christianity vocab

ambulatory

passageway around the apse or altar of a church

apse

the endpoint of a church where the altar is located

axial plan

a church with a long nave whose focus is the apse

Basilica

in christian architecture, an axially planned church with a long nave, side aisles, and an apse for the altar

Catacomb

an underground passageway for burial

Central plan

a church having a circular plan with the altar in the middle

Chalice

a cup containing wine, used during a christian service

clerestory

the third, or window, story of the church

Codex

a manuscript book

Continuous narrative

a work of art that contains several scenes of the same story painted or sculpted in a single frame

cubicula

small underground rooms in catacombs serving as mortuary chapels

Icon

a devotional panel depicting a sacred image

Loculi

Openings in the walls of catacombs to receive the dead

Mosaic

a decoration using pieces of stone, marble, or colored glass called tesserae that are cemented to a wall of floor

Narthex

the closest part of the atrium to the basilica, it serves as a vestibule, or lobby, of a church

Nave

the main aisle of a church

Orant figure

a figure with its hands raised in prayer

Pendentive

a construction shaped like a triangle that transitions the space between flat walls and the base of a dome

spoila

in art history, the reuse of architectural or sculptural pieces in buildings generally different from their original contexts

Squinch

the polygonal base of a dome that makes a transition from the round dome to a flat wall

Theotokos

Virgin Mary in her role as the mother of God

Transept

an aisle in a church perpendicular to the nave, where the Clergy originally stood