Ornament Flashcards
An acessory, article, or detail that lends grace or beauty to something to which it is added or of which it is an integral part.
Ornament
A pictorial sign or symbol.
Pictograph
An ancient drawing or writing scratched on stone, plaster or other hard surface.
Graffito
Inscriptions or drawings spray-painted or sketched on a public surface, such as a sidewalk or wall of a building.
Graffiti
Decoration produced by cutting or scratching through a surface layer of paint or plaster to reveal a ground of contrasting color.
Sgraffito
A large picture painted on or applied directly to a wall or ceiling surface.
Mural
The art or technique of painting on a freshly spread, moist plaster surface with pigments ground up in water or a limewater mixture. Also, a picture or design sso painted.
Fresco
Any mosaic of regularly cut material.
Opus Sectile
A form of opus sectile having a geometric pattern formed with few colors, such as black and white, or dark green and red.
Opus Alexandrinum
An ancient Roman masonry wall faced with small pyramidal stones set diagonally with their square bases forming a netlike pattern.
Opus Reticulatum
A mosaic of tessera arranged in waving lines resembling the form or tracks of a worm.
Opus Vermiculatum
A mosaic made by inlaying fine, delicately colored stones into a white or black marble surface.
Florentine mosaic
A picture or decorative pattern made by inlaying small, usually colored pieces of tle, enamel or glass in mortar.
Mosaic
One of the small pieces of colored marble, glass or tile used in mosaic work.
Tessera
Colored glass or enamel esp in the form of minute squares, used in mosaic work.
Smalto
A decorative mosaic technique for architectural surfaces developed by Roman architects in the 12th and 13th centuries, balancing intricate geometric patterns of colored stones and glass with smooth areas of plain stone disks and strips. The word Cosmati comes from the name of several families involved in the art.
Cosmati Work, Cosmatesque Work
The projection of a figure or form from the flat background on which it is formed.
Relief
Sculptural relief in which the highest points of the modeled forms are below or level with the original surface.
Cavo-relievo, Sunk Relief
Sculptural relief in which the modeled forms project from the background by at least half their depth.
Alto-relievo, High Relief
Sculptural relief intermediate between high relief and bas-relief.
Mezzo-relievo, demirelief, half relief
Sculptural relief that projects very slightly from the background.
Bas-relief, basso-relievo, low relief
An ornament carved or embossed in low relief.
Anaglyph
A decoration or ornament made by cutting out a design and fastening it to a larger piece of material.
Applique
To decorate by setting pieces of wood, ivory, or the like into a surface, usually at the same level.
Inlay
To raise, mold or carve a surface design in relief.
Emboss
To carve, cut, or etch designs on a hard surface, as that of metal, stone, or the end grain of wood.
Engrave
A figure or design incised into the surface of a stone or metal plate so that an impression yields a figure in relief.
Intaglio
Ornamental or structural work having a latticelike nature or showing openings through its substance.
Openwork
Ornamental openwork of delicate or intricate design.
Filigree, Filagree
An artistic composition consisting of forms or motifs borrowed from different sources.
Pastiche
Artificial, couterfeit, or false, as of an architectural ornament that is added superfluosly or inappropriately.
Postiche
A decorative style characterized by the fantastic shaping and combining of incongruous human and animal forms with foliage or similar figures, often distorting the natural into caricature or absurdity.
Grotesque
A grotesque sculpture of animal, human or foliated forms, such as a gargoyle.
Antic
An often grotesque representation of a head or face, used as an architectural ornament.
Mask, or Mascaron
A mythological animal typically having the head and wings of an eagle and the body and tail of a lion.
Griffin, Griffon, Gryphon
An ornament projecting from the round base of a column toward a corner of a square or polygonal plinth.
Griffe, Spur
A medieval English ornament suggesting a flower of three or four petals enclosing and partially concealing a ball.
Ballflower
A conventional figure usually having five or more points radiating from a center, often used as an ornament and symbol.
Star
A hexagram used as a symbol of Judaism.
Star of David, Magen David, Mogen David
A six-pointed starlike figure, formed by extending each of the sides of a regular hexagon into equilateral triangles.
Hexagram
A ring, circle, or surrounding radiance of light, such as a halo, nimbus or aureole.
Glory
A disk or ring of radiant light around or above the head, traditionally symbolizing the sanctity of a divine or sacred personage in religious paintings and sculptures.
