Art History Notes: Proto Renaissance to Baroque (Vocabulary Flashcards)

A curated set of vocabulary-focused flashcards drawn from the lecture notes, covering terms, movements, artists, techniques, and architectural concepts from Proto Renaissance through Baroque.

Proto Renaissance

Early phase of Italian art (13th–14th century) marking the transition from medieval styles to Renaissance with renewed interest in naturalism, humanism, and civic patronage (e.g., Signoria, Maniera Greca).

Quattrocento

The 1400s in Italy; early Renaissance period characterized by the revival of classical influence, humanism, and advances in perspective and architecture.

Humanism

An ideology emphasizing human achievement, education, moral conduct, and civic virtue as guiding principles in art and society.

Linear Perspective

A system using converging orthogonal lines to a vanishing point to create the illusion of depth on a flat surface.

Atmospheric Perspective

Depth cue where distant forms appear lighter, bluer, and less distinct due to the atmosphere.

Chiaroscuro

The use of strong light-dark contrasts to model volume and create drama in painting.

Sfumato

A hazy, smoky transition between colors and tones to soften edges and create realism.

Contrapposto

A naturalistic stance where weight is shifted onto one leg, creating an S-curve in the figure.

Fresco

A painting technique where pigment is applied on wet plaster, becoming part of the wall.

Predella

The lower register of an altarpiece that contains narrative panels related to the main work.

Polyptych

An altarpiece composed of more than three panels.

Annunciation

The biblical moment when the Archangel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear Jesus.

Maesta

A large altarpiece depicting the Virgin Mary enthroned with the Christ child, often with a predella.

Signoria

The town council governing an Italian city-state in the 13th–14th centuries.

Gonfaloniere

The city’s highest magistrate or official responsible for civic duties.

Doge

The chief magistrate in a Venetian republic.

Maniera Greca

Italo-Byzantine painting style; religious works copying Byzantine icon types.

Sala dei Nove

The meeting hall in Siena’s Palazzo Pubblico, decorated with Lorenzetti’s frescoes on governance.

Palazzo Pubblico

The town hall of Siena; symbol of political power and civic life.

Nicola Pisano

13th-century sculptor known for freestanding stone pulpits, including the Pisa Baptistery pulpit.

Pulpit

Raised lectern from which sermons are delivered; Nicola Pisano’s pulpit is notable for its hexagonal form and reliefs.

Baptistery

A church building reserved for baptismal rites.

Bronze Doors (Baptistery of San Giovanni)

Twenty-eight relief panels on the Florence Baptistery doors, depicting virtues and scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist.

Saint Francis Altarpiece

Large altarpiece by Berlingheri for San Francesco in Pescia, featuring symbolic knots representing poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Crucifix (Coppo di Marcovaldo)

Historiated crucifix with a halo carved with grooves to emphasize suffering and empathy.

Maesta (Duccio)

Duccio’s monumental polyptych for Siena’s cathedral; Mary as Queen of Heaven with a predella of related scenes.

Arena Chapel (Scrovegni Chapel)

Giotto’s fresco cycle in Padua depicting the lives of Mary and Christ with advanced naturalism and spatial organization.

Grisaille

Painting executed entirely in grey tones to imitate sculpture or relief.

Nicola Pisano’s Pulpit

Hexagonal freestanding pulpit in Pisa’s baptistery; notable for narrative reliefs and classical motifs.

Donatello

Early Renaissance sculptor known for expressive, naturalistic modeling; created the free-standing David in bronze.

David (Donatello)

Donatello’s bronze David, a landmark freestanding nude and a symbol of civic virtue.

Brunelleschi

Architect of Florence’s Dome (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore) using a self-supporting rib vault.

Ghiberti

Sculptor of the Gates of Paradise, the east doors of Florence’s Baptistery, renowned for narrative reliefs and perspective.

Arnolfo di Cambio

Architect of the Florence Cathedral; contributed to the building’s form and structure.

