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- abacus
- Abbasid Caliphate
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- académie
- Académie des Beaux-Arts
- academy
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- acrolith
- acropolis
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- acrylic
- action painting
- adobe
- aedicula
- aerial perspective
- Agit-Prop
- agora
- ahu ‘ula
- airbrush
- Akkadian Empire
- akua ba
- alabaster
- alabastron
- albumen print
- alla prima
- allegory
- altar frontal
- altarpiece
- Amarna period
- ambo
- ambrotype
- ambulatory
- American Scene painting
- amphitheater
- amphora
- ampulla
- amulet
- analogous colors
- anamorphosis
- Anasazi
- Anastasis
- Ancestral Puebloan
- animal interlace
- animal style
- ankh
- Annunciation
- antefix
- antependium
- anthemion
- antimony yellow
- apadana
- apocrypha
- apodyterium
- apotheosis
- apotropaic
- appliqué
- appropriation
- apse
- aquamanile
- aquatint
- aqueduct
- arabesque
- arcade
- arch
- Archaic period
- architrave
- archivolts
- armature
- Armory Show
- Arretine ware
- Art Brut
- Art Deco
- Art Nouveau
- artist’s proof
- Arts and Crafts
- aryballos
- Ashcan School
- ashlar
- askos
- assemblage
- Asuka period
- atelier
- atlas
- atmospheric perspective
- atrium
- attribute
- attribution
- aureole
- automatism
- avant-garde
- axial plan
- axonometric projection
- Aztec
- azurite
- bacchante
- baldachin
- baluster
- balustrade
- baptismal font
- baptistery
- Barbizon School
- baren
- bark cloth
- Baroque
- barrel vault
- bas-de-page
- bas-relief
- basilica
- basilisk
- batik
- battlement
- Bauhaus
- bay
- bay window
- bead and reel
- beaker
- Beaux-Arts style
- beehive tomb
- belvedere
- Ben-Day dots
- Benin Kingdom
- Berlin blue
- bestiary
- beveled style
- Bible moralisée
- bichrome
- Biedermeier
- bilingual vase
- binder
- biomorphic
- biscuit
- bisque
- bistre
- black-figure technique
- black-on-black ware
- blind arcade
- Blue Rider
- blue-and-white wares
- bodhisattva
- boiserie
- bole
- bone black
- book of hours
- Book of the Dead
- boss
- bow window
- bozzetto
- bracket
- brayer
- breviary
- brocade
- broken pediment
- Brücke, Die
- Brutalism
- bucchero
- bucranium
- buon fresco
- burin
- bust
- buttress
- Byzantine Empire
- C-print
- cabochon
- caftan
- cage cup
- caldarium
- calligraphy
- calotype
- camazozt
- cameo
- camera obscura
- cames
- campanile
- canon of proportions
- canopic jars
- cantilever
- capital
- capriccio
- capstone
- Caravaggisti
- caravansaray
- carbon-14 dating
- caricature
- carmine
- Carolingian
- Carolingian miniscule
- carpet page
- Carrara marble
- carta pesta
- cartellino
- cartonnage
- cartoon
- cartouche
- caryatid
- casein paint
- casement window
- cassone
- catacomb
- catalogue raisonné
- cathedra
- cathedral
- cavetto
- celadon
- cella
- cenotaph
- censer
- centaur
- centering
- central plan
- Cerberus
- cerulean
- chacmool
- chaitya hall
- chalice
- champlevé
- chancel
- chapter house
- chasing
- chasuble
- château
- chatra
- chattri
- cherubim
- chevet
- chevron
- chi-rho
- chiaroscuro
- chimera
- chinoiserie
- Chippendale
- chiton
- choir
- chrismon
- christogram
- chrome yellow
- chromogenic print
- chryselephantine
