GLOSSARY Terms You Might Use in the Galleries Sources for the following terms: Art Through the Ages (Harcourt, 12th ed.), From Abacus to Zeus (Pearson-Prentice Hall, 7th ed.), and Dictionary of Art Terms (Thames and Hudson, 2nd ed.) abacus (abʹ a·kus) In architecture, a block-shaped member of a column capital. In arithmetic, a board with lines and spaces used to count abstract In painting and sculpture, that which is non-representational; natural forms are given designs that have little visual reference to any object or form depicted acanthus (uh·kanʹ thus) A prickly plant of the Mediterranean region with large, deeply cleft, and scalloped leaves; used as decorations on capitals, moldings, friezes, etc. acrylic A painting medium which dries quickly, creates a water-resistant surface, and is non- fading and non-yellowing. Additives are used to create various effects. action painting A painting method in which the artist uses a brush, putty knife, stick, tube, or can to apply (brush, squeeze, drip, throw) paint on to a surface. Sometimes called “gestural painting” aesthetics Pertaining to the beautiful and to the associations of character, creation, perception, and evaluation of art alabastron (al·uh·basʹ tron; pl. alabastra, al·uh·basʹ tra) A small pear-shaped bottle of glass or pottery with a narrow neck and flaring mouth used to hold perfumes and oils altarpiece A painted or sculptured panel or shrine placed behind and above an altar amphora (amʹ fo·ra; pl. amphorae, amʹ fo·ri) An egg-shaped, two-handled pottery jar used for storage, mainly of liquids; sometimes without a foot ampulla (am·pulʹ la; pl. ampullae, am·pulʹ li) A miniature amphora of glass or pottery used for holding water or oil amulet (amʹ u·let) A good-luck charm to protect the wearer from evil or harm ankh (ank) A hieroglyph signifying life. In Egypt, a cross with a ring at the top anthropomorphism (an·thro·po·morʹ phism) Attribution of human characteristics to nonhumans: e.g., a human form, human characteristics, or human behavior given to nonhuman things, such as mythological figures and animals annealing (an·neelʹ ing) The process of heating metal or glass to red hot and then cooling it slowly to make the material less brittle and more workable archaeologist A person who excavates and analyzes the artifacts and other remains of historic and prehistoric peoples Archaic art The artistic style of 600–480 BCE in Greece, characterized in part by the use of the composite view for painted and relief figures and of Egyptian stances for statues aryballos (ar·u·balʹ us; pl. aryballoi, ar·u·balʹ loy) A round, narrow-necked vessel for oil or perfume artifact Something produced by human work; in archaeology, a simple form of art asymmetry Not of identical elements on both sides of an axis, but not necessarily unbalanced atrium The open court of a Roman house; the open court in front of a church attribute (atʹ tri·bute) A quality, characteristic, mark, or object associated with a person or deity avant-garde (ah·vahnt·gardʹ; Fr. belonging to the vanguard) The leaders (artists, patrons, critics, etc.) whose work and taste are in the latest stylistic direction axis The imaginary line(s) around which a figure, building, picture, or parts of a picture are arranged 2 balance The equilibrium among the parts of a composition; to be of equal weight, value, force, etc., on both sides of an axis; not necessarily made up of identical elements basilica (ba·silʹ i·ka) A large public hall first used by Romans, then by Christians as a church black-figure technique A style of pottery painting in which the decoration appears in black on a red ground (The black color in both the black-figure and the red-figure techniques occurs during the firing process.) block statue In ancient Egyptian sculpture, a cubic stone image with simplified body parts Book of Hours A Christian book for private devotions containing prayers for the canonical hours of the day, often elaborately illustrated bronze An alloy of copper and usually tin; is a hard metal and sonorous but easy to cast bust A sculpture showing only the upper part of the body, including a portion of the shoulders and chest buttress An exterior structure built against a wall to strengthen it Byzantine The art, territory, history, and culture of the Eastern Christian Empire and its capitol of Constantinople (ancient Byzantium) caduceus (ca·dueʹ cee·us) The winged staff with two snakes twined around the shaft that is carried by the god Hermes and used as an attribute of the god of medicine, Asclepius calligraphy The art of ornamental penmanship, in the West using a pen, in the East using a brush calligraphic painting Asian ink paintings made with the same brush as printing and with the same foundation of strokes cameo Stone carved in low relief; on banded stone, relief is in one color, the background