Author page: An illustration depicting the author of a text, often found at the beginning of a book.
Canon table: Charts in the Gospels that harmonize parallel passages. Created by Eusebius of Caesarea, they correlate the accounts of the Evangelists.
Carpet page: A purely decorative page resembling a textile or carpet, often found in illuminated manuscripts.
Codex: An ancient manuscript text in book form, replacing scrolls. Multiple folios put together into book form.
Colophon: A statement at the end of a book with information about its production.
Evangelist symbols: Symbols traditionally associated with the Four Evangelists: Matthew (winged man or angel), Mark (winged lion), Luke (winged ox or bull), and John (eagle).
Folio: A leaf of paper or parchment in a book or manuscript, numbered only on the front side (recto).
Gospels: The first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) recounting the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Illuminated manuscript: A manuscript in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders (marginalia), and miniature illustrations.
Initial page: A decorated page marking the beginning of a section or chapter, often featuring an enlarged and ornamented initial letter.
Parchment: A writing material made from the skin of a sheep or goat.
Psalter: A book containing the Psalms.
Scriptoria/scriptorium: A room in monasteries devoted to the writing, copying, and illuminating of manuscripts.
Vellum: A fine parchment made from the skin of a calf.
Verso/recto: The verso is the left-hand page of an open book, while the recto is the right-hand page.
Decorative Arts Terms
Cabochon: A gemstone that has been polished but not faceted.
Cames: Strips of lead used to hold pieces of stained glass together in a window.
Cloisonne: An ancient metalworking technique wherein wires are affixed to a metal surface to create cells, which are then filled with enamel or other materials.
Embroidery: The art of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn.
Enamel: A decorative coating applied to metal or other hard materials and fused by firing.
Gadrooning: A decorative motif consisting of convex curves used to ornament an object.
Grisaille: A monochrome painting in shades of gray, often used in stained glass.
Heraldic motif: A design or emblem used as a symbol of a family, state, or other entity.
Hierarchy of scale: An artistic convention in which greater size indicates greater importance.
High Cross: A free-standing stone cross, typically elaborately decorated with carvings.
Lancet window: A tall, narrow window with a pointed arch.
Repousse: A metalworking technique in which a design is hammered from the reverse side.
Relics: Objects (e.g., body parts or clothing) associated with a saint or martyr, believed to have spiritual power.
Reliquary: A container for holy relics.
Rose window: A circular window, often stained glass, with tracery radiating from the center.
Stained glass: Colored glass used to form decorative or pictorial designs, notably for church windows.
Tapestry: A woven wall hanging, often decorated with elaborate designs or scenes.
Tracery – Bar and Plate: Ornamental stonework in windows, especially Gothic, where bar tracery is composed of molded stone mullions and plate tracery features larger areas of stone.
Chronological and Cultural Styles
Carolingian: Relating to the Frankish dynasty of Charlemagne (c. 800-900 AD).
Celtic: Relating to the culture of the Celts. It may also be referred to as Insular.
Gothic: A style of art and architecture that flourished in Europe during the High and Late Middle Ages (c. 1150-1550 AD).
Hiberno/Hiberno-Saxon: Art produced in the British Isles between 600-900 AD, a fusion of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon styles. Also sometimes just called insular.
Insular: Art produced in the British Isles between 600-900 AD.
Merovingian: Relating to the Frankish dynasty preceding the Carolingians (c. 450-750 AD).
Mozarabic: Relating to the Christian culture of Spain during the period of Arab rule.
Ottonian: Relating to the German emperors of the Ottonian dynasty (c. 900-1000 AD).
Romanesque: The style of art and architecture prevalent in Europe from c. 1000 to 1200 AD.
Viking/Norseman: Relating to the Scandinavian seafarers who raided and traded in Europe from c. 800-1100 AD.
Rayonnant: A phase of French Gothic architecture characterized by extreme lightness and intricacy of design.
