Vocab Flashcards
Acropolis
“High city,” usually the site of the city’s most important temple
Agora
An open square or space used for public meetings or business in Ancient Greek cities
Abacus
The uppermost portion of the capital of a column, usually a thin slab
Amphiprostyle
The style of Greek building in which the colonnade was placed across both the front and back, but not along the sides
Amphitheater
A double theater, continuous elliptical cavea around an arena
Amphora
A two handled jar used for general storage purposes, usually to hold wine or oil
Antae
The molded projecting ends of the walls forming the pronaos or opisthodomos of an Ancient Greek temple
Arcade
A series of arches supported by piers or columns
Architrave
The lintel or lowest division of the entablature, also known as the epistyle
Arrises
In Doric columns, the raised edges of the fluting
Ashlar Masonry
Carefully cut and regularly shaped blocks of stone used in construction, fitted together without mortar
Atlantid
A male figure that functions as a supporting column (male version of a caryatid)
Atrium
The court of a Roman house that is partially open to the sky
Base
In Ancient Greek architecture, the lowest part of Ionic and Corinthian columns
Bilingual Vase
Experimental Greek vases produced for a short time in the late sixth century B.C., one side featured decoration in red-figure technique, the other black-figure technique
Black-figure Technique
In early Greek pottery, the silhouetting of dark figures against a light background of natural, reddish clay, with linear details incised through the silhouettes
Canon
Rule (e.g. of proportion)
Capital
The uppermost member of a column, serving as a transition from the shaft to the lintel (changes with order)
Caryatid
A female figure that functions as a supporting column (female version of an Atlantid)
Cavea
The seating area in Ancient Greek and Roman theaters and amphitheaters
Cella
The chamber at the center of an ancient temple; in a classical temple, the room in which the cult statue usually stood
Chryselephantine
Fashioned of gold and ivory
Cista
An Etruscan cylindrical container made of sheet bronze with cast handles and feet, often with elaborately engraved bodies, used for women’s toilet articles
Clerestory
The fenestrated part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts, letting in light
Coffer
A sunken panel, often ornamental, in a soffit, a vault, or a ceiling (see the Pantheon)
Colonnades
A series or row of columns
Composite Capital
A capital with an ornate combination of Ionic volutes and Corinthian acanthus leaves
Composite View
(aka twisted perspective) a convention in which part of a figure is seen in profile and another part of the same figure frontally
Contrapposto
A depiction of the human form with a weight shift thrown on one foot, creating tension on one side and relaxation on the other
Corbeled Arch
A projecting wall member used as a support for some element, where each course projects beyond the one beneath it, coming together at the topmost course
Corbeled Vault
A vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in horizontal courses, coming inward until the walls meet at a point. No mortar is used, and small rocks are used as wedges
Corinthian Capital
A capital with a double row of acanthus leaves wrapped around it
Cornice
The projecting, crowning member of the entablature framing the pediment
Cubiculim
A Roman bedroom
Cycladic Art
The pre-Greek Art of the Cycladic islands.
Cyclopean Masonry
A method of stone construction using large, irregular blocks without mortar (see Tiryns and Mycenae).
Daedalic
Refers to a Greek Orientalizing style of the seventh century B.C. named after the legendary Daedalus. Characteristic of the style is the triangular flat-topped head framed by long strands of hair that form complementary triangles to that of the face.
Dipteral
The term used to describe the architectural feature of double colonnades around a Greek temple
Doric
The Doric order is characterized by funnel-shaped capitals, columns without bases, and a frieze of triglyphs and metopes
Encaustic
A painting technique in which pigment is mixed with wax and applied to the surface while hot
Engaged column
A half-round column attached to a wall
Entablature
The part of a building above the columns and below the roof
Fasciae
In the Classical Greek Ionic order, the tree horizontal bands that make up the architrave
Fauces
The narrow foyer leading to the atrium
Fibula
A decorative pin, used to fasten garments
Fillets
The flat ridges of Ionic fluting
First Style
(aka masonry style) The earliest style of Roman mural painting, used to imitate costly marble panels with stucco
Flutes
Vertical channeling, roughly semicircular in cross-section and used principally on columns and pilasters
Foreshortening
The use of perspective to represent the depth of a piece if viewed from the front
Fourth Style
In Roman mural painting, it emphasizes architecture but is garish
Fresco
Dry (fresco secco) or wet (true or buon fresco) painted on lime plaster
Fret/Meander
An ornament consisting of interlocking geometric motifs
Frieze
The part of the entablature between the architrave and the cornice
Granulation
A decorative technique in which tiny metal balls are fused to a metal surface
Groin Vault
Formed by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults of equal size
Herm
A bust on a quadrangular pillar
Hierarchy of Scale
An artistic convention in which greater size indicates greater importance
Hydria
An Ancient Greek three-handled water pitcher
Hypaethral
A building having no pediment or roof, open to the sky
Imagines
In Ancient Rome, wax portraits of ancestors
Impluvium
In a Roman house, the basin located in the atrium that collected rainwater
Ionic
The Ionic order is characterized by volutes, capitals, columns with bases, and an uninterrupted frieze
Keystone
The central, uppermost voussoir in an arch
Kore
Greek for “young woman”
Kouros
Greek for “young man”
Krater
An Ancient Greek wide-mouthed bowl for mixing wine and water
Kylix
An Ancient Greek shallow drinking cup with two handles and a stem
Lekythos
A flask containing perfumed oil often placed in Greek graves
Lost-wax process
A bronze casting method in which a figure is modeled in wax and covered with clay; the whole is fired, melting away the wax and hardening the clay, which then becomes a mold for molten metal.