- ciborium
- cinerary urn
- cinnabar
- cinquecento
- cipollino
- cippus
- circumambulation
- cire-perdue
- cista
- Classical period
- clerestory
- cloisonné
- cloister
- cloister vault
- CoBrA
- cochineal
- codex
- coffers
- collage
- colonnade
- colonnette
- colophon
- color circle
- Color Field painting
- color wheel
- colossal order
- columbarium
- column
- combine
- complementary colors
- compluvium
- composite order
- composite pose
- composition
- conceptual art
- concrete
- cong
- connoisseur
- conservator
- Constructivism
- Conté crayon
- continuous narrative
- contrapposto
- convention
- conversation piece
- cope
- COR-TEN steel
- corbel
- corbeled arch
- corbeled dome
- Corinthian order
- cornice
- cornucopia
- Cosmati work
- counterchange
- Craftsman
- craquelure
- crazing
- crenellation
- cromlech
- cross vault
- crosshatching
- crossing
- crozier
- cruciform
- crypt
- cubiculum
- Cubism
- cuerda seca
- cuneiform
- cupola
- curator
- curtain wall
- cyanotype
- Cycladic culture
- cyclopean masonry
- cyclorama
- cylinder seal
- cyma recta
- cyma reversa
- Dada
- dado
- daga
- daguerreotype
- daka
- dalmatic
- damnatio memoriae
- dealer
- death mask
- decalcomania
- Deconstruction
- découpage
- deesis
- degenerate art
- dendrochronology
- dentils
- Deposition
- desco da parto
- dharma
- diaper
- digital photography
- diorama
- diptych
- direct painting
- distemper
- divisionism
- Documenta
- dolmen
- dome
- domical vault
- donor
- Doric order
- dormer
- dossal
- dreamings
- drollery
- dromos
- drum
- dry landscape garden
- drypoint
- duecento
- dugento
- Early Dynastic Egypt
- earth art
- earthenware
- earthwork
- ebru
- echorché
- eclectic
- Edo period
- effigy mounds
- egg and dart
- Egyptian blue
- ekphrasis
- electrum
- elevation
- emblema
- embrasure
- embroidery
- emerald green
- Empire style
- enamel
- enamel paint
- encaustic
- engaged column
- engraving
- entablature
- entasis
- environmental art
- etching
- Etruscan civilization
- ewer
- ex voto
- exedra
- exemplum virtutis
- expressionism
- extrados
- Eye of Horus
- Fabergé
- façade
- faience
- fan vault
- fang ding
- fanlight
- fantastic art
- Fatimid Caliphate
- Fauves
- favrile glass
- Federal style
- femmage
- fenestration
- festoon
- fête champêtre
- fête galante
- fibula
- figured capital
- filigree
- finial
- fleur-de-lis
- flutes
- Fluxus
- flying buttress
- folio
- folk art
- folly
- foreshortening
- forgery
- forum
- Fourmile polychrome
- fresco
- fresco secco
- frieze
- frigidarium
- frit
- fritware
- frottage
- fusuma
- Futurism
- gable
- gallery
- gargoyles
- gazebo
- gelatin silver process
- genre painting
- geoglyph
- Geometric period
- gesso
- giallo antico
- giant order
- gilding
- giornata di lavoro
- gisant
- glaze
- glazing
- Gobelins
- golden ratio
- golden section
- Googie
- gorget
- gorgoneion
- Goryeo Dynasty
- Gothic
- Gothic Revival
- gouache
- graffiti art
- Grand Tour
- granulation
- graphite
- graver
- Greek cross
- Greek key
- Greek Revival
- green earth
- griffin
- grisaille
- groin vault
- grotesque
- groundline
- Guerrilla Girls
- guild
- guilloche
- haggadah
- hajj
- half-column
- Han Dynasty
- handscroll
- haniwa
- happening
- Harappan civilization
- hardboard
