1044 Glossarybut is made of wood, is unfluted, and has a base.
Also a popular motif in Renaissanceand Baroque
architecture.
twisted perspective—See composite view.
tympanum (pl.tympana)—The space enclosed by
a lintel and an arch over a doorway.
typology—In Christian theology, the recognition of
concordances between events, especially between
episodes in the Old and New Testaments.
ukiyo-e—Japanese, “pictures of the floating world.”
During the Edo period,woodcut prints depicting
brothels, popular entertainment, and beautiful
women.
underglaze—In porcelain decoration, the technique
of applying mineral colors to the surface before
the main firing, followed by an application of clear
glaze.See also overglaze.
Upanishads—South Asian religious texts of ca.
800–500 BCEthat introduced the concepts ofsam-
sara,karma,and moksha.
uraeus—An Egyptian cobra; one of the emblems of
pharaonickingship.
urna—A whorl of hair, represented as a dot, between
the brows; one of the lakshanas of the Buddha.
ushabti—In ancient Egypt, a figurine placed in a
tomb to act as a servant to the deceased in the
afterlife.
ushnisha—A knot of hair on the top of the head; one
of the lakshanas of the Buddha.
valley temple—The temple closest to the Nile River
associated with each of the Great Pyramids at
Gizeh in ancient Egypt.
value—See color.
vanishing point—See perspective.
vanitas—Latin, “vanity.” A term describing paintings
(particularly 17th-century Dutch still lifes) that
include references to death.
vassal—In feudalism, a person who swears allegiance
to a liege lordand renders him military service in
return for tenure of a portion of the lord’s land.
vault (adj.vaulted)—A masonry roof or ceiling con-
structed 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 ofribs or arches un-
der 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 char-
acteristic of English Perpendicular Gothic archi-
tecture, in which radiating ribs form a fanlike
pattern.
vaulting web—See web.
Ve d a—Sanskrit, “knowledge.” One of four second-
millennium BCESouth Asian compilations of reli-
gious learning.
veduta (pl.vedute)—Italian, “scenic view.”
velarium—In a Roman amphitheater,the cloth
awning that could be rolled down from the top of
the caveato shield spectators from sun or rain.
vellum—Calfskin prepared as a surface for writing
or painting.
venationes—Ancient Roman wild animal hunts
staged in an amphitheater.
veristic—True to natural appearance; superrealistic.
vihara—A Buddhist monastery,often cut into a hill.vimana—A pyramidal tower over the garbha griha
of a Hindu temple of the southern, or Dravida,
style.
vita—Italian, “life.” Also, the title of a biography.
vita contemplativa—Latin, “contemplative life.” The
secluded spiritual life of monks and nuns.
volume—The spacethat mass organizes, divides, or
encloses.
volute—A spiral, scroll-like form characteristic of
the ancient Greek Ionic and the Roman Composite
capital.
votive offering—A gift of gratitude to a deity.
voussoir—A wedge-shaped stone block used in the
construction of a true arch.The central voussoir,
which sets the arch, is called the keystone.
wabi—A 16th-century Japanese art style character-
ized by refined rusticity and an appreciation of
simplicity and austerity.
wainscoting—Paneling on the lower part of interior
walls.
waka sran—“People of wood.” Baule (Côte d’Ivoire)
wooden figural sculptures.
warp—The vertical threads of a loom or cloth.
wat—A Buddhist monasteryin Cambodia.
web—The masonry blocks that fill the area between
the ribsof a groin vault.Also called vaulting web.
wedjat—The eye of the Egyptian falcon-god Horus, a
powerful amulet.
weft—The horizontal threads of a loom or cloth.
weld—To join metal parts by heating, as in assem-
bling the separate parts of a statuemade by
casting.
were-jaguar—A composite human-jaguar; a com-
mon motif in Olmec art.
westwork—German, “western entrance structure.”
