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Greek and Roman Art
Terms
92
Art History
Undergraduate 3
03/25/2011

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Term
Acropolis
Definition
Greek for high city; usually the site of the city's most important temples
Term
Agora
Definition
An open space used for public meetings or business in ancient Greek cities
Term
Anastole
Definition
An off center perting of the hair with the locks brushed up and back near the part; a recognizable feature in the portraits of Alexander the Great
Term
Apotropaic
Definition
Capable of warding off evil
Term
Blak-figure technique
Definition
In early Greek pottery, the silhouetting of dark figures against a light background of natural, reddish clay, with lenear incised details
Term
Canon
Definition
A rule of proportion. The Greek sculptor Polykleitos wrote a canon outling the proportions for the ideal statue
Term
Caryatid
Definition
a female figure that functions as a supporting column
Term
Cella
Definition
the chamber (Greak naos) at the center of an ancient temple; in a classical temple, the room in which the cult statue usually stood
Term
Centaur
Definition
In ancient Greek mythology, a fantastical creature, with the front or top half of a human and the back or bottom of a horse
Term
Centauromachy
Definition
In Greek mythology, the battle between the Greeks and centaurs
Term
chryselephantine
Definition
Made of gold and ivory
Term
Contrappasto
Definition
The disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to another part; a twist of the body about its central axis
Term
Cornice
Definition
The projecting, crowning member of the entablature framing the pediment; also, any crowning projection
Term
Entasis
Definition
A convex tapering (an apparent swelling) in the shaft of a column
Term
Fasciae
Definition
In the Classical Greek Ionic order, the three horizontal bands that make up the architrave
Term
flute or fluting
Definition
Vertical channeling, roughly semicircular in cross-section and used principally on columns and pilasters
Term
Foreshortening
Definition
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
Term
Frieze
Definition
The part of the entablature between the architrave and the cornice; also, any sculptured or ornamented band in a building, on furniture, etc.
Term
Gigantomachy
Definition
In ancient Greek mythology, the battle between gods and giants
Term
Gorgon
Definition
In ancient Greek mythology, a hideous female demon with snake hair. MEdusa, the most famous gorgon, was capable of turning anyone who gazed at her into stone.
Term
Hellenistic
Definition
The term given to the Greek culture that developed after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and lasted until the ROman conquest of Egypt in 31BC
Term
Hydria
Definition
An ancient Greek three-handled water pitcher
Term
in situ
Definition
Literally,"in place." Referring to an object or work as in the original position 
Term
Kylix
Definition
An ancient Greek shallow drinking cup with two handles and a stem
Term
lost-wax process (cire perdue)
Definition
A bronze casting method in which a figure is modeled in wax and convered with clay; the whole is fired, melting away the wax and hardening the clay, which then creates a mold for molten metal
Term
mausoleum
Definition
A monumental tomb
Term
Modeling
Definition
The shaping or fashioning of three-dimensional forms in a soft material, such as clay; The term also refers in drawing to the use of gradation of light and shade
Term
Mosaic
Definition
PAtterns or pictures made by embedding small pieces of stone or glass (tesserae) in cement on surfaces seuch as walls and floors; also, the technique of making such works
Term
Palestra
Definition
an ancient Greek and Roman exercise area, usually framed by a colonade, often found in bathing establishments
Term
Pebble mosaics
Definition
Mosaics made of irregularly-shaped stones of various colors
Term
Pediment
Definition
In classical architecture, the triangular space (gable) at the end of a building, formed by the ends of the sloping roof about the colonnadel; also, an ornamental feature having this shape
Term
Peplos
Definition
A simple long woolen belted garment worn by ancient Greek women that gives the female figure a columnar appearance
Term
Peristyle
Definition
In Greek architecture, a colonnade all around the cella and its porches
Term
Peripteral
Definition
In Greek architecture, a single row of columns; a dipteral colonade has a double row
Term
polis (pl. poleis)
Definition
Independant city-states in ancient Greece. Polis literally means "city."
Term
Polychrome
Definition
Done in several colors
Term
Portico
Definition
A porch with a roof supported by columns; an entrance porch
Term
Propylian (pl. propylaia)
Definition
A gateway building leading to an open court preceding an ancient Greek or Roman templ. The monumental entrance to the Acropolis in Athens
Term
Raking Cornice
Definition
The cornice on the sloping sides of a pediment
Term
Prostyle
Definition
A style of temple with columns at the front end and not on the back or sides
Term
Red-figure Technique
Definition
In later Greek pottery, the silhouetting of red figures against a black background, with painted linear details; the reverse of the black-figure technique.
