Greek And Roman Art Vocab Flashcards
(32 cards)
Amphora
An ancient Greek or Roman jar for storing oil or wine, with an eggshaped body and two curved handles.
Black-figure
A technique of ancient Greek ceramic decoration in which black figures are painted on a red clay ground
Stoa
In Greek architecture, a long roofed walkway, usually having columns on one long side and a wall on the other.
Caryatid
A sculpture of a draped female figure acting as a column supporting an entablature
Pedestal
The block found below the base of a Classical column (or colonnade), serving to raise the entire element off the ground
Entablature
The horizontal elements above the columns and capitals. Consists of (from bottom to top) an architrave, a frieze, and a comice
Doric Order
The column shaft can be fluted or smooth-surfaced and has no base. Capital consists of an undecorated echinus and abacus. Entablature has a plain architrave, a frieze with metopes and triglyphs, and a simple cornice.
Ionic Order
The column has a base, a fluted shaft, and a capital decorated with volutes. Entablature consists of an architrave of three panels and moldings, a frieze usually containing sculpted relief ornament, and a cornice with dentils.
Architrave
The bottom element in an entablature, beneath the frieze and the cornice.
Capital
The sculpted block that tops a column.
Pediment
A triangular gable found over major architectural elements such as the Classical Greek porticos, windows, or doors. Formed by an entablature and the ends of a sloping roof or a raking cornice.
Temenos
An enclosed sacred area reserved for worship in ancient Greece
Porches
The covered entrance on the exterior of a building. With a row of columns or colonnade, also called a portico.
Elevations
The arrangement, proportions, and details of any vertical side or face of a building
Corinthian Order
The most ornate of the orders; includes a base, a fluted column shaft with a capital elaborately decorated with acanthus leaf carvings. Its entablature consists of an architrave decorated with moldings, a frieze often containing relief sculpture, and a cornice with dentils
Cella
The principal interior room at the center of a Greek or Roman temple within which the cult statue was usually housed. Also called naos
Abacus
The flat slab at the top of a capital, directly under the entablature
Entasis
A slight swelling of the shaft of a Greek column. The optical illusion of entasis makes the column appear from afar to be straight
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
Terra cotta
A medium made from clay fired over a low heat and sometimes left unglazed (orange-brown color)
Kore
An Archaic Greek statue of a young woman
Kouros
An Archaic Greek statue of a young man or boy
Archaic smile
The curved lips of an ancient Greek statues in the Archaic period, usually interpreted as a way of animating facial features
Red-figure
A technique of ancient Greek ceramic decoration characterized by red clay-colored figures on a black blackground. The figures are reserved against a painted background and details are drawn, not engraved