Dome of Florence Cathedral

Brunelleschi’s self-supporting ribbed dome on the Florence Cathedral, a turning point in architectural engineering.

Masaccio

Early Renaissance painter who advanced linear perspective and naturalistic space in fresco paintings.

Paolo Uccello

Painter known for experiments with perspective; created Battle of San Romano to explore perspective systems.

Lorenzetti: The Good Government (Sala dei Nove)

Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s fresco cycle celebrating civic virtue and governance in Siena.

Fra Angelico

Dominican friar-painter known for Annunciations and early use of atmospheric perspective in fresco.

Botticelli (Birth of Venus)

Early Florentine painter famous for mythological scenes; Birth of Venus demonstrates classical myth in Renaissance style.

Leonardo da Vinci

High Renaissance master renowned for the Last Supper, Mona Lisa, and the Vitruvian Man; known for sfumato and scientific observation.

Mona Lisa

Leonardo’s iconic portrait of Lisa Gherardini celebrated for direct gaze and psychological realism.

Last Supper (Leonardo)

Fresco in Santa Maria delle Grazie showing Christ’s final meal with apostles; renowned for its composition and perspective.

Vitruvian Man

Leonardo’s study of ideal human proportions based on Vitruvius’s writings.

Michelangelo

Renaissance master known for sculpture (David), the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the Last Judgment.

David (Michelangelo)

A monumental freestanding nude sculpted by Michelangelo for the Florentine republic.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Michelangelo’s fresco cycle in the Sistine Chapel, including Genesis scenes and The Creation of Adam.

School of Athens

Raphael’s fresco in the Stanze, celebrating philosophy and classical learning in a grand architectural setting.

Caravaggio

Baroque painter known for naturalism, dramatic lighting (tenebrism), and psychological realism; The Calling of Saint Matthew is an example.

Tenebrism

Dramatic, high-contrast lighting with strong shadows used to heighten drama.

Velázquez

Spanish Baroque master famous for Las Meninas, notable for gaze and use of the mirror.

Bernini

Baroque sculptor and architect known for Bel composto concepts and expressive sculpture like Saint Teresa in Ecstasy.

Borromini

Baroque architect known for San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane and innovative, curved forms.

Rubens

Baroque Flemish painter famed for dynamic compositions and dramatic lighting, e.g., The Elevation of the Cross.

Rembrandt

Dutch Baroque master known for chiaroscuro, The Anatomy Lesson, and self-portraits.

Vermeer

Dutch painter noted for intimate genre scenes, use of camera obscura, and masterful light effects.

Titian

Venetian Renaissance painter renowned for rich color, mythological and erotic subjects; Venus of Urbino exemplifies his sensuous palette.

Giorgione

Early Venetian master associated with the atmospheric style and the Tempest.

Palladio

Architect of Palladianism; Villa Rotonda embodies classical symmetry and proportion.

Isenheim Altarpiece

Isenheim monastery altarpiece by Grunewald and colleagues, noted for its tortured imagery and wood panels.

Paragone

Renaissance debate about the merits of painting versus sculpture; Carracci’s The Loves of the Gods explores this idea.

Quadro riportato

Fresco technique where painted panels are arranged like framed easel paintings on a ceiling or wall.

Trompe l’oeil

Artistic technique that creates the optical illusion of three-dimensionality on a flat surface.

Aldine Press

The publishing house of Aldus Manutius; 1494 landmark for early printing and type design.

Disegno vs Colore

Italian terms distinguishing drawing/design (disegno) from color/painting (colore) in Renaissance theory.

Giorgione, The Tempest

Painter Giorgione’s mysterious work linking color, mood, and landscape over precise narrative.

Pastoral Concert

Genre painting depicting idealized scenes of rural life; associated with Giorgione.

Vanitas

New Netherland: symbol-laden still lifes and artworks reflecting the transient nature of life and mortality.