Glossary 1033Conceptual Art—An American avant-gardeart
movement of the 1960s whose premise was that
the “artfulness” of art lay in the artist’s idea rather
than its final expression.
conceptual representation—The representation of
the fundamental distinguishing properties of a
person or object, not the way a figure or object ap-
pears in space and light at a specific moment. See
composite view.
concrete—A building material invented by the Ro-
mans and consisting of various proportions of lime
mortar,volcanic sand,water,and small stones.
condottiere (pl.condottieri)—An Italian merce-
nary general.
confraternity—In Late Antiquity, an association of
Christian families pooling funds to purchase
property for burial. In late medieval Europe, an
organization founded by laypersons who dedi-
cated themselves to strict religious observances.
congregational mosque—A city’s main mosque,de-
signed to accommodate the entire Muslim popu-
lation for the Friday noonday prayer. Also called
the great mosque or Friday mosque.
connoisseur—An expert in attributingartworks to
one artist rather than another. More generally, an
expert on artistic style.
Constructivism—An early-20th-century Russian
art movement formulated by Naum Gabo, who
built up his sculptures piece by piece in space in-
stead of carving or modeling them. In this way the
sculptor worked with “volume of mass” and “vol-
ume of space” as different materials.
consuls—In the Roman Republic, the two chief
magistrates.
continuous narration—The depiction of the same
figure more than once in the same space at differ-
ent stages of a story.
contour line—In art, a continuous line defining the
outer shape of an object.
contrapposto—The disposition of the human figure
in which one part is turned in opposition to another
part (usually hips and legs one way, shoulders and
chest another), creating a counterpositioning of the
body about its central axis. Sometimes called
“weight shift” because the weight of the body tends
to be thrown to one foot, creating tension on one
side and relaxation on the other.
corbel—A projecting wall member used as a support
for some element in the superstructure. Also,
coursesof stone or brick in which each course pro-
jects beyond the one beneath it. Two such walls,
meeting at the topmost course, create a corbeled
archor corbeledvault.
corbeled arch—See corbel.
corbeled vault—A vault formed by the piling of
stone blocks in horizontal courses,cantilevered in-
ward until the two walls meet in an arch.
Corinthian capital—A more ornate form than Doric
or Ionic;it consists of a double row of acanthus
leaves from which tendrils and flowers grow,
wrapped around a bell-shaped echinus.Although
this capital form is often cited as the distinguish-
ing feature of the Corinthian order,no such order
exists, in strict terms, but only this type of capital
used in the Ionicorder.
cornice—The projecting, crowning member of the
entablature framing the pediment;also, any
crowning projection.
corona civica—Latin, “civic crown.” A Roman hon-
orary wreath worn on the head.course—In masonry construction, a horizontal row
of stone blocks.
crenel—See crenellation.
crenellation—Alternating solid merlons and
open crenels in the notched tops of walls, as in
battlements.
crossing—The space in a cruciformchurch formed
by the intersection of the naveand the transept.
cross-hatching—See hatching.
cross vault—See vault.
crossing square—The area in a church formed by
the intersection (crossing) of a naveand a transept
of equal width, often used as a standard moduleof
interior proportion.
crossing tower—The tower over the crossingof a
church.
cruciform—Cross-shaped.
Crusades—In medieval Europe, armed pilgrimages
aimed at recapturing the Holy Land from the
Muslims.
crypt—A vaultedspace under part of a building,
wholly or partly underground; in churches, nor-
mally the portion under an apse.
cubiculum (pl.cubicula)—A small cubicle or bed-
room that opened onto the atriumof a Roman
house. Also, a chamber in an Early Christian cata-
combthat served as a mortuary chapel.
