2 Flashcards
loculi
holes cut in walls of catacombs meant to receive dead bodies
basilica
axially planned church w/ long nave, side aisles, apse
apse
endpoint of church where altar is
transept
aisle in church perpendicular to nave, where clergy stood
nave
main aisle of church (male worshippers); females relegated to side aisles
narthex
vestibule (lobby) positioned as transitional zone in front of church
spolia
reuse of architectural or sculptural pieces in buildings generally diff from their original contexts
axial plan
(basilican, longitudinal) church w/ long nave whose focus is the apse
- more numerous
central plan
church having circular plan w/ altar in middle
christian churches vs pagan temples
exteriors of churches avoided decoration and sculpture that recall the facade of temples
ambulatory
(side aisle) passageway around the apse or altar of a church, where women stood
icon
devotional panel depicting sacred image
- wooden foundation
- faithful were cnrouaged to kiss and burn votive candles beneath them, so many icons have become blackened and then repainted
pendentive
triangle shaped piece of masonry w/ dome resting on 1 long side n other 2 sides channeling the weight down to a pier below
squinch
polygonal base of a dome that makes a transition from round dome to a flat wall
iconostasis
screen decorated w/ icons, which separates apse from transept of a church (some parts of mass take place behind this screen)
paten
plate, dish, bowl used to hold eucharist at christian ceremony
islamic art
- religious art: no figures; secular writings: yes
- avoids perspective, be 2D, arabesque + geometric designs
- manuscript decor and wall paintings
- intellectual, refined, decorative; no pathos, serene harmony
islamic patrons
secular and religious rulers and social elite
calligraphy
based upon arabic script. highest art form in islamic world b/c used to transmit texts revealed from god to muhammad
arabesque
flowing, intricate, symmetrical pattern deriving from floral motifs
tessellation
decor using polygonal shapes w/ no gaps - unity in multiplicity
3 islamic patterns
calligraphy arabesques tessellations
kufic
highly distinguished, reserved for official texts. traditional (but not only) script for quran. evolved into highly ornamental style difficult for avg reader
- long horizontals, strong uprights
jali
perforated ornamental stone screens
most treasured in islamic art
textiles - carpets, tapestry
codices
1 of the great glories of medieval art is the decor of manuscript books, called codices, improvements over ancient scrolls both for ease of use and durability
vellum
fine parchment made of resilient antelope or calf hide scriptorium
scriptoria
illuminations painted mostly by monks/nuns who wrote in rooms called scriptoria, no heat or light to prevent fires
cloissonne
enamelwork in which colored areas r separated by thin bands of metal, usu gold/bronze
horror vacui
entire surface filled, sometimes in a congested way
animal style
medieval art form, animals depicted in stylized n often complicated pattern, usu fighting w/ 1 another
merovingians
a dynasty of frankish kings. treated kingdom as private property, spent lavishly on selves
hiberno-saxon art
art of british isles in early medieval (hibernia = ancient ireland.)
- main: illuminated manuscripts
- horror vacui, animal style
medieval artits life
- middle class
- painter higher than sculpture/architecture bc worked less w/ hands
medieval patronage
- powerful n wealthy women were active patrons
- esp strong among preaching orders of friars
- families, to decorate local churches
romanesque
revival of structures entirely in stone is 1 reason for the periods name
rib vault
diagonal arches form riblike patterns. these arches partially support a roof
bay
basic unitt of medieval construction
- 1st floor arches + 2nd floor triforium w/ smaller arches + 3rd floor clerestory
arcades
series of arches supported by columns
blind arcade
when arches face a wall and aren’t self supporting
campaniles
bell towers in italian buildings. summon to prayer
reliquary
vessel for holding sacred relic (ex: bones of saints). often took shape of objects they held. precious metals and stones
gothic archtecture in common w/ earlier period
w/ romanesque
- rib vault
- bays
- rose window
- pointed arch; ogee (“S” shaped arches) developed
flying buttress
- new in gothic
- stone arches support roof by having the weight bypass the walls and travel down to piers outside building
- allowed building to be opened up for more window space, stabilize against wind
pinnacle
pointed structure on roof of gothic churches; stabilizing forces in wind storm
choir
space btwn transept and apse for clergymen; further removed public from main altar
chevet
east end of gothic church
romanasque vs gothic subj matter
r: last judgment, damned to hell
g: possibility of salvation
gothic painting
stained glass became an industry during gothic
guild system
medieval artists; artwork regulated as an industry
- modern approach to art, as a business run by professionals, has its origins in gothic period
trecento
the 14th century as a period of Italian art, architecture, or literature.
