Term
|
Definition
| Ambulatory is a covered passage around the apse, cloister and choir of a church. It was originally a feature of Romanesque churches that developed in connection with their use as pilgrimage centers. In a large church or cathedral, it is the passageway behind the high altar and around an apse. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A three-dimensional artwork constructed from found objects. This technique, which derived originally from collage, was widely popular toward the end of the 1950. A found object is one that is not necessarily designed for art, but already has some other use. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Avant-garde is a term derived from the French military word which means ‘before the group’. In art, avant-garde denotes artists whose works seem to be ahead of its time, especially those who emphasize innovation and are radical in nature. |
|
|
Term
| Barrel Vault (aka. Wagon Vault) |
|
Definition
| It is a series of semi cylindrical arches forming a vault or a ceiling. A barrel vault is a deep arch or an uninterrupted series of arches. Roman architects used barrel vaults in the construction of the Colosseum and in the Baths of Caracalla. Barrel vaults are one of the characteristic features of Romanesque churches. |
|
|
Term
| Bauhaus (Ger. "building house) |
|
Definition
| It is a design school founded under the leadership of the architect Walter Gropius at Weimer in 1919. Bauhaus continued and extended the pre-war tradition of the ‘Deutscher Werkbund’. Its aim was bring all the arts under the primacy of architecture. After following the Expressionists in emphasizing creative intuition, Bauhaus soon moved towards the modern world of industry, with teaching methods which stressed the need for a rational, practical approach to design problems, linked to the new Doctrines of Construction and Neoplasticism. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An adjective used to describe irregular abstract art that resembles or suggests forms found in nature. These forms are frequently seen surrealism. Paintings and compositions of Joan Miro are excellent examples of biomorphs. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A projecting beam or structure anchored at one end by the weight of the structure to carry load all along its unsupported length. A cantilever projects horizontally beyond its vertical support. In Fallingwater (Kaufmann House), Frank Lloyd Wright made particularly dramatic use of cantilevers. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In painting, a full-size preliminary drawing used to transfer an outline onto the surface to be painted whether roof, wall or canvas. Da Vinci's Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and the Infant Saint John is a famous example of a cartoon. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is a sculpted female figure used in place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. Caryatid literally means "maidens of Caryae," which is an ancient town of Peloponnese. The Erechtheion is a famous structure, known for its porch of caryatids. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An Italian word designating the treatment and use of light and dark to give the effect of modeling in drawing or painting. Its invention is generally associated with the career of Leonardo da Vinci. Chiaroscuro is affiliated with the rise of oil paintings, reaching a climax in the 17th century with the work of Caravaggio in Italy and Rembrandt in Holland. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The clerestory originated in the temples of Egypt. It is a row of windows in the upper part of a nave wall, especially in a church to admit light inside. Romanesque and Gothic churches have clerestory windows on the walls above the roof of the lower aisles. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is a relaxed natural pose, or "weight shift,” which represents the shift of weight from one leg to the other while walking. It was introduced in Greek sculptures. Contrapposto is a way of representing the parts of the body, where the upper portion of the torso twists in one direction while the lower part twists in an opposite direction. The body is obliquely balanced around a central vertical axis. The Doryphoros by Polykleitos is a suitable example of Contrapposto. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A vault formed by placing stone blocks in horizontal courses, cantilevering them inward until the two opposite walls meet in an arch. The Lion's Gate at Mycenae is an excellent example of a corbeled vault. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Crypt is a vaulted space usually located wholly or partly under the apse of a church. It is used as a subterranean chapel or burial vault chamber containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics of saints or high ranking church officials. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is a two-paneled painting or altarpiece that is hinged together. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is a technique in which powdered color glass is applied to a metal surface in a decorative design and is bound by firing. When firing between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius the powder melts, fuses and hardens to form a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic. It often is applied as a paste, which may be transparent or opaque when fired. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is a painting technique, where hot colored pigment is mixed with beeswax and applied onto a surface. Metal tools and special brushes are used to shape the paint before it cools. Heated metal tools are then used to shape the wax once it has cooled onto the surface. Byzantine artists used encaustic techniques to create panel paintings. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In Classical architecture, entablature is the part of a building found above the columns and below the roof. The entablature of a classical temple includes the architrave that runs from column to column. A long strip that may or may not be embellished is called the frieze, and a projecting member below the pediment termed as cornice. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In Classical architecture, frieze refers to a continuous horizontal band that has sculptural decoration. The Ionic frieze in the Parthenon depicts the Panathenaic procession. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A term used to categorize paintings depicting scenes of every day life, including domestic interiors. Genres can also mean various categories such as landscape, portrait, still life etc. |
|
|
Term
| Groin Vault (aka. Cross Vault) |
|
Definition
| A groin vault is formed by the intersection of two barrel vaults at right angles. It is one of the characteristic features of Gothic cathedrals. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed. Groin vault construction was first exploited by the Romans. It reached its ultimate expression in the Gothic architecture of the middle ages. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is the representation of more important figures as larger in size than less important ones where each element is a system of ranking and organizing things or people. The sculptor who carved the Victory stele of Naram-Sin used hierarchical scale to indicate Naram-Sin's lofty status. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is a large hall with a flat ceiling supported by columns. The Temple of Amen-Re at Karnak has an enormous hypostyle hall where the central row of columns forming the nave is taller than the columns along the two sides that are shorter. As the ceiling over the shorter columns is at a different level, the space in between is often spanned with a trellis which allows light to enter inside over the aisle roof. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It refers to a movement in the Byzantine Empire that favored destroying images which were associated with idolatry including images of Christ and the saints. The image destroyers were known as iconoclasts. The Byzantine emperor, Leo III in 726 opposed the use of iconic images leading to the Iconic Controversy. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In Greek, Iconography means writing of images. It refers to the study of the meaning of visual images. It also includes the study of mysterious, often religious meanings of objects, persons and events depicted in works of art |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A designed environment set up as work of art, usually using multi-media, in a gallery or outdoor location. It is always site specific to create a total environment. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A technique in which the design is incised or scratched, onto the surface of an object thus producing a hollow-cut design, also known as sunken relief. In graphic print, making intaglio includes incising on a metal plate, either manually (engraving) or chemically (etching). These incised lines of the design take the ink in order to be printed. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is an archaic Greek statue of a robed, standing female figure referred to as a "girl maiden". Kore refers to “Persephone”, the Queen of the Underworld, consort of Hades and the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is an archaic Greek statue of a standing nude male youth, whom Homer refers to as young soldiers. From the 5th century onwards the word kouros connoted an adolescent, beardless male. Kouroi are also commonly known as "Apollos," since it is assumed that all kouroi depicted the ideally youthful Apollo. Archaic kouroi is influenced by statues of Egyptian kings, who are characteristically rigid and seen in frontal pose, striding forward, head erect, and eyes looking ahead, with a faint smile on their lips known as the "archaic smile". Kouroi are represented nude with long hair braided or beaded, and eyes have a recognizably Egyptian approach. Kouroi figures were used as a votive offering to temples by Greeks, and were also placed in cemeteries to mark the graves of prominent citizens. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is a semicircular niche on the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca. Muslims face Mihrab while praying. It varies in size and is usually ornately decorated. The mihrab gives the impression of a door or a passage to Mecca. Mihrabs first appeared in the Prophet Muhammad's house in Mecca. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Images composed of small pieces (tesserae) of hard colored glasses, stones or other materials cemented together to decorate floors or walls. Theodora and attendants in San Vitale at Ravenna is a good example. Romans often used mosaics to decorate their floors. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In Buddhist and Hindu iconography, a stylized and symbolic hand gesture to show a specific mood or action, such as protection, compassion, meditation or teaching is known as a Mudra. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A multistoried Indian or Chinese tower usually associated with a Buddhist temple, with successively diminishing storeys separated from one another by a projecting roof. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In Classical architecture, the triangular section of a temple roof found above the horizontal structure (entablature) was often decorated with sculptures and reliefs depicting scenes from mythology. The Parthenon, filled with commendable sculptural detail, is an outstanding example. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In architecture it is a device that permits a circular dome to be mounted over a square room or an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. They are triangular segments of a spherical surface that taper to points at the bottom and spread at the top to fill the upper corners of a room. Hagia Sophia at Constantinople was a notable example by the Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An art work based on the use of the artist’s body covering its, movements, gestures and sounds as a medium of expression in art. It could involve a live action, event, or theatrical performance by the artist to communicate with audience. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A pictorial composition made by pasting or overlapping pictures or fragments of photographs, also called a photo collage |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The flat surface of a painting corresponding to the window between the spectator and the pictorial space. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In Greek, polu means "many” and ptychÄ“ means "fold". Polyptych generally refers to a panel painting which is divided into four or more sections or panels. Polyptychs were often used by Renaissance painters, and largely designed to be altarpieces in churches and cathedrals. Ghent Altarpiece is probably the most famous polyptych. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A pair of tall tapered towers that have sloping sides, flanking the entrance to an Egyptian temple. It is often used as a support or boundary, or simply as decoration. The Temple of Horus at Edfu, belonging to the Egyptian period has a particularly well-preserved pylon entrance. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A term coined by Marcel Duchamp c. 1913. Ready-made represents an ordinary object that is isolated from its normal context and treated as a work of art. When an artist gives it a new context and title, the ordinary objectis transformed into an art object. Ready-mades were important features of the Dada and Surrealism movements of the early twentieth century. Marcel Duchamp's Fountain is a famous example of ready-made. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In pictorial narration, when the format is divided into smaller rows, one of the series of rows is called a register. Standard of Ur and Palette of King Narmer are excellent examples of registers. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In sculpture, figures projecting from a surface on which they are carved or molded. It is called high relief or low (bas) relief depending upon the extent of projection. When the figure is incised or modeled below the surface, it is termed as sunken relief. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A technique in which a malleable metal plate is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side. A metal sheet of uniform thickness is stretched on a pliable material in the process and the surface is hammered to create an embossed form on the reverse side. The funerary masks discovered at Mycenae were created using the repousse technique. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A monument to enshrine the body relics of Buddha or Buddhist teachers. It consists of a solid hemisphere on a circular or square base. On its flattened top, there is a kiosk with an implanted umbrella. Stupas are found in both Buddhist and Jain religious architecture. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A three-paneled painting or altarpiece with the two outer panels usually hinged so that they fold like door fronts of the main central scene. The central panel is enclosed on either side by two lesser but related paintings. Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymous Bosch is a suitable example of Triptych. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The lunette-shaped (semi-circular) space above the portals of Romanesque and Gothic churches is known as Tympanum. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is Calfskin prepared as a surface for writing or painting. It has thin, smooth and durable properties. The Lindisfarne Gospels used tempera on vellum, and the calendar pictures of Les Tres Riches Heures used ink on vellum. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A wedge-shaped block that was used in the construction of a true arch. The central voussoir holds the arch together and is called the keystone. There are two specified voussoir components of an arch: the keystone and the springer. The keystone is the center stone at the top of an arch which is often decorated, or made larger in size. While the springer is the first stone that starts from the column. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| It is a structure comprising an impressive many-storied facade and towers. It is found in Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque medieval churches located at the western end of the church. |
|
|
