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Painting and Sculpting Terms
Common art & sculpting vocabulary
173
Art History
Undergraduate 1
05/08/2007

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Term
Aerial Perspective/Atmospheric Perspective
Definition
A nonlinear means of producing a sense of depth in painting. For example, dust particles causing distant objects to appear muted and blue.
Term
Alla Prima
Definition
"At first" -- a method of oil painting in which the final effect is achieved in a single, direct application of paint to a ground
Term
Attribute
Definition
Object used by the artist to identify a person, office, or concept.
Term
Attribution
Definition
Signifies uncertainty about the individual authorship of a work of art.
Term
autograph
Definition
A painting entirely credited to an individual author
Term
autograph copy/autograph replica
Definition
A reproduction by the author of the original painting
Term
Bitumen
Definition
A naturally occuring tar-like substance that produces a deep warm brown color.

Mixed with oil in order to create a painting material.
Term
Body Color
Definition
A water-based, opaque painting medium

A pigment that is naturally opaque.
Term
Bole
Definition
A clay material that is used as the prepatory layer for application of very thin layers of gold or silver
Term
Bozzetto
Definition
An oil sketch with particularly sketchy execution that records the painter's early ideas.
Term
Brush
Definition
the basic tool used to apply not only paint but varnishes and metal leaf as well.
Term
Brushwork
Definition
A thing that consists of textures and impressions within a painting created by the workings of the artist's brush.
Term
Canvas
Definition
A piece of cloth woven from flax, hemp, or cotton fibers.
Term
Cartoon
Definition
A full-scale drawing or painting used in the transfer of design to an easel painting, fresco, tapestry, stained glass, or other work. Usually of a large size.
Term
Casein
Definition
An adhesive made from the curd of soured skim milk.

A difficultmedium that presents problems in handling and correction (quick-drying).

Brittle film does not age well.
Term
Cassone Painting
Definition
A painted panel insert in an Italian marriage chest, but today often displayed detached and framed like an easel painting.
Term
Chiaroscuro
Definition
Used to describe the effects of light and shadow in painting. Particularly when the contrast between the two is very pronounced.
Term
Color
Definition
Something perceived by the eye (and the mind) when specific wavelengths of light are reflected off a surface.
Term
value or tone
Definition
describes the lightness or darkness of color corresponding to a gray scale that ranges from white to black
Term
hue or tint
Definition
describes the common nature of a color, such as red or green
Term
Intensity
Definition
the degree of saturation of a color
Term
half-tone/middle-tone
Definition
Used to describe a color that falls somewhere between the lightest, least intense, and the darkest, most saturated appearance of a particular hue.
Term
Primary Colors
Definition
red, yellow, blue
Term
Secondary Colors
Definition
Orange, green, and violet
Term
warm colors
Definition
colors that contain more red tones
Term
cool colors
Definition
colors that contain more blue tones
Term
complementary colors
Definition
colors considered to be in extreme contrast to one another (red and green)
Term
Connoisseurship
Definition
The method of attribution that uses visual evidence alone to identify the specific author of a work of art or its time and place of execution.
Term
Conservation
Definition
The restoration and preservation of works of art.
Term
Cradle
Definition
A wooden framework attached to the reverse of a panel painting which, in theory, is designed to prevent warping or splitting of the support.
Term
Craquelure
Definition
A pattern of cracks that develops on the surface of a painting as a result of the natural drying and aging of the paint film.
Term
Diptych
Definition
A picture comprising two panels or leaves, usually hinged together so that they can be closed like a book.
Term
Tempera
Definition
A water-based paint medium that, upon drying, produces an opaque surface with a soft sheen.
Term
distemper
Definition
also known as glue tempera. Made from animal glue. Dries to a matte surface but is fragile.
Term
egg tempera
Definition
a medium that produces a hard, durable, and somewhat lustrous surface. Dries very quickly.
