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| In some mosques, a screened area in front of the mihrab reserved for a ruler. |
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| considered the prophet and founder of Islam who converted Arabs to monotheism. Some of his key ideas include the concept of one universal God (Allah) and the submission of one's will to God ('Islam' comes from the word 'surrender'). Also important is the sanctity of the community of Muslims called the Ummah, with charity being one of the 5 Pillars of Islam. |
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| rebirth / restoration / recovery of the lost or destroyed during the advent of Christianity. |
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| architect during Charlemagne's reign, one of earliest known architect, Palatine Chapel, Carolingian architecture |
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| Tutor for Charlemagne, scholar, builder & invented grammar |
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| Ottonian Romanesque, doors & columns at St. Mary's Cathedral, shrine: St. Michael's Cathedral |
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| means "middle ages" and refers, in its broadest usage, to the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. Early Medieval Art is distinct from Byzantine Art and is associated with the West. Other periods that fall under this "umbrella" include Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque, and Gothic. |
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| is a medium which employs the inlay of glass, often using strands if glass fused together to create a pattern and inset within gold or other metal ornaments, jewelry, or ecclesiastic furnishings. Cloisonne is a type of this medium. Millefiore means "a thousand flowers" in Italian. |
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| is a kind of organic, lively, and often zoomorphic pattern or design of plants, creatures, or simply lines, which loop, knot, and twist their way across the surface of Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, Hiberno-Saxon, Celtic, or Scandanavian Art. Also known as 'Celtic Interlace' or 'knotwork.' Interpenetration of form and dense designs often characterize Saxon interlace as is seen in the purse cover from Sutton Hoo. |
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| means "fear of empty spaces" in Latin and refers to a stylistic convention of covering an entire surface with pattern and figures, leaving virtually no empty spaces. |
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| is a cross - often a high cross - that has a circle around its four arms. Originating from Ireland, examples can be found in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and other areas of Britain. Frequently it has a Last Judgment on its Eastern side. These crosses were used to denote monastery boundaries, mark hallowed ground where mass would be celebrated (before churches in some remote areas were built), or had commemorative functions. Some scholars believe that these large upright stones preserve a distant cultural memory of the "sky pillars" or monoliths, which in pagan times connected the world of humans with the supernatural world of the gods. Also, perhaps another reference to pagan times is the round shape that symbolizes and preserves the memory of the sun-symbol. |
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| refers to the Latin word "Carol" for Charles and the art associated with the reign of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800. Charlemagne's reign is considered a renaaissance in the sense that it was a flowering of culture and art and a harkening back to the political authority of Rome. Art and architecture during this time showed an interest in some classical art forms and literature, such as Roman vaulting techniques, classical orders, and an interest in Roman organization. |
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| limners, people who painted pictures or designs on vellum pages of manuscripts or books, called their work illuminations because of their bright colors and us of gold leaf. |
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| calf-skin, which was used for the pages of manuscripts. Each sheet of vellum was scraped to a smooth fineness in preparation for the scribes and limners. Predates and is much tougher than paper. |
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| was the 1st permanent political capital in Western Europe during the medieval period. Charlemagne built a complex there, which contained a palace, an dearly university, and a royal chapel which still stands today and is known as the Palatine chapel in Germany. |
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| a title that was bestowed upon Charlemagne in 800. This action was an idealistic attempt to revive the moribund Roman Empire which had failed in the Western Europe. Charlemagne made attempts to recapture the glory of Rome through the arts and architecture. |
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| is a dwelling and complex of structures for the self-sufficient communities of monks or nuns who would dwell communally and devote their lives to prayer. Early monks adhered to the Rule of St. Benedict and later the Rule of Augustine. |
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| refers to the eastern part of the former empire of Charlemagne and was named after three kings (descendants of Charlemagne), Otto I, Otto II, and Otto III. The medieval art produced in this Saxon kingdom during this period is known as this. |
