Themes in Art and Culture important terms

Acropolis

A high city → a fortified citadel built upon and elevated rocky outcrop in an ancient Grek city

Agora

a vast open public space and market place in an ancient Greek city-state that served as a center hub for civic, social, political, commercial, and religious life

Capital

the upmost member of a column, pilaster or pier

Caryatid

a sculpted female figure that acts as an architectural support, replacing a column, pillar, or pilaster.

Cuneiform

one of the worlds oldest writing systems → Mesopotamia ~3500-3000BCE

Contrapposto

an asymmetrical human stance in the visual arts

Conventions

a generally accepted/ traditional way of representing forms, ideas, or events, that is a characteristic of specific culture, time period, or medium

Canon

traditional, selective timeline of revered artists and “masterpieces” judged by changing institutions to be of the highest quality + historical significance

Dolmen

single chamber megalithic tomb built from two or more large upright stone slabs supporting a massive flat horizontal capstone

Entasis

a subtle convex curve or swelling applied to the shaft of classical column or other upright architectural element

Fresco

a mural painting technique where water based pigments are applied directly onto wet lime plaster, causing the color to chemically bind with the wall as it dries

Hieroglyph

pictorial writing system of ancient Egypt → doubled as an integrated form of visual art

Kore

ancient Greek sculpture of a young women created during the Archaic period 600-480BCE

Kouos

a free standing, life sized or monumental statue of a nude young male figure from the archaic period of ancient Greek art

Mastaba

a flat roofed, rectangular ancient Egyptian tomb with inward sloping walls, built out of mud bricks or limestone

Naos/Cella

the innermost core or sanctuary of a temple, which typically holds the primary cult statue of the deity (ancient Greek)

Order (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian)

a specific standardized system of proportion, profile, and desertion applied to a buildings columns and entablature

Pediment

a low pitched, traditionally triangular gable that forms the end of a pithed roof over a portico or colonnade, or similar ornamental element placed above a door, window, or niche

Serdab

a small concealed chamber in an ancient Egyptian tomb that houses the Ka → a persons spirit statue or life force

Stylus

a hard pointed instrument used fore scratching, incising, drawing, or shaping marks into surfaces such as clay, wax, metal, or prepared paper

Votive figure

small to life sized statue or figurine left in a sacred place like a temple or shrine as an act of worship, a prayer, a vow, or a thank you offering to a deity

Ziggurat

a massive, tiered, stepped pyramidal structure from ancient messopotamia