in another cartouche The oval frame made by a rope or rope design protecting the name of an Egyptian pharaoh; by extension, any ornamental frame caryatid (karʹ ee·atʹ id) A female figure used as a column (a male figure is called an atlas) casein A painting medium in which pigment is mixed with milk and sometimes used for under painting an oil. It is quick drying and lusterless. casting A method of forming a shape by pouring molten metal or glass or plaster into a mold bearing its impression cathedral A church which contains the official throne of a bishop centaur In ancient Greek mythology, a creature with the head, arms and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse ceramics Objects made of fired clay. Three basic types are: earthenware fired at lower temperatures stoneware fired at high temperatures; holds water without firing porcelain fired at high temperatures; white, translucent, and vitreous chasing Hammering the metal down from the front to produce a low relief design with linear margins; its opposite is repoussé, hammering design up from back of piece of sheet metal chiaroscuro (kee·arʹ o·skoorʹ o) In painting, the use of gradations of light and dark within a picture to create form chiton (kiteʹ on) A light, one-piece Greek tunic fastened with buttons or pins and worn by men and women, the essential and often only garment cippus (cipʹ pus) A small, low pillar (round or square) commonly having an inscription, used by the ancients as a boundary stone, tombstone, or site marker 3 Classical art The art and culture of Ancient Greece between 480 and 323 BCE; generally, art which aspires to a state of ideal equilibrium collage A composition made by combining various materials (paper, fabric, photographs, etc.) on a flat surface color An element of design that identifies natural and manufactured things as being red, yellow, blue, etc. The two basic variables in color are the amount of light reflected (value and tone) and the purity (saturation and intensity). column A vertical, circular architectural member used to carry weight; consists of a base, a shaft, and a capital composite view Representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part frontally; also called simultaneous representation composition The arrangement of separate parts to create a whole connoisseur (kon·nuh·surʹ) A person who is an expert on works of art and the individual styles of artists contour The outline of an object or shape contrapposto (kon·tra·posʹ toh) Opposition of parts of a human body to other parts; a pose in which the body’s weight is supported by one leg (the engaged leg) so that the tension of one side is contrasted with the relaxation of the other (the free leg) cool colors Blue and associated hues that normally appear to recede and tend to be calming crypt (kript) A chamber under a building, wholly or partly underground cuneiform (koo·neeʹ ih·form) Writing from ancient Mesopotamia in which the characters are wedge-shaped Cycladic art (cy·claʹ dik) The prehistoric art (ca. 3000-2000 BCE) of the Aegean islands around Delos, excluding Crete cylinder seal A small cylindrical stone decorated with incised patterns. When rolled across soft clay, a raised pattern or design is produced. decoration The design applied to furniture, ceramics, glass, enamel, textiles, paintings, etc.; common decorations include: acanthus leaf dentil palmette bead-and-reel dot/dot chain ring box egg-and-dart rosette cable hatching/cross hatching scallop shell carinate herringbone stripe checker ivy leaf/vine swastika chevron lozenge triangle circle/semi-circle meander zigzag Daedalic style (dead·dalʹ ik) The Greek sculptural style between the Geometric and the Archaic (660–620 BCE) with strong Egyptian and Cretan influences design/composition The general form (composition) of a building or work of art diptych (dipʹ tik) Two panels or leaves that can be folded, used for altarpieces and private devotionals drapery In sculpture and painting, the clothing and hangings which can be used to express emotion and action and to create atmosphere drolleries The fanciful designs and playful characters in the margins of medieval manuscripts and on church furniture 4 emboss Any process designed to make a pattern or composition stand out in relief enamel Colored paste which bonds to metal and becomes like glass when fired encaustic (en·kawsʹ tik) A method of painting in which pigment is mixed with beeswax on a heated palette and applied to a rigid surface. It dries quickly and colors are permanent. engraving An intaglio process in which 1) lines are incised into the surface of metal plate (copper, zinc, steel), 2) ink is rubbed into the lines and the surface wiped clean, 3) a sheet of damp paper is laid on the plate, topped by layers of felt, and 4) a press forces the paper into the lines and it picks up the ink.