Cumulative Terms List

developed photo

Abstraction

Works of art reduced to basic forms with little or no desire for pictorial representation

Abstract Expressionism

First major American avant-garde movement; emerged 1940s in NYC; artists focused on automatism and revealing their subconscious through artmaking

Acropolis

Greek, “high city;” means a rugged, raised rock; site of the city’s most important temple(s)

Acroterion

acroteria (pl); sculpture in the round placed on a roof

Action painting

artist pours, drips, dribbled or splattered pigment; applied in an unorthodox manner that involve the artist’s body

Adobe

clay and straw that is sun-baked

Agora

An open square or space used for public meetings or business in ancient Greece

Ahu

pedestal or platform for the moai on Easter Island

‘Ahu ‘ula

“red garment”; term is used for Hawaiian feather cloaks

Aka

an elephant mask of the Bamileke people in Cameroon

Albumen print

the first commercially available method of producing a photo on paper from a negative; egg white (albumen) and salt cover a piece of paper, and are coated with silver nitrate (which makes the paper light-sensitive); it is placed against the negative (a dry-glass plate), and then exposed to light, which transfers the image from the negative to the paper; some argue it is a printed rather than developed photo

Alcazaba

Citadel and barracks for elite guard

Ali’i

Hawaii’s ruling hereditary elite

Allegory

Work of art which possesses a symbolic meaning in addition to a literal interpretation

Altarpiece

a painted and/or sculpted panel set on an altar of a church or a private space

Amarna Style

an artistic style during the Amarna Period – Akhenaton’s rule – where traditional Egyptian conventions were abandoned for a more expressive and non-idealized style of art.

Ambulatory

a passageway around the apse or altar of a church

Amphiprostyle

having four columns both in the front and rear of a temple

Ancient Egypt

aimed to evoke timelessness and tradition through conventional images of power and rulership; frequently funerary; utilized twisted perspective and hierarchical scale; bodies based on a canon of proportion

Andachtsbild

German for devotional image; aid in prayer and contemplation

Aniconic

decoration with no human figures or animals

Animal style

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

Animism

belief that gods/spirits are embedded in nature, and that they control nature

Ankh

an Egyptian symbol of life

Anthropomorphic

having characteristics of the human form, although the form itself is not human

Apadana

audience hall in Persian palace

Apocalypse

the last book of the Christian Bible (often called Revelations), which details God’s destruction of evil and consequent raising to heaven of the righteous

Apotropaic

believed to have the power to ward off danger, evil, or bad luck

Apse

the semicircular rounded end of a basilica OR the endpoint of a church where the altar is located

Aquatint

Metal plate is covered in wax; artist draws an image directly into the wax so that the plate is exposed; the plate is submerged into acid; the plate is removed and excess wax is removed; then the artist sprinkles powdery resin on the plate, which is heated to harden the powder and then the plate is dipped in the acid; this gives the plate a watercolor-like, loose effect on the surface, and helps to create modulations of tone

Arabesque

a flowing, intricate, and symmetrical pattern deriving from floral motifs

Arcade

a series of arches supported by columns

Archaic Greek

artwork is typically funerary or for ritual; male figures are nude, while female figures are clothed; bodies are idealized, with little negative space and no contrapposto

Art Deco

Descended from Art Nouveau; sought to upgrade industrial design in competition with “fine art” and to work new materials into decorative patterns that could be either machined or handcrafted; characterized by streamlined, elongated, and symmetrical design

Art for Art’s Sake

coined by James Abbott McNeill Whistler; expressed the inherent value in art, even if it lacks a moral, historical, or didactic message

Art Nouveau

an art style from generally 1890 – 1910 that focused on utilizing decorative and natural, organic forms to create elegant and curvilinear designs

Art of the Migration

artwork of the Germanic peoples from 300-900 CE; polychrome artwork done in animal style is common

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 objects

Atmospheric/Aerial perspective

the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as it is viewed from a distance (contrast decreases; colors become less saturated; lines are less crisp)

Atrium

an open-air courtyard in a Roman house or forum

Austrian Secession

Characterized by decadence, a breakdown of light, decorative patterning; a reaction to the traditional Viennese art community

Avant-garde

an innovative group of artists who generally rejected traditional approaches in favor of experimentation

Axial plan

a building with an elongated floor plan

Axis-mundi

axis that connects heaven and earth

Balustrade

a railing supported by balusters (molded shafts); typical ornamental on a balcony, bridge, or terrace.

