terms Final Flashcards
Altarpiece
A panel, painted or sculpted, situated above or behind an altar
Ambulatory
A covered walkway, outdoors or indoors; especially the passage around the apse and the choir of a church
Atmospheric perspective
the illusion of distance by the greater diminution of color intensity, the shift of color to an almost neutral blue, and the blurring of contours as the intended distance between the eye and the object increases
barrel vault
an uninterrupted series of arches, one behind another, over an oblong space
Baroque
describes art that features dramatic theatricality and elaborate ornamentation (European art from 1600-1750)
Bay
The space between two columns or the unit in the nave arcade of a church
Chiaroscuro
In drawing and painting, the treatment and use of light and dark, especially the gradations of light that produce the effect of modeling
Counter-Reformation
The Catholic Church’s campaign to counteract the defection of its members to Protestantism
Clerestory
The fenestrated part of a building that rises above roofs of other parts
Cloisonne
a decorative metal work technique employing cloison
Compound pier
a pier with a group or cluster of attached shafts or responds especially characteristic of gothic architecture
Diptych
a two-paneled painting or alterpiece
Empiricism
the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience. Stimulated by the rise of experimental science
Engaged columns
a half-round column attached to a wall.
Engraving
The process of incising a design in hard material
Enlightenment
The western philosophy based on empirical evidence that dominated the 18th century. The Enlightenment was a new way of thinking critically about the world and about humankind, independently of religion, myth, or tradition
foreshortening
The use of perspective to represent in art the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendicular plane of sight
Flying buttress
consists typically of an inclined member carried on an arch or a series of arches and a solid buttress to which it transmits lateral thrust.
French Revolution
an uprising in France against the monarchy from 1789 to 1799 which resulted in the establishment of France as a republic.
Fresco
painting on lime plaster
gothic
used to describe the history, culture, and art of western Europe in the 12th-14th centuries
groin vault
formed at the point at which two barrel vaults intersect at right angles
Humanism
an emphasis on education and on expanding knowledge, the exploration of individual potential and a desire to excel, and a commitment to civic responsibility and moral duty
Iconography
Greek, “The writing of images.” The term refers both to the content , or subject, of an artwork and to the study of content in art. It also includes the study of the symbolic , often religious, mean of objects, person s, or events depicted in works of arts.