Download Teaching AP* Art History

Glossary
Chapter 3
aisle
The portion of a basilica flanking the nave and separated from it
by a row of columns or piers.
amphitheater
Greek, “double theater.” A Roman building type resembling two
Greek theaters put together. The Roman amphitheater featured a
continuous elliptical cavea around a central arena.
Apollodorus of
Damascus
Apollodorus of Damascus
apse
A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a Roman basilica
or at the east end of a church.
arch
A curved structural member that spans an opening and is
generally composed of wedge-shaped blocks (voussoirs) that
transmit the downward pressure laterally.See also thrust.
arcuated
Arch shaped.
arena
In a Roman amphitheater, the central area where bloody
gladiatorial combats and other boisterous events took place.
atmospheric
perspective
See perspective.
atrium
The court of a Roman house that is partly open to the sky. Also
the open, colonnaded court in front of and attached to a
Christian basilica.
attic
The uppermost story of a building.
barrel vault
See vault.
basilica
In Roman architecture, a civic building for legal and other civic
proceedings, rectangular in plan with an entrance usually on a
long side. In Christian architecture, a church somewhat
resembling the Roman basilica, usually entered from one end
and with an apse at the other.
buttress
An exterior masonry structure that opposes the lateral thrust of
an arch or a vault. A pier buttress is a solid mass of masonry; a
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.
caldarium
The hot-bath section of a Roman bathing establishment.
Capitolium
An ancient Roman temple dedicated to the gods Jupiter, Juno,
and Minerva.
coffer
A sunken panel, often ornamental, in a vault or a ceiling.
1
colonnette
A thin column.
concrete
A building material invented by the Romans and consisting of
various proportions of lime mortar, volcanic sand, water, and
small stones.
Corinthian capital A more ornate form than Doric or Ionic; it consists of a double
row of acanthus leaves from which tendrils and flowers grow,
wrapped around a bell-shaped echinus. Although this capital
form is often cited as the distinguishing feature of the Corinthian
order, there is, strictly speaking, no Corinthian order, but only
this style of capital used in the Ionic order.
cross vault
See vault.
cubiculum (pl.
cubicula)
A small cubicle or bedroom that opened onto the atrium of a
Roman house. Also, a chamber in an Early Christian catacomb
that served as a mortuary chapel.
damnatio
memoriae
The Roman decree condemning those who ran afoul of the
Senate. Those who suffered damnatio memoriae had their
memorials demolished and their names erased from public
inscriptions.
dome
A hemispheric vault; theoretically, an arch rotated on its vertical
axis.
domus
A Roman private house.
drum
One of the stacked cylindrical stones that form the shaft of a
column; the cylindrical wall that supports a dome.
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. See also pilaster.
exedra
Recessed area, usually semicircular.
fauces
Latin, “throat.” In a Roman house, the narrow foyer leading to
the atrium.
fenestrated
Having windows.
First Style mural
The earliest style of Roman mural painting. Also called the
Masonry Style, because the aim of the artist was to imitate,
using painted stucco relief, the appearance of costly marble
panels.
forum
The public square of an ancient Roman city.
Fourth Style
mural
In Roman mural painting, the Fourth Style marks a return to
architectural illusionism, but the architectural vistas of the
Fourth Style are irrational fantasies.
frigidarium
The coldbath section of a Roman bathing establishment.
2
groin
The edge formed by the intersection of two vaults.
groin vault
See vault.
imagines
In ancient Rome, wax portraits of ancestors.
imperator
Latin, “commander in chief, “ from which the word emperor is
derived.
impluvium
In a Roman house, the basin located in the atrium that collected
rainwater.
nave
The central area of an ancient Roman basilica or of a church,
demarcated from aisles by piers or columns.
necropolis
Greek, “city of the dead”; a large burial area or cemetery.
oculus (pl. oculi)
Latin, “eye.” The round central opening of a dome. Also, a small
round window in a Gothic cathedral.
peristyle
In ancient Greek architecture, a colonnade all around the cella
and its porch(es). A peripteral colonnade consists of a single row
of columns on all sides; a dipteral colonnade has a double row
all around.
pier
A vertical, freestanding masonry support.
pilaster
A flat, rectangular, vertical member projecting from a wall of
which it forms a part. It usually has a base and a capital and is
often fluted.
pontifex maximus Latin, “chief priest.” The high priest of the Roman state religion,
often the emperor himself.
portico
A roofed colonnade; also an entrance porch.
pseudoperipteral
In Roman architecture, a pseudoperipteral temple has a series of
engaged columns all around the sides and back of the cella to
give the appearance of a peripteral colonnade.
revetment
In architecture, a wall covering or facing.
sarcophagus (pl.
sarcophagi)
Latin, “consumer of flesh.” A coffin, usually of stone.
Second Style
mural
The style of Roman mural painting in which the aim was to
dissolve the confining walls of a room and replace them with the
illusion of a three-dimensional world constructed in the artist’s
imagination.
senate
Latin, “council of elders.” The legislative body in Roman
constitutional government.
skenographia
Greek, “scene painting”; the Greek term for perspective
painting.
spandrel
The roughly triangular space enclosed by the curves of adjacent
3
arches and a horizontal member connecting their vertexes; also,
the space enclosed by the curve of an arch and an enclosing
right angle. The area between the arch proper and the framing
columns and entablature.
still life
A picture depicting an arrangement of objects.
superimposed
orders
Orders of architecture that are placed one above another in an
arcaded or colonnaded building, usually in the following
sequence: Doric (the first story), Ionic, and Corinthian.
Superimposed orders are found in later Greek architecture and
were used widely by Roman and Renaissance builders.
taberna
In Roman architecture, a single-room shop usually covered by a
barrel vault.
tablinum
The study or office in a Roman house.
tepidarium
The warmbath section of a Roman bathing establishment.
terracotta
Hard-baked clay, used for sculpture and as a building material.
It may be glazed or painted.
tetrarchy
Greek, “rule by four.” A type of Roman government established
in the late third century CE by Diocletian in an attempt to
establish order by sharing power with potential rivals.
Third Style mural In Roman mural painting, the style in which delicate linear
fantasies were sketched on predominantly monochromatic
backgrounds.
triclinium
The dining room of a Roman house.
triumphal arch
In Roman architecture, a freestanding arch commemorating an
important event, such as a military victory or the opening of a
new road. In Christian architecture, the arch framing the apse at
the end of a church nave.
tumulus (pl.
tumuli)
Burial mound; in Etruscan architecture, tumuli cover one or
more subterranean multichambered tombs cut out of the local
tufa (limestone). Also characteristic of the Japanese Kofun
period of the third and fourth centuries.
tunnel vault
See vault.
Tuscan column
The standard type of Etruscan column. Resembles ancient Greek
Doric columns, but is made of wood, is unfluted, and has a base.
veristic
True to natural appearance.
4