Study Notes for Chapter 41: Art of Mesoamerica and North America (after 1300)

Chapter 41: Art of Mesoamerica and North America (after 1300)

Key Terms and Definitions

• atlantid
  A monumental figural sculpture that supports a roof or other architectural element.
  (680)

• capital
  The distinct top section, usually decorative, of a column or pillar.
  (684-85)

• Codex
  (1) A handwritten bound book;
  (2) A handwritten bound book; Pre-Columbian codices are made in a screenfold format, from paper or vellum.
  (682)

• contextual analysis
  The method of examining and understanding an artwork by considering it in relation to its relevant context, whether historical, religious, social, and so forth.
  (799)

• contrapposto
  From the Italian for "counterpoise," a posture of the human body that shifts most weight onto one leg, suggesting ease and potential for movement.
  (684-85)

• convention
  In representational artwork, a prevalent and common method of representing motifs, space, and conditions of light, weather, and so on.
  (691)

• Corinthian
  An order of Classical architecture characterized by slender fluted columns and elaborate capitals decorated with stylized leaves and scrolls.
  (684-85)

• facade
  Any exterior vertical face of a building, usually the front.
  (684)

• glyph
  (Sometimes hieroglyph) In a writing system, a single symbolic figure that consistently represents a word, syllable, or sound.
  (681-82)

• high relief
  Raised forms that project far from a flat background.
  (678)

• hozho
  A Dinè word for beauty and harmony that is used for well-ordered artworks and healthy people.
  (686)

• iconography
  Images or symbols used to convey specific meanings in an artwork.
  (682)

• illumination
  Decorative designs, handwritten on a page or document.
  (682)

• kachina
  In Pueblo culture, a deified ancestral or nature spirit; also a deity impersonator who wears the appropriate mask and costume in kachina rites; kachina dolls imitate the dancer costumes and are used to teach young women the different spirit identities.
  (685-86)

• kiva
  In Pueblo culture, a subterranean ceremonial space that typically takes the form of a circle and often serves as the principal ritual space for important male societies.
  (686)

• manuscript
  A handwritten book or document.
  (682-83)

• matte
  A surface that does not reflect light; has no luster or shine.
  (687)

• monochrome
  Made from shades of a single color.
  (687)

• monolith/monolithic
  A single large block of stone.
  (680-81)

• naturalism
  Representing people or nature in a detailed and accurate manner; the realistic depiction of objects in a natural setting.
  (684)

• pectorals
  A piece of jewelry or armor worn on the chest.
  (682)

• polychrome
  Displaying several different colors.
  (680)

• plateresque
  A Spanish late Gothic and early Renaissance architectural style that consists of intricate low-relief carving with rich surface detail that recalls work in silver and other precious metals.
  (684)

• relief/relief sculpture
  Raised forms that project from a flat background.
  (680-81)

• screenfold book
  A method of book-binding in which pages are attached to one another by their sides and folded into an accordion shape.
  (682)

• sipapu
  A small sandpit near the middle of the kiva floor that Pueblo people believe represents the place where the ancestors emerged from the underworld to our world.
  (686)

• slip
  A layer of fine clay or glaze applied to ceramics before firing.
  (687)

• totem pole
  A wooden pole carved to illustrate important mythic beings and their relationships to humans; the totem pole is used by many Northwest Coast groups.
  (688)

• three-dimensional
  A work of art that has length, width, and depth (and is thus an object experienced in the round).
  (680)

• vellum
  A writing surface originally made from calfskin.
  (682)

• volute
  A decorative element in the form of a coiled scroll.
  (684)