Term
emulsion
Definition
a mixture of two materials that do not normally mix. Egg yoke is a natural one of these
Term
Encaustic
Definition
A wax-based paint created by mixing pigment with molten wax and applying the mixture to a support while still hot.
Term
foreshortening
Definition
the technique of depicting an object or figure so that it appears to recede.
Term
Frame
Definition
A border around a picture added to enhance its appearance by isolating it from its surroundings or by linking it to the doctor
Term
Fresco
Definition
the technique of wall painting in which pigments mixed in water (or limewater) are applied directly onto freshly laid lime plaster
Term
sinopia
Definition
A reddish brown chalk mixed in limewater
Term
fugitive pigment
Definition
A pigment that is particularly susceptible to fading over time. The fading process is actually a chemical change initiated by exposure to light.
Term
Gesso
Definition
A mixture of calcium sulfate and rabbit-skin glue that is applied in liquid form as a primer to the surface of a painting support. It smooths out the irregularities in the support.
Term
gilding
Definition
The technique of affixing very thin sheets of metal called leaf to a surface.
Term
Glaze
Definition
A transparent layer of darker paint that is applied over an opaque layer of lighter paint. Most commonly associated with oil paintings.
Term
Gouache
Definition
An opaque, matte, water-based paint made from gum arabic and a chalf-like filler.
Term
Grisaille
Definition
Monochrome painting in shades of gray.
Term
Ground
Definition
The material applied to a support in order to prepare it from painting.
Term
Iconography
Definition
The investigation and interpretation of subject matter in the visual arts
Term
Illusionism
Definition
The creation of an illusion of reality in painting.
Term
Impasto
Definition
The texture created in a paint surface by the movement of the brush.
Term
Imprimatura
Definition
A thin, transparent glaze of color applied to a ground before a painting on it.
Term
Incising
Definition
To lay out a composition on the ground with the use of a sharp instrument that carves lines into the prepared support. Most often employed to transfer a design from a cartoon.
Term
Infared reflectography
Definition
A modern examination technique for studying underdrawings that make use of a television camera containing an infrared-sensitive tube.
Term
Inscription
Definition
The written word is incorporated in paintings most often to identify or comment on the subject.
Term
Lining
Definition
A new piece of fabric attached to the reverse of a canvas painting that provides additional support for the picture.
Term
Lunette
Definition
A semi-circular painting
Term
Medium
Definition
The material that is mixed with raw pigments in order to create paint.
Term
mixed technique
Definition
The use of at least two different types of media within the same painting.
Term
modeling
Definition
The representation of a three-dimensional form on a two-dimensional surface, usually achieved through the variation of light and shadow across the depicted form.
Term
mural
Definition
A painting executed firectly on or permanently affixed to a wall
Term
oil
Definition
The general term that describes a drying oil used as a paint medium.
Term
oil sketch
Definition
Originally a prepatory study in oils for another work, not necessarily in the same medium
Term
Original
Definition
Used to refer to any painting executed entirely by an artist
Term
Palette
Definition
A support for laying out paint

also refers to the general color tonality of a painting
Term
palette knife
Definition
A flat metal spatula that was originally designed for mixing pigments with a painting medium
Term
panel
Definition
A wooden support used for a painting
Term
Pendant
Definition
A painting created as a companion piece to another painting. Usually of the same size and with complementary subject and composition.
Term
Pentimento
Definition
An artist's alteration (literally, repentance or change or mind) that has become increasingly apparent with time.
Term
Perspective
Definition
The techniques of representing three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional space
Term
Picture plane
Definition
The plane separating the imaginary space of a painting and the real space of the spectator
Term
Pigment
Definition
The coloring agent that is mixed with a binding medium to form paint.
Term
Plasticity
Definition
refers to the three dimensional quality of modeled figures or objects
Term
Polyptych
Definition
A painting comprising four or more panels, usually an altarpiece, whether hinged together or arranged in a fixed architectural frame.