Flamboyant: A later phase of Gothic architecture characterized by elaborate flame-like tracery.
The Crusades: A series of religious wars undertaken by European Christians to recover the Holy Land from Muslim control (c. 1095-1291 AD).
Feudalism: The dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which people worked and fought for nobles who gave them protection and the use of land in return.
Pilgrimage: A journey to a sacred place for religious reasons.
Monasticism: A way of life in which individuals withdraw from society to devote themselves to religious service.
Benedictines: A monastic order following the Rule of St. Benedict (c. 500 AD).
Cistercians: A monastic order that sought to restore the strict observance of the Rule of St. Benedict (c. 1100 AD).
Architectural Terms
Ambulatory: A covered walkway, especially around the apse of a church.
Archivolt: A band of molding framing an arch.
Apse: A semicircular or polygonal recess, usually at the east end of a church.
Bay: A unit of space in a building, defined by architectural elements such as columns, piers, or vaults.
Buttress: A projecting support built against a wall to counteract the thrust of a vault or roof.
Cathedral: The principal church of a diocese, containing the bishop's throne.
Chapter House: A building or room attached to a cathedral or monastery, used for meetings.
Choir: The area of a church between the nave and the sanctuary, reserved for the clergy and choir.
Clerestory: The upper part of a nave, choir, and transepts, containing windows.
Cloister: A covered walkway around an open court, typically in a monastery.
Compound pier: A pier composed of several shafts clustered together.
Crossing: The intersection of the nave, transepts, and choir in a cruciform church.
Crossing Tower: A tower above the crossing of a church.
Cruciform: Shaped like a cross.
Elevation: A drawing showing the vertical elements of a building.
Finials: An ornamental termination to a pinnacle, gable, or other architectural element.
Flying buttress: An arch that reaches over an aisle to support the upper wall of a Gothic church.
Gable: The triangular upper part of a wall at the end of a pitched roof.
Historiated capital: A capital decorated with figures or scenes.
Jambs: The vertical sides of a doorway or window.
Lintel: A horizontal beam spanning an opening.
Narthex: An entrance hall or vestibule in a church.
Nave: The central part of a church, where the congregation is located.
Nave arcade: An arcade separating the nave from the side aisles.
Pier: A vertical support, often square or rectangular in shape.
Pinnacles: A pointed ornament capping a buttress or other architectural element.
Portal: An elaborate doorway or entrance.
Radiating chapel: Chapels arranged around the apse of a church.
Refectory: The dining hall in a monastery or convent.
Ribs – transverse and diagonal: Projecting bands on a vault that reinforce the structure and add visual interest.
Springer: The point from which an arch or vault springs from its support.
Transept: The part of a cruciform church that crosses the nave at right angles.
Triforium: A gallery or arcade above the arches of the nave, choir, and transepts.
Trumeau: A pillar supporting the tympanum of a portal.
Tympanum: The semicircular area above a doorway, often decorated with sculpture.
Vault – barrel, groin, and rib: An arched ceiling or roof; barrel vaults are semicircular, groin vaults are formed by the intersection of two barrel vaults, and rib vaults are reinforced by ribs.
Voussoirs: The wedge-shaped stones that make up an arch.
Webbing – of a vault: The infilling of a vault between the ribs.
People (Other than Artists and Subject Matter)
Four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
St. Cuthbert: A Northumbrian monk and bishop (c. 634-687 AD).
St. Columba: An Irish abbot and missionary (c. 521-597 AD).
St. Jerome: A Christian theologian who translated the Bible into Latin (c. 347-420 AD).
Eusebius: Bishop of Caesarea (c. 263-339 AD), known for his historical writings, including the Ecclesiastical History and for creating the Canon Tables.
Bishop Bernward: Bishop of Hildesheim (c. 960-1022 AD), patron of the arts and architecture.
Abbott Sugar: Abbot of Saint-Denis (c. 1081-1151 AD), a key figure in the development of Gothic architecture.