Term
|
Definition
| Greek, “high city.” In ancient Greece, usually the site of the city’s most important temple(s). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The great audience hall in ancient Persian palaces. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A curved structural member that spans an opening and is generally composed of wedge-shaped blocks (voussoirs) that transmit the downward pressure laterally. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A collection of illustrations of real and imaginary animals. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An arcade having no actual openings, applied as decoration to a wall surface. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The chamber at the center of an ancient temple; in a classical temple, the room (Greek, naos) in which the cult statue usually stood. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Latin, “wedgeshaped.” A system of writing used in ancient Mesopotamia, in which wedge-shaped characters were produced by pressing a stylus into a soft clay tablet, which was then baked or otherwise allowed to harden. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A cylindrical piece of stone usually about an inch or so in height, decorated with an incised design, so that a raised pattern was left when the seal was rolled over soft clay. In the ancient Near East, documents, storage jars, and other important possessions were signed, sealed, and identified in this way. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Usually, the front of a building; also, the other sides when they are emphasized architecturally. |
|
|
Term
|
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
|
Definition
| The part of the entablature between the architrave and the cornice; also, any sculptured or painted band in a building. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A vitreous coating applied to pottery to seal and decorate the surface; it may be colored, transparent, or opaque, and glossy or matte. In oil painting, a thin, transparent, or semitransparent layer put over a color to alter it slightly. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Bricks painted and then kiln fired to fuse the color with the baked clay. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A composition that is symmetrical on either side of a central figure. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An artistic convention in which greater size indicates greater importance. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In Islamic architecture, a vaulted rectangular recess opening onto a courtyard. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Assyrian guardian in the form of a man-headed winged bull. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A rich ultramarine semiprecious stone used for carving and as a source for pigment. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A picture, usually stylized, that represents an idea; also, writing using such means; also painting on rock. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| One of a series of superimposed bands or friezes in a pictorial narrative, or the particular levels on which motifs are placed. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back, leaving the impression on the face. The metal is hammered into a hollow mold of wood or some other pliable material and finished with a graver. See also relief. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A carved stone slab used to mark graves or to commemorate historical events. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A whorl of hair, represented as a dot, between the brows; one of the lakshanas of the Buddha. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A gift of gratitude to a deity. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An ancient Mesopotamian architecture, a monumental platform for a temple. |
|
|