- Harlem Renaissance
- harmika
- harpy
- Harrowing of Hell
- hatching
- Heian period
- Hellenistic period
- hemicycle
- henge
- herm
- hexastyle
- Hiberno-Saxon
- hierarchic scale
- hieroglyphs
- highlight
- himation
- hippocamp
- historiated capital
- historiated initial
- history painting
- Hittite Empire
- honeycomb vaulting
- horseshoe arch
- Hudson River School
- huipil
- humanism
- hydria
- hypocaust
- hypostyle
- icon
- iconoclasm
- iconography
- iconostasis
- idealization
- Ife Kingdom
- ignudi
- ikat
- illuminated manuscript
- imbrication
- impasto
- impluvium
- impost block
- Impressionism
- Inca Empire
- incipit
- Indian yellow
- indigo
- Indus Valley civilization
- infrared reflectography
- inhabited initial
- Inka Empire
- inlay
- inro
- installation
- Insular
- intaglio
- intarsia
- intercolumniation
- International Style
- intrados
- Ionic order
- Italianate
- Italo-Byzantine style
- ivory black
- iwan
- Iznik ware
- ka
- kachina
- kaftan
- Kakiemon
- Kamakura period
- Kamares ware
- kantharos
- karma
- karyatid
- katholikon
- katsina
- katsuogi
- keel arch
- keep
- kente
- keyhole arch
- keystone
- khipu
- kiln
- kimono
- kinetic sculpture
- kitsch
- kiva
- Kofun period
- kondo
- Koran
- kore
- kouros
- krater
- Kubachi ware
- kufic
- kyathos
- kylix
- labors of the months
- lacquer
- lagynos
- laid paper
- lakshanas
- lamassu
- Lamentation
- lancet window
- land art
- landscape
- lantern
- lapis lazuli
- Lapita culture
- lararium
- lead white
- lectionary
- lekythos
- levigation
- Liao Dynasty
- libation
- lierne vault
- life mask
- linear perspective
- linocut
- lintel
- lithograph
- loculus
- loggia
- loom
- loophole
- lost-wax method
- lotus
- lukasa
- Luna marble
- lunette
- luster
- madder
- madrasa
- maenad
- maestà
- maghrebi
- Magna
- mahiole
- mahlstick
- maiolica
- malachite green
- malagan
- Mamluk Sultanate
- mandala
- mandorla
- manga
- maniera greca
- manifesto
- Mannerism
- mansard roof
- manticore
- manuscript
- maqsura
- maquette
- marine style
- marquetry
- marver
- mashrabiya
- masjid
- Masonite
- mastaba
- masterpiece
- matte
- maulstick
- Mauryan Empire
- mausoleum
- Maya blue
- Maya civilization
- meander
- medallion
- medium
- megalith
- megaron
- Meiji period
- Meissen
- memento mori
- memory board
- menhir
- menologion
- menorah
- merlon
- metope
- Mexica Empire
- Mexican Muralism
- mezzotint
- Middle Kingdom Egypt
- Migration period
- mihrab
- milagro
- millefiore
- mina’i ware
- minaret
- minbar
- Ming Dynasty
- miniature
- Minimalism
- Minoan
- minotaur
- mirador
- missal
- Mission Revival
- Mississippian culture
- mixed media
- moai
- mobile
- modeling
- modello
- module
- molding
- Momoyama period
- monochrome
- monolithic
- monotype
- monstrance
- moon jar
- Moorish arch
- mortise and tenon
- mosaic
- mosque
- mother of pearl
- motif
- mudbrick
- mudra
- Mughal Empire
- muhaqqaq
- mullion
- muqarnas
- mural
- Muromachi period
- mushhushshu
- Mycenaean
- Nabis
- nacre
- naos
- Naples yellow
- narthex
- naskh
- Nasrid Dynasty
- nastaliq
- naturalism
- nave
- Nazarenes
- necropolis
- negative space
- nemes
- Neo-Assyrian Empire
- Neo-Babylonian Empire
- Neo-Expressionism
- Neo-Geo
- Neo-Plasticism
- Neo-Sumerian Dynasty
- Neoclassicism