Megaron
The large reception hall of the king in a Mycenaean palace
Metope
The panel between the triglyphs in a Doric frieze, often sculptured in relief
Moscophoros
Greek word for “calf bearer”
Niello
A black metallic alloy used to fill incised designs in decorating metal objects
Oculus
The round central opening or “eye” of a dome
Opisthodomos
In Greek architecture, a porch at the rear set against the blank back wall of the cella
Opus Reticulatum
A method of facing concrete walls with diamond shaped bricks or stones to achieve a netlike ornamental surface pattern
Orientalizing
The early phase of Archaic Greek art, so named because of the adoption of forms and motifs from the ancient Near East and Egypt
Palestra
An Ancient Greek and Roman exercise area, usually framed by a colonnade, often found in bathing establishments
Pebble Mosaic
A mosaic made of irregularly shaped stones of various colors
Pediment
In classical architecture, the triangular space at the end of a building, formed by the ends of the sloping roof above the colonnade
Peplos
A simple long woolen belted garment worn by Ancient Greek women (used on kores)
Peristyle
(Peripteral colonnade) a colonnade around the cella and its porch
Pilaster
A flat column connected to a wall
Portico
A porch with a roof supported by columns
Pronaos
The space, or porch, in front of the cella or naos of an Ancient Greek temple
Propylaion
A gateway building leading to an open court preceding an Ancient Greek or Roman temple
Prostyle
A style of Ancient Greek temple in which the columns stand in front of the naos and extends its full width
Pseudoperipteral
In Roman architecture, it is a series of engaged columns all around the sides and back of the cella to make it appear like a peripteral colonnade
Red-figure Technique
In later Greek pottery, the silhouetting of red figures against a black background, with painted linear details, reverse of black-figure
Register
A band in a pictorial narrative
Repoussé
Formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back, leaving an impression on the face
Rhyton
An ancient ceremonial drinking vessel, sometimes in the form of the head of an animal, a person, or a mythological creature
Rotulus
A long manuscript scroll
Sarcophagus
A coffin, usually of stone
Second Style
In Roman mural painting, from ca. 80 to ca. 15 B.C. the aim was to dissolve the confining walls of a room and replace them wth the illusion of a 3D world
Severe Style
The earliest phase of Classical Greek sculpture
Shaft
The part of a column between the capital and base
Skenographia
The Greek term for perspective with a single vanishing point
Skiagraphia
The Greek term for shading invented by Apollodorus
Socle
A molded projection at the bottom of a wall or a pier, or beneath a pedestal or a column base
Stele
A carved stone slab used to mark graves and commemorate historical events
Stoa
An open building with a roof supported by a row of columns
Stylobate
The uppermost course of the platform of a classical temple
Superimposed orders
Orders of columns placed on top of each other, usually Doric, Ionic, then Corinthian (starting on bottom floor)
Tesserae
Tiny stones or pieces of glass cut for mosaics
Theatron
In Ancient Greek theaters, the slope overlooking the orchestra on which the spectators sat.
Third Style
In Roman mural painting,the style in which delicate linear fantasies were sketched predominantly monochromatic backgrounds
Tholos
A circular structure, generally in classical style, also in Aegean architecture as a circular bee-hive-shaped tomb
Treasuries
In Ancient Greece, small buildings set up for the safe storage of votive offerings
Triclinium
The dining room of a Roman house
Triglyph
A projecting, grooved member of a Doric frieze that alternates with metopes
Triumphal Arch
In Roman architecture, freestanding arches commemorating important events such as military victories
Tumulus
Burial mounds in Etruscan architecture
Tuscan Column
Aka Etruscan column, resembles an Ancient Greek Doric column but made of wood, unfluted, and with based
Velarium
In a Roman amphitheater, the cloth awning that could be rolled down from the top of the cavea
Volute
A spiral, scroll-like form characteristic of the Ancient Greek ionic and the Roman composite capital
Votive Offering
A gift of gratitude to a deity
Voussoir
A wedge-shaped block used in the construction of a true arch
White-ground Technique
An Ancient Greek vase painting technique in which the pot was first covered with a slip of very fine white clay, over which a black glaze was used to outline figures, and diluted brown, purple, red, and white were used to color them
