circle of stones or posts, often surrounded by a ditch

cuneiform

(sumer) wedge shaped writing system

ziggurat

raised platform to put temple higher

cylinder seal

a round piece of carved stone that when rolled onto clay produces an image

diorite

specific kind of stone, imported

bent axis plan

counterclockwise to approach the temple

hierarchy of scale

biggest object, most important

stele

upright stone slab or pillar used to mark graves or to commemorate historical events

registers

technique where you break up a story

cella

most sacred space, inside temple

lapis lazuli

blue stone, extremely expensive

orthostat

upright slabs of stone carved in low relief used to decorate (assyria)

lamassu

a protective deity originating from the sumerian civilization that is often depicted as a bull or lion hybrid with a human head and bird wings

apadana

an audience hall in a persian palace

hieroglyph

a system of writing using symbols or pictures

ben-ben stone

shaped like a pyramid

palette

flat object used for mixing meduim

mummification

preserving of the dead

ka

part of you that lives on

mastaba

non royal tomb, flat topped, one story building with slanted walls above underground chamber

serdab

narrow passage containing statue of the deceased facing toward offering area

necropolis

city of the dead

fresco secco

the technique of painting on dry plaster with pigments mixed in water.

buon fresco

true or wet fresco; pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster

medium

-type of art -materials in which art is made

technique

transforms media into work of art

diptych

composed of two panels

triptych

composed of three panels

polyptych

composed of four or more panels

frontal

straight on

profile

looking to the side

representational

presents natural objects in recongizable form

abstract

based in reality, but is changed

non objective

pure, does not have a refrence to anything outside of itself

figurative

human form is a primary subject

detail

small piece of a larger painting

iconography

the study of symbols and their meaning

patron

person/ organization who funds the art

patronage

the art of funding

pylon

massive gateway,marking the entrance of an egyptian temple

hypostyle

room with several columns holding the ceiling

clerestory

roof with two different levels that allows sunlight

sunken relief

specific type of relief carved into stone

biomorphic

resembling the irregular, curving form of living organism

ethnocentrism

evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture

figure ground relationship

the relationship between a work of art (figure) and the surface upon which it is made

negative space

the empty space around an object or between objects or between the parts of an object

foreshortening

technique for creating the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional picture by distorting figures and objects so they appear to recede or project sharply into space