Term
Pouncing
Definition
A method of transferring a design from a cartoon to the surface of a canvas, panel, or fresco.
Term
Predella
Definition
The lower register of polyptych and is composed of smaller panels, often with narrative episodes from the lives of saints.
Term
Priming
Definition
The material applied to a support in order to prepare it for painting.
Term
Provenance
Definition
The history of the ownership of a work of art
Term
Punchmark
Definition
The ornamentation of the gold ground of a panel after gilding and prior to painting
Term
retouching
Definition
This term originally referred to corrections or additions made by an artist as final adjustments to a completed picture. However, the term has come to identify something quite different: the work done by a restorer to replace areas of loss or damage in a painting.
Term
Scrumble
Definition
A thin, lighter layer of color placed over a darker underpaint.
Term
Sfumato
Definition
The imperceptible gradation of tones or colors from light to dark in modeling, often giving forms soft contours.
Term
Scraffito
Definition
"scratched" a mathod of attaining effects, like gold cloth, with metallic leaf in painting
Term
signature
Definition
the artists signing of the work
Term
size
Definition
Any material used as a primer to seal an absorbent surface.
Term
Sotto in Su
Definition
"from below upward" used to describe the extreme fore-shortening of figures and objects so that they actually seem to exist in the space over the viewer's head.
Term
squaring
Definition
A method used to transfer a design from a drawing to the ground of a painting when the sizes of the two works differ.
Term
Stippling
Definition
the technique of making repeated applications of paint by holding a stiff brush directly perpendicular to the surface of the painting
Term
stretcher
Definition
a wooden framework for stretching, supporting, and maintaining the tautness of a piece of canvas.
Term
support
Definition
A material used as the basic underlying structure in the creation of a painting
Term
tondo
Definition
A circular painting
Term
tooling
Definition
The ornamentation of the gold ground of a panel after gilding and prior to painting
Term
transfer
Definition
the process of removing a painting from its original, presumably deteriorated support and replacing it with a new support
Term
triptych
Definition
A picture comprising three panels, usually hinged together.
Term
ultraviolet
Definition
this is used as a scientific aid in the examination of paintings.
Term
underdrawing
Definition
A prepatory drawing directly on a ground, which is subsequently covered with paint.
Term
underpainting
Definition
A preparatory paint layer applied by the artist as a means of establishing basic areas of light, dark, or color within a composition
Term
varnish
Definition
A coating applied to the surface of a painting. The varnish layer plays a dual role: it has a profound effect upon the final appearance of the painting and also serves as a protective coating for the paint surface.
Term
watercolor
Definition
In its most general sense, any paint with a water-soluble medium.
Term
workshop
Definition
The name of the place where a painter works is also applied to the group of artists, artisans, and apprentices who work for him or her.
Term
X-ray
Definition
A scientific tool used in the examination of paintings
Term
Aftercast
Definition
A bronze sculpture cast using molds taken from a pre-existing work in bronze rather than from the original model.
Term
Alabaster
Definition
A fine-grained translucent sedimentary stone composed of hydrous calcium sulfate that varies in color from white to yellowish or pink
Term
Al'Antica
Definition
A term used to describe a work of art, or any portion therof, which is inspired by or emulates ancient Greek or Roman precedents.
Term
Alloy
Definition
A mixture of two or more metals that have been melted together
Term
Armature
Definition
An internal skeleton, usually of metal or wood, which supports a sculpture in clay, plaster, or other modeling material during construction.
Term
Brass
Definition
an alloy of copper and zinc usually containing varying amounts of other metals such as lead and tin.
Term
bronze casting
Definition
replaces a wax model with bronze
Term
bronzing
Definition
coating a surface to give it the appearance of bronze, generally through the application of metallic powders
Term
Bust
Definition
A three-dimensional partial representation of a real, imagined, or symbolic human figure that concentrates on the head
Term
cartouche
Definition
sculpted ornament in the form of a scroll rolled at both ends, bearing an inscription or emblem.
