Glossary 1031backstrap loom—A simple Andean loom featuring
a belt or backstrap encircling the waist of the
seated weaver.
bai—An elaborately painted men’s ceremonial house
on Belau (formerly Palau) in the Caroline Islands
of Micronesia.
baldacchino—A canopy on columns,frequently built
over an altar. The term derives from baldacco.
baldacco—Italian, “silk from Baghdad.” See
baldacchino.
baldric—A sashlike belt worn over one shoulder and
across the chest to support a sword.
baptism—The Christian bathing ceremony in which
an infant or a convert becomes a member of the
Christian community.
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.
bar tracery—See tracery.
baray—One of the large reservoirs laid out around
Cambodian wats that served as means of trans-
portation as well as irrigation. A network of canals
connected the reservoirs.
Baroque—The traditional blanket designation for
European art from 1600 to 1750. The stylistic term
Baroque,which describes art that features dra-
matic theatricality and elaborate ornamentation
in contrast to the simplicity and orderly rational-
ity ofRenaissance art,is most appropriately ap-
plied to Italian art of this period. The term derives
from barroco.
barrel vault—See vault.
barroco—Portuguese, “irregularly shaped pearl.” See
Baroque.
base—In ancient Greek architecture, the molded pro-
jecting lowest part ofIonic and Corinthian
columns.(Doriccolumns do not have bases.)
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 resem-
bling the Roman basilica, usually entered from
one end and with an apseat the other.
bas-relief—See relief.
batik—An Indonesian fabric-dyeing technique us-
ing melted wax to form patterns the dye cannot
penetrate.
battlement—A low parapet at the top of a circuit
wall in a fortification.
Bauhaus—A schoolof architecture in Germany in the
1920s under the aegis of Walter Gropius, who em-
phasized the unity of art, architecture, and design.
bay—The space between two columns, or one unit in
the nave arcadeof a church; also, the passageway
in an arcuatedgate.
beam—A horizontal structural member that carries
the load of the superstructure of a building; a tim-
ber lintel.
Beaux-Arts—An architectural styleof the late 19th
and early 20th centuries in France. Based on ideas
taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the
Beaux-Arts style incorporated classical princi-
ples, such as symmetry in design, and included
extensive exterior ornamentation.
belvedere—Italian, “beautiful view.” A building or
other structure with a view of a landscapeor
seascape.
ben-ben—A pyramidal stone; a fetish of the Egypt-
ian god Re.benday dots—Named after the newspaper printer
Benjamin Day, the benday dot system involves the
modulation ofcolorsthrough the placement and
size of colored dots.
benedictional—A Christian religious book contain-
ing bishops’ blessings.
bent-axis plan—A plan that incorporates two or
more angular changes of direction, characteristic
of Sumerian architecture.
bestiary—A collection of illustrations of real and
imaginary animals.
bhakti—In Buddhist thought, the adoration of a per-
sonalized deity (bodhisattva) as a means of achiev-
ing unity with it; love felt by the devotee for the
deity. In Hinduism, the devout, selfless direction of
all tasks and activities of life to the service of one
god.
Bharat Mata—Mother India; the female personifica-
tion of India.
bhumisparsha—See mudra.
bi—In ancient China, jade disks carved as ritual ob-
jects for burial with the dead. They were often dec-
orated with piercings that extended entirely
through the object, as well as with surface carvings.
bichrome—Two-color.
bieri—The wooden reliquar yguardian figures of the
Fang in Gabon and Cameroon.
bilateral symmetry—Having the same formson ei-
ther side of a central axis.
bilingual vases—Experimental Greek vases pro-
duced for a short time in the late sixth century BCE;
one side featured black-figuredecoration, the
other red-figure.
