European Baccalaureate Art key terms

A structured description of how an artwork is built, examining line, shape, colour, texture, space, scale and composition before any interpretation of meaning is offered.

The basic building blocks an artist manipulates: line, shape, form, tone, colour, texture and space. Naming and comparing them precisely is the foundation of describing any work.

The arrangement of elements within the picture plane or three-dimensional space, including balance, rhythm, focal point and the paths the eye is led along.

The flat, two-dimensional surface on which an image is made, treated as a window or as a physical field in its own right depending on the artist's intention.

The area of an image that first attracts and holds attention, created through contrast, isolation, placement, scale or directional lines within the composition.

The relative lightness or darkness of a colour or grey, used to model form, suggest light direction and create contrast independent of hue.

Strong, deliberate contrast between light and dark used to give volume to forms and dramatic atmosphere to a scene, characteristic of Renaissance and Baroque painting.

A technique of blending tones so gradually that outlines dissolve into soft haze, producing smoky transitions and a sense of atmospheric depth.

An extreme form of chiaroscuro in which most of the picture is plunged into darkness while a single harsh light isolates the principal figures.

A geometric system in which parallel lines appear to converge at vanishing points on a horizon line, producing convincing illusions of receding space on a flat surface.

The point on the horizon where receding parallel lines appear to meet; one-point, two-point and multi-point constructions each use different numbers of such points.

Creating depth by making distant forms paler, cooler, lower in contrast and less detailed, mimicking the effect of air and moisture over distance.

The perceptual distinction between the subject that stands forward and the background behind it, which artists may sharpen, blur or deliberately confuse.

The occupied shapes of a composition compared with the empty or surrounding areas; in strong design both are given deliberate, active form.

The body of principles about how hues relate, mix and affect each other, covering primary, secondary and complementary colours, warm and cool tendencies, and simultaneous contrast.

Pairs of hues opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green, which intensify one another when placed side by side and neutralise each other when mixed.

The perceived warmth (reds, oranges, yellows) or coolness (blues, greens, violets) of a colour, used to suggest light, mood and spatial recession.

The colour an object is understood to possess under neutral light, as distinct from the shifting tones produced by coloured light, shadow or reflection.

The way a colour appears altered by the colours adjacent to it, so that the same grey looks warmer on blue and cooler on orange.

The tactile quality of a surface, whether actual (impasto, collage, carved stone) or illusionistic (painted to look like velvet, skin or metal).

Paint applied so thickly that it stands up from the canvas, retaining brush or palette-knife marks and catching light as a physical relief.

The material or technique through which an artwork is made, such as oil paint, watercolour, charcoal, bronze, photography or video, each carrying particular expressive possibilities.

The physical base that carries the image or mark: canvas, panel, paper, wall, screen or the body itself. Its properties shape how the medium behaves.

The study of the subjects, symbols and attributes depicted in art, identifying what figures and objects conventionally signify within a culture or religious tradition.

Interpretation of the deeper cultural, religious or ideological meaning of imagery, moving beyond identifying symbols to explaining why they carry that significance.

An object held or worn by a figure that identifies who they are, such as a key for Saint Peter or a wheel for Saint Catherine.

A recognised category of subject matter, such as history painting, portraiture, landscape, still life or scenes of everyday life, each with its own conventions and status.

Narrative images of significant events from scripture, myth or recorded history, traditionally ranked highest in academic hierarchies because of their moral and intellectual ambition.

A composition of inanimate objects such as fruit, vessels, flowers or skulls, often carrying symbolic meaning and prized as a vehicle for demonstrating technical skill.

A still life type whose objects, notably skulls, hourglasses and dying flowers, remind the viewer of mortality and the emptiness of worldly pleasures.

Interpreting an artwork through its historical period, patronage, political setting, religious function and audience, rather than through its visual qualities alone.

The commissioning and financing of artworks by individuals, churches, courts or states, which shapes subject, scale, material and the artist's working conditions.

Work produced under the authority of official art academies, governed by taught rules of drawing, anatomy, idealised form and the hierarchy of genres.

The large official exhibition of the French Academy in Paris, whose juries decided which artists received public visibility and critical attention from the eighteenth century onward.

Artists or movements that position themselves ahead of accepted taste, challenging conventions of subject, technique or institution and often provoking hostility before acceptance.

The broad movement from the mid-nineteenth century onward in which artists increasingly explored the specific properties of their medium rather than illusionistic representation.

Art that departs from accurate depiction of visible reality, using form, colour and mark on their own terms, ranging from partial simplification to complete non-representation.

Describing art containing no recognisable figures or objects, so that meaning arises from the arrangement of formal elements alone.

An ordinary manufactured object selected and presented as art by the artist, challenging the idea that skill or craft defines an artwork.

Work in which the idea or proposition takes priority over the finished physical object, often using text, documentation or instructions rather than traditional craft.

An artwork that constructs a whole environment or arranges objects within a space, so that the viewer physically enters and experiences it rather than looking at a framed image.

Describing work conceived for one particular location, whose scale, materials and meaning depend on that place and would change if it were moved elsewhere.

The person who selects works, researches themes and organises exhibitions, shaping how art is displayed, sequenced and explained to an audience.

The planning of layout, lighting, wall colour, labelling and spatial sequence in a display, all of which influence how viewers read the works shown.

The documented history of who has owned an artwork and where it has been, used to establish authenticity and to trace loss or illicit transfer.

The scholarly judgement assigning a work to a particular artist, workshop, period or region, based on style, documents, materials and technical evidence.

The careful treatment and preventive care of artworks to slow deterioration, including cleaning, stabilising materials and controlling light, temperature and humidity.

Intervention that returns a damaged or altered artwork toward an earlier state, raising ethical questions about how much missing material may legitimately be reconstructed.

The curated body of work a candidate submits for assessment, selected to demonstrate range, sustained investigation and reflective annotation rather than mere quantity.

A working notebook of drawings, notes, experiments and annotations that records the development of ideas and provides evidence of the candidate's thinking over time.

The gathering and analysis of source material, from observation, museums, photography or other artists, which then informs and is transformed by the candidate's own work.

The deliberate reuse of existing images or objects, either quoted, altered or recontextualised, to create new meaning through reference.

Written commentary accompanying practical work that explains decisions, evaluates experiments and links the candidate's practice to the artists and ideas studied.

A written analysis setting two or more artworks side by side to examine similarities and differences in form, meaning, context and technique.