Halo, Nimbus
A circle of light or radiance surrounding the head or body in the representation of a sacred personage.
Aureole
An elliptical, pointed figure used esp. in early Christian art as an emblem of Christ.
Vesica Piscis, mandorla
A Christian monogram and symbol formed by superimposing the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ.
Chi-Rho
A raised or sunken rectangular panel on a wall, distinctively treated or ornamented with inscriptions, painting or sculpture.
Table
A flat slab or plaque having a surface suitable for or bearing an inscription, carving or the like.
Tablet
A usually oval or circular tablet, often bearing a figure or ornament in relief.
Medallion
An oval or oblong, slightly convex surface, usually surrounded with ornamental scrollwork, for receiving a painted or low-relief decoration.
Cartouche, Cartouch
An object or figure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece at right angles to each another, often used as a symbol of Christianity.
Cross
A cross having an upright or vertical shaft crossed near the top by a shorted horizontal bar.
Latin Cross
A cross shaped like a latin cross and having a ring about the intersection of the shaft and crossbar.
Celtic Cross
A cross consisting of an upright crossed in the middle by a horizontal of the same length.
Greek Cross
A cross whose four arms each terminate in a crossbar, often with a small Greek cross centered in each quadrant.
Jerusalem Cross
A cross formee having the outer face of each arm indented in a V.
Maltese cross
A cross having arms of equal length, each expanding outward from the center.
Cross Formee
A distinctive and recurring shape, form or color in a design.
Motif
To mark or decorate with a squared pattern.
Checker
Resembling or covered with a network of regularly intersecting lines.
Reticulate
A pattern of small, repeated figures connecting or growing out of one another, originally used in the Middle Ages in weaving silk and gold.
Diaper
A pattern or design resembling the regular overlapping of tiles or shingles.
Imbrication
A pattern consisting of rows of short, parallel lines that, in any two adjacent rows, slant in opposite directions, used in masonry, parquetry, and weaving.
Herringbone
A V-shaped pattern used in heraldry and as ornamentation.
Chevron
An ornamental zigzag, as in a molding.
Dancette
Ornamented with foils or representations of foliage.
Foliate, Foliated
A decorative band or garland of flowers, foliage or other ornamental material.
Wreath
A decorative representation of a string or garland of flowers, foliage, ribbon, or the like, suspended in a curve between two points.
Festoon
A tylized three-pated iris flower tied by an encircling band, used as the heraldic bearing of the royal family of France.
Fleur-de-lis, Fleur-de-lys
A representation of various aquatic plants in the water lily family, used as a decorative motif in ancient Egyptian and Hindu art and architecture.
Lotus
An ornament of honeysuckle or palm leaves in a radiating cluster.
Anthemion, Honeysuckle Ornament
A stylized palm leaf shape used as a decorative element in classical art and architecture.
Palmette
An ornament having a generally circular combination of parts resembling a flower or plant.
Rosette, Rose
Any of a series of closely spaced, pyramidal ornaments, formed by sculptured leaves radiating from a raised center, used esp in early English Gothic Archtiecture.
Dogtooth
A complex and ornate design that employs flowers, foliage and sometimes animal and geometric figures to produce an intricate pattern of interlaced lines.
Arabesque
A molding having pendant, tonguelike elements carved in relief against a flat or curved surface.
Calf’s-tongue
Any of a series of curved projections forming an ornamental border.
Scallop
To decorate a shrine or tabernacle with miniature architectural forms so as to produce a lacy effect.
Purfle
A decorative design contained within a band or border, consisting of repeated, often geometric figures.
Fret, Key pattern
A runnign ornament consisting of an intricate variety of fret or fretwork.
Meander
An ornamental border formed of two or more interlaced bands around a series of circular voids.
Guilloche
A molding occupying the position of a row of dentils and often carved to resemble one.
Dentil Band
Any of a series of small rectangular blocks alternating with sloping surfaces on an archivolt or molding.
Venetian Dentil
A series of scrolls forming a stylized wave pattern.
Vitruvian Scroll, Vitruvian wave, wave scroll.
A sculptured band resembling a long ribbon or scroll, adapted to receive an inscription.
Banderole, banderol
Ornamentation composed of folded, crossed and interlaced bands, sometimes cut with foliations.
Strapwork
A sharp edge or ridge formed by two surfaces meeting at an exterior angle.