Term
Carving
Definition
The removal of material to reveal a form, a process often contrasted with modeling, which involves the addition of material to build a form.
Term
Cast-in-repair
Definition
partial excavation of the core and pouring in an excess amount of metal, which can then be leveled to match the surrounding surface.
Term
chasing
Definition
a term encompassing two processes in metal working: first, the modeling of decorative patterns on a hand-shaped sheet-metal surface using punches applied to the front, usually in combinatation with repousse, a technique in which the back is hammered to create a raised relief on the front; and the second, the finishing and refinement of a cast sculpture.
Term
Cire perdue
Definition
the lost wax in lost wax casting
Term
Clay
Definition
a natural material formed by decompotion of certain types of rock. When mixed with water, it becomes a stiff paste that can be shaped and then fired so that the form hardens.
Term
Coat of arms
Definition
A heraldic device identifying an individual's family and/or lineage.
Term
Colossus
Definition
A statue of extraordinary size, usually two to three times the size of a man.
Term
contrapposto
Definition
An Italian term meaning "placed opposite" and synonymous with antithesis or the juxtaposition of opposite. in sculpture it refers to a stance in which each straight or weight-bearing limb to create a diagonal shift in the torso.
Term
Copy
Definition
a more or less exact reproduction of an existing sculpture.
Term
core
Definition
the material that fills the interior cavity of a mold when a hollow metal casting is made.
Term
Death mask
Definition
an impression or mold of the face of a deceased person, usually made by oiling the skin and taking a plaster cast of the features.
Term
enlargement
Definition
a reproduction of an existing sculpture on a larger scale.
Term
equestrian
Definition
an adjective describing an image, often a portrait, of a person on horseback.
Term
facture
Definition
the manner in which as work of sculpture is executed and its material manipulated to achieve a desired appearance.
Term
fettling
Definition
to trim or clean away unwanted mold seams or rough edges from the surface of a sculpture cast in terra-cotta, plaster, wax, or sometimes, metal.
Term
figura serpentinata
Definition
an italian term describing the pose of a figure whose twisting form creates a serpentine or spiral curve.
Term
firing cracks
Definition
cracks formed in ceramic sculpture during firing
Term
foundry
Definition
the establishment where metal casting takes place.
Term
frontal
Definition
a descriptive term for a sculpture strongly oriented toward a single viewpoint, which is obtained by standing directly in front of the work.
Term
glaze
Definition
in ceramic sculpture, a silica-based glassy coating fused to a ceramic body, which functions as both a decorative and a protective layer.
Term
grain
Definition
the distinctive pattern and texture of a material that results from the arrangement, especially the stratification, of its particles or cells.
Term
gypsum plaster
Definition
a white powdery substance which, when mixed with water, sets through crystallization to a hard, brittle solid.
Term
In Situ
Definition
A term applied to works of art that remain in their intended locations and settings.
Term
Inscription
Definition
Any text that has been cast, carved, engraced, or stamped into a surface, or -- in the case of soft materials like clay or wax -- formed with a stylus or other pointed tool.
Term
in-the-round
Definition
a three dimensional sculpture carved or modeled on all sides.
Term
investment
Definition
the material that makes up the outer mold surrounding the wax model in the lost wax casting technique.
Term
join
Definition
a location on a sculpture where two separate sections hae been fitted together.
Term
lathe
Definition
a mechanical instrument, known since antiquity, which rotates a piece of material while cutting tools to shape it into the desired cylindrical form
Term
lead
Definition
a soft, heavy, corrosion-resistant gray metal.
Term
life cast
Definition
an image made directly from a lining subject or from molds taken from that subject.
Term
limeplaster
Definition
a white powdery substance that when mixed with water sets to a hard, brittle solid.
Term
limestone
Definition
sedimentary stone with fine grain that permits very detailed carving, but only very hard limestone wiht a low clay content can be polished.
