Art of the Western Word Terms Midterm

Idealism

The practice of depicting subjects in their most perfect, beautiful or harmonious form, emphasizing an idealized vision of reality rather than its literal appearance

Realism

A movement in the 19^th century that wanted to depict subjects and everyday objects with an objective, unidealized, and truthful approach

Naturalism

An artistic approach that depicts subjects that appear in nature with a high degree of accuracy of detail, and realism

Kouros

A sculpture of a naked youth in Ancient Greece; the male equivalent of a kore

Kore

An Ancient Geek statue of a woman, portrayed standing, usually clothed, painted in bright colors and having an elaborate hairstyle. 

Contrapposto

Weight shift depicted in the body that rotates the waist, hips, and chest, shoulders, and sometimes even the neck and head of the figure.

Reliquary

The practice of creating scared containers, called reliquaries, to hold religious relics, such as physical remains of saints or objects associated with them.

Humanism

Focus on the human, return to Ancient Greece and Roman ideas. 

Vanishing Point

The point in a perspective drawing at which parallel lines receding from an observer seem to converge.

Sfumato

the smoky, misty quality of the atmosphere

Emperor Augustus

Augustus (Octavian) ruled 27 BCE to 14 AD 

27 BCE Imperial period beings with Augustus 

Emperor Constantine

Constantine ruled 306 AD to 337 AD 

313 CE Constantine signs Edict of Milan permitting freedom of worship and facilitating spread of Christianity 

330 CE Constantine moves the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople