Italian Viking
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Chapter 5 - ANCIENT GREEK
Abacus ____ The flat, usually square, slab forming the top of a capital, directly under the entablature.
Acanthus ____ A plant whose foliage inspires a leaf like architectural ornamentation.
Acropolis ____ The citadel of an ancient Greek city, located at its highest point and consisting of temples, a treasury, and sometimes a palace.
Agora ____ An open space in a Greek town, used as a central gathering place or market.  In Roman times, called a "forum".
Amphiprostyle ____ Describing a building, usually a temple, with porticoes at each end but without columns along the other two sides.
Amphora ____ an ancient Greek jar for storing oil or wine, with an egg-shaped body and two curved handles.
Anta/Antae ____ Rectangular pier or pilaster found at the ends of the framing walls of a recessed portico.
Archaic Smile ____ The curved lips of an ancient Greek statue, usually interpreted as a half-smile,
... the smile is because the statue knows standardized tests haven't been invented yet, so he'll never have to learn stuff like the definition of "archaic smile"
Architrave ____ Bottom layer of an entablature, beneath the frieze and the cornice.
Attribute ____ Symbolic object or objects that identify a particular deity, saint or personification in art.
Black-figure ____ Decorative style of ancient Greek pottery in which black figures are painted on a red clay background.
Calyx Krater ____ Bell-shaped Greek vessel for mixing wine and water.
Caryatid ____ Sculpture of a draped female figure acting as a column.
Cella ____ Principal interior structure at the center of a Greek or Roman temple.
Centaur ____ In Greek mythology, a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man, and the legs and hindquarters of a horse.
Chiton ____ Thin sleeveless garment, fastened at waist and shoulders, worn by men and women in ancient Greece.
Classical ____ In general, any art with the qualities of restraint, balance and rational order exemplified by ancient Greece and Rome.
Corinthian Order ____ One of the three principal types (or "Orders") of Classical columns.  Corinthian is the most decorative.
Cornice ____ The uppermost section of an entablature.
Dentil ____ Small, tooth like blocks arranged in a continuous band to decorate a Classical entablature.
Dipteral ____ Term describing a building surrounded by two rows of columns.
Doric Order ____ One of the three principal types (or "Orders") of Classical columns. Doric is the least decorative of the three Orders
Drum ____ The wall that supports a dome.
Echinus ____ Circular element found on a Doric or Ionic capital.
Elevation ____ Arrangement, proportions and details of any vertical side or face of a building.  A buildings main "elevation" is usually its facade .
Encaustic ____ Type of painting technique utilizing pigments mixed with a medium of hot wax.  Typical of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Entablature ____ The horizontal elements above a column. From top-to-bottom, the entablature has three sections: cornice, frieze and architrave.
Entasis ____ Slight bulge built into the shaft of a Greek column, to give the optical illusion from afar that the column is straight.
Expressionism ____ Art in which forms are created primarily to evoke subjective emotions rather than to portray objective reality.
Finial ____ Knoblike architectural decoration usually found at the top point of a spire.  Also found on furniture.
Foreshortening ____ Illusion created on a flat painted or drawn surface in which figures and objects appear to recede or project sharply into space.
Frieze ____ Middle section of an entablature, usually decorated. ALSO, any continuous flat band of relief sculpture.
Himation ____ In ancient Greece, a garment wrapped around the body, with a rectangular piece of cloth thrown over the shoulder.
Hydria ____ Large ancient Greek and Roman jar for storing water.
Idealization ____ Making forms and figures attain perfection, based on pervading cultural values or the artist's mental image of what the ideal is.
In antis ____ Term used to describe the position of columns set between two walls, as in a portico or a cella.
Ionic ____ One of the three principal types (or "Orders") of Classical columns.  Ionic columns have volutes (scroll-shapes) at the top.
Kore ____ Archaic Greek statue of a young woman.
Kouros ____ Ancient Greek statue of a young man or boy.
Krater ____ Ancient Greek vessel for mixing wine and water. Many subtypes, each with their own shape.
Maenad ____ In ancient Greece, a female statue often depicted in swirling drapery.
mausoleum ____ Monumental building used as a tomb.
Metope ____ Rectangular spaces, sometimes decorated but often plain, on a Doric frieze.
Molding ____ Shaped or sculpted decorative strip with varying contours and patterns.
Mosaic ____ Image formed by small colored stone or glass pieces affixed to a hard, stable surface.
Naturalism ____ Style of depiction in which the physical appearance of the image in nature is the primary inspiration.
Necking ____ Molding at the top of the shaft of a column.
Negative Space ____ Empty or open space within or bounding a work, which emphasizes the overall form of the work.
Oracle ____ Person, usually a priest or priestess, who acts as a conduit for divine information.
Order ____ A system of proportions in Classical architecture.
(There are three MAJOR orders you MUST know and be able to recognize -- Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.)
Orthogonal ____ Any line running back into the represented space of a picture perpendicular to the imagined picture plane
... and if that definition makes absolutely no sense to you don't blame me.  I'm just the typist here.  Go talk to Stokstad.
Palmette ____ Fan-shaped ornament with radiating leaves.
Pedestal ____ Platform or base supporting a sculpture or other monument.  ALSO, the block found below the base of a Classical column, raising the entire element off the ground.
Pediment ____ Triangular gable over a portico, window or door. Formed by an entablature and sloping roof.
Peplos ____ Loose outer garment work by women of ancient Greece, belted below the bust or at the hips.
Peripteral ____ Term used to describe any building (or room) surrounded by a single row of columns.
Podium ____ Raised platform that acts as the foundation for a building.  Most often used for Etruscan, Greek and Roman temples.
Porch ____ Covered entrance on the exterior of a building.
Pronaos ____ Enclosed vestibule of a Greek or Roman temple, found in front of the cella and marked by a row of columns at the entrance.
Propylaia ____ Large, often elaborate, gateway to a temple or other important building.
Prostyle ____ A term used to describe a Classical temple with a colonnade placed across the entrance.
Red-figure ____ A style of ancient Greek vase painting characterized by red clay-colored figures on a black background.
Rosette ____ A round or oval ornament resembling a rose.
Sanctuary ____ The space around the altar of a church.
Slip ____ Mixture of clay and water applied to a ceramic object as a final decorative coat.
Stadium ____ In ancient Greece, race track with tiers of seats for spectators.
Stoa ____ A Greek portico or promenade with long rows of columns. Used as a meeting place.
Stucco ____ Mixture of materials easily molded.  When dry, produces a very durable surface used for covering walls.
Stylobate ____ In Classical architecture, the stone foundation on which a temple colonnade stands.
Tempera ____ Painting medium made by blending egg yolks with water and pigments.
Tholos ____ Small, round building, sometimes built underground, similar to a Mycenaean tomb.
Treasury ____ A building or room for keeping holy (and often highly valuable) objects.
Triglyph ____ Rectangular blocks between the metopes of a Doric frieze.  Has three carved vertical grooves, which approximate the appearance of the ends of wooden beams.
Volute ____ Spiral scroll, most often decoration on an Ionic column's Capital.
Volute krater ____ Greek vessel for mixing wine or water, with handles shaped like scrolls.
White-ground ____ Type of ancient Greek pottery in which the background is painted white, and figures are painted or incised into this background.