Exam 1

Question 1

Abstract/Abstraction

Answer 1

Based on an object, figure or landscape, where forms have been simplified or schematized

Question 2

Stylized

Answer 2

A form that has moved away from natural forms and shapes

Question 3

Reliquary

Answer 3

A container for holy relics

Question 4

Tympanum

Answer 4

A semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, door or window, which is bounded by a lintel and an arch

Question 5

Jambs

Answer 5

A side post or surface of a doorway, window, or fireplace

Question 6

Jamb statues

Answer 6

A figure carved on the jambs of a doorway or window

Question 7

Nave

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Giornata

Answer 8

Giornata is an art term, originating from an Italian word which means “a day’s work.” The term is used in Buon fresco mural painting and describes how much painting can be done in a single day of work

Question 9

Predella

Answer 9

A painting or sculpture on the front of a raised shelf above an altar, which typically forms the base for an altarpiece.

Question 10

Sinopia

Answer 10

Sinopia is a dark reddish-brown natural earth pigment, whose reddish color comes from hematite, a dehydrated form of iron oxide

Question 11

Buon fresco

Answer 11

(Italian for ‘true fresh’) is a fresco painting technique in which alkaline-resistant pigments, ground in water, are applied to wet plaster

Question 12

Grisaille

Answer 12

A method of painting in gray monochrome, typically to imitate sculpture

Question 13

Fresco secco

Answer 13

(or a secco or fresco finto) is a wall painting technique where pigments mixed with an organic binder and/or lime are applied onto a dry plaster

Question 14

Book of Hours

Answer 14

The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours

Question 15

Ambulatory

Answer 15

A semicircular or polygonal aisle. Often an ambulatory leads around the east end of the choir; separating the choir from apses or chapels

Question 16

Rose window

Answer 16

A circular window with mullions or tracery radiating in a form suggestive of a rose

Question 17

S-curve

Answer 17

A traditional art concept where the figure’s body and posture is depicted like a sinuous or serpentine manner

Question 18

Diptych

Answer 18

A painting, especially an altarpiece, on two hinged wooden panels which may be closed like a book

Question 19

Triptych

Answer 19

A picture (such as an altarpiece) or carving in three panels side by side

Question 20

Polyptych

Answer 20

A painting, typically an altarpiece, consisting of more than three leaves or panels joined by hinges or folds

Question 21

Glazing

Answer 21

A standard technique in painting, whereby a thin layer of paint is applied on top of the main color, resulting in rich, iridescent colors

Question 22

Woodcut

Answer 22

A relief process in which knives and other tools are used to carve a design into the surface of a wooden block

Question 23

Engraving

Answer 23

An intaglio printmaking process in which lines are cut into a metal plate in order to hold the ink

Question 24

Intaglio printing

Answer 24

The opposite of relief printing, in that the printing is done from ink that is below the surface of the plate

Question 25

Relief printing

Answer 25

When you carve into a printing block that you then use to press onto paper and make a print

Question 26

Linear perspective

Answer 26

A type of perspective used by artists in which the relative size, shape, and position of objects are determined by drawn or imagined lines converging at a point on the horizon

Question 27

Pietra serena

Answer 27

A blue-gray sandstone used extensively in Renaissance Florence for architectural details. It is also known as Macigno stone

Question 28

Palazzo

Answer 28

Refers to an architectural style of the 19th and 20th centuries based upon the palazzi (palaces) built by wealthy families

Question 29

Rusticated

Answer 29

Rustication is a range of masonry techniques used in classical architecture giving visible surfaces a finish texture that contrasts with smooth, squared-block masonry called ashlar

Question 30

Orthogonal

Answer 30

Imaginary lines which are parallel to the ground plane and the line of sight of the viewer

Question 31

Vanishing point

Answer 31

Point of convergence

Question 32

Trompe l’oiel

Answer 32

An artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface

Question 33

Allegory

Answer 33

A relation to something

Question 34

Neoplatonism

Answer 34

Idealist, perfection, flawless