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Art Historical Terminology
Understanding Formal Analysis
97
Art History
Undergraduate 1
01/26/2013

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Term
Line
Definition
A mark with greater length than width. They can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal; straight or curved; thick or thin.
Term
Shape
Definition
A closed line. Can be geometric; or organic, free-form natural shapes. They are also flat and can express length and width.
Term
Forms
Definition
Three-dimensional shapes that express not only length and width, but also depth. Spheres, cylinders, boxes are all forms.
Term
Space
Definition
The area between and around objects. The space around is often called negative space; this has shape. Space can also refer to a feeling of depth, the illusion.
Term
Colour
Definition
How light is reflected off of objects. It has three main characteristics: hue, value, and intensity.
Term
Hue
Definition
The name of a color; red, green, blue.
Term
Value
Definition
How light or dark something is.
Term
Intensity
Definition
How bright or dull it is.
Term
White and Black
Definition
White is pure light and Black is the absent of light.
Term
True Colours
Definition
Primary colours, red, blue, and yellow.
Term
Intermediate colors
Definition
Tertiary colors; yellow green, blue green, blue violet
Term
Complementary colors
Definition
Contrast because they share no common colors. They neutralize each other to make brown.
Term
Texture
Definition
Surface quality that can be seen and felt. Do not always feel the way they look.
Term
Balance
Definition
The distribution of visual weight or objects, colours, texture, and space.
Term
Symmetrical Balance
Definition
Elements used on one side are similar to those on the other side.
Term
Asymmetrical Balance
Definition
The sides are different, but still look balanced.
Term
Radial Balance
Definition
Elements are arranged around a central point and may be similar.
Term
Emphasis
Definition
Part of design that catches the viewer's attention. Making one area stand out by contrasting it with other areas. Could be different size, colour, texture, shape, etc.
Term
Movement
Definition
The path the viewer's eye takes through a work of art, often to focal areas. Can be directed by lines, edges, shapes, and colour.
Term
Pattern
Definition
The repeating of an object or symbol all over the work of art.
Term
Repetition
Definition
Works with pattern to make the work of art seem active. Creates unity.
Term
Proportion
Definition
The feeling of unity when all parts relate well with one another.
Term
Rhythm
Definition
When one or more elements of design are used repeatedly to create a feeling of organized movement. Creates a mood like music or dance. To keep rhythm exciting and active, variety is essential.
Term
Variety
Definition
The use of several elements of design to hold the viewer's attention and guide the eye around the work.
Term
Unity
Definition
The feeling of harmony between all parts of the work giving a sense of completeness.
Term
Physical Evidence
Definition
The examination of the materials used to produce an artwork in order to determine its date.
Term
Documentary Evidence
Definition
The examination of written sources in order to determine the date of an artwork, the circumstances of its creation or the identity of the artist(s) who made it.
Term
Internal Evidence
Definition
The examination of what an artwork represents (people, hairstyles, etc.) in order to determine its date. Also the examination of the style of an artwork to identify the artists.
Term
Stylistic Evidence
Definition
The examination of the style of an artwork in order to determine its date or the identity of the artists.
Term
Period Style
Definition
The characteristic style of a specific time.
Term
Regional Style
Definition
The style of a particular geographical area.
Term
Personal Style
Definition
The style of an individual artist's unique manner.
Term
Abstract
Definition
Works of art that express a state of mind and can invoke emotions. These kinds of artworks are usually nonobjective.
Term
Religious
Definition
Works of art that feature religious figures, stories, or themes.
Term
Historical
Definition
Works of art whose subject features a historical event or figure.
Term
Mythological
Definition
Works of art whose subject features figures or themes mythology such as Greek gods and fairies and nymphs.
Term
Genre
Definition
Works of art that feature the daily life of the period of the artwork.
Term
Portraiture
Definition
Works of art whose subject is focused on a particular person.
Term
Landscape
Definition
Works of art that depict a place.
Term
Still Life
Definition
Works of art that feature an arrangement of inanimate objects.
Term
Iconography
Definition
"Writing of images" in Greek. Refers to either the content, or subject, and to the study of the content in art. Also includes the study of the symbolic (often religious) meaning of objects, persons, and events depicted in works of art.
Term
Symbol
Definition
An image that stands for another image or encapsulates and idea.
Term
Attribute (n)
Definition
The distinctive identifying aspect of a person, for example, an object held, an associated animal, or a mark on the body.
Term
Personification
Definition
An abstract idea represented in bodily form.
Term
Artist
Definition
Creator of paintings, sculptures, and other objects for specific patrons and settings and to fulfill a specific purpose. They can affect history by reinforcing or challenging ideas and practices through the objects they create.
Term
Attribute (v)
Definition
To make an attribution.
Term
Attribution
Definition
Assignment of a work to a maker or makers.
Term
School
Definition
A chronological and stylistic classification of works of art with a stipulation of place.
Term
Patron
Definition
The person or entity that pays an artist to produce artworks or employs an artist on a continuing basis.
