Late Antiquity

Question 1

Polytheism

Answer 1

The belief in multiple gods.

Question 2

Torah

Answer 2

The Hebrew religious scroll containing the Pentateuch

Question 3

Baptistery

Answer 3

In Christian architecture, the building used for baptism, usually situated next to a church. Also, the designated area or hall within a church for baptismal rites.

Question 4

Catacombs

Answer 4

Subterranean networks of rock-cut galleries and chambers designed as cemeteries for the burial of the dead.

Question 5

loculi

Answer 5

Openings in the walls of catacombs to receive the dead.

Question 6

cubiculum (pl. cubicula)

Answer 6

A small cubicle or bedroom that opened onto the atrium of a Roman house. Also, a chamber in an Early Christian catacomb that served as a mortuary chapel

Question 7

prefiguration

Answer 7

In Early Christian art, the depiction of Old Testament persons and events as prophetic forerunners of Christ and New Testament events.

Question 8

liturgy (adj. liturgical)

Answer 8

The official ritual of public worship.

Question 9

nave

Answer 9

The central area of an ancient Roman basilica or of a church, demarcated from aisles by piers or columns.

Question 10

Aisle

Answer 10

The portion of a basilica flanking the nave and separated from it by a row of columns or piers.

Question 11

Apse

Answer 11

A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a building, commonly found at the east end of a church

Question 12

Monotheism

Answer 12

The worship of one all-powerful god.

Question 13

transept

Answer 13

The part of a church with an axis that crosses the nave at a right angle.

Question 14

relics

Answer 14

The body parts, clothing, or objects associated with a holy figure, such as the Buddha or Christ or a Christian saint.

Question 15

clerestory

Answer 15

The fenestrated part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts. The oldest known clerestories are Egyptian. In Roman basilicas and medieval churches, clerestories are the windows that form the nave’s uppermost level below the timber ceiling or the vaults.

Question 16

plan

Answer 16

The horizontal arrangement of the parts of a building or of the buildings and streets of a city or town, or a drawing or diagram showing such an arrangement. In an axial plan, the parts of a building are organized longitudinally, or along a given axis; in a central plan, the parts of the structure are of equal or almost equal dimensions around the center.

Question 17

Ambulatory

Answer 17

A covered walkway, outdoors (as in a church cloister) or indoors; especially the passageway around the apse and the choir of a church. In Buddhist architecture, the passageway leading around the stupa in a chaitya hall.

Question 18

Basilica

Answer 18

In Roman architecture, a public building for legal and other civic proceedings, rectangular in plan with an entrance usually on a long side. In Christian architecture, a church somewhat resembling the Roman basilica, usually entered from one end and with an apse at the other.

Question 19

Vault (adj. vaulted)

Answer 19

A masonry roof or ceiling constructed on the arch principle, or a concrete roof of the same shape. A barrel (or tunnel) vault, semicylindrical in cross-section, is in effect a deep arch or an uninterrupted series of arches, one behind the other, over an oblong space. A quadrant vault is a half-barrel vault. A groin (or cross) vault is formed at the point at which two barrel vaults intersect at right angles. In a ribbed vault, there is a framework of ribs or arches under the intersections of the vaulting sections. A sexpartite vault is one whose ribs divide the vault into six compartments. A fan vault is a vault characteristic of English Perpendicular Gothic architecture, in which radiating ribs form a fanlike pattern

Question 20

Theotokos

Answer 20

Greek, “she who bore God.” The Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Question 21

Cruciform

Answer 21

Cross-shaped.

Question 22

Crossing tower

Answer 22

The tower over the crossing of a church.

Question 23

Mosaic

Answer 23

Patterns or pictures made by embedding small pieces (tesserae) of stone or glass in cement on surfaces such as walls and floors; also, the technique of making such works.

Question 24

Nimbus

Answer 24

A halo or aureole appearing around the head of a holy figure to signify divinity.

Question 25

Codex (pl. codices)

Answer 25

Separate pages of vellum or parchment bound together at one side; the predecessor of the modern book. The codex superseded the rotulus. In Mesoamerica, a painted and inscribed book on long sheets of bark paper or deerskin coated with fine white plaster and folded into accordion-like pleats.

Question 26

Folio

Answer 26

A page of a manuscript or book.

Question 27

Rotulus

Answer 27

The manuscript scroll used by Egyptians, Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans; predecessor of the codex

Question 28

Vellum

Answer 28

prepared as a surface for writing or painting.

Question 29

Parchment

Answer 29

Lambskin prepared as a surface for painting or writing.