Biomorphic Surrealism—See Surrealism.
bisj pole—An elaborately carved pole constructed
from the trunk of the mangrove tree. The Asmat
people of southwestern New Guinea created bisj
poles to indicate their intent to avenge a relative’s
death.
black-figure painting—In early Greek pottery, the
silhouetting of dark figures against a light back-
ground of natural, reddish clay, with linear details
incisedthrough the silhouettes.
blind arcade—An arcade having no true openings,
applied as decoration to a wall surface.
block statue—In ancient Egyptian sculpture, a cubic
stone image with simplified body parts.
bocio—A Fon (Republic of Benin) empowerment
figure.
bodhisattva—In Buddhist thought, a potential Bud-
dha who chooses not to achieve enlightenment in
order to help save humanity.
Book of Hours—A Christian religious book for pri-
vate devotion containing prayers to be read at
specified times of the day.
boshan—A Chinese incense burner.
boss—A circular knob.
bottega—An artist’s studio-shop.
braccia—Italian, “arm.” A unit of measurement; 1
braccia equals 23 inches.
breakfast piece—A still lifethat includes bread and
fruit.
breviary—A Christian religious book of selected
daily prayers and Psalms.
brocade—The weaving together of threads of differ-
ent colors.
bucranium (pl.bucrania)—Latin, “bovine skull.” A
common motif in classical architectural ornament.
Buddha triad—A three-figure group with a central
Buddha flanked on each side by a bodhisattva.smile is the Archaic sculptor’s way of indicating
that the person portrayed is alive.
architrave—The lintel or lowest division of the
entablature;also called the epistyle.
archivolt—The continuous molding framing an arch.
In Romanesqueand Gothicarchitecture, one of the
series of concentric bands framing the tympanum.
arcuated—Arch-shaped.
arena—In a Roman amphitheater,the central area
where bloody gladiatorialcombats and other
boisterous events took place.
armature—The crossed, or diagonal,archesthat
form the skeletal framework of a Gothic rib vault.
In sculpture, the framework for a clay form.
arriccio—In fresco^ painting, the first layer of rough
lime plaster applied to the wall.
Art Deco—Descended from Art Nouveau,this move-
ment of the 1920s and 1930s sought to upgrade
industrial design as a “fine art” and to work new
materials into decorative patterns that could be
either machined or handcrafted. Characterized by
streamlined, elongated, and symmetrical design.
Art Nouveau—French, “new art.” A late-19th- and
early-20th-century art movement whose propo-
nents tried to synthesize all the arts in an effort to
create art based on natural forms that could be
mass produced by technologies of the industrial
age. The movement had other names in other
countries: Jugendstil in Austria and Germany,
Modernismo in Spain, and Floreale in Italy.
asceticism—Self-discipline and self-denial.
ashlar masonry—Carefully cut and regularly shaped
blocks of stone used in construction, fitted to-
gether without mortar.
assemblage—An artwork constructed from already
existing objects.
asye usu—Baule (Côte d’Ivoire) bush spirits.
atlantid—A male figure that functions as a support-
ing column.See also caryatid.
atlatl—Spear-thrower, the typical weapon of the
Toltecs of ancient Mexico.
atmospheric perspective—See perspective.
atrium—The central reception room of a Roman
house that is partly open to the sky. Also the open,
colonnadedcourt in front of and attached to a
Christian basilica.
attic—The uppermost story of a building,triumphal
arch, or city gate.
attribute—(n.) The distinctive identifying aspect of
a person, for example, an object held, an associ-
ated animal, or a mark on the body. (v.) To make
an attribution.
attribution—Assignment of a work to a maker or
makers.
automatism—In painting, the process of yielding
oneself to instinctive motions of the hands after es-
tablishing a set of conditions (such as size of paper
or medium) within which a work is to be created.
avant-garde—French,“advance guard” (in a platoon).
Late-19th- and 20th-century artists who empha-
sized innovation and challenged established con-
vention in their work. Also used as an adjective.
avatar—A manifestation of a deity incarnated in
some visible form in which the deity performs a
sacred function on earth. In Hinduism, an incar-
nation of a god.
axial plan—See plan.
axis mundi—Latin, “axis of the universe.” In South
Asia, a tall pillar planted deep in the ground, con-
necting earth and sky.