JD - ART HISTORY MIDTERM FALL 2026 (Francesca Ferrari)

Contrapposto

a graceful arrangement of the body based on tilted shoulders and hips and bent knees

Hieratic Scale

An artistic technique in which the importance of figures is indicated by size, so that the most important figure is depicted as the largest.

Chiaroscuro

the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting

Vanishing Point

the point at which receding parallel lines viewed in perspective appear to converge.

Spirituality

how art contributed to spirituality, traditional/devotional imagery

Subjectivity

what makes a person a person, their portraiture/representation

Body

beautiful bodies, understanding of beauty

Space

3D space in paintings, how space is adressed

Power

political power, art shaping history

Technology

changed how people think about art, printing press

Printing Press

created by Guttenberg

etching or block printing press using heavy metal to transfer inked images from blocks onto paper

Oil Painting

more illuminous as pigments are mixed with oil, often decorated with golden enamel

Fresco

painting technique where water-based pigments are applied directly to freshly laid, wet lime plaster

Landscape

was rare to see in early renaissance, could reflect inner feelings or hidden stories

Portraiture

rich and famous got portraits made of them, grew in popularity over early renaissance

Woodcut

A print of an image that has been carved in wood

Stamp

colored afterwards

Engraving

metal sheet is scraped, sanded, wiped, inked and reversed onto paper by printing press

extremely detailed, light and color rendered with lines/crosshatches

Drypoint

engraving that is left with sanding residue on instead of wiped, feathery painted quality

Etching

engraving but wax is placed on top then submerged in acid to darken the exposed metal

Iconoclasm

destroying religious figures in art

Anamorphisis

the distorted representation of an object so that it appears correctly proportioned only when viewed from one particular position

Polyptych

many-paneled altarpiece

Tryptych

three panel painting

Annunciation

the scene of Gabriel the Angel telling the Virgin Mary she is pregnant

typically display happy news

Art Commissioners

the people who paid for the work of art to be created, are often depicted in the art

Adam and Eve in art

a vehicle to explore classical human anatomy, moral temptation, and naturalism

Grisaille

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

Different Linears

different levels of figures and scaling in archways or columns

Linear Perspective

lines converging towards a certain point or subject

Geometric Armature

an underlying framework of lines, shapes, or grids used to plan and structure compositions in visual arts, design, and sculpture

Homogenius

the same throughout

Trampe-l'oeil

To trick the eye

Allegory / Personification in art

a visual work where figures, objects, and actions symbolize deep moral, spiritual, or political ideas

Tempura Panel

Wooden panel

Gold Foil in art

valuable because it doesn't tarnish or oxidize, eternal shine

Halos

often shown behind saints and religious figures

homogenizes some pictures when saints share identical halos

when in gold foil they capture light at a different texture than the paint

Spatial Recession

the relationship between objects which appear to lie near to the observer and those which seem further away, and thus recede into space.

Memento mori

an object serving as a warning or reminder of death, such as a skull

Picture plane

The flat surface or plane that the artist organizes the picture in

Horizontal plane

a flat crosswise plane, such as the horizon

Orthogonal lines

Lines on an object that lead to the vanishing point

Foreshortening

A visual effect in which an object is shortened and turned deeper into the picture plane to give the effect of receding in space

Atmospheric perspective

Creating the illusion of depth of space by fading colors and eliminating detail in objects that are further away.

One-point perspective

a perspective system with a single vanishing point on the horizon

Drypoint

A printmaking process where the artist raises a burr when gouging the printing plate