Essential Art & Architecture Terminology
Posted on Jun 2, 2025 in Visual arts
Art and Architecture Terminology
A
Abacus
A flat slab, typically square, that forms the uppermost part of a column’s capital, supporting the architrave or entablature in classical orders.
Architrave
The lowest part of the entablature, resting directly on the capitals of the columns.
Ashlar Masonry
Masonry composed of finely dressed, cut, and squared stones, typically laid in regular courses.
B
Base
The lowest part of a column, pedestal, or wall, upon which the shaft rests.
C
Canon
A set of rules or principles,
especially in art and architecture, establishing ideal proportions for the human figure or harmonic relationships between different parts of a work.
Capital
The uppermost part of a column or pilaster, typically carved and often decorated, that supports the entablature or arch.
Cool Colors
Colors (such as blues, greens, and violets) that evoke coolness, calmness, and often appear to recede in a composition.
Corbel
A structural piece of stone, wood, or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, often forming a decorative bracket or support for a roof or mantelpiece.
Corinthian Order
The most ornate of the classical orders of architecture, characterized by its elaborate capital decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls. Its proportions are generally more slender than the Ionic order.
Contrapposto
An artistic pose in which the human figure is depicted with the weight shifted onto one leg, creating a natural asymmetry and dynamic tension in the body, often with shoulders and hips counter-rotated.
F
Figura Serpentinata (Serpentine Figure)
A style in Mannerist art, particularly sculpture, characterized by a spiraling, twisting pose of the figure, often with a complex interplay of limbs and a rotational movement of the torso, hips, and head.
Flat Color
A color applied uniformly without variations in tone, shade, or gradation.
Formeret Arch
An arch that runs along the wall of a bay, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the nave, often supporting the web of a vault.
Frieze
The middle section of the entablature in classical architecture, located between the architrave and the cornice. It can be plain or decorated with relief sculpture, and by extension, any horizontal decorative band.
H
High Relief
A type of relief sculpture where more than half of the figure projects from the background.
L
Low Relief (Bas-Relief)
A type of relief sculpture where the figures project only slightly from the background, less than half their true depth.
M
Metope
A rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze. Metopes are often decorated with relief sculptures.
P
Pilaster
A rectangular column that projects slightly from a wall, having a base, shaft, and capital, and often serving as a decorative rather than structural element.
Polychromy
The art or practice of decorating architectural elements or sculptures with a variety of colors.
Praxitelean Curve
A distinctive S-shaped pose in sculpture, characteristic of the work of Praxiteles, where the figure’s weight is shifted, creating a graceful, softened curve, particularly noticeable in the hips and torso.
Primary Color
Fundamental colors (traditionally red, yellow, and blue) that cannot be created by mixing other colors, and from which all other colors can be derived.
R
Rubble Masonry
Masonry constructed of rough, undressed stones of irregular shape, often used for foundations or rustic walls.
Rustication (Almohadillado)
A type of masonry where the faces of stones are left rough or textured, often with beveled or sunken joints, giving a bold, rugged appearance. Commonly used in Renaissance and Roman architecture.
S
Sculpture in the Round (Freestanding Sculpture)
A type of sculpture that is carved or cast in three dimensions, intended to be viewed from all sides, and not attached to a background.
Secondary Color
Colors formed by mixing two primary colors (e.g., orange, green, and violet).
Shaft
The main body of a column, pilaster, or pier, located between the base and the capital.
Style
A distinctive manner or characteristic set of features, often persistent across an epoch, school, artist, or geographic region, used to identify and categorize works of art or architecture.
T
Torso
A sculpture or representation of the human body without the head, arms, or legs; specifically, the trunk of the human body.
Triglyph
A vertically channeled tablet of the Doric frieze, having two complete vertical grooves (glyphs) and two half-grooves at the outer edges. It is typically placed above each column and in the middle of the intercolumniation, often adorned with guttae below.
V
Volute
A spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the distinctive feature of the Ionic capital, and is also used in Corinthian and Composite capitals.
W
Warm Colors
Colors (such as reds, oranges, and yellows) that evoke warmth, energy, and often appear to advance in a composition.
Wet Drapery Technique
A sculptural technique where clothing is depicted clinging to the body as if wet, revealing the underlying anatomical forms and enhancing the sense of movement and realism.
