Art across time- chapter 1

relief (low relief, high relief)

(a) a mode of sculpture in which an image is developed outward (high or low relief) or inward (sunken relief) from a basic plane; (b) a printmaking process in which the areas not to be printed are carved away, leaving the desired image projecting from the plate

parapet

(a) a wall or rampart to protect soldiers; (b) a low wall or railing built for the safety of people at the edge of a balcony, roof, or other steep place

modeling

(a) in two-dimensional art, the use of value to suggest light and shadow, and thus create the effect of mass and weight; (b) in sculpture, the creation of form by manipulating a pliable material such as clay

medium

(a) the material with which an artist works (e.g., watercolor on paper); (b) the liquid substance in which pigment is suspended, such as oil or water

twisted perspective

A convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part of the same figure is shown frontally, prominent in the cave paintings of the prehistoric era(examples are horns of bulls, human torso paintings in Mesolithic age.)

Bison with turned head, La Madeleine, France, c. 11,000-9,000 B.C.

Illustrates paleolithic naturalism, keen observation of detail seen due to finely incised lines of the beard and sharp turn of the head, also demonstrates capacity to render the illusion that the animal is turning in space.

"Mother Goddess," Tarxien, Malta, before 2500 B.C.

Large, bulbous legs covered by a pleated skirt (Massive statue). Malta had an abundance of smaller obese female figures which suggests a fertility cult existed. Many of these figures had red ocher around their legs possibly to depict blood from childbirth.

monolith

a large block of stone that is all in one piece (i.e., not composed of smaller blocks), used in megalithic structures

megalith

a large, undressed stone used in the construction of prehistoric monuments

pigment

a powdered substance that is used to give color to paints, inks, and dyes

menhir

a prehistoric monolith standing alone or grouped with other stones

cromlech

a prehistoric monument consisting of a circle of monoliths

dolmen

a prehistoric structure consisting of two or more megaliths capped with a horizontal slab

tenon

a projecting member in a block of stone or other building material that fits into a groove or hole to form a joint

binder

a substance used in paint and other media to bind particles of pigment together and enable them to adhere to the support

plane

a surface on which a straight line joining any two of its points lies on that surface; in general, a flat surface

vehicle

a term often used interchangeably with medium to mean the liquid in which pigments are suspended but not dissolved and which, as it dries, binds the color to the surface of the painting

trilithon

an ancient monument consisting of two vertical megaliths supporting a third as a lintel

necropolis

an ancient or prehistoric burial ground (literally "City of the Dead")

post-and-lintel construction

an architectural system in which upright members, or posts, support horizontal members, or lintels

kiln

an oven used to bake (or fire) clay

polychrome

consisting of several colors

sculpture in the round

freestanding sculptural figures carved or modeled in three dimensions

abstract

in painting and sculpture, having a generalized or essential form with only a symbolic resemblance to natural objects

support

in painting, the surface to which the pigment is applied

façade

the front or "face" of a building

lintel

the horizontal cross beam spanning an opening in the post-and-lintel system

incise

to cut designs or letters into a hard surface with a sharp instrument

fire

to prepare (especially ceramics) by baking in a kiln or otherwise applying heat