maniera greca
“greek manner” painting style based on byzantine models popular in italy in 12th, 13th cents
giotto
- more dynamic emotions
- mass and solidity – shading
northern vs western europe art
- n: nonreligious objects – portraits, genre paintings, still lifes (fondness for nature unknown in italian art)
- s: religious subj w/ more active, dynamic compositions
durer
resolve inonoclasm vs images issue by turning to other types of painting, like portraits, or seeking a middle road by playing down religious ecstasies or the lives of saints
tempera
paint that uses egg yolk as binding medium; noted for quick drying rate + flat opaque colors
engraving
tool called burin is used to carve into metal plate. ink is passed into the crevices of the plate and paper is applied
etching
metal plate covered w/ ground made of wax. tool is used to cut into the wax, leaving plate exposed. plate then submerged into acid bath, which eats away at exposed portions. ink filled into crevices caused by acid. FINEST DETAIL of 3 types of early prints
woodcut
wooden tablet carved into w/ tool. DESIGN RAISED, background cut away. ink rolled onto raised portions.
impt 15th cent devs
- movable type, gutenberg
- oil paint
oil paint
- rich colors
- imitate natural hues and tones
- enamellike surfaces, sharp detail
- durable in wet climates, retains luster
- not quick drying
humanism
renaissance mvmnt that emphasized secular alongside religious.
- achievements of classical past
renaissance architecture
- no darkness like gothic - thats barbaric
- stress geometric designs: harmonies achieved by system of ideal proportions learned from the roman vitruvius’s treatise
trompe l’oeil
“fools the eye” form of painting that attemps to represent an object as existing in 3D
brunelleschi
revitalization (or even invention) of linear perspective during italian renaissance attributed to him
renaissance patronage
- monarchs competed to have artists in their employ
- dominant patron was pope julius II; he transformed rome into capital of renaissance
- michelangelo’s preferred customer
renaissance painting medium
- canvas - heavy women material thats durable, portable; primed to make it resemble enamel-like surface of wood; 1st widely used in VENICE
- former: wood, which would warp in damp climate
sfumato
smoke-light / hazy effect that distances viewer from subject of painting; da cinvi
chiaroscuro
forms arent determined by sharp outlines but by the meeting of lighter n darker areas
glazes
thin transparent layers put over painting to alter color n build up rich sonorous effect
mona lisa
w/ da vinci’s mona lisa, portraits become psychological paintings. artists couldnt just capture likenesses; have to express character of sitter
arcadian
simple n rustic setting used esp in venetian paintings of high renaissance
- arcadia: greek district to which poets, painters hav attributed a rural simplicity + idyllically untroubled world
florentines vs venetians
- f: line n contour; v: bathed figures in soft atmospheric ambiance
- f: religious scenes as heroic accomplishments; v: more human touch, arcadian setting
mannerism
- late works of michelangelo
- characterized by the exaggeration or alteration of proportions, posture, and expression
- comes from italian word for style - characterised by surprising effects and visual trickery
- unusual, complex compositions made it an intellectual art form
still life
painting of grouping of inanimate objects; specialty of dutch school
genre painting
scenes of everyday life r depicted
baroque architecture
- relies on MOVEMENT, as in the other arts
- emphasis on center of facade w/ wavelike forms accentuating entrance
vanitas
a still-life painting of a 17th-century Dutch genre containing symbols of death or change as a reminder of their inevitability ALSO folly of human vanity
tenebroso
(tenebrism) dramatic dark n light contrast in a painting
- caravaggio
- expressive sense of movement
- Tenebrism is used exclusively for dramatic effect
impasto
thick n very visible application of paint on a painting surface
- used by northern artists
- feeling of spontaniety
dutch baroque
- modern taste: religious ecstasies, myths, history avoided
- small buildings
- no industry portrayed in works
- in common w/ rest of european art: many layers of symbolism
latin amerian colonial
- mixing of indigenous + european ( + asian, african)
- closely aligns w/ art production from spain n the rest of southern europe
- spanish style: oil technique, catholic imagery
