Art and Architecture Terms: Abstraction to Basilica

Abstraction

Works of art that may have from but have little or no attempt at pictorial representation

Academy

An institution whose main objects include training artists in an academic tradition, ennobling the profession, and holding exhibitions

Acropolis

Literally, a 'high city,' a Greek temple complex built on a hill over a city

Action Painting

An abstract painting in which the artist drips or splatters paint onto a surface like canvas in order to create his or her work

Aerial perspective (Atmospheric perspective)

Landscapes that give the illusion of distance

Allegory

Work of art that possess a symbolic meaning in addition to a literal interpretation

Altarpiece

A painted or sculpted panel set atop an altar of a church

Ambulatory

A passageway around the apse or an altar of a church

Amphora

A two-handled Greek storage jar

Anamorphic image

An image that must be viewed by a special means, such as a mirror in order to be recognized

Animal style

A medieval art form in which animals are depicted in a stylized and often complicated pattern, usually seen fighting with one another

Apadana

An audience hall in a Persian palace

Apotheosis

A type of painting in which the figures are rising heavenward

Apse

The end point of a church where the altar is

Aqueduct

An aboveground water system

Arabesque

A flowing, intricate, and symmetrical pattern deriving from floral motives

Arcade

A series of arches supported by columns; when the arches face a wall and are not self-supporting, they are called a blind arcade

Acradian

A simple rural and rustic setting used especially in Venetian paintings of the High Renaissance; it is named after Arcadia, a district in Greece to which poets and painters have attributed a rural simplicity and idyllically untroubled world

Archaeology

The scientific study of an ancient people and cultures principally revealed through excavation

Architrave

A plain and non-ornamental lintel on the entablature

Archivolt

A series of concentric moldings around an arch

Ashlar masonry

Carefully cut and grooved stones that support a building without the use of concrete or other kinds of masonry

Assemblage

A three-dimensional work made of various materials such as wood, cloth, paper and miscellaneous

Atrium

A courtyard in a Roman house or before a Christian church

Avant-garde

An innovative group of artists who generally reject traditional approaches in favor of a more experimental technique

Axial plan (Basilican plan, Longitudinal plan)

A church with a long nave whose focus is the apse, so-named because it is designed along the axis

Baldacchino

A canopy placed over an altar or shrine

Baptistery

In medieval architecture, a separate chapel or building in front of a church used for baptisms

Barrel vault

An arch that is extended in space, forming a tunnel

Basilica

In Roman architecture, a large axially planned building with a nave, side aisles, and apses. In Christian architecture, an axially planned church with long nave, side aisles, and an apse for the altar