Bandolier bag

a large, heavily beaded pouch that crosses the body

Baroque classicism

a style within the Baroque period that purposefully recalls art from ancient Greece and Rome

Barrel vault

an arch extended into space that is curved at the top

Basilica

in Roman and Christian architecture, an axially planned building with a long nave, side aisles, and apses (in Christian architecture, this is where the altar is placed)

Bay

a vertical section of a church that is embraced by a set of columns and is usually composed of arches and aligned windows

Bent-axis

a pathway through or up a building that is not straight or direct, but takes a bent or angled path instead

Bi

a round ceremonial disk, found in ancient Chinese tombs; characterized by having a circular hole in the center, which may have symbolized heaven (as opposed to a cong which symbolized the earth)

Bilongo

medicinal materials added to the stomach of a nkisi n’kondi figure

Biombo

Latin American colonial folding screen

Black-figure

silhouetting of dark figures against a light background of natural, reddish clay, with linear details incised through the silhouettes

Bodhisattva

a Buddhist deity who, choosing not to pass on to nirvana, remains to help others

Buddha

founder of Buddhism; multiple forms; has achieved full enlightenment

Bulbous

when describing a dome; fat or bulging at the bottom before tapering inwards slightly

Bundu

masks used by the Sande Society of the Mende peoples to initiate girls into puberty

Buon fresco

true fresco; paint is applied to a wet layer of plaster; more durable than fresco secco; requires quick brushwork

Burin

a steel-cutting tool that is used to make engravings

Burnishing

a technique where a printmaker uses a burnisher to rub a metal plate with one of many goals (to polish parts of the plate; to make corrections; to lighten the color of the plate)

Bushel

cylindrical earthenware pot

Buttress

an architectural structure built against a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall

Bust

a sculpture depicting a head, neck, and upper chest of a figure

Byeri

a reliquary guardian figure of the Fang peoples in Cameroon

Byzantine

Focused on formal religious imagery with figures who were often flattened and frontal; limited range of modeling; lack of depth or perspective

Calligraphy

decorative and beautiful handwriting

Camera Obscura

Latin, “dark room;” a lens projects an image on a wall of a box; used by artists as an aid in drawing from nature

Canon of proportion

A system of measurement by which artists can regulate size, scale, and proportions

Cantilever

a projecting beam that is attached to a building at one end and suspends outward beyond the edge of the building

Canvas

heavy woven material which is used as the surface for a painting; largely replaces wood; widely used first in Venice

Capital

top of a column

Caravanserai

roadside inns and towns along trade routes; often sites of cultural diffusion and exchange

Carpet page

when flat geometric decorative designs cover the whole page of a manuscript

Casta painting

Latin America colonial painting detailing the existing mixed-race population

Catacomb

an underground passageway used for burial

Cathedral

a larger place of worship than a church; a bishop manages the cathedral

Cella

the main shrine room of a temple where a cult statue is housed

Cenotaph

an empty tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person

Central plan

a building with a circular plan that radiates outward from a central point

Chahar bagh

“fourfold garden”; a garden often divided into quarters by divisions of water

Chamfered corner

a flattened corner of two buildings, often at 45 degrees

Chapter house

a building next to a church used for clergy meetings

Chasing

to ornament metal by indenting into a surface with a hammer

Chhatri

elevated, domed tower

Chiaroscuro

use of strong contrasts between light and dark, typically for modelling

Chicago Style

the first major modernist architectural movement in the United States; a style of architecture created by Louis Sullivan and other architects in Chicago; promoted new technologies (steel-frame construction) and an aesthetic that was simple, grid-like and lacked ornamentation

Church

a smaller place of worship than a cathedral; clergymen or priests manage the church

Citadel

fortress protecting a town

Classical Greek

Figures are based on a canon of proportions, based upon mathematical principles; bodies display idealism, rationalism, and humanism; bodies are typically nude or utilize wet drapery

Classicists

artists who believed in subdued painting, with a controlled use of line; inspired by the calm rationalism of the classical period

Clerestory

the third story of a church that is windowed and lets in light; also, at times, a roof that rises above lower roofs and thus has window space beneath that lets in light

Cloisonné

enamelwork (enamel is a smooth substance made of fused glass powder which can be colored) in which colored areas are separated by thin bands of metal, usually gold or bronze

Cloister

a rectangular open-air monastery courtyard with a covered arcade surrounding it