Roman Art Vocabulary

Ashlar masonry

carefully cut and grooved stones that support a building without the use of concrete or other kinds of masonry

Atrium

a courtyard in a Roman house or before a Christian church

Basilica

in Roman architecture, a large axially planned building with a nave, side aisles, and apses

Bust

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

Coffer

in architecture, a sunken panel in a ceiling

Composite column

one that contains a combination of volutes from the Ionic order and acanthus leaves from the Corinthian order

Continuous narrative

a work of art that contains several scenes of the same story painted or sculpted in a continuous succession

Contrapposto

a graceful arrangement of the body based on titled shoulders and hips and bent knees

Cubiculum

a Roman bedroom flanking an atrium; in Early Christian art, a mortuary chapel in a catacomb

Cupola

a small dome rising over the roof of a building; in architecture, a cupola is achieved by rotating arch on its axis

Encaustic

an ancient method of painting that uses coloured waxes burned into a wooden surface

Foreshortening

a visual effect in which an object is shortened and turned deeper into the picture plane to give the effect of receding in space

Forum

a public square in a Roman city

Fresco

a painting technique that involves applying water-based paint onto a freshly plastered wall

the paint forms a bond with the plaster that is durable and long-lasting

Horror vacui

(latin for a “fear of empty space”) a type of artwork in which the entire surface is filled with objects, people, designs, and ornaments in a crowded, sometimes congested way

Impluvium

a rectangular basin in a Roman house that is placed in the open-air atrium in order to collect rainwater

Oculus

a circular window in a church, or a round opening at the top of a dome

Peristyle

an atrium surrounded by columns in a Roman house

Perspective

depth and recession in a painting or a relief sculpture

Linear perspective

achieving a three-dimensionality in the two-dimensional world of the picture plane

Atmospheric/aerial perspective

landscapes that give the illusion of distance

Pier

a vertical support that holds up an arch or a vault

Spandrel

a triangular space enclosed by the curves of arches

Triclinium

a dining table in ancient Rome that has a couch on three sides for reclining at meals; or a room containing a triclinium

Tuscan order

an order of ancient architecture featuring slender, smooth columns that sit on simple bases; no carvings on the frieze or in the capitals

Vault

a roof constructed with arches

Barrel vault

when an arch is extended in space, forming a tunnel

Groin vault

when two barrel vaults intersect at right angles

Veristic

sculptures from the Roman Republic characterized by extreme realism of facial features