Baldachin
a ceremonial canopy of stone, metal, or fabric over an altar, throne,
or doorway.
di sotto insu
from below to above
Judith and Holofernes
an episode from the apocryphal Book of Judith in the Old Testament,
which recounts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by
the Israelite heroine Judith.
Counter Reformation
An internal reform of the Catholic Church in the 16th century; thanks
especially to the work of the Council of Trent, Catholic leaders
clarified doctrines, corrected abuses and corruption, and put a new
emphasis on education and accountability
David and Goliath
Goliath or Goliath of Gath was a giant Philistine warrior defeated by
the young David, the future king of Israel, in the Bible's Books of
Samuel. The original purpose of the story was to show David's identity
as the true king of Israel.
Chiaroscuro
an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling
unevenly or from a particular direction on something.
Baroque Classicism
it is a specific style of baroque art that draws heavily on classical
influences and is characterized by refined idealism, realism, and an
interest in antiquity. The dramatic use of chiaroscuro is not quite as
evident in baroque classicism.
Caravaggesque style
Painted in the style of Michelangelo Merisi da
Caravaggio. Specifically, this means a highly realistic portrayal of
figures, the focus on dramatic situations and subjects, and a high
contrast of light and dark (chiaroscuro).
Council of Trent
a council of the Roman Catholic Church convened in Trento in three
sessions between 1545 and 1563 to examine and condemn the teachings of
Martin Luther and other Protestant reformers; redefined the Roman
Catholic doctrine and abolished various ecclesiastical abuses and
strengthened the papacy
putti
is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually
nude and sometimes winged.
Baroque Naturalism/Realism
describes a true-to-life style which involves the representation or
depiction of nature (including people) with the least possible
distortion or interpretation.
Beheading of John Baptist
According to the Synoptic Gospels, Herod, who was
tetrarch, or sub-king, of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had
imprisoned John the Baptist because he reproved Herod
for divorcing his wife (Phasaelis) and unlawfully taking
Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod
Philip I.
Flight into Egypt
The flight into Egypt is a biblical event described in the Gospel of
Matthew (Matthew 2:13-23), in which Joseph fled to Egypt with Mary and
infant son Jesus after a visit by Magi because they learn that King
Herod intends to kill the infants of that area.
Tenebrism
from the Italian, tenebroso (murky), also called dramatic
illumination, is a style of painting using very pronounced
chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and
where darkness becomes a dominating feature of the image.
Iconologia
the traditional or conventional images or symbols associated with a
subject and especially a religious or legendary subject
St. Teresa of Avila
she experienced periods of religious ecstasy through the use of the
devotional book Tercer abecedario espiritual, translated as
the Third Spiritual Alphabet
Still life
is a work of artdepicting mostly inanimate subject
matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural
(food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, or shells) or man-made
(drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, and so on).
Breakfast piece
A breakfast piece is a still life painting originating in the
Netherlands, especially Haarlem, from about 1620. In a Breakfast Piece
painting, the dining table shows simple foods such as bread, cheese
and a glass filled with wine or beer.
vanitas
A type of symbolic still life painting especially associated with
Northern European painters in Flanders and the Netherlands in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The word is Latin, meaning
"emptiness" and loosely translated corresponds to the
meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of vanity
camera obscura
it is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on
a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment
genre
A type or category of artists form, subject, technique, style or medium.
Domestic Interior Scene
a picture of the inside of a room or building, as in a
painting or stage design
Tazza
a shallow cup or vase on a pedestal
Roemer
a German wineglass having a body with a globular top and a
cylindrical bottom often decorated with prunts, supported by a conical foot
Cityscape
it is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print
or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area