Chapter 9 Keywords

byzantine art - cont area 3

Altarpiece

A panel, sculpted or painted, situated above and behind an altar.

Ambulatory

The passageway around the apse and choir of a church.

Byzantium

The Christian, Eastern, Roman Empire lasting until 1453; established as the New Rome by Constantine in AD 324.

Chi-Rho

A monogram of Christ.

Choir

The space reserved for clergy and singers in a church, usually east of the transept.

Cloisonné

A process of enameling by putting ground glass into little cells made of wires and fusing in a kiln.

Cupola

A drum with a shallow cap.

Drum

A circular wall that supports a dome.

Gallery

A second story over the side aisles of a church below the clerestory.

Greek Cross

A cross in which the arms are equal.

Hieratic

A fixed stylized method of representation, often determined by religious principles or ideas.

Iconoclasm

The destruction of religious images.

Iconophile

Those who favored the production of religious images as an aid to devotion.

Icons

Religious images regarded as objects of veneration.

Justinian

The founder of the New Rome and the Byzantine Empire; he codified Roman law.

Latin Cross

A cross with a long vertical piece and shorter arms.

Mandorla

An almond-shaped halo appearing around the head of a holy figure.

Mysticism

The experience of union or direct communication with ultimate reality known as God.

Pantocrater

The image of God as the Creator of the Universe.

Pendentives

Curved triangles achieving the transition from a rectangular polygonal opening to the round base of a dome.

Pillar

A generic term for a vertical support, such as a column, pier, or pilaster.

Psalter

A book containing the Psalms.

Rotunda

A circular area under a dome.

Squinches

A system that supports a dome using arches, corbels, or lintels to bridge the corners of the supporting wall.

Theocracy

A state ruled by divine guidance.