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| means "Roma-like." The term was coined by historians in the 19th century to identify the massive stone churches in the medieval period which revived Roman vaulting techniques, especially the large arches with keystone-shaped blocks known as voussoirs; is a stylistic period dominated by church architecture which featured a revival of sculpture dependent on the facades or for interior church furnishings. Other media include illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, sculpture, and mural paintings. |
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| is the semi-circular area above a Romanesque cathedral door reserved for sculpture which incorporates horror vacui (the deliberate elongation/distortion of the human form in order to fill up space and remind the viewer that the subject is like a heavenly vision). |
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| means "serene stone," a type of gray stone used for its harmonious appearance when contrasted with stucco or other smooth surfaces in architecture (most often associated with Italian architecture). |
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| a stylistic convention of expressing the importance of figures by their larger size in relation to other figures. |
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| means to teach or instruct |
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| an object that is believed to have sacred properties, including items associated with holy figures or bodies or body parts. container for = reliquary |
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| the name of the monastic leader with the new Gothic style is most frequently associated. He revived Platonic ideas (Neo Platonism) which suggested that looking at and contemplating beautiful objects, sacred images, and architecture, leads one's soul into closer union with the Divine. His ideas led to the construction of the the new choir at St. Denis in the Gothic style. Stained glass, it was believed, changed everyday light into "splendor" or the light of heaven, transforming a cathedral interior into the heavenly city, or New Jerusalem described in Revelation (the Bible) in translucent terms. |
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| refers to the mostly architectural stylistic period which corresponds to the new lighter, open, and vertical churches after St. Denis (Abbot Suger) and lasts until the Renaissance. Sculpture and stained glass are crucial related media. The word comes from a reference to the Goths (Visigoths and Ostrogoths) who were barbarian peoples settling in Europe around in the 4th century. |
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| stone supports which "fly" from the upper exterior nave, over the clerestory, and down to the ground, carrying the weight of the stone vaults away from the walls so that the walls can be "opened up" and devoted to windows. |
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| colored glass which is usually color-consistent in small pieces. Therefore, stained glass windows are assembled with lead holding the small pieces of colored glass in place. They often depict saints, angels, Christ or the Holy Family, and other divine figures. |
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| compositional element found in Gothic sculpture that mimics classical contrapposto but without accurate anatomical proportion. |
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| Italo-Byzantine style which means the "Greek manner." It refers to art of Ducento or Trecento Italy which was influenced by the art of the medieval Greeks or Byzantine peoples. It employs gold backgrounds, tends to deny space (is flat), and is often symbolic and abstract. |
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| a panel, painted or sculpted, situated above and behind an altar. |
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| Italian for "fresh." It refers to the medium and process of applying a thin layer of fresh plaster on an existing plaster surface and then immediately applying color pigments (tempera) which, upon drying, become a permanent part of the wall surface. |
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| the Italian word meaning "light/dark," which refers to the modeling which begins to appear at the beginning of the Trecento (1300s) with artists such as Cimabue, Duccio, and Giotto, and which develops to a high level of sophistication in the sfumato of Leonardo da Vinci. This modeling becomes the vehicle for creating the verisimilitude which makes a painting a "window to another world" or gives the illusion of three-dimensionality with consistent light sources, explainable spaces, a development of perspective, and ultimately, the suggestion of atmospheric effects. The process includes light (bright areas), half-tones, and shadows with differences between form and cast shadows (soft to hard); it should not be confused with value-pattern. |
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| subjects from everyday life. |
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| international Gothic style |
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| painting style popular in Europe in the 14th and early 15th centuries. Characteristics may include brilliant color, lavish costumes, intricate ornamentation and themes of splendid processions. Often the figures do not cast shadows and there is an interest in splendor and idealism rather than realism. |
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| wrote The Inferno and The Divine Comedy (in Italian which was more accessible than Latin) |
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| the study of symbolic, often religious, meaning of objects, persons, or events depicted in works of art. |
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| medium of painting in oils (as opposed to tempera or fresco) developed in the North and perfected by Jan van Eyck. |
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