EXAM #1 Flashcards
Akropolis
The citadel of an ancient Greece city, located at it’s highest point and housing temples, a treasury, and sometimes a royal place.
Amphora
An ancient Greek or Roman jar for storing oil or wine, with an egg-shaped body and two curved handles.
Basilica
A large rectangular building. Originally Roman centers for administration, later adapted to Christian church use.
Black figure
A technique of ancient Greek ceramic decoration in which black figures are painted on red clay ground.
Buon Fresco
A painting technique in which waterbased pigments are applied to a plaster surface. If the plaster is painted when wet, the color is absorbed by the plaster, becoming a permanent part of the wall (buon fresco). Fresco secco is created by painting on dried plaster, and the color may eventually flake off. Murals made by both these techniques are called frescos.
Capstone
The final, topmost stone in a corbeled arch or vault, which joins the sides and completes the structure.
Caryatid
A sculpture of a draped female figure acting as a column supporting entablature.
Cella
The principal interior room at the center of a Greek or Roman temple within which the cult state was usually housed.
Contrapposto
“Set against”, described of representing human figures with opposing alternations of tension and relaxation on either side of a center axis to imbue figures with a sense of the potential for movement.
Cyclopean
A method of construction using huge blocks of rough-hewn stone. Any large scale, monumental building project that impresses by sheer size.
Entasis
A slight swelling of the shaft of a Greek column.
Forum
A Roman town center; site of temples and administrative buildings and used as a market or gathering area for citizens.
Kore
An Archaic Greek statue of a young woman.
Kouros
An Archaic Greek statue of a young man or boy.
Krater
An Ancient Greek vessel for mixing wine and water, with many subtypes that each have a distinctive shape.
Labrys
The Greek “Double headed axe”. A very popular motif in Minoan architecture.
Megaron
The main hall of a Mycenaean palace or ground house.
Metope
The carved or painted rectangular panel between the triglyphs of a Doric frieze.
Minoan
Bronze age civilization that existed on the island of Crete (And other Aegean isles) from about 1900-1375 BCE. Divided into two periods, “Old Palace” from 1900-1700 BCE, and “New Palace” from 1700-1375 BCE.
Module
A segment or portion of a repeated design. (a basic building block)
Keystone
The topmost voussior at the center of an arch, and the last block to be placed. The pressure of this block holds the arch together.
Frieze
The middle element of an entablature, between the architrave and the cornice. Usually decorated with sculpture, painting or moldings.
Mycenaeans
The Mycenaeans were the peoples populating mainland Greece during the Helladic period (about 3000-1000 BCE). Mycenaeans built citadels and the Megaron, and their architecture is distinctly different from that of the Minoans.
Nave
The center space of a church, two or three stones high and usually flanked by aisles.
Olpe
Any Greek Vessel without a spout.
Pediment
A triangular gable found over major architectural elements such as Classical Greek porticos, windows, or doors. Formed by an entablature and the ends of a sloping roof or a raking cornice.
Peristyle
In Greek architecture, a surrounding colonnade. Surrounded on the exterior by a colonnade.
Pier
A masonry support made up of many stones, or rubble and concrete, often square or rectangular in plan, and capable of carrying very heavy architectural loads.
Pronaos
The enclosed vestibule of a Greek or Roman temple, found in front of the cella and marked by a row of columns at the entrance.
Reconstitution
“Fixing” damaged art or architecture, but generally taking artistic liberty in doing so. - This happened to the parthenon in the 1920s, when attempted reconstruction resulted in pieces in the wrong places and further damage to the integrity of the marble structure. -We also discussed this in class when taking about the “Labyrinth” at Knossos, and how the archaeologists associated with Sir Arthur Evans reconstituted much of the art to fit their theory of the site’s history.
Red figure
A technique of ancient Greek ceramic decoration characterized by red clay- colored figures on a black background. The figures are reserved against a painted ground and details are drawn, not engraved.
Relieving Triangle
The triangular block above a lintel in megalithic architecture used to direct the weight and pressure off of the lintel.
Slip
A mixture of clay and water applied to a ceramic object as a final decorative coat. (Also) a solution that binds different parts of a vessel together, such as the handle and the main body.
Stylus
An instrument with a pointed end which makes a delicate line or scratch. (Also) a special writing tool for cuneiform writing with one pointed end and one triangular.
Symposium
An elite gathering of wealthy and powerful men in ancient Greece that focused principally on wine, music, poetry, conservation, games and love making.
Temenos
An enclosed area reserved for worship in ancient Greece.
Tholos
A small, round building. Sometimes built underground.
Verism
Style in which artists concern themselves with describing the exterior likeness of an object or person, usually by rendering its visible details in a finely executed, meticulous manner.
Vertical Perspective
The use of overlapping figures to create the illusion of depth. Example: the Parthenon Marbles