- Neolithic period
- netsuke
- Neue Sachlichkeit
- New Kingdom Egypt
- New York School
- niche
- niello
- nimbus
- nirvana
- Nok culture
- Noli Me Tangere
- non-objective art
- nonrepresentational art
- Nouveau Réalisme
- obelisk
- obi
- obsidian
- ocher
- octastyle
- oculus
- odalisque
- oeuvre
- ogee
- ogee arch
- oil paint
- oinochoe
- Old Babylonian period
- Old Kingdom Egypt
- Old Master
- Olmec civilization
- olpe
- onyx
- Op Art
- openwork
- opisthodomos
- opus africanum
- opus anglicanum
- opus reticulatum
- opus sectile
- opus vermiculatum
- orant
- oratory
- orchestra
- order
- oriel window
- Orientalism
- Orientalizing period
- ormolu
- Orphism
- orpiment
- orthogonal
- ostrakon
- Ottoman Empire
- Ottonian
- outsider art
- pagoda
- palaestra
- palette
- palette knife
- palimpsest
- palmette
- Panathenaic amphora
- panel painting
- panorama
- pantokrator
- paper marbling
- papier mâché
- papyrus
- parcel gilt
- parchment
- parekklesion
- parfleche
- Parian marble
- Paris green
- pastel
- pastiche
- paten
- patera
- patina
- pattern
- pavilion vault
- pazazu
- pebble mosaic
- pectoral
- pediment
- pelike
- pendant
- pendentive
- Pentelic marble
- pentimento
- peplos
- performance art
- pergola
- peripteral
- peristyle
- perpendicular style
- petroglyph
- pewter
- phiale mesomphalos
- phoenix
- photogram
- photogravure
- photomontage
- photorealism
- picture plane
- picturesque
- pier
- pietà
- pietra dura
- pigment
- pilaster
- pilgrimage
- pilotis
- pinax
- pinnacle
- pishtaq
- pithos
- plateresque
- platinotype
- platinum print
- plein-air
- plinth
- podium
- pointillism
- pointing machine
- polychrome
- polyptych
- polyrhythm
- pontil
- ponty
- Pop Art
- porcelain
- porphyry
- portcullis
- porte cochère
- portico
- portrait
- Post-Impressionism
- Post-painterly Abstraction
- Postmodernism
- potter’s wheel
- pouncing
- power figure
- Prairie Style
- Pre-Columbian
- Pre-Raphaelites
- Precisionism
- predella
- Predynastic Egypt
- presbytery
- printmaking
- Prix de Rome
- processional cross
- pronaos
- propylaeum
- Protogeometric period
- protome
- provenance
- Prussian blue
- psalter
- pseudoperipteral
- psykter
- Ptolemaic Egypt
- pueblo
- pulpit
- punty
- putto
- pylon
- pyxis
- radiocarbon dating
- raffia
- raku
- rayograph
- Rayonism
- readymade
- Realism
- rebar
- recto
- red-figure technique
- refectory
- register
- reinforced concrete
- relic
- relief sculpture
- reliquary
- Renaissance
- repoussé
- reredos
- resist
- retable
- retouching
- revetment
- rhyton
- rib vault
- ribbon window
- ridgepole
- rinceau
- rock art
- rock crystal
- rocker
- Rococo
- Roman Empire
- Roman Republic
- Romanesque
- Romanticism
- roof comb
- rose window
- rosette
- rosso antico
- rotunda
- roundel
- runes
- rusticated masonry
- sacra conversazione
- sacral-idyllic landscape
- sacramentary
- sacristy
- Safavid Empire
- salon
- Salon des Indépendants
- Salon des Refusés
- salt glaze
- Samanid epigraphic ware
- Samarkand ware
- sarcophagus
- sardonyx
- Sasanian Empire
- satin
- satyr
- saz
- scale
- scarab
- scarification
- school
- School of Paris
- screenprint
- scriptorium
- scumbling
- Scythian culture
- Secession
- section drawing
- seicento
- Seljuk Dynasty
