Key Terms from Art and Architecture Lecture

This set of flashcards covers vocabulary terms related to art and architecture, providing definitions for better understanding and review.

Axis mundi

A concept of an 'axis of the world' marking sacred sites and linking human and celestial realms.

Stupa

A bell-shaped or dome-like monument in Buddhist architecture containing sacred relics of the Buddha.

Continuous narrative

A narrative image where multiple scenes from the same story appear within a single compositional frame.

Mudra

A symbolic hand gesture denoting certain behaviors, actions, or feelings.

Pagoda

An east Asian reliquary tower built with successively smaller, repeated stories, each marked by an elaborate projecting roof.

Hanging scroll

A vertical painting or text mounted within sections of silk common in Chinese and Japanese art.

Mandorla

Light encircling, or emanating from, the entire figure of a sacred person.

Ushnisha

Round cranial bump or bun of hair that is characteristic of a Buddha.

Urna

Curl of hair on the forehead that is a characteristic mark of a Buddha.

Joined-block sculpture

Large-scale sculpture constructed from smaller hollow blocks, each carved and assembled when complete.

Handscroll

A long, narrow, horizontal painting or text intended for individual use, stored wrapped around a wooden pin.

Manuscript

A hand-written book or document.

Illumination

A painting on paper or parchment used as an illustration or decoration in a manuscript, often richly colored.

Rune Stone

A stone used as a commemorative monument in early medieval northern Europe, carved with runes.