AP Art History Vocab Unit 3

Ambulatory

A passageway around the apse of alter of a church

Apse

The endpoint of a church where the alter is located

Radiating Chapels

A chapel that extends out in a radial pattern from an apse of ambulatory

Transept

An aisle in a church perpendicular to the nave

Nave

The main aisle of a church

Catacomb

An underground passageway use for burial 

Loculi

Openings in the walls of catacombs to receive the dead 

Cubicula

Small underground rooms in catacombs serving as mortuary chapels

Lunette

A crescent-shaped space, sometimes over a doorway, that contains culture of painting

Orant Figure

A figure with its hands raised in prayer

Spolia

The reuse of architecture or sculptural pieces in buildings generally different then their original context 

Pendentive

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

Encaustic

A type of painting in which colors are added to hot wax to affix to a surface 

Icon

A devotional panel depicting a sacred image 

Iconoclastic controversy

The destruction of religious images in the Byzantine Empire during the 8th and 9th centuries

Theotokots

The Virgin Mary as her role of Mother of God/Bearer of God 

Codex

A manuscript book

Illuminated Manuscript

A manuscript that is decorated with painted initials, marginal illustration, and larger images that ass a pictorial element to written text 

Zoomorphic

Having elements of animal shapes

Gospels

The 4 books of the New Testament that chronicle the life of Jesus Christ 

Scriptorium

A place in a monastery where monks wrote manuscripts

Colophon

An inscription at the end of a manuscript containing relevant information 

Archivolts

Ornamental bands above the tympanum

Tympanum

A rounded sculpture placed over the portal of a medical church

Voussoirs

A wedge-shaped stone that forms the curved part of an arch

Jambs

The side posts of a medieval portal

Mandorla

An almond shape circle of light around Christ

Relinquary 

A vessel for holding a sacred object 

Clerestory

The window story of a church

Lancet

A tall, narrow window with a pointed arch

Triforium

A narrow passageway with arches opening into a nave, usually directly below a clerestory 

Flying Buttress

A stone arch and its pier that support a roof from a pillar outside of the building

Arcade

A series of arches supported by columns

Spire

A tall pointed tower on a church

Rib Vault

A vault in which diagonal arches form riblike patterns, forming a weblike design

Rose window 

A circular window, filled with stained glass, placed at the end of a transept or on the facade of a church 

Arabesque 

A flowing, intricate and symmetrical pattern deriving from floral motifs

Calligraphy

Decorative or beautiful writing

Hypostyle

A hall that has a roof supported by a dense thicket of columns 

Iwan

A rectangular vaulted space in a Muslim building that is walled on three sides

Mihrab

A central niche in a mosque, which indicated the direction of mecca 

Minaret 

A tall, slender column used to call people to prayer 

Minbar

A pulpit from which sermons are given

Muqarna

A honeycomb-like decoration often applied in Islam buildings to domes, niches, capitals, or vaults. The surface resembles intricate stalactites

Pyxis

A small cylinder-shaped container with a detachable lid used to contain cosmetics or jewelry

Qibla

The direction upward Mecca which Musims face in prayer 

Eucharist 

The bread and wine sanctified by the priest at the Christian ceremony commemorating the Last Supper

Chalice

A cup containing wine used in the Christian ceremony

Paten

A plate, dish or a bowl used to hold the Eucharist at a Christian ceremony 

Mosaic 

A decoration using pieces of colored glass called tesserae that are cemented on the floor or a wall 

Fibula 

A clasp to fasten garments