Cubism—An early-20th-century art movement that
rejected naturalisticdepictions, preferring compo-
sitionsof shapes and forms abstracted from the
conventionally perceived world. See also Analytic
Cubism and Synthetic Cubism.
cuerda seca—A type of polychrome tilework used in
decorating Islamic buildings.
cuirass—A military leather breastplate.
cult statue—The statue of the deity that stood in the
cellaof an ancient temple.
cuneiform—Latin, “wedge-shaped.” A system of
writing used in ancient Mesopotamia, in which
wedge-shaped characters were produced by press-
ing a stylusinto a soft clay tablet, which was then
baked or otherwise allowed to harden.
cuneus (pl.cunei)—In ancient Greek and Roman
theaters and amphitheaters,the wedge-shaped
section of stone benches separated by stairs.
cupola—An exterior architectural feature composed
of a drumwith a shallow cap; a dome.
cutaway—An architectural drawing that combines
an exterior view with an interior view of part of a
building.
Cycladic—The prehistoric art of the Aegean Islands
around Delos, excluding Crete.
Cyclopean masonry—A method of stone construc-
tion, named after the mythical Cyclopes,using
massive, irregular blocks without mortar, charac-
teristic of the Bronze Age fortifications of Tiryns
and other Mycenaeansites.
Cyclops(pl.Cyclopes)—A mythical Greek one-eyed
giant.
cylinder seal—A cylindrical piece of stone usually
about an inch or so in height, decorated with an
inciseddesign, so that a raised pattern is left when
the seal is rolled over soft clay. In the ancient Near
East, documents, storage jars, and other impor-
tant possessions were signed, sealed, and identi-
fied in this way. Stamp seals are an earlier, flat
form of seal used for similar purposes.
Dada—An early-20th-century art movement
prompted by a revulsion against the horror of
World War I. Dada embraced political anarchy, thecodex (pl.codices)—Separate pages ofvellumor
parchmentbound together at one side; the prede-
cessor of the modern book. The codex superseded
the rotulus.In Mesoamerica,a painted and in-
scribed book on long sheets of bark paper or deer-
skin coated with fine white plaster and folded into
accordion-like pleats.
coffer—A sunken panel, often ornamental, in a vault
or a ceiling.
collage—A composition made by combining on a flat
surface various materials, such as newspaper,
wallpaper, printed text and illustrations, pho-
tographs, and cloth.
colonnade—A series or row ofcolumns,usually
spanned by lintels.
colonnette—A thin column.
colophon—An inscription, usually on the last page,
giving information about a book’s manufacture.
In Chinese painting, written texts on attached
pieces of paper or silk.
color—The value, or tonality, of a color is the degree
of its lightness or darkness. The intensity, or satu-
ration, of a color is its purity, its brightness or
dullness. See also primary colors, secondary colors,
and complementary colors.
color-field painting—A variant ofPost-Painterly Ab-
straction in which artists sought to reduce paint-
ing to its physical essence by pouring diluted paint
onto unprimed canvas and letting these pigments
soak into the fabric, as exemplified by the work of
Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis.
colorito—Italian, “colored” or “painted.” A term used
to describe the application of paint. Characteristic
of the work of 16th-century Venetian artists who
emphasized the application of paint as an impor-
tant element of the creative process. Central Italian
artists, in contrast, largely emphasized disegno—
the careful design preparation based on prelimi-
nary drawing.
colossal order—An architectural design in which
the columnsor pilastersare two or more stories
tall. Also called a giant order.
column—A vertical, weight-carrying architectural
member, circular in cross-section and consisting of
a base(sometimes omitted), a shaft,and a capital.
combines—The name American artist Robert
Rauschenberg gave to his assemblagesofpainted
passages and sculptural elements.
commedia dell’arte—A traditional Italian comic
play performed by actors and musicians.
complementary colors—Those pairs ofcolors,such
as red and green, that together embrace the entire
spectrum. The complement of one of the three
primary colors is a mixture of the other two.
compline—The last prayer of the day in a Book of
Hours.
compose—See composition.
Composite capital—A capital combining Ionicvo-
lutes and Corinthianacanthus leaves, first used by
the ancient Romans.
composite view—A convention of representation in
which part of a figure is shown in profile and an-
other part of the same figure is shown frontally;
also called twisted perspective.
composition—The way in which an artist organizes
forms in an artwork, either by placing shapes on a
flat surface or arranging forms in space.
compound pier—A pier with a group, or cluster, of
attached shafts,or responds,especially character-
istic ofGothicarchitecture.