acropolis
Greek, "high city." In ancient Greece, usually the site of the city's most important temple(s).
amazonomachy
In Greek mythology, the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons.
amphora
An ancient Greek two-handled jar used for general storage purposes, usually to hold wine or oil.
Archaic
The artistic style of 600-480 BCE in Greece, characterized in part by the use of the composite view for painted and relief figures and of Egyptian stances for statues.
Archaic smile
The smile that appears on all Archaic Greek statues from about 570 to 480 BCE. The smile is the Archaic sculptor's way of indicating that the person portrayed is alive.
bilingual vases
Experimental Greek vases produced for a short time in the late sixth century BCE; one side featured black-figure decoration, the other red-figure.
black-figure painting
In early Greek pottery, the silhouetting of dark figures against a light background of natural, reddish clay, with linear details incised through the silhousettes.
canon
A rule, for example, of proportion. The ancient Greeks considered beauty to be a matter of "correct" proportion and sought a canon of proportion for the human figure and for buildings. The fifth-century BCE sculptor Polykleitos wrote the Canon, a treatise
caryatid
A female figure that functions as a supporting column.
See also atlantid.
cella
The chamber at the center of an ancient temple; in a classical temple, the room (Greek, naos) in which the cult statue usually stood.
centauromachy
In ancient Greek mythology, the battle between the Greeks and centaurs.
Classical
The art and culture of ancient Greece between 480 and 323 BCE. Lower case classical refers more generally to Greco-Roman art and culture.
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. Sometimes called "weight shift" b
Corinthian capital
A more ornate form than the Doric or Ionic; it consists of a double row of acanthus leaves from which tendrils and flowers grow, wrapped around a bell-shaped echinus. Although this capital form is often cited as the distinguishing feature of the Corinthia
cult statue
The statue of the deity that stood in the cella of an ancient temple.
encaustic
A painting technique in which pigment is mixed with wax and applied to the surface while hot.
foreshortening
The use of perspective to represent in art the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendicular plane of sight.
Geometric
The style of Greek art during the ninth and eighth centuries BCE, characterized by abstract geometric ornament and schematic figures.
gigantomachy
In ancient Greek mythology, the battle between gods and giants.
Hellenes
The name the ancient Greeks called themselves as the people on Hellas.
Hellenistic
The term given to the art and culture of the roughly three centuries between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and the death of Queen Cleopatra in 30 BCE, when Egypt became a Roman province.
kore
Greek, "young woman." An Archaic Greek statue of a young woman.
kouros
Greek, "young man." An Archaic Greek statue of a young man.
lost-wax (cire perdue) process
A bronze-casting method in which a figure is modeled in wax and covered with clay; the whole is fired, melting away the wax (French, cire perdue) and hardening the clay, which then becomes a mold for molten metal.
meander
An ornament, usually in bands but also covering broad surfaces, consisting of interlocking geometric motifs.
An ornamental pattern of contiguous straight lines joined usually at right angles.
naos
The chamber at the center of an ancient temple; in a classical temple, the room in which the cult statue usually stood.
Orientalizing
The early phase of Archaic Greek art (seventh century BCE), so named because of the adoption of forms and motifs from the ancient Near East and Egypt.
parapet
A low, protective wall along the edge of a balcony, roof, or bastion.
peplos
A simple long woolen belted garment worn by ancient Greek women.
polis
An independent city-state in ancient Greece.
red-figure painting
In later Greek pottery, the silhouetting of red figures against a black background, with painted linear details; the reverse of black-figure painting.
slip
A mixture of fine clay and water used in ceramic decoration.
treasury
In ancient Greece, a small building set up for the safe storage of votive offerings.