- native: flattened surface w/ earthen tones
mestizo
person of mixed european n native amer descent
salon
- gov sponsored artwork exhibition held in paris
- traditional standards: flawless technique w/ convention perspective
- history 2. portraits (still lifes lowest)
grand tour
in order to complete their education young englishmen n americans in 18th cent undertook journey to italy to absorb ancient n renaissance sites
rococo vs baroque
r: more domestic - for private, not public, display
fete galante
ROCOCO
pastel
colored chalk that when mixed w/ other ingredients produces medium that has soft, delicate hue
rococo
- frech most noted
- shuns straight lines even in frames
- sensual appeal, sexual overtones
- pastel hues
academy
institution whose main obj: training artists in academic tradition, ennobling the profession, holding exhibitions
hogarth
18th cent english painter who did satires
exemplum virtutis
painting that tells moral tale for viewer
neoclassical
- has to do w/ recovery of artifacts from pompeii
- symmetrical, linear persp, invisible brushwork, clear details
- exemplum virtutis
timeline
byzantine early medieval romanesque gothic renaissance (mannerism in later stages) baroque rococo, neoclassicism romanticism
sublime
any cathartic experience from the catastrophic to the intellectual that causes the viewer to marvel in awe
romantic period
- greatest invention: photography
- artist was a troubled genius
- architecture - revival of nearly every style of the past, esp medieval
camera obscura
“dark room” box w/ lens which captures light n casts image on opposite side
photograms
image made by placing obj on photosensitive paper n exposing them to light to produce silhouette; primitive type of photography that captured outlines of obj n little else
d, c type
- daguerreo: french version; single image characterized by sharp focus n great clarity of detail, shiny surface
- calotype: english; at first inferior in quality (grainy) but less costly n had accompanying negative that could generate unlimited number of copies; considered forefather of all photography b/c of + -
positivism
all knowledge must come from proen ideas based on science; comte
modernism
late 19th cent; artists embraced the current at expense of traditional
- artists seek to question the very nature of art itself
japonisme
attraction for japanese art n artifacts that were imported into europe in late 19th cent
plain-air
painting in outdoors to directly capture effects of light n atmosphere on given obj
- impressionism – spectacular color range
lithography
printmaking technique using flat stone surface as base. image drawn w/ special crayon that attracts ink. paper, which absorbs ink, is applied to surface
impr vs post imp
- i: stressed light, shading, color
- p-i: make impressionism something solid + durable, like the art of the museums. move toward abstraction while retaining solid forms
symbolist
- unseen forces r guiding influences in painting
- mystical philosophy
art nouveau
- 1890 to WWI outbreak
- seeks to eliminate separation among various media n combine into 1 unified experience
- CURVILINEAR - avoid straight lines; floral ptterns, complex design, undulating surfaces
muqurna
honeycomb-like decor often applied in islamic buildings to domes, niches, capitals, vaults. surface resembles intricate stalactites
pyxis
small cylinder-shaped container w/ detachable lid used to contain cosmetics or jewelry
mushaf
manuscripts of the quran. written in brown ink
chador
outer garment that allows only the face n hands of iranian women to be seen; keeps bodies from being seen as sexual objects
old master
any painter of skill who worked in Europe before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist
the NY school
reaction against artists like mondrian who took minimalist approach to abstraction.
- seek more active representation of the hand of the artist on a given work
- action painting is a big thing
vairocana
universal buddha, a source of enlightenment; represents “emptiness”- freedom from earthly matters to help achieve salvation
bi
round ceremonial disk found in ancient chinese tombs; circular hole in center which may have symbolized heaven
mortise and tenon
grooe cut into stone/wood (mortise) shaped to receive a projection (tenon) of same dimensinos
votive
offered in fulfillment of a vow/pledge
cella
main room of temple where god is housed
apadana
audience hall in a persian palace
stele
stone slab used to mark a grave or site
ankh
egyptian symbol of life