Term
lost wax casting
Definition
a technique that since antiquity, except for a period in the nineteenth century, has been the primary method for casting bronze sculpture.
Term
maquette
Definition
a three dimensional preparatory model, usually in clay or wax which represents on a smaller scale the subject and composition of a sculpture to be executed on a larger scale in a more permanent and expensive material.
Term
marble
Definition
a stone with medium to coarse grain and various color and pattern. decorative stone that will take a high polish.
Term
medal
Definition
any small circular flat work that exhibits relief decoration on one or, usually, both sides.
Term
model
Definition
a preliminary version of a projected sculpture, usually executed in an inexpensive material.
Term
modelling
Definition
a method of manipulating a sculptural medium such as clay, plaster, or wax to create a form.
Term
modello
Definition
refers specifically to a more finished model and is thus closer in meaning to the term maquette
Term
mold
Definition
the negative impression of a form into which a sculpting material is poured or pressed.
Term
monumental
Definition
in its most literal sense, the term refers to a monument or sculpture of large or over-life -sizse proportions.
Term
multiple views
Definition
a term applied to sculpture that is intended to be seen from various points of view, all of which are pleasing and/or essential for understanding the work.
Term
negative space
Definition
the open or empty space that is defined or framed by sculpted elements within a composition
Term
niche
Definition
a concave or rectangular architectural recess, often intended for the display of sculpture.
Term
non finito
Definition
a term used to describe a sculpture that is considered unfinished because tool marks are still visible and/or it lacks its final carving, polishing, and refinements of details.
Term
pastiche
Definition
a sculpture that copies, imitates, or incorporates elements from various works of art by the same artist or different arists, or from various stylistic periods, and recombines them to create a new work.
Term
pedestal
Definition
anything that holds up and or bares the weight of a sculpture.
Term
plaster
Definition
a mixture of lime or gypsum with sand and water; hardens into a smooth solid; used to cover walls and ceilings
Term
plug
Definition
pieces of metal used to fill the holes left when core pins are removed and to repair small casting flaws
Term
pointing
Definition
a mechanical process used for the reproduction of sculpture. the name derives from points marked on a model, which are used to transfer measurements to a marble block as it is being carved.
Term
polychromy
Definition
the decoration of a surface in many colors, often, but not necessarily, including metallic treatments such as gilding.
Term
primary view
Definition
the angle from which as sculpture yields its most pleasing, comprehensive, and informative view.
Term
relief
Definition
sculpture in which the elements of the composition project from the surface of a more or less flat background, known as the relief plane.
Term
reliquary
Definition
a box of sculpted container made as a repository for preserving, displaying, and glorifying sacred relics which are considered holy and believed to possess powers.
Term
sand casting
Definition
a technique for casting metals, which was first used for simple sculpture and utilitarian objects in the renaissance, grew in populatiry in the early eighteenth century, and became the primary method for casting iron and bronze in the 19th century.
Term
sandstone
Definition
a sedimentary stone carved with precision but cannot be polished. the carving tools used for this stone are similar to those used in marble
Term
statuette
Definition
a sculpture in the round representing an entire figure on a scale that is substantially smaller than the life-size.
Term
strut
Definition
a narrow piece of stone connecting two parts or limbs of a stone sculpture which would otherwise be extremely fragile and susceptible to breakage.
Term
stucco
Definition
a mixture containing gypsum, limeplaster combined with sand and additives such as marble powder, animal glue, white wine, resins, or milk, which increase durability and lengtherns the time during which it is workable. slow setting and hardens at room temp.
Term
terra-cotta
Definition
coarse grained clay that has been fired at low temp. and left unglazed.
Term
tool marks
Definition
marks left in a sculpted surface by the tools used to create or finish the sculpture.
Term
truncation
Definition
the way in whcih the lower portion and bottom edge of a sculpted bust is treated.
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