The facadeand towers at the western end of a me-
dieval church, principally in Germany. In contem-
porary documents the westwork is called a
castellum (Latin, “castle” or “fortress”) or turris
(“tower”).
wet-plate photography—An early photographic
process in which the photographic plate is ex-
posed, developed, and fixed while wet.
white-ground painting—An ancient Greek vase-
painting techniquein which the pot was first cov-
ered with a slip of very fine white clay, over which
black glazewas used to outline figures, and di-
luted brown, purple, red, and white were used to
color them.
woodcut—A wooden block on the surface of which
those parts not intended to printare cut away to a
slight depth, leaving the design raised; also, the
printed impression made with such a block.
yaksha (m.),yakshi (f.)—Lesser local male and fe-
male Buddhist and Hindu divinities. Yakshis are
goddesses associated with fertility and vegetation.
Yakshas, the male equivalent of yakshis, are often
represented as fleshy but powerful males.
yamato-e—Also known as native-style painting, a
purely Japanese style that often involved colorful,
decorative representations of Japanese narratives
or landscapes.
yang—In Chinese cosmology, the principle of active
masculine energy, which permeates the universe
in varying proportions with yin, the principle of
passive feminine energy.
yasti—In Buddhist architecture, the mast or pole that
arises from the dome of the stupaand its harmika
and symbolizes the axis of the universe; it is
adorned with a series of chatras (stone disks).In plate tracery, the glass fills only the “punched
holes” in the heavy ornamental stonework. In bar
tracery, the stained-glass windows fill almost the
entire opening, and the stonework is unobtrusive.
tramezzo—A screen placed across the naveof a
church to separate the clergy from the lay audience.
transept—The part of a church with an axis that
crosses the naveat a right angle.
transubstantiation—The transformation of the Eu-
charistic bread and wine into the body and blood
of Christ.
transverse arch—An arch separating one vaulted
bayfrom the next.
transverse barrel vault—In medieval architecture,
a semicylindrical vaultoriented at a 90-degree an-
gle to the naveof a church.
transverse rib—See rib.
treasury—In ancient Greece, a small building set up
for the safe storage ofvotive offerings.
trefoil—A cloverlike ornament or symbol with styl-
ized leaves in groups of three.
tribune—In church architecture, a gallery over the
inner aisleflanking the nave.
triclinium—The dining room of a Roman house.
trident—The three-pronged pitchfork associated
with the ancient Greek sea god Poseidon (Roman,
Neptune).
triforium—In a Gothic cathedral,the blind arcaded
gallery below the clerestory;occasionally, the ar-
cadesare filled with stained glass.
triglyph—A triple projecting, grooved member of a
Doric friezethat alternates with metopes.
trilithons—A pair ofmonoliths topped with a lintel;
found in megalithic structures.
Trinity—In Christianity, God the Father, his son Je-
sus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
tripod—An ancient Greek deep bowl on a tall three-
legged stand.
triptych—A three-paneled painting,ivory plaque,or
altarpiece. Also, a small, portable shrine with
hinged wings used for private devotion.
triratna—A tripartite symbol of the three jewels of
Buddhism—the Buddha himself, his dharma,
and the sangha.
triumphal arch—In Roman architecture, a free-
standing archcommemorating an important
event, such as a military victory or the opening of
a new road.
trompe l’oeil—French, “fools the eye.” A form ofillu-
sionisticpainting that aims to deceive viewers into
believing they are seeing real objects rather than a
representation of those objects.
trumeau—In church architecture, the pillar or cen-
ter post supporting the lintelin the middle of the
doorway.
tubicen—Latin, “trumpet player.”
tughra—The official signature of an Ottoman em-
peror.
tukutuku—A stitched lattice panel found in a Maori
(New Zealand) meetinghouse.
tumulus (pl.tumuli)—Latin,“burial mound.” In Etr-
uscan architecture, tumuli cover one or more sub-
terranean multichambered tombs cut out of the
local tufa (limestone). Also characteristic of the
Japanese Kofun period of the third and fourth
centuries.
tunnel vault—See vault.
turris—See westwork.
Tuscan column—The standard type of Etruscan col-
umn.It resembles ancient Greek Doric columns