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altarpiece (n)
a painting or relief placed above or behind the altar in a church |
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ancient art (n)
in Western culture, the art of the period preceding the Middle Ages; the art of the Greeks and Romans between 1200 B.C. and 400 A.D. |
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antiquity (n)
ancient times between 1200 B.C. and 400 A.D.; the period preceding the Middle Ages |
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Apocalypse (n)
the end of the world according to Christian belief; an event predicted in the biblical Book of Revelation in which God separates the Blessed from the Damned, delivering the former into Heaven and the latter into Hell |
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apocryphal (n)
referring to books that are excluded from the New Testament in some versions of the Christian Bible because of their dubious authenticity |
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Apostles (n)
the group of 12 disciples (including Peter, John, Matthew, and Judas) chosen by Christ to spread his teachings and whose writings are the basis of the New Testament of the Christian Bible |
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armor (n)
a defensive covering for the body, made of metal and used in battle during the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods |
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background (n)
the part of a painting or drawing representing the space behind figures or objects that are close to the viewer (in the foreground) |
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bad thief/good thief (n)
in the biblical story of Christ’s crucifixion (the Passion Story), the two thieves who were executed with Christ. The "bad thief" on Christ’s left doubts that he is the son of God, and challenges him to save them from their executions. The "good thief" on Christ’s right rebukes the bad thief, saying that he and the other criminal deserve their punishment while recognizing that Christ has done nothing wrong. |
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baptize (v)
to perform the Christian ceremony of purification by water; an act that admits the recipient into the Christian Church |
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Baroque (adj)
style of art and architecture prevalent in Europe in the 17th and early 18th centuries, characterized by extravagant theatrical forms and including dramatic manipulations of space, vivid illusions, opulent color, movement, and strong contrasts of light and dark |
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battlements (n)
a stone structure on top of the exterior wall of a fortress or castle with notched indentations for decoration or defense |
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Book of Revelation (n)
biblical book written by Saint John the Evangelist in the 1st- or 2nd-century A.D. that recounts his vision of the Apocalypse |
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Calypso
sea nymph who keeps Ulysses captive on her island for nine years in hopes that he will eventually agree to be her husband. She allows him to leave only after the messenger god Hermes tells her that the goddess Athena wishes him to be released. |
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character study (n)
a painting, drawing, or sculpture that attempts to capture the personality of a subject rather than the mere physical appearance |
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chiaroscuro (n)
in painting, the use of light and dark contrasts, especially to create a distinct mood. |
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chiaroscuro woodcut (n)
woodblock printmaking technique in which two or more cut blocks are printed one atop another. One block delineates the contours of the subject; other blocks add tonal values. |
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Circe
goddess who transforms Ulysses’ men into animals to keep them prisoners; later, when she realizes she cannot turn Ulysses into an animal, she helps him continue his journey home |
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Classical/Classicism (adj)
relating to ancient Greek or Roman art, architecture, or literature; commonly denoting rationality, stability, and balance of forms |
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coat of arms (n)
an arrangement of symbols in the shape of a shield that identifies an individual or family, especially when combined with armor |
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commission (n; v)
a work of art made through the funding or authority of a patron; to pay an artist or craftsman to create a work of art |
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composition (n)
the arrangement of elements such as shape, space, and color in a work of art |
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continuous narrative (n)
in art, an episodic representation of a story in which a certain character or characters appear in every scene, and there are no borders separating one episode from the next |
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contrapposto (n)
pose in art developed in Classical times and revived during the Renaissance in which the weight of the body is shifted to one leg, allowing the other leg to bend in a relaxed position and causing the hips to tilt |
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cool (colors) (n)
the range of colors between green and purple on the color wheel, or any color that has undertones of blue, green, or purple |
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Corinthian (adj)
the third order of Greek architecture, characterized by the presence of decorative leaves of the acanthus plant in a column capital—the uppermost portion of the column |
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Counter-Reformation
16th- and 17th-century Roman Catholic movement that arose in response to the European Protestant Reformation; aggressive strategies were introduced to codify Catholic beliefs, to strengthen the Church, and to win back worshipers from Protestantism |
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Cubism (n)
early 20th-century art movement led by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) and Georges Braque (1882–1963) that used fragmented shapes to depict several views of the same subject simultaneously, emphasizing the basic geometry or structure of the subject |
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Cyclops
race of one-eyed giants in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. One of Ulysses’ adventures included a Cyclops named Polyphemos. |
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