Term
Additive Sculpture
Definition
A kind of sculpture technique in which materials are built up or "added" to create form.
Term
Subtractive Sculpture
Definition
A kind of sculpture technique in which materials are taken away from the original mass; carving.
Term
Casting
Definition
A sculptural technique in which the artist pours liquid metal, plaster, clay, etc into a mold. When the material dries, the sculptor removes the cast piece from the mold.
Term
Mold
Definition
A hollow form for casting.
Term
Statues
Definition
A three-dimensional sculpture.
Term
Busts
Definition
A three-dimensional sculpture featuring the head and bust.
Term
Sculpture in the Round
Definition
Also called freestanding figures. Carved or modeled in three dimensions.
Term
Relief Sculpture
Definition
Figures projecting from a background of which they are part. The degree of relief is designated high, low (bas), or sunken.
Term
High-relief
Definition
Artists cut the design into the surface so that the highest parts of the image are no higher than the surface itself.
Term
Low-relief
Definition
Also know as Bas-relief. Artists cut the design into the surface lower than the surface itself.
Term
Plan
Definition
The horizontal arrangement of the parts of a building or of the buildings and streets of a city or town, or a drawing showing such an arrangement.
Term
Axial Plan
Definition
The parts of a building are organized longitudinally, or along a given axis.
Term
Central Plan
Definition
The parts of the structure are equal or almost equal dimensions around the center.
Term
Section
Definition
A diagram or representation of a part of a structure or building along a imaginary plane that passes through it vertically.
Term
Lateral Section.
Definition
Drawings showing a theoretical slice across a structure's width.
Term
Longitudinal Section
Definition
Drawings showing a cut through a building's length.
Term
Elevation
Definition
A head-on view of an external or internal wall, showing its features and often other elements that would be visible beyond or before the wall.
Term
Cutaway
Definition
An architectural drawing that combines an exterior view with an interior view of part of the building.
Term
Column
Definition
A vertical, weight-carrying architectural member, circular in cross-section and consists of a base, a shaft, and a capital.
Term
Lintel
Definition
A horizontal beam used to span an opening.
Term
Capital
Definition
The uppermost member of a column, serving as a transition from the shaft to the lintel.
Term
Vault
Definition
A masonry roof or ceiling constructed on the arch principle, or a concrete roof of the same shape.
Term
Aisle
Definition
The portion of a basilica flanking the nave and separated from it by a row of columns or piers.
Term
Nave
Definition
The central art of an ancient Roman basilica or church, demarcated from aisles by piers or columns.
Term
Ambulatory
Definition
A covered walkway, outdoors or indoors; especially the passageway around the apse and the choir of a church.
Term
Apse
Definition
A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a building , commonly found at the east end of a church.
Term
Bronze
Definition
A metal material used in sculpture.
Term
Calligraphy
Definition
Greek for "beautiful writing." Handwriting or penmanship, especially elegant writing as a decorative art.
Term
Gilding
Definition
Covered or highlighted with gold or gold-leaf.
Term
Pouncing
Definition
The method of tranfering a sketch onto paper or a wall by tracing. Uses transparent gazelle skin or paper placed on top of a sketch. Contours are pricked away and then black pigment is forced through the holes.
Term
Glaze
Definition
A vitreous coating applied to pottery to seal and decorate the surface; it may be coloured, transparent, or opaque. Also can be glossy or matte. In oil painting a transparent or semitransparent layer applied over a colour to slightly alter it.
Term
Slip
Definition
A mixture of fine clay and water used in ceramic decoration.
Term
Composition
Definition
The way in which an artist organizes forms in an artwork, either by placing shapes on a flat surface, or arranging forms in space.
Term
Picture Plane
Definition
In perspective, the imaginary plane corresponding to the surface of a picture, perpendicular to the viewer's line of sight.
Term
Medium (media)
Definition
The material in which an artist works; also, in painting the liquid that carries the pigment.
Term
Technique
Definition
The processes artists employ to create form, as well as the distinctive, personal ways in which they handle their materials and tools.
Term
Plane
Definition
A flat surface
Term
Contour Line
Definition
A continuous line defining the outer shape of an object.
Term
Spectrum
Definition
The range or band of visible colours in natural light.
Term
Mass
Definition
The bulk, density, and weight of matter in space.
Term
Volume
Definition
The space that mass organizes, divides, or encloses.
Term
Perspective
Definition
A method of presenting an illusion of the three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface.
Term
Composite View
Definition
A convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in a profile view and another part of the same figure is show frontally; also called twisted perspective.
Term
Foreshortening
Definition
The use of perspective to represent in art the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendicular plane of sight.
Term
Profile
Definition
A view or representation of an object, especially a building, in contour or outline.
Term
Proportion
Definition
The relationship in size of the parts of persons, buildings, or objects, often based on a module.
Term
Module/Modular
Definition
A basic unit of which the dimensions of the major parts of the work are multiples. The principle is used in many art forms and more often employed in architecture.
Term
Hierarchy of Scale
Definition
An artistic convention in which greater sizes indicates greater importance.
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