Late Antiquity Flashcards
(29 cards)
Polytheism
The belief in multiple gods.
Torah
The Hebrew religious scroll containing the Pentateuch
Baptistery
In Christian architecture, the building used for baptism, usually situated next to a church. Also, the designated area or hall within a church for baptismal rites.
Catacombs
Subterranean networks of rock-cut galleries and chambers designed as cemeteries for the burial of the dead.
loculi
Openings in the walls of catacombs to receive the dead.
cubiculum (pl. cubicula)
A small cubicle or bedroom that opened onto the atrium of a Roman house. Also, a chamber in an Early Christian catacomb that served as a mortuary chapel
prefiguration
In Early Christian art, the depiction of Old Testament persons and events as prophetic forerunners of Christ and New Testament events.
liturgy (adj. liturgical)
The official ritual of public worship.
nave
The central area of an ancient Roman basilica or of a church, demarcated from aisles by piers or columns.
Aisle
The portion of a basilica flanking the nave and separated from it by a row of columns or piers.
Apse
A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a building, commonly found at the east end of a church
Monotheism
The worship of one all-powerful god.
transept
The part of a church with an axis that crosses the nave at a right angle.
relics
The body parts, clothing, or objects associated with a holy figure, such as the Buddha or Christ or a Christian saint.
clerestory
The fenestrated part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts. The oldest known clerestories are Egyptian. In Roman basilicas and medieval churches, clerestories are the windows that form the nave’s uppermost level below the timber ceiling or the vaults.
plan
The horizontal arrangement of the parts of a building or of the buildings and streets of a city or town, or a drawing or diagram showing such an arrangement. In an axial plan, the parts of a building are organized longitudinally, or along a given axis; in a central plan, the parts of the structure are of equal or almost equal dimensions around the center.
Ambulatory
A covered walkway, outdoors (as in a church cloister) or indoors; especially the passageway around the apse and the choir of a church. In Buddhist architecture, the passageway leading around the stupa in a chaitya hall.
Basilica
In Roman architecture, a public building for legal and other civic proceedings, rectangular in plan with an entrance usually on a long side. In Christian architecture, a church somewhat resembling the Roman basilica, usually entered from one end and with an apse at the other.
Vault (adj. vaulted)
A masonry roof or ceiling constructed on the arch principle, or a concrete roof of the same shape. A barrel (or tunnel) vault, semicylindrical in cross-section, is in effect a deep arch or an uninterrupted series of arches, one behind the other, over an oblong space. A quadrant vault is a half-barrel vault. A groin (or cross) vault is formed at the point at which two barrel vaults intersect at right angles. In a ribbed vault, there is a framework of ribs or arches under the intersections of the vaulting sections. A sexpartite vault is one whose ribs divide the vault into six compartments. A fan vault is a vault characteristic of English Perpendicular Gothic architecture, in which radiating ribs form a fanlike pattern
Theotokos
Greek, “she who bore God.” The Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Cruciform
Cross-shaped.
Crossing tower
The tower over the crossing of a church.
Mosaic
Patterns or pictures made by embedding small pieces (tesserae) of stone or glass in cement on surfaces such as walls and floors; also, the technique of making such works.
Nimbus
A halo or aureole appearing around the head of a holy figure to signify divinity.
