Italian Viking
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Chapter 2 - ANCIENT NEAR EAST
Apotheosis ____ Deification of an individual. In painting, often shown as an ascent into heaven, borne by angels or putti
Base____ A slab of masonry supporting a statue or the shaft of a column
Capital____ The sculpted block which tops a column, with varying decorative elements (see: Doric, Ionic & Corinthian orders)
Citadel____ An area of a fortress or defended city placed in a high, commanding spot
Cone Mosaic ____ An early (Sumerian) type of surface decoration created by pressing colored cones of baked clay into prepared wet plaster
Crenellation ____ A pattern of open notches built into the top of many fortified buildings for the purpose of defense
Cuneiform writing____ An early form of writing with wedge-shaped marks impressed into wet clay with a stylus
Cylinder seal____ A small cylindrical stone decorated with incised patterns, used with clay or wax to form an identifying signature
Fluting____ In architecture, evenly spaced parallel vertical grooves incised on the shafts or columns
Gold leaf____ Paper-thin sheets of hammered gold that are used in gilding (common in Byzantine icons and paintings)
Grid____ A system of regularly spaced horizontally and vertically crossed lines that gives regularity to an architectural plan
Groundline____ Solid baseline that indicates the ground plane of an image on which the figure stands
Inlay ____ Decorative process in which pieces of one material are set into the surface of an object made from a different material
Lost-wax casting____ Method of casting bronze by pouring hot metal into a hollow form made of wax
Monumental____ Giving the impression of grandeur and excellence
Pictograph____ Highly stylized depiction serving as a symbol for a person or object
Register____ Device used in spatial definition, placing self-contained bands in a vertical arrangement to differentiate layers of space within an image.
Shaft____ Main vertical section of a column, between the capital and the base
Stela ____ A stone slab placed vertically and decorated with inscriptions or reliefs, used as a grave marker or memorial
Stylization____ Manner of representation that conforms to an intellectual or artistic idea rather than to naturalistic appearances
Stylus____ Instrument with a pointed end, which makes a delicate line or scratch.  Used for writing
Terminal ____ Any element of sculpture or architecture that functions as decorative closure
Torque____ A neckpiece fashioned as a twisted metal collar
Votive figure____ Image created as a devotional offering to a god or other deity
Ziggurat ____ A man-made mountain.  A tall, stepped tower of earthen materials, often supporting a shrine