Vocabulary 5

 

• Ambulatory- moving about or from place to place.

 

• Apse- a semicircular or polygonal termination or recess in a building, usually vaulted and used especially at the end of a choir in a church.

 

• Atrium-the main or central room of an ancient Roman house, open to the sky at the center and usually having a pool for the collection of rain water.

 

• Axial plan-the parts of a building are organized longitudinally, or along a given axis.

 

• Basilica-characterized by a plan including a nave, two or four side  aisles, a semicircular apse, a  narthex, and often other features, as a short transept, a number of small semicircular apses terminating  the aisles, or an atrium.

 

• Catacomb- an underground cemetery, especially one consisting of  tunnels and rooms with recesses dug out for coffins and tombs.

 

• Central plan- the parts of the structure are of equal or almost equal dimensions around the center.

 

• Chalice- a cup for the wine of the Eucharist or Mass.

 

• Clerestory-a portion of an interior rising above adjacent rooftops and  having windows admitting daylight to the interior.

 

• Coffer- one of a number of sunken panels, usually square or octagonal, in a vault, ceiling, or soffit.

 

• Cubicula- a burial chamber, as in catacombs.

 

• Gospels- regarded as true and implicitly believed.

 

• loculi- a recess in an ancient catacomb or tomb where a body or cinerary urn was placed.

 

• Lunette- an area enframed by an arch or vault.

 

• Narthex- an enclosed passage between the main entrance and the nave of a church.

 

• Nave- principal longitudinal area of a church, extending from the main entrance or narthex to the chancel, usually flanked by aisles of less height and breadth.

 

• Orant Figure- a figure in art with extended arms or bodily attitude of prayer.

 

• Spolia- used to describe the reuse of earlier building material or decorative sculpture on new monuments.

 

• Synagogue- an assembly or congregation of Jews for the purpose of religious worship.

 

• Torah- the Pentateuch, being the first of the three Jewish divisions of the Old Testament.

 

• Transept- any major transverse part of the body of a church, usually crossing the nave, at right angles, at the entrance to the choir.

 

• Codex- a quire of manuscript pages held together by stitching; the earliest form of a book.

 

• Cathedral- the principal church of a diocese containing the bishop's throne.

 

• Icon- a representation of some sacred personage, as Christ or a saint or angel, painted on a wood surface and venerated as sacred.

 

• Iconostasis- a partition or screen on which icons are placed, separating the sanctuary from the main part of the church.

 

• Mosaic- a picture or decoration made of small, usually colored pieces of inlaid stone or glass.

 

• Psalter- the Biblical book of Psalms.

 

• Pantocrator- a title of Christ represented as the ruler of the universe in Byzantine church decoration.

 

• Squinch- a small archor corbelling built across the interior angle between two walls, as in a square tower for supporting the side of a superimposed octagonal spire.

 

• Pendentive- any of several spandrels, in the form of spherical triangles, forming a transition between the circular plan of a dome and the polygonal plan of the supporting masonry.

 

• Triptych- a hinged three-leaved tablet, written on, in ancient times, with a stylus.

 

• Animal Style- art characterized by its emphasis on animal and bird motifs.

 

• Cloisonné- enamel work in which colored areas are separated by thin metal bands fixed edgewise to the ground.

 

• Cloister- a covered walk, especially in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade opening onto a courtyard.

 

• Horror Vacui- a dislike of leaving empty spaces in an artistic composition.

 

• Scriptorium- a room, as in a monastery, library, or other institution, where manuscripts are stored, read, or copied.

 

• West work- a monumental western front to a church, treated as a tower or towers containing an entrance and vestibule below and a chapel above.