Canary Islands PAU Artistic Foundations Exam key terms

A large worked stone used alone or grouped to build prehistoric monuments such as dolmens, menhirs and passage graves, typically associated with Neolithic and Chalcolithic Atlantic Europe.

A prehistoric tomb chamber of upright stones capped by a flat slab, originally often covered by a mound of earth or stones.

A single tall standing stone erected in prehistoric contexts, sometimes aligned in rows or circles whose function is debated.

Describes an image, gesture or object intended to turn away evil or harm, such as a gorgoneion, a protective eye or an amulet.

A compositional convention in which the most important figure is shown largest, used in Egyptian and medieval art to signal rank rather than physical size.

A pose in which the weight rests on one leg, so that hips and shoulders tilt in opposing directions, giving the body a natural balance and movement.

An Archaic Greek free-standing nude male statue, frontal and striding, often used as a grave marker or votive offering.

The technique of depicting forms receding into depth so that they appear shortened, used to create illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface.

In Roman architecture a rectangular hall with nave and aisles used for public business; Early Christian churches adopted this plan for congregational worship.

The central longitudinal space of a church, flanked by aisles or side chapels, where the congregation gathers and processions move.

The semicircular field above a portal lintel and below the arch, frequently carved with sculpted relief in Romanesque and Gothic churches.

A screen of icons and panels separating the sanctuary from the nave in Byzantine and Orthodox churches, marking the boundary between clergy and laity.

The decoration of a manuscript with painted images, initials or borders, often using gold or silver, as in medieval liturgical and devotional books.

A geometric system in which parallel lines converge at one or more vanishing points on a horizon, producing a measurable illusion of depth.

The modelling of volume and light through strong contrasts between light and dark tones, central to Renaissance and Baroque painting.

A technique of soft, smoky transitions between tones and contours, removing hard outlines to suggest atmosphere and form, famously used by Leonardo.

A style of the later sixteenth century favouring elongated figures, artificial colour, unstable composition and technical display over classical proportion and balance.

An extreme form of chiaroscuro in which figures emerge from near-total darkness lit by a single strong source, associated with Caravaggio and his followers.

Painting designed to deceive the eye into taking depicted objects or spaces for real ones, often used in ceiling painting and still life.

Illusionistic painted architecture, usually on ceilings or walls, that extends real space into imaginary vaults and openings.

The asymmetrical shell, scroll and plant ornament characteristic of Rococo decoration, applied to interiors, furniture and metalwork.

A late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century movement reviving Greco-Roman forms, valuing clarity, restraint, archaeology and moral seriousness over Rococo ornament.

An aesthetic category of overwhelming grandeur, awe or terror evoked by vast nature or great power, central to Romantic theory and landscape painting.

An early nineteenth-century movement prizing individual emotion, imagination, nature and national history over classical rules and rational order.

A mid-nineteenth-century approach depicting ordinary contemporary life and labour without idealisation, often with social or political intent.

The official juried exhibition of the French Academy, whose selection and hierarchy of genres shaped artistic careers and provoked alternative exhibitions.

A movement of the 1870s that painted outdoors with broken colour and visible brushwork to capture fleeting effects of light and atmosphere.

A loose label for artists after Impressionism who retained bright colour but pursued structure, symbolism or expressive brushwork rather than optical immediacy.

An early twentieth-century movement, led by Picasso and Braque, that breaks objects into facets and multiple viewpoints, often merging figure and background.

A work made by pasting paper, printed matter or found materials onto a surface, introducing everyday fragments into the picture and questioning illusion.

An ordinary manufactured object selected and presented as art by the artist, challenging authorship, craft and the definition of the artwork itself.

A post-1945 American movement combining large-scale gestural or colour-field painting with existential themes of spontaneity, scale and personal expression.

The study of the subject matter and symbolic meaning of images, identifying figures, attributes and narrative motifs and their conventions.

The interpretation of images in their cultural, religious and historical context, going beyond identification of subject matter to explain meaning.

An object or emblem conventionally attached to a figure to identify it, such as a key for Saint Peter or a wheel for Saint Catherine.

The commissioning and financing of artworks by individuals, institutions or states, which shapes subject, scale and style according to the patron's aims.

A style of Iberian architecture and ornament made by Muslim craftsmen for Christian patrons, using brick, tile and geometric or vegetal decoration.

A wooden ceiling of interlocking beams and panels, often richly decorated in Mudéjar tradition, found in churches and secular buildings in the Canary Islands and Spain.

The body of cultural property, monuments and traditions officially recognised and protected for transmission to future generations, subject to conservation law.