Term
Satyr
Definition
A male follower of the Greek god Dionysus, represented as part human, part goat
Term
Strategos
Definition
an Ancient greek general. Pericles was a famous Athenian strategos
Term
Strigil
Definition
A scraper, used by ancient Greek athletes to scrape oil from their bodies after exercising
Term
Stylobate
Definition
The uppermost course of the platform of a classical temple, which supports the columns
Term
Tesserae
Definition
Tiny stones or pieces of glass cut to desired size and shape used in the creation of mosaics
Term
Aisle
Definition
The portion of a church flanking the nave and separated from it by a row of column or piers
Term
Amphitheater
Definition
Literally, a double theater. A Roman building type resembling two Greek theaters put together. The Roman amphitheater featured a continuous elliptical cavea (seating area) around a central arena
Term
Apotheosis
Definition
Elevated to the rank of gods or the ascent to heaven
Term
Apse
Definition
A recess, usually singular and semi-circular, in the wall of a Roman basilica or at the east end of a Christian church
Term
Arch
Definition
A curved structural member that spans an opening and is generally composed of wedge-shaped blocks (voussoirs) that transmit the downward pressure laterally
Term
Arena
Definition
In a Roman amphitheater, the central area where bloody gladiatorial combats and other events took place. Arena comes from the Latin for "sand." Sand covered the floor.
Term
Atmospheric Perspective
Definition
A technique in painting to suggest a recession in space by increasingly blurring the appearance of objects in the distance
Term
Atrium (pl. atria)
Definition
The court of a Roman house that is partly open to the sky. Also, the open, colonnaded court in front of and attatched to a Christian basilica.
Term
Attic
Definition
In architectural terminology, the uppermost story
Term
Barrel vault
Definition
Also called a tunnel vault; an extension of a simple arch
Term
Basilica
Definition
In Roman architecture, a public building for assemblies, rectangular in plan with an entrance usually on a long side. In Christian architecture, a church resembling the Roman basilica, usually entered from one end and with an apse at the other
Term
Buttress
Definition
An exterior masonry structure that opposes the lateral thrust of an arch or vault
Term
Caldarium
Definition
The hot-bath section of a Roman bathing establishment
Term
Castrum
Definition
A Roman military encampment, famed for the precision with which it was planed and laid out
Term
Coffer
Definition
A sunken panel, often ornamental, in a soffit, a vault, or a ceiling
Term
Composite Capital
Definition
A capital with an ornate combination of Ionic volutes and Corinthian acanthus leaves that became popular in Roman times
Term
Continuous narrative
Definition
In painting or sculpture, the convention of the same figure appearing more than once in the same space at different stages in a story
Term
Cubiculum (pl. cubicula)
Definition
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.
Term
Cuirass
Definition
A breastplate. In Roman art, the emblem of a military officer
Term
Damnatio Memoriae
Definition
The Roman decree condemning those who ran afoul of the Senate. Those who suffered domnatio memoriae had their memorials demolished and their names erased from public inscriptions
Term
Decumanus
Definition
The E-W street in a Roman town, intersecting the cardo (N-S) at right angles
Term
Denarius
Definition
The standard Roman silver coin
Term
Domus
Definition
A Roman's private house
Term
Domus Aurea
Definition
"Golden House." The Emperor Nero's extravagant villa in Rome
Term
Exedra
Definition
Recessed area, usually semi-circular
Term
Folio
Definition
A page of a manuscript or book
Term
Forum
Definition
The public square of an ancient Roman city
Term
Freedmen
Definition
In ancient and medieval society, the class of men and woman who had been freed from servitude, as opposed to having been born free
Term
Frigidarium
Definition
The cold-bath section of a Roman bathing establishment
Term
Imago (pl. imagines)
Definition
In ancient Rome, wax portraits of ancestors
Term
Imperator
Definition
Latin meaning "commander in chief," from which the word emporer is derived
Term
Impluvium
Definition
In a Roman house, the basin located in the atrium that collected rainwater
Term
Nave
Definition
The part of a church between the chief entrance and the choir, demarcated from aisles by piers or columns
Term
Oculus
Definition
The round central opening or "eye" of a dome
Term
Patricians
Definition
Freeborn wealthy landowners of the Roman Republic
Term
Plebian
Definition
In the Roman Republic, the social class that included small farmers, merchants, and freed slaves
Term
Pontifex Maximus
Definition
A Latin term menaing "chief priest" of the state religion. Literally, the term means "chief bridge builder."
Term
Porphyry
Definition
Purple marble
Term
Princeps
Definition
Literally, "First citizen," a title used by Octavian Augustus
Term
Pseudoperipteral
Definition
In Roman architecture, a series of engaged columns all around the sides and back of the cella to give the appearance of peripteral colonnade.
Term
Senate
Definition
Literally, a council of elders; the legislative body in Roman ronstitutional government
Term
Spandrel
Definition
The space created by the curve of an arch and an enclosing right angle
Term
Triclinium
Definition
The dining room in a Roman house
Term
Trompe l'oeil
Definition
French for "fool the eye." A form of illusionist painting that aims to decieve the viewer
Term
Velarium
Definition
The cloth awning that could be rolled out to cover the cavea at the amphitheater
Term
Verism
Definition
From the Latin vernus meaning truth; truth particularly in Roman portraiture
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