- semidome
- senmurv
- sepia
- sepia-toning
- seraphim
- serdab
- serigraphy
- serpentine
- Severe style
- Sèvres
- sfumato
- sgraffito
- shabti
- Shaker
- Shang Dynasty
- shawabti
- shibori
- shofar
- shoji
- signature
- silhouette
- Silk Road
- silkscreen
- Silla Kingdom
- silverpoint
- simurgh
- sinopia
- siren
- site-specific
- situla
- size
- skylight
- skyphos
- slip
- soapstone
- Socialist Realism
- socle
- soffit
- soft-ground etching
- Song Dynasty
- spandrel
- sphinx
- spolia
- springer
- squinch
- staffage
- stained glass
- stalactite vaulting
- stamnos
- steatite
- stela
- stellar vault
- stigmata
- Stijl, De
- still life
- stoa
- stonepaste
- stoneware
- stoop
- strapwork
- street art
- stretcher
- stringcourse
- strip window
- stucco
- stupa
- stylobate
- stylus
- sublime
- Sumer
- sumi
- sunken relief
- super-realism
- Suprematism
- surah
- Surrealism
- sutra
- swag
- Symbolism
- synagogue
- synesthesia
- synoptic narrative
- tabernacle
- tablinum
- talud-tablero
- Tang Dynasty
- tangent buttress
- tapa
- tapestry
- tartan
- tell
- temenos
- tempera
- tenebrism
- tenon
- tepidarium
- terra sigillata
- terracotta
- tessellation
- tesserae
- tetramorph
- thangka
- thermoluminescence dating
- tholos tomb
- throwing
- thuluth
- thunderbird
- tile mosaic
- Timurid Empire
- tintype
- tiraz
- titanium white
- toga
- tondo
- Torah
- torana
- torc
- torii
- totem pole
- tracery
- transept
- Transfiguration
- transformation mask
- travertine
- trecento
- trefoil
- tribune
- triclinium
- triforium
- triglyph
- trilithon
- triptych
- triumphal arch
- trompe l’oeil
- tronie
- trumeau
- truss
- tufa
- tughra
- tumulus
- tunnel vault
- turquoise
- Tuscan order
- tusche
- twisted perspective
- tympanum
- Tyrian purple
- uchikake
- ukiyo-e
- ultramarine
- Umayyad Caliphate
- umber
- uncial
- Upper Paleolithic period
- uraeus
- urna
- ushabti
- ushnisha
- Usonian
- value
- vanishing point
- vanitas
- vault
- veduta
- vehicle
- velarium
- vellum
- Venice Biennale
- verde antico
- verdigris
- verism
- vermillion
- vernacular architecture
- vernissage
- Verona green
- verso
- vestments
- Vienna Secession
- Viking culture
- viridian
- Visitation
- volutes
- Vorticism
- votive
- voussoir
I just love dipping into this now and again Jim! Thanks for compiling it. Such a treat
Thank you, Orla!
What a useful glossary you’ve created — it makes learning art history terms so much easier for both students and teachers. The clean layout and clear definitions make the subject feel approachable instead of intimidating. It’s such a thoughtful and practical resource to have at hand.
Student from Birmingham University, England. Your glossary is very in depth and I’ve spent most of the night going through various parts. Thank you 🙂
Me ha gustado muchísimo. Claro, conciso y buenas imágenes. GRACIAS
Wanted to say – found this entirely by accident and so glad I did. Not an art major of any sort but an art enjoyer, found this as a super useful reference since I don’t learn about this in any of my major’s classes. Super interesting and super thorough! Thanks for all the hard work you put into making it.
– An education major from Texas 🙂
Thanks for the kind words. Good luck with your education degree!