ACADEC Art 2025-26

Aesthetics

The philosophical inquiry into the nature and expression of beauty

Art criticism

The explanation of current art events to the general public

Fine art

Includes paintings, prints, sculpture and architecture; past art historians considered these forms worthy of study while disregarding crafts as art

Craft

Includes objects not necessarily intended to be art but still admired for their qualities, including furniture, textiles, pottery, body art, and posters

Formal analysis

Analyzing the visual qualities of the art itself

Contextual analysis

Analyzing the context in which the art was made and seen

Patronage

Sponsorship of an artist

Pliny the Elder

Ancient Roman art historian who wrote Natural History

Natural History

An encyclopedic work by Pliny the Elder that analyzes historical and contemporary art

Giorgio Vasari

Renaissance author who gathered Italian artist biographies in The Lives of the Artists

The Lives of the Artists

A biography collection of Italian Renaissance artists by Vasari

Johann Joachim Winckelmann

German author who studied stylistic development through historical context and was influenced by the Enlightenment

Visual culture

Describing the collective of fine art, photography, TV images, and advertising posters

Chauvet Cave

The site of the oldest cave painting

Old Stone Age (Paleolithic Period)

The time period of the oldest cave paintings in Chauvet, Lascaux, and Altamira caves

Lascaux Cave and Altamira Cave

Two caves that contain some of the earliest cave paintings from the Old Stone Age

Venus (or Woman) of Willendorf

An Old Stone Age figurine with exaggerated feminine features

Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic Period)

The time period of cave paintings showing humans dominating animals

Stonehenge

A large structure in Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, with concentric rings of stones

Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England

The location of Stonehenge

Sarsen

A form of exotic sandstone that created concentric rings in Stonehenge

Bluestone

The type of indigenous rock featured in Stonehenge

New Stone Age (Neolithic Period)

The time period Stonehenge was created in

Megalithic

Describing a culture that used extremely large stones

Heel-stone

A vertical stone at the northeast of Stonehenge that marks the summer solstice

Mesopotamia

The region of land between the Tigris and Euphrates river; controlled by many empires over time

Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

The rivers that bound Mesopotamia

Sumerian Empire

The first large empire in Mesopotamia, known for building ziggurats

Ziggurat

A large stepped pyramid made by the Sumerians, serving mainly as a temple

Sargon of Akkad

The first ruler of the Akkadian Empire who conquered the Sumerians

Akkadian Empire

A Mesopotamian empire that took control of Sumerian cities and used sculptures to show dynastic power

Guti

A group of barbarous mountaineers that took over the Akkadians and lasted for around 50 years

King of Ur

The Neo-Sumerian ruler after the Akkadians and Guti were defeated

Babylonian Empire

A Mesopotamian empire that created the Code of Hammurabi and the hanging gardens

Code of Hammurabi

A Babylonian stone stele showing a ruler receiving laws from the sun god Shamash

Assyrian Empire

A northern Mesopotamian Empire that used relief carvings to show military events

Ishtar Gate

The gateway of the Neo-Babylonian temple of Bel that depicts animal figures

Persian Empire

An Iranian Empire that constructed the palace at Persepolis

Persepolis

The site where the Persians constructed an impressive palace inspired by Egyptian architecture

Alexander the Great

The ancient Greek conquerer of Egypt

Hierarchical scale

An Ancient Egyptian style where higher status figures were larger

Palette of King Narmer

An Egyptian makeup stone slab from the Old Kingdom period

Fractional representation

An Ancient Egyptian style where body parts were shown as clearly as possible

King Tutankhamun’s burial mask

The golden sarcophagus of the Egyptian “boy king”

Aegean Sea

The body of water surrounding Crete that was the home for the island Greek cultures

Cycladic culture

An Aegean island culture known for its abstract female figurines and marble pottery

Minoan culture

An Aegean Island culture known for its advanced architecture, naturalistic frescoes, and depictions of a snake goddess

Knossos, Greece

The central city of the Minoan culture that contained the royal palace

Mycenaean culture

An Aegean Island culture known for its elaborate tombs, goldsmithing and relief sculptures

Archaic Period

The earliest Ancient Greek period that used the Egyptian frontal pose for freestanding marble statues

Contrapposto

A Greek statue technique that showed a body with weight on one leg

Greek Doric

The most basic Greek column order

Ionic

A Greek column order with stylized, curly capitals

Corinthian

A column order with capitals carved with extremely detailed leaves

Red-figure

A common vase technique in the Ancient Greek tradition

Athens, Greece

The location of the best-known Greek art of the Classical Period

Early Classical Period

An Ancient Greek period characterized by solemnity and strength in sculptures

Middle Classical Period

An Ancient Greek period where the Parthenon was constructed

Parthenon

A large post-and-lintel structure made during the Middle Classical Period of Ancient Greece

Peloponnesian War

The Ancient Greek war that ended the Late Classical Period

Hellenistic period

The Ancient Greek time period known by influence from Asia Minor

Venus de Milo

A freestanding sculpture from Hellenistic period depicting the goddess of beauty

Laocoön Group

A freestanding sculpture from Hellenistic period depicting a priest and his sons

Nubian culture

The culture south of ancient Egypt

Entablature

The top, horizontal section resting on Greek columns

Capital

The top part of column shaft that supports the entablature

Shaft

The vertical section of a column

Base

The bottom of a column that connects to the ground, and was distinct in all styles except for the Greek Doric

Tuscan

A Roman column order that was simple and didn’t have fluting

Roman Doric

A Roman column order similar to the Greek Doric with a base

Composite

A column order that combines the Ionic and Corinthian to create intricate capitals

Etruscan culture

The culture of the transition from Greeks to Romans, known for its rich tomb paintings

Baked clay

A material used for Etruscan sarcophagi

Roman Empire

The empire responsible for concrete, arches, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon

Arch

A curved form pioneered by Romans that they used in bridges and aqueducts

Concrete

A material that the Romans invented and used in roads, bridges, and aqueducts

Colosseum

A large amphitheater built during Roman Empire

Pantheon

A Roman temple with an iconic rotunda

Byzantine Empire

The large Eastern empire formed after the fall of the Roman empire

Mosaic

The combination of small pieces of ceramic, stone, or glass to create a larger work; common in Byzantine empire

Ravenna

The site of Byzantine churches with large mosaic murals

Hagia Sophia

The Byzantine culture’s greatest architectural achievement in Constantinople

Constantinople

The location of the Hagia Sophia

Vellum and parchment

The materials commonly used for Medieval books

Book of Kells and Coronation Gospels

Two illuminated manuscript created by monks in the Medieval Era that facilitated the exchange of ideas

Metalwork

The most common art form of the nomadic Germanic peoples in the Medieval period

Viking culture

A Scandinavian culture that created metal artifacts for their wooden ships

Hiberno-Saxon

Describing the artistic style of England and Ireland after Viking invasions

Saint-Sernin

A Romanesque church in Toulouse, France

Romanesque

Describing church architecture inspired by Romans

Barrel vault

The combination of arches to create a tunnel-like structure

Vault

The general term for an arch-shaped structure used as a ceiling or for support

Voussoir

A wedge-shaped stone in an arch

Keystone

Also known as the crown, the top, central stone in an arch or barrel vault

Intrados

The inner curve of an arch

Extrados

The outer curve of an arch

Impost

The structural component that the base of the arch sits on

Haunch

The curved regions of a barrel vault

Groin

A rib formed in a groin vault

Bay

The rectangular space covered by a groin vault