Matura History of Art key terms

A pose in which the body's weight rests on one leg, so hips and shoulders tilt in opposite directions and the figure seems relaxed and lifelike.

Archaic Greek standing nude male statue, frontal and rigid with arms at the sides, one foot forward and a stylized, wig-like hairstyle; often a grave marker or votive.

Greek vase painting in which figures are painted in black slip on the red clay ground and details are incised with a sharp tool before firing.

Greek vase painting in which the background is painted black and the figures are left in the red clay colour, with internal details drawn in fluid lines rather than incised.

Stepped, mud-brick temple platform typical of ancient Mesopotamia, with successive tiers and a shrine at the top, understood as a meeting place between gods and people.

Large prehistoric stone monument built from rough or dressed blocks, including dolmens, menhirs and stone circles, often associated with burial or ritual.

A set of fixed ratios used to build a figure or building, such as Polykleitos' rules for the ideal body or Vitruvius' module system for temples.

In Roman and Early Christian architecture, a long rectangular hall with a central nave, side aisles and an apse; adopted as the standard plan for Christian churches.

Semicircular or polygonal recess at the end of a church, usually vaulted and containing the altar or choir, often decorated with a mosaic or fresco.

The semicircular area above a doorway, enclosed by the lintel and arch, commonly carved with relief sculpture showing Christ in Majesty or the Last Judgment in Romanesque and Gothic churches.

A vault in which diagonal stone ribs carry the weight and frame the webbing, allowing thinner panels, higher compartments and more flexible bay shapes than a plain barrel vault.

An external arched support that transfers the outward thrust of a high vault to a pier, enabling Gothic builders to open walls to large windows and reduce interior bulk.

A handwritten book decorated with painted miniatures, initials and gold or silver leaf, produced in monastic scriptoria and often using parchment or vellum.

A screen of icons separating the sanctuary from the nave in Orthodox churches, with a central royal door and tiers of painted panels arranged in a fixed hierarchy.

Christ shown as ruler of all, typically in a dome or apse, frontal, with a Gospel book, raising his right hand in blessing and surrounded by a mandorla.

A drawing system in which parallel lines recede to one or more vanishing points on a horizon, producing a convincing illusion of depth on a flat surface.

Leonardo's technique of very subtle tonal transitions with no visible edges, creating soft, smoky modelling and atmospheric depth, as in the Mona Lisa.

Strong contrast of light and dark used to model form and build drama; in the Renaissance it shapes volume, while Baroque painters push it toward tenebrism.

A Baroque mode of painting in which most of the scene is plunged into darkness and figures are lit by a single harsh source, producing theatrical intensity.

A still life that uses skulls, candles, hourglasses and wilting flowers to remind viewers that wealth, pleasure and life are brief.

Painting that deceives the eye into taking a flat surface for real architecture, objects or space, often used on ceilings, walls and cabinet panels.

The stylish, artificial elegance valued in Mannerist art, marked by elongated proportions, complex poses, cool colours and quotations of admired masters.

The highest academic genre, showing narrative subjects from the Bible, mythology or ancient history with morally improving intent and large-scale figure composition.

Late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century style based on close study of ancient art and Winckelmann's ideals, favouring clear outlines, restrained emotion and moral subjects.

Nineteenth-century practice of designing in past styles, or of seeing history as a sequence of styles, so that a building may mix Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance elements knowingly.

Deliberate reuse of an earlier style for new buildings or objects, such as Gothic Revival churches or Neo-Renaissance museums, often tied to national or religious identity.

Painting outdoors directly from the motif, made practical by portable paint tubes and central to Impressionist practice of capturing changing light and weather.

The official, juried exhibition of the French Academy, held regularly in Paris; acceptance or rejection shaped careers and provoked alternative exhibitions.

Work produced under the training and standards of art academies, based on drawing from casts and life models, idealized form and an approved hierarchy of subjects.

International decorative style around 1900 using sinuous plant-like lines, asymmetry and craft materials in architecture, posters, furniture and metalwork.

Early twentieth-century movement, led by Picasso and Braque, that breaks objects into facets and shows several viewpoints at once, often in muted brown and grey tones.

Art made by gluing paper, newsprint, fabric or other found materials onto a surface; Cubists used it to bring everyday reality and text into painting.

An ordinary manufactured object chosen and presented as art by the artist, challenging ideas of skill, originality and the gallery context; associated with Duchamp.

Writing, drawing or painting without conscious control, used by Surrealists and Abstract Expressionists to tap the unconscious and avoid planned composition.

Post-war American movement combining large scale, gestural paint handling and existential seriousness, with action painting and colour field strands.

1960s art reducing form to simple geometric shapes, industrial materials and serial repetition, rejecting illusion, emotion and the visible trace of the artist's hand.

Art in which the idea or instruction matters more than the finished object, often using text, documentation and ephemeral actions that can be re-executed.

A constructed environment or arrangement of objects occupying a space, experienced by the viewer physically and often temporary or made for a particular site.