Terms Flashcards
Line
Defines shapes and figures
Indicates motion, emotion, and other elements
Shape/form
Property of a two-dimensional figure
Either geometric or organic
Color
Sets moods and highlights important things
Space
Can create three-dimensional illusions in a two-dimensional piece of art
Texture
Either the feeling of actual objects or the illusion that a piece of art has a feeling
Surface/depth
Shows depth or flatness
Light/shadow
Reveal stories and create moods
Balance
Even use of things throughout the artwork (ex. symmetry)
Movement
Sense of motion in a static image
Proportion
Relationship of parts of the body to one another
Scale
Relationship of parts of an image to the image as a whole or something outside the image
Pattern/repetition
When an image/object/motif is repeated throughout the piece
Rhythm
A visual tempo set by repeating objects/elements
Contrapposto
A Greek invention that portrayed the human body naturally, breaking symmetry and creating a life-like figure
Foreshortening
A technique that compresses long objects to appear shorter, creating the illusion of depth, used to make art more naturalistic
Chiaroscuro
The technique of transitioning between light and dark to give the illusion of volume and depth, used to make art more realisitic
Linear perspective
The method of creating a three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface
Atmospheric perspective
The technique of painting distant objects with less clarity to mimic how we visually see the world. It captures the visual phenomena instead of the object itself. The farther the object, the lighter it is
Doric Order
-Represents an important moment in Mediterranean architecture when monumental construction made the transition from impermanent materials
-Consists of plain, unadorned column capitals and a base-less column.
-Composed of triglyphs and metopes
Ionic Order
-Volutes!
-Base supporting the column
-Slender and elegant (like a man’s body)
-Running frieze of continuous sculptural relief
Corinthian Order
-Elaborately carved capital
-Vegetal motifs
Triglyph
Vertical “tablets” in the Doric frieze
Metope
Rectangular space between triglyphs
Pediment
Triangular upper part of the front of a building in classical architecture
Naturalism
Resemblance to real world as we see it
Verism
Portraying heroes/mythological figures as everyday people
Representational
Represents something/someone
Stylization
Designed according to the principles of a particular style rather than being beholden to the way things look in “the real world.”
Non-representational
Little to no reference to the natural world
Idealization
Looks human but represents ideals (not natural)
Portrait
A representation of an individual by an individual, either themselves or another artist, whose purpose is to foreground that individual as an individual with a unique personality
Egyptian portraits
Generic idea about status/relationship
Mathematic proportions
Hiearchy of Scale
The largest thing is most often the most important
Realism
How something actually would’ve looked, without perfect symmetry or anatomy or anything
Registers
Horizontal bands of decoration
Twisted perspective
Things are twisted so you can see all the defining features
Apotropaic
Wards off evil
Sunken relief
Carved into something
High relief
Image sticks out far from background
Low relief
Image sticks out very little from background
Sculpture in the round
A sculpture entirely out of its original material
Formline
Specific style in the Pacific Northwest that’s defined by oval and “u” shapes
Clerestory
Upper part of the nave of a church that contains a lot of windows
Portico
Porch that leads to the entrance of a building
Flying buttress
Extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass to distribute weight more evenly and allow for taller buildings
Apse
Semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome (exedra)
Narthex
An enclosed porch or meeting area just inside the Western entrance of a Christian church
