Roman Art Historical Terms

Question 1

Historical Relief

Answer 1

a historical scene carved in relief on a slab of stone

Question 2

Funerary Relief

Answer 2

a relief carving on a funerary monument, depicting the portrait(s) of the deceased

Question 3

Freestanding Sculpture

Answer 3

figures in the round in stone, bronze or terracotta

Question 4

Wall Painting

Answer 4

the painted adornment of walls both inside and outside of Roman buildings

Question 5

inscriptions

Answer 5

the ancient writing, usually carved and/or painted, accompanying an ancient monument that describes the reason for the erection of the monument (who commissioned/paid for it, to whom it was dedicated, why and when). For our purposes, inscriptions will be in Latin; a system of regular abbreviations was used

Question 6

sarcophagus

Answer 6

a container (box) for the body of a deceased person, usually made of stone, terracotta or metal. These were inhumation burials, not cremations

Question 7

Temple

Answer 7

a building sacred to a god (not a house of worship), in which the holiest images of that deity was housed (the cult image), along with all of the treasures belonging to that deity (dedicated by individuals or the state). Worship of the deity took place outside, in front of the temple

Question 8

Villa

Answer 8

a large house. The villa could be located in the country or in the city; it was a large, vast, and a separate domicile (not an apartment building), that usually stood on its own piece of land. It housed many occupants, including the owner’s family, slaves, and many workers.

Question 9

Domus

Answer 9

a small city-house, usually housed one nuclear family and slaves

Question 10

insula

Answer 10

apartment building. Usually confined to three to five stories. In Rome, these were flimsy and flammable, and used solely by the poor. In other big cities such as Ostia, apartments were beautiful and luxurious, and were used by everyone

Question 11

Mausoleum

Answer 11

a large funerary structure, a building in which the remains of many members of an extended family could be buried. These were so personalized that they often served as monuments to the persons who commissioned and were later buried in them

Question 12

Triumphal Arch

Answer 12

a small structure (not a building) that spans a road, with one to three central arches on the lower interior. These were erected at certain strategic locations on particularly important occasions, usually when a triumphant general returned to Rome, and were often decorated with important scenes relating to the life (or victory) of the person commemorated, carved in relief

Question 13

Column

Answer 13

another type of commemorative monument. These were simply tall stone columns, carved entirely in relief, depicting scenes from the conquests of the victorious emperor to whom the column was dedicated

Question 14

Stucco

Answer 14

decorative plaster used on walls or ceilings. Often this refers specifically to three-dimensional ornament in plaster

Question 15

Mosaic

Answer 15

designs created with multicolor small square-cut stones or tesserae, usually the ornament of floors, but at times walls and other parts of a building, as well

Question 16

Forum

Answer 16

the main central square of a Roman town

Question 17

Pottery

Answer 17

the ancient goblets, dinnerware, cookware and shapes of all sorts made of fired clay or terracotta; usually painted.

Question 18

Personification

Answer 18

the giving of human form to (and then depicting in art) an idea, notion, body of water, or area of land. There were personifications of rivers, provinces, and notions such as victory, peace, etc. With the exception of rivers and winds, these were usually female

Question 19

Portrait

Answer 19

The true and actual likeness of an individual rendered in an artistic medium