Key Terms for the Art of the Ancient Aegean
- Aegean
- Bronze Age
- buon fresco (for more information see fresco)
- capital
- corbeled arch (for more information see corbeled arch)
- corbeled vault (for more information see corbeled arch)
- Cyclades
- Cycladic
- Faience (for more information see Faience)
- fresco (for more information see fresco)
- fresco secco (for more information see fresco)
- incised
- Kamares ware
- labyrinth
- Linear A
- Linear B
- lost-wax casting
- Marine style
- Minoan
- minotaur
- Mycenaean
- tholos
- tholos tomb (for more information see tholos tomb)
Refers to the Aegean Sea, the northern portion of the Mediterranean between Greece and Turkey and extending south to the island of Crete. In art history this designation refers to the era of the Bronze Age, the 3rd and 2nd millennium B.C.E.
https://smarthistory.org/an-introduction-to-the-ancient-aegean/
This term is applied to the 3rd and 2nd millennium B.C.E. in the Aegean region.
a painting technique in which water-based paint is applied to a surface of wet plaster and bonds with the plaster as it dries.
The topmost part of a column.
An arch formed by courses of stone, each of which projects inward beyond the lower course until the two sides of the arch meet at the top. Also known as a corbeled vault.
An arch formed by courses of stone, each of which projects inward beyond the lower course until the two sides of the arch meet at the top. Also known as a corbeled arch.
The Cyclades (often referred to as the Greek Islands) are a group of islands to the southeast of Mainland Greece in close proximity to one another.
A Bronze Age culture of the Cyclades islands, emerging around 3000 BCE.
A colorful, glassy material made by grinding quartz or sand with sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and/or copper oxide. The resulting substance is formed into the desired shape, such as a bead, amulet, or sculpture, then fired. During firing, the pieces harden and develop a glassy finish with bright colors (blue-green being the most common). The ancient Egyptians perfected faience-making, perhaps in an attempt to imitate the colors of turquoise and other gemstones.
A painting technique in which water-based paint is applied to a surface of wet plaster and bonds with the plaster as it dries. In Italian, the technique is known as buon fresco. Painting on dry plaster, known as fresco secco, is less durable.
painting on dry plaster which is less durable.
To mark or cut the surface of an object for decoration.
The first fine, mass-produced and widely-traded pottery produced on Minoan Crete, dating to the Middle Minoan era (1900-1700 BCE).
https://smarthistory.org/kamares-ware-jug/
A maze, especially underground or covered.
A syllabary used to write the as-yet-undeciphered Minoan language, and an apparent predecessor to other scripts.
An early form of Classical Greek, the language of the contemporary Mycenaeans of mainland Greece.
The most common method of using molten metal to make hollow, one-of-a-kind sculptures. When heat is applied to the clay mold, the wax layer within melts and forms channels, which