Final Vocab Flashcards
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
Orientalism
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
Woodcut
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
Engraving
A type of painting that takes inanimate objects as its subject, including such things as food, dishes, fruit, and flowers
Still life
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
Baroque
A canopy over an altar, raised on four corner pillars
Ciborium
The ideology of extending a nation’s power or dominance over other countries and/or peoples, subjugating or denying their own inherent sovereignty
Imperialism
The actual practice of a nation-state seeking control, domination, and authority over other people and lands, to benefit the mother country
Colonialism
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
Composto or Bel Composto
A spiraling, helical shaped column, purportedly like those used in King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem
Solomonic Columns
The political doctrine of unlimited centralized authority and absolute sovereignty in one person as monarch or dictator
Absolutism
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
Compositional lines
In art history, the biographical method seeks to interpret works of art in relation to their maker’s life and personality
Biography
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
Alla prima
Paintings that include figures representing Biblical, historical, or mythological narratives, and conveying moral or intellectual ideas
History painting
Paintings that represent everyday life, including domestic interiors, depictions of labor, merry companies, inn scenes, and street scenes
Genre painting
A process of applying paint thickly so that it stands out from the surface of the support
Impasto
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
Etching
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
Drypoint
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.”
Vanitas
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
Rococo style
A genre of painting depicting outdoor entertainment or festivals, with groups of people enjoying themselves, often amorously, in idealized rural settings
Fete galante
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
Pastels
European appropriations and interpretations of what they thought to be Chinese (and Asian more generally) culture, motifs, and artistic techniques
Chinoiserie
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
Bodegon
A box-like container of precious materials, in which the Eucharistic host was stored, symbolizing or incarnating the body of Christ for worshippers
Tabernacle
A Spanish artistic style that emerged in the early eighteenth-century, which included elaborate and unrestrained sculptural ornament, stucco work, and estípite columns
Churrigueresque style (Ultrabaroque)
A highly ornamented supporting column or pilaster shaped like an inverted pyramid, characteristic of the Churrigueresque style
Estipite
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
Immaculate Conception
