Art History key terms
Chapter 1-Pre-Historic Art
Key Terms Attributes- Symbolic object or objects that identify a particular deity, saint, or personification in art
Ceramics- Wares made of baked clay
Corbel vault-
Dolmen- Prehistoric sculpture made up of or more large stones supporting a large, flat, horizontal slabs Capstones- The final topmost stone in corbel arch or vault which joins the sides and completes the
Structure
Henge- Circular area enclosed by stones or wood posts set up by Neolithic peoples
Megalithic-
Modeling -in painting the process of creating the illusions of three-dimensionality on a 2 dimensional
Surface by the use of light and shade. In sculpture the process of molding
Passage graves- prehistoric tomb under a cairn, reached by a long narrow slab lined access passage or
Passageways
Post-and-Lintel-architectural system of construction with two or more vertical elements (posts) supporting
A horizontal (lintel)
Sculpture in the round –Three dimensional sculptures that is carved free of any background or block
Chapter 2- Art of the Ancient Near East
Key Terms Alabaster- a soft fine translucent white stone
Cylinder seals- a small cylindrical stone decorated with incised patterns. When rolled across soft clay or wax the resulting raised pattern or design served as an identifying signature.
Conventions-a traditional way of representing forms.
Cuneiform- an early form of writing with wedged shaped marks impressed into wet clay with a stylist used primarily by ancient Mesopotamians.
Hieratic scale-the use of different sizes for significant or holy figures and those of the everyday world to indicate relative importance. The larger the figure the greater its importance.
Mesopotamia-
Pictographs-a highly stylized and simplified depiction serving as a symbol for a person or object.
Relief sculpture-a sculpture image or design whose flat background surface is carved away to a certain depth setting off
Key Terms Attributes- Symbolic object or objects that identify a particular deity, saint, or personification in art
Ceramics- Wares made of baked clay
Corbel vault-
Dolmen- Prehistoric sculpture made up of or more large stones supporting a large, flat, horizontal slabs Capstones- The final topmost stone in corbel arch or vault which joins the sides and completes the
Structure
Henge- Circular area enclosed by stones or wood posts set up by Neolithic peoples
Megalithic-
Modeling -in painting the process of creating the illusions of three-dimensionality on a 2 dimensional
Surface by the use of light and shade. In sculpture the process of molding
Passage graves- prehistoric tomb under a cairn, reached by a long narrow slab lined access passage or
Passageways
Post-and-Lintel-architectural system of construction with two or more vertical elements (posts) supporting
A horizontal (lintel)
Sculpture in the round –Three dimensional sculptures that is carved free of any background or block
Chapter 2- Art of the Ancient Near East
Key Terms Alabaster- a soft fine translucent white stone
Cylinder seals- a small cylindrical stone decorated with incised patterns. When rolled across soft clay or wax the resulting raised pattern or design served as an identifying signature.
Conventions-a traditional way of representing forms.
Cuneiform- an early form of writing with wedged shaped marks impressed into wet clay with a stylist used primarily by ancient Mesopotamians.
Hieratic scale-the use of different sizes for significant or holy figures and those of the everyday world to indicate relative importance. The larger the figure the greater its importance.
Mesopotamia-
Pictographs-a highly stylized and simplified depiction serving as a symbol for a person or object.
Relief sculpture-a sculpture image or design whose flat background surface is carved away to a certain depth setting off