Renaissance
French, "rebirth." The revival of classical culture (Greek, Roman) art, culture, and intellectual interests.
humanism
Shift in world view in the ideas of mankind. Mankind capable of reason, free will, logic. Shift away from theo-centricism.
City State
An independent, self-governing city.
Republics: ruled by elected officals
Kingdom, Duchies: ruled by kings and Dukes
Papal States; ruled by church
Carrara marble
White or blue-grey Italian marble, valued for its purity.
sarcophagus
coffin, decorated with mythological subjects. Renaissance is influenced by it but the themes are Christian.
maesta
majesty." Virgin Mary sitting on the throne.
tempera
A technique of painting using pigment mixed with egg yolk, glue, or casein; also, the medium itself.
gold leaf
Gold beaten into tissue-paper-thin sheets that can be applied to surfaces.
fresco
Painting of wet plaster, which binds the pigments to the freshly laid plaster.
Giorgio Vasari
Italian painter and art historian, author of "Lives of the Artists.
The Nine
The town council of Sienna rotated every few months to avoid tyranny.
punchwork
Texture work in gold leaf.
predella
The narrow ledge on which an altarpiece rests on an altar.
duomo
house." nickname for Forence Cathedral.
revetement
In architecture, a wall covering or facing; wrapping a building in marble
polyptych
An altarpiece composed of more than three sections.
retable
An architectural screen or wall above and behind an altar, usually containing painting, sculpture, carving, or other decorations.
devotional art
Images used for praying.
fons vitae
Latin, "fountain of life." A symbolic fountain of everlasting life.
Duc de Berry
Duke of Berry; brother of King of France
illuminated manuscripts
A luxurious handmade book with painted illustrations and decorations.
vellum
Calfskin prepared as a surface for writing or painting.
Book of Hours
A Christian religious book for private devotion containing prayers to be read at specified times of the day.
Assumption of the Virgin
Mary is brought to heaven, rather than being able to ascend on her own as Christ does.
Intaglio (process in printmaking)
A graphic technique in which the design is incised, or scratched, on a metal plate, either manually or chemically. The incised lines of the design take the ink, making this the reverse of the woodcut technique.
Woodcut/relief (process in printmaking)
A wooden block on the surface of which those parts not intended to print are cut away to a slight depth, leaving the design raised; also, the printed impression made with such a block.
engraving
The process of incising a design in hard material, often a metal plate; also, the print or impression made from such a plate.
cross-hatching
A series of closely spaced or engraved parallel lines.
Quattrocento
15th century Italy; encompasses the artistic styles of the late Middle Ages (most notably International Gothic) and the early Renaissance.
linear perspective
A method of presenting an illusion of the three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface
chiaroscuro
In drawing or painting, the treatment and use of light and dark, especially the gradations of light that produce the effect on modeling.
contrapposto
The disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to another part (usually hips and legs one way, shoulders and chest another), creating a counterpositioning of the body about its central axis.
Liberal Arts
abstract reasoning, concepts, and their application; grammar, rhetoric, logic, geometry, music, astronomy. Fine arts were elevated to a Liberal Art in the Renaissance.
Mechanical Arts
work done with the hands; carpentry, weaving, metalwork, painting, sculpture.
vanishing point
In the study of perspective on art, that point toward which receding parallel lines appear to converge.
horizon line
In a perspective drawing, the imaginary line at eye level used as a construction line.
Ogival
octagon dome, Florence Dome
pietra serena
blue-grey stone.
pilasters
A flat, rectangular, vertical member projecting from a wall of which it forms a part. It usually has a base and a capital and is often fluted.
Lucca Della Robbia
terracotta sculptures in Pazzi Chapel sculpted by him
rustication
To give a rustic appearance by roughening the surfaces and beveling the edges of stone blocks to emphasize the joints between them.
basilica
public space from Rome
Platonic Academy
formed by Medici, formed by Plato teaching reconcile Christianity with Paganism
Venus pudica
modest Venus
sfumato
Italian, "smoky." A smokelike haziness that subtly softens outlines in paintings; particularly applied to the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Correggio.
The Golden Legend
stories from the Life of the Virgin
disengo
Italian, "drawing" and "design." position, symmetry, harmony
Sibyl
female pagan prophet readdressed to tell of the coming of Christ.
Martyrium
A shrine to a Christian martyr saint.
The Four Books of Architecture
by Palladio (1508-1580) illustrated Vitruvias' work.
Vitruvius
writer of De Architectura, circle and square
Poesia
A term describing "poetic" art, notably Venetian Renaissance painting, which emphasizes the lyrical and sensual.
Colorito vs. Disegno
color (venetian) Design (Italian)
pastoral
rustic countryside
recumbent nude
reclining nude enters scene
artists' guild
powerful union. Had to be in a guild if artist, regulated production and sales.
Scrovengi
Patron to Giotto, banker
Maniera greca
Greek manner and tradition
oil paint
new invention, binder is oil, slow drying, change consistency, linseed oil, poppyseed, walnut
Duchy of Burgundy
Between France and Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
mostly in modern Germany, run by emperor, tight with church, but seperate
Medici
powerful patron of art
Lorenzo de Medic
banking family, Patron art commissions, large library on theology
Pope Julius II
commissioned works of art. "warrior pope." revitalizes church, humanist