Gothic Vocab

Question 1

Antependia

Answer 1

a decorative piece of material that can adorn a Christian altar, lectern, pulpit, or table

Question 2

Barbican

Answer 2

a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defence to a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes

Question 3

Bar tracery

Answer 3

stone/woodwork applied to wall surfaces. Mullions divide the space into vertical segments and form decorative patterns at the top of the opening or panel

Question 4

Bas-de-page

Answer 4

in French, bottom of the page. Used to indicate pictures below the text in a manuscript

Question 5

Battlements

Answer 5

rectangular gaps or indentations in a defense wall that occur at intervals to allow for the discharge of arrows or other missiles from within the defences.

Question 6

Buon fresco

Answer 6

Painting technique in which water based pigments are applied to a surface of wet plaster

Question 7

Buttress piers

Answer 7

The part of a buttress which rises above the point of thrust of a vault

Question 8

Cames

Answer 8

a lead strip used in the making of stained glass windows. They have grooves on the side to secure each piece of glass that is set

Question 9

Colonettes

Answer 9

Small, thin columns, often used for decoration or to support an arcade

Question 10

Column statue

Answer 10

a statue attached to a column; not a freestanding sculpture

Question 11

Crenelations

Answer 11

alternating high and low sections of a wall; notches; creating a defense shield in the walls of fortified buildings.

Question 12

Crocket

Answer 12

stylized leaf used as decoration along the outer angles of spins, pinnacles, and gables, and around capitals in gothic architecture

Question 13

Crossing

Answer 13

the junction of the four arms of a cruciform.

Question 14

Drawbridge

Answer 14

a bridge that doubles as a door that gets lowered down by a pulley system and can be suspended into a bridge, thus allowing entrance into a fortified building

Question 15

Finials

Answer 15

knoblike decoration found at the top point of a spire, pinnacle, canopy, or gable

Question 16

Gesso

Answer 16

ground made from glue, gypsum, &/or chalk forming the ground of a wood panel or priming layer of a canvas; provides smooth surface for painting

Question 17

Giornata

Answer 17

section of a fresco plastered and painted in one day

Question 18

Grisaille

Answer 18

monochromatic painting in shades of gray

Question 19

Hall church

Answer 19

church with nave & aisles of the same height; gives an impression of large, open hall

Question 20

Lancets

Answer 20

tall narrow window crowned by a sharply pointed arch

Question 21

Latin-cross plan

Answer 21

transept intersects the nave high above the midpoint of the church

Question 22

Mullions

Answer 22

thin stone strips that form a lacy matrix for glass in bar tracery

Question 23

Oculi

Answer 23

circular windows, “bull’s-eye windows”

Question 24

Parapets

Answer 24

low walls

Question 25

Pinnacle

Answer 25

an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret

Question 26

Portcullis

Answer 26

a latticed grille made of wood, metal or a combination of the two

Question 27

Predella

Answer 27

platform or step on which an altar stands

Question 28

Quadripartite rib

Answer 28

rib vault that is divided into four sections by two diagonal ribs

Question 29

Quatrefoils

Answer 29

four lobed decorative pattern

Question 30

Rampart

Answer 30

broad mount of earth raised to form fortification around a place

Question 31

Retablo

Answer 31

votive offering in form of a religious picture, typically of painted saints and hung in church

Question 32

Rib vaults

Answer 32

ribs separate the junctions of a groin, and functions to reinforce groins in vault

Question 33

Rood screens

Answer 33

screens separating nave from sanctuary

Question 34

Rose window

Answer 34

circular window with tracings to suggest a rose figure

Question 35

Sinopia

Answer 35

the preparatory design or underdrawing of a fresco (or reddish chalklike earth pigment)

Question 36

Stockade

Answer 36

barrier formed by stakes for defense against attack or as a means of confining animals

Question 37

String courses

Answer 37

horizontal band of stone projecting beyond or level with face of building

Question 38

Tempera

Answer 38

painting medium made by blending egg yolk with water, pigments, and other materials like glue

Question 39

Tiercerons

Answer 39

secondary rib that arcs from springing point to the rib that runs lengthwise through the vault

Question 40

Transept

Answer 40

arm of a cruciform church, perpendicular to nave

Question 41

Triforium

Answer 41

shallow, arched gallery which stands above nave

Question 42

Turrets

Answer 42

small tower that projects vertically from wall of building