Madrid PAU Cultural and Artistic Movements flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Contrapposto

A pose in which the weight of the body is shifted onto one leg, creating a natural curve in the spine and a sense of relaxed balance; used in Classical Greek sculpture.

Hierarchical scale

An artistic convention in which the most important figure is depicted larger than others, often seen in ancient Egyptian and medieval art to indicate status.

Verism

A style of Roman portraiture that emphasizes realistic, unidealized features such as wrinkles and blemishes, reflecting age and experience.

Pendentive

A curved triangular architectural element that transitions from a square base to a circular dome, enabling the construction of Hagia Sophia's central dome.

Tympanum

The semicircular area above a church portal, often decorated with relief sculpture depicting religious scenes, typical of Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

Arabesque

An ornamental design of intertwined flowing lines and stylized plant motifs, widely used in Islamic art to avoid figural imagery in religious contexts.

Sfumato

A painting technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into one another, producing softened outlines and a hazy effect, as in Leonardo's works.

Tenebrism

A style of painting characterized by dramatic illumination and violent contrasts of light and dark, often with a spotlight effect, associated with Caravaggio.

Trompe l'oeil

A technique that creates the optical illusion of three-dimensional objects or spaces on a two-dimensional surface, often used in Baroque ceiling frescoes.

Neoclassicism

An art movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that revived classical Greek and Roman forms, emphasizing reason, order, and moral virtue.

Impasto

A technique in painting where paint is applied thickly, often with a brush or palette knife, so that the texture of the strokes is visible.

En plein air

French for 'in the open air'; painting outdoors to capture natural light and atmosphere, a practice central to Impressionism.

Analytical Cubism

The first phase of Cubism (c. 1909–1912) characterized by fragmented forms, multiple viewpoints, and a restricted palette of browns and grays.

Automatism

A Surrealist technique of creating art without conscious control, allowing the unconscious mind to guide the hand, often seen in drawings and writings.

Readymade

An ordinary manufactured object selected and presented as art by the artist, a concept pioneered by Marcel Duchamp to challenge traditional definitions of art.

Paranoiac-critical method

A Surrealist technique developed by Salvador Dalí involving the systematic visualization of irrational associations to create dreamlike imagery.

Las Meninas

A 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez that plays with perspective and the viewer's position, depicting the Infanta Margarita and her entourage in a complex interior scene.

Caprichos

A series of 80 etchings by Francisco Goya (1799) satirizing Spanish society, superstition, and abuses of power, known for their dark imagery.

Buon fresco

A mural painting technique in which pigments are applied to wet lime plaster, becoming permanently embedded as the plaster cures.

Lost-wax casting

A bronze sculpture technique in which a wax model is coated with clay, heated to melt the wax, and filled with molten bronze to create a hollow cast.

Chiaroscuro

The use of strong contrasts between light and dark in a work of art to create volume, depth, and dramatic effect.

Provenance

The documented history of ownership of an artwork, used to establish authenticity and legal title.

Gesamtkunstwerk

A German term meaning 'total work of art', referring to a synthesis of multiple art forms (music, drama, poetry, visual arts) into a unified whole, associated with Wagner.

Humanism

A Renaissance intellectual movement that emphasized the study of classical texts and the potential of human beings, influencing art, literature, and philosophy.

Counter-Reformation art

Art produced during the Catholic revival in the 16th and 17th centuries, characterized by emotional intensity, clarity, and dramatic effects to inspire devotion.

Sublime

An aesthetic concept in Romanticism describing feelings of awe and terror evoked by vast, powerful natural phenomena, as seen in works by Friedrich and Turner.

Pointillism

A Post-Impressionist technique of applying small dots of pure color that blend optically when viewed from a distance, developed by Georges Seurat.

Black-figure pottery

A Greek vase-painting technique in which figures are painted in black slip on the red clay background, with details incised before firing.

Mihrab

A niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca (qibla), often highly decorated and serving as a focal point for prayer.

Mannerism

A 16th-century style characterized by elongated figures, artificial colors, and spatial complexity, bridging the High Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Suprematism

An abstract art movement founded by Kazimir Malevich around 1915, focusing on basic geometric forms and a limited color palette to express pure feeling.

Mudejar

A style of architecture and decoration in Christian Spain (12th–16th centuries) that incorporates Islamic forms and techniques, such as horseshoe arches and geometric tilework.