Chiaroscuro

Means “light and dark.” Painting method using mostly light and shade.

Contrapposto

Means “set against.” One leg is active, the other neutral. The opposite arm of the active leg is is also in action 

1 point perspective

All lines converge on one point.

High key tonality

An image consisting of primarily light tones, without dark shadows. 

Worm’s eye view

A view from below or an inferior position.

 Sacra conversazione

Comes from Italian – meaning “holy conversation”

it is applied to an altarpiece in which attendant saints are grouped in a unified space around the centralised Virgin and Child in a single panel

Classical influence

Neo-Platonism

Neoplatonism is an assimilation of the thoughts of Plato with other ancient and medieval thoughts, other classical ideas, and the modification of certain Christian doctrines.

Linear style

Shape defined by line instead of shadow – a lot of detail – you can see every hair on someone’s head

Tempera

a method of painting with pigments dispersed in an emulsion miscible with water, typically egg yolk. 

Fresco

a painting done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling, so that the colors penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries.

Relief sculpture

Sculpture in which three-dimensional forms project from a flat background of which they are a part. The degree of projection can vary and is described by the terms high relief and low relief (bas-relief.)

(Architecture)

Colossal order

In Classical architecture, a giant order is an order whose columns or pilasters span two (or more) stories. At the same time, smaller orders may feature in arcades or window and door framings within the storeys that are embraced by the giant order.

CHURCH PLANS

Longitudinal—Latin cross

A long nave (body of the church) crossed by a transept (the part that intersects). 

CHURCH PLANS 

Centralized—Greek cross

A square plan in which the nave, chancel and transept arms are of equal length forming a Greek cross, the crossing generally surmounted by a dome

Greek and Roman column parts

Base (rests on pedestal), shaft (the long stem between the base and capital), capital (top piece that meets the roof)

CHURCH PARTS

Apse 

a large semicircular or polygonal recess in a church, arched or with a domed roof, typically at the eastern end, and usually containing the altar.

CHURCH PARTS

NAVE

the central part of a church building, intended to accommodate most of the congregation.

CHURCH PARTS

Transepts, north and south

(in a cross-shaped church) either of the two parts forming the arms of the cross shape, projecting at right angles from the nave.

CHURCH PARTS

Crossing

A crossing is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church.

CHURCH PARTS

AISLE

A part of a church divided laterally from the nave by a row of pillars or columns.

CHURCH PARTS

         Bay

A part of a building marked off by vertical elements, such as columns or pilasters.

CHURCH PARTS

         Cornice

any prominent, continuous, horizontally projecting feature surmounting a wall or other construction, or dividing it horizontally for compositional purposes.

CHURCH PARTS

Vault

an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof

Entablature

a horizontal, continuous lintel on a classical building supported by columns or a wall, comprising the architrave, frieze, and cornice.

(WHAT THE CAPITAL of a column touches)

frieze

a broad horizontal band of sculpted or painted decoration, esp. on a wall near the ceiling.

Engaged column

In architecture, an engaged column is a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall

Façade

A facade or façade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear.

Pediment

A wide, low-pitched gable (so basically a squat triangle) surmounting the façade of a building in the Grecian style.