Arris, Piend
A rounded or obtuse exterior angle.
Bullnose, Bull’s-nose
A surface that makes an oblique angle with another.
Splay
A narrow flat molding or area, raised or sunk to separate larger moldings or areas.
Fillet, List
Any of a series of closely spaced cylindrical forms ornamenting a hollow molding or cornice.
Billet
A concave surface or molding esp at the transition from wall to ceiling.
Cove
A concave molding having a profile that approximates a quarter circle.
Cavetto
A concave molding having the form of a quadrant curving away from a given surface and terminating perpendicular to a fillet parallet to that surface.
Conge, Congee
a molding having a profile of a double curve in the shape of an elongated S.
Ogee, gula
A projecting molding having the profile of a double curve formed by the union of a convex line and a concave line.
Cyma
A cyma hacing the concave part projecting beyond the convex part.
Cyma recta, Doric Cyma
A cyma having the convex part projecting beyond the concave part.
Cyma reversa, Lesbian Cyma
A small pendant molding forming a drip and casting a deep shadow, as on the soffit of a cornice.
Beak, Bird’s beak
A projecting molding having a profile formed by two ogees symmetrically disposed about an arris or fillet.
Brace molding or keel
A parallel set of small convex moldings for ornamenting a plane or curved surface.
Reeding
A molding having the form of a row of pearls or beads.
Pearl molding, bead molding, paternoster
A convex molding having the form of disks alternating with spherical or elongated beads.
Bead and Reel
A small convex molding of semicircular section, smaller than an astragal.
Baguette, Baguet
A small convex molding usually semicircular in section.
Astragal
A convex molding having the form of a rope.
Cable molding
A convex molding having pointed leaves or scrollwork emerging at regular intervals.
Aaron’s Rod
A convex molding elaborately carved with reeding or indented with notches.
Gadroon, Godroon
A molding having a semicircular cross section
Half round
A convex molding whose section is a quarter circle.
Quarter round
A convex molding having a profile approximating a quarter section of a circle or ellipse.
Ovolo
A convex, rounded molding.
Boltel, Boutel, bowtel
An outline of an object formed on a vertical plane passed through the object at right angles to one of its principal horizontal dimensions.
Profile
A continuous, molded projection that crowns a wall or other construction, or divides it horizontally for composition purposes.
Cornice
A horizontal molding near a ceiling from which pictures can be suspended.
Picture mold, picture rail
Any ornamental molding terminating the top of a structure or decorative feature.
Crown molding
making a series of parallel saw cuts partway through the thickness of a piece of wood to enable the piece to bend toward the kerfed side.
Kerfing
A decorative band, as one along the top of an interior wall, immediately below the cornice, or a sculptured one in a stringcouse on an outside wall.
Frieze
A rail or narrow shelf fixed along a wall and grooved to hold plates esp for ornament or display.
Plate Rail
A horizontal molding on an interior wall for preventing the backs of chairs from rubbing against and damaging the wall surfaces.
Chair Rail
An ornamental molding above the plinth of a pedestal, pillar or wall.
Base Molding
A board or molding concealing the joint between an interior wall and the floor.
Baseboard, mopboard, skirt
A small molding, such as a quarter round, covering the joint between a baseboard and the floor.
Shoe, base shoe
A pediment having its raking cornices interrupted at the crown or apex, the gap often being filled with an urn, a cartouche, or other ornament.
Broken Pediment
A molded or decorative band framing a rectangular door or window opening.
Architrave
The continuation of a molding, projection, or other part at an angle, usually 90d, to the main part.
Return
A frame around a doorway or niche, having two columns or pilasters on a base supporting a pediment.
Tabernacle Frame
A flat, plain member at the bottom of an architrave, dado, or baseboard.
Plinth
A plinth for stopping the architrave of a door or window above the floor.
Plinth Block
A feature terminating a molding or chamfer.
Stop
An ornamental bracket, usually formed with scrolls and taller than its projection.
Console
A bracket or console used in classical architecture to support a cornice or the entablature over a doorway or window.
Ancon
A broken pediment having an outline formed by a pair of S-curves tangent to the horizontal cornice at the ends of the pediment and rising to a pair of scrolls on either side of the center, where a finial often rises between the scrolls.
Swan’s neck pediment
A pedimental ornament situated over a window or door.
Coronet
