Early American Arts: Key Terms

Question 1

Abolitionists

Answer 1

activist who supported the movement to end the slave trade and liberate enslaved people

Question 2

Appliqué

Answer 2

when pieces of fabric are stitched onto a larger piece to create a picture or pattern

Question 3

Art music

Answer 3

compositions in the Western tradition intended for concert performance or private enjoyment of the performer(s)

Question 4

Art song

Answer 4

an art-music setting of poetic text for voice with keyboard accompaniment

Question 5

Autograph

Answer 5

a manuscript score in the composer’s handwriting

Question 6

Calico

Answer 6

manufactured cotton that was roller-printed with small, repeating patterns

Question 7

Cameo

Answer 7

a hard gemstone carved in relief and projecting from a solid background; cameos often feature profile portraits

Question 8

Colonnade

Answer 8

a long row of columns that supports a roof and/or creates an arcade

Question 9

Contrapposto

Answer 9

an Italian term that means “counterpoise”; it is used to describe human figures standing with most of their weight on one foot, while the other leg is relaxed and bent at the knee

Question 10

Corinthian columns

Answer 10

the most ornate columns of the three Greek orders; they are fluted and capped with acanthus leaves.

Question 11

Cult of true womanhood

Answer 11

a 19th century American societal standard that emphasized women’s domesticity, piety, purity, and submissiveness above all other qualities.

Question 12

Düsseldorf style

Answer 12

style of 19th century American artists who trained in Germany at the Düsseldorf Academy; they were known for their distinctive style, characterized by dynamic compositions and dramatic lighting.

Question 13

Emancipation

Answer 13

the formal process of becoming legally free

Question 14

Engraving

Answer 14

a printmaking technique produced by using a tool called a burin to cut into the surface of a metal plate; the printer can produce many copies from a single plate, allowing engraved prints to be sold to large numbers of people.

Question 15

Expatriate

Answer 15

a person who live outside of their native country for a period of time.

Question 16

Façade

Answer 16

the exterior of face of a building

Question 17

Fasces

Answer 17

bundles of rods intended to symbolize power and authority in Ancient Rome

Question 18

Foreshortening

Answer 18

a technique for depicting an object or figure in an artwork that creates an illusion of projection in space

Question 19

Formlines

Answer 19

on a totem pole, the black connecting contour lines that outline either human or animal anatomy and structure for design

Question 20

Functionalism

Answer 20

the principle that buildings should be designed based entirely on the function of the building

Question 21

Grand Tour

Answer 21

a custom for upper-class Europeans and Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries to travel to a standardized itinerary of European cities in order to view antique and Renaissance treasures

Question 22

Great house

Answer 22

a large, multi-storied ancestral Puebloan structure made of stone with a timber roof

Question 23

Guild system

Answer 23

an association of craftsman that provides training and helps regulate both quality and pricing for artisans

Question 24

Hierarchy of genres

Answer 24

a ranking of the different types of painting, established by the Royal Academy, whereby history painting is rated highest, followed by portraiture, genre painting, landscape, and finally still life

Question 25

Iconography

Answer 25

the identification, description, classification, and interpretation of symbols, themes, and subject matter in visual arts

Question 26

Itinerant

Answer 26

a person who travels from place to place

Question 27

Kiva

Answer 27

circular, below-ground rooms used for ceremonial purposes or political gatherings

Question 28

Lamentation

Answer 28

the depiction of Jesus after his body has been removed from the cross and his family and friends mourn over his body

Question 29

Liberty cap

Answer 29

also known as a Phrygian cap, a soft, peaked cap that symbolized freedom and was associated with emancipated slaves in ancient Rome

Question 30

Limner

Answer 30

a term for a portrait painter during the colonial period

Question 31

Loyalist

Answer 31

a colonist who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution

Question 32

Lyrics

Answer 32

a poetry for a song

Question 33

Manacle

Answer 33

a mental band used to fasten someone's wrists or ankles together

Question 34

Medallion

Answer 34

a large, round medal featuring a design or portrait in low relief sculpture

Question 35

Melisma

Answer 35

a type of singing in which a string of multiple notes corresponds to a single syllable of poetry

Question 36

"Memento mori"

Answer 36

skulls in artworks considered to be reminders that earthly existence is fleeting; it comes from the Latin phrase "remember that you will die"

Question 37

Missionary

Answer 37

a person tasked with promoting a particular religious ideology

Question 38

Moiety

Answer 38

each of two social or ritual groups into which a group of people is divided

Question 39

Needlework

Answer 39

any form of decorative sewing that uses a needle, including embroidery, lace-making, crochet, and applique

Question 40

Neoclassicism

Answer 40

a revival of the arts and architecture of classical antiquity in 18th and 19th century Europe and America

Question 41

News Ballad

Answer 41

a "ballad" that tells of a recent (often tragic) event

Question 42

Ohio River Valley style

Answer 42

a school of landscape painting that was centered in Cincinnati and included Robert S. Duncanson among its leaders

Question 43

Ornamentation

Answer 43

improvised details that embellish a written melody

Question 44

Palladian style

Answer 44

architecture influenced by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, whose architectural treatise helped popularize Ancient Greek and Roman architecture

Question 45

Patronage

Answer 45

financial support provided to artists from a group or individual

Question 46

Pendants

Answer 46

in art, two paintings intended to be displayed as a pair

Question 47

Piecework

Answer 47

smaller pieces of cloth that are sewn together, often in an arrangement of geometric patterns; also known as patchwork.

Question 48

Pigment

Answer 48

colored material, either naturally occurring or synthetic, that is insoluble in water

Question 49

Pueblo

Answer 49

means village in Spanish, used to refer to both the region's indigenous people and their stone or adobe dwellings

Question 50

Quakerism

Answer 50

religious practice founded in England in the late 1640's that advocated for nonviolence and egalitarianism; also know as the Religious Society of Friends

Question 51

Relief sculpture

Answer 51

work in which the figures project from a supporting background; characterized as being low relief or high relief, depending on how far the figures project from the surface plane

Question 52

Reposteros

Answer 52

paintings on animal hides

Question 53

Sons of Liberty

Answer 53

a political organization active in the American colonies and founded to advance the rights of the colonist and to fight taxation by the British government

Question 54

Sherds

Answer 54

a broken piece of ceramic material found on an archeological site

Question 55

Totem

Answer 55

a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as family clan, lineage or tribe

Question 56

Totem poles

Answer 56

large-scale public sculptures carved from red cedar trees; primarily used to document ancestry and commemorate historical events, though some recall legends as well; include house poles, memorial poles, welcome poles and shame poles

Question 57

Trill

Answer 57

a type of ornament that alternates rapidly between two adjacent notes, usually a half- or whole-step apart