Final Vocab

Question 1

An Imperialistic Western tradition of representing the “Eastern World” of Islamdom, the Middle East, and Asia as an object of study through art and academic fields, falsely essentializing these places and people as unchanging and underdeveloped, providing ideological justification for their colonization, control, and exploitation

Answer 1

Orientalism

Question 2

A type of print from a carved wooden block, to which ink is applied with a roller. The ink sticks to the raised areas, which appear black when paper is pressed against the inked block

Answer 2

Woodcut

Question 3

A type of print from an incised copper plate, made using a pointed graving tool called a burin. In printing, ink is spread upon the plate and then wiped away with rag, leaving only the ink which fills the design’s incised lines. Pressing paper against the plate transfers this ink to produce the print

Answer 3

Engraving

Question 4

A type of painting that takes inanimate objects as its subject, including such things as food, dishes, fruit, and flowers

Answer 4

Still life

Question 5

A global artistic style prevalent from c. 1580-1700, which developed out of the Catholic reformation or Counter-Reformation, in which theatrical, often multi-media artworks focused on persuading viewers through rhetoric, drama, and emotional engagement

Answer 5

Baroque

Question 6

A canopy over an altar, raised on four corner pillars

Answer 6

Ciborium

Question 7

The ideology of extending a nation’s power or dominance over other countries and/or peoples, subjugating or denying their own inherent sovereignty

Answer 7

Imperialism

Question 8

The actual practice of a nation-state seeking control, domination, and authority over other people and lands, to benefit the mother country

Answer 8

Colonialism

Question 9

A phrase which means the “beautiful whole” to describe the successful and harmonious synthesis of architecture, painting, and sculpture to create a stylistically unified space

Answer 9

Composto or Bel Composto

Question 10

A spiraling, helical shaped column, purportedly like those used in King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem

Answer 10

Solomonic Columns

Question 11

The political doctrine of unlimited centralized authority and absolute sovereignty in one person as monarch or dictator

Answer 11

Absolutism

Question 12

Actual or implied lines that move a viewer’s eye through a painting or composition. They may be formed by the underlying the positioning or line of sight of figures in the composition, or by the underlying structure of object, buildings, or light and shadow

Answer 12

Compositional lines

Question 13

In art history, the biographical method seeks to interpret works of art in relation to their maker’s life and personality

Answer 13

Biography

Question 14

A wet-on-wet technique of applying oil paint directly onto the canvas, rather than the layers of glaze painting that typified Early Modern European painting

Answer 14

Alla prima

Question 15

Paintings that include figures representing Biblical, historical, or mythological narratives, and conveying moral or intellectual ideas

Answer 15

History painting

Question 16

Paintings that represent everyday life, including domestic interiors, depictions of labor, merry companies, inn scenes, and street scenes

Answer 16

Genre painting

Question 17

A process of applying paint thickly so that it stands out from the surface of the support

Answer 17

Impasto

Question 18

A printmaking process in which a metal plate is coated with acid-resistant resin, and then inscribed with a stylus or needle in a design, revealing the plate below. The plate is then immersed in acid, and the exposed metal is eaten away by the acid. The resin is then removed, leaving the plate ready to be inked, wiped, and printed

Answer 18

Etching

Question 19

A printmaking technique in which the artist works back into the otherwise finished metal plate with a sharp needle, reworking the plate in different states of the same image, and leaving a more velvety finish

Answer 19

Drypoint

Question 20

An image in which all the objects symbolize the transience of life and the inevitability of death. Also called mememto mori, which is Latin for “remember that you have to die.”

Answer 20

Vanitas

Question 21

An artistic style that developed out of the late Baroque, characterized by light, pastel colors, curving forms, dainty figures, and an emphasis on lighthearted and sentimental themes

Answer 21

Rococo style

Question 22

A genre of painting depicting outdoor entertainment or festivals, with groups of people enjoying themselves, often amorously, in idealized rural settings

Answer 22

Fete galante

Question 23

A solid medium for painting, usually in the form of sticks or crayons, with powdered pigment combined with a binder that might include gum Arabic, oil, chalk, or other formulas

Answer 23

Pastels

Question 24

European appropriations and interpretations of what they thought to be Chinese (and Asian more generally) culture, motifs, and artistic techniques

Answer 24

Chinoiserie

Question 25

From the Spanish word bodega, meaning “pantry,” this is either 1). a still life painting depicting food, game, and/or drinks arranged in a simplified space, or 2). a genre scene of a kitchen or tavern, including everyday culinary items along with figures

Answer 25

Bodegon

Question 26

A box-like container of precious materials, in which the Eucharistic host was stored, symbolizing or incarnating the body of Christ for worshippers

Answer 26

Tabernacle

Question 27

A Spanish artistic style that emerged in the early eighteenth-century, which included elaborate and unrestrained sculptural ornament, stucco work, and estípite columns

Answer 27

Churrigueresque style (Ultrabaroque)

Question 28

A highly ornamented supporting column or pilaster shaped like an inverted pyramid, characteristic of the Churrigueresque style

Answer 28

Estipite

Question 29

A theological concept holding that Mary was born without the stain of original sin, an idea that received Papal approval in 1661, but did not become formal dogma until 1854

Answer 29

Immaculate Conception