Art History Chapter 3

Acanthus

the leaves on the Corinthian capital

Acropolis

means high city is a sacred hill on which the Parthenon was built

Aesthetic

a perception of beauty

Agora

a marketplace

Amphora

a two -handled Greek storage jar

Archaic Period

the period of Greek art from 900 to 500 BC. It was the earliest period of great vase painting and the beginning of monumental stone sculpture

Architectural Order

a rigid and precise system for the elevation of a Greek temple. The Greeks never tampered with this internal consistency which gave the temple its organic unity

Architrave

the lowest member of the entablature. It is a series of stone blocks which directly on the columns

Black-figure painting

a style in which the entire design is painted in black silhouette against the red clay. The internal design is scratched in with a needle.

Capital

the cushion at the top of the column

Caryatid

a female figure which functions as a column

Centaur

a mythological beast, half man and half horse

Classical Age

500-400B.BC. - the beginning of this age was determined from a historical event, the end of the Persian wars. “classical” refers to the art produced in general which is based on the type of art

Colonnade

a series of regularly spaced columns supporting a lintel

Contrapposto (“counterbalance”)

the graceful arrangement of the body based on tilted shoulders and hips, one bent knee, and all the weight of the body placed on the “engaged” leg. Alternating parts of the body flexed and relaxed. It is a method developed by the Greeks to represent freedom of movement.

Corinthian

a classic Greek order. It has a tall, slender column with a capital formed from acanthus leaves. It is the most elaborate of the architectural orders.

Cornice

the projecting, crowning member of the entablature

Democracy

the direct rule of the people(demos)

Dipteral

a double row of columns

Doric

a classic Greek order. It is a simple form with heavy fluted columns and a plain capital

Drum

a section of a shaft or a column

Entablature

the entire structure above the columns

Entasis

a swelling in the middle of the shafts on a column

Erechtheion

temple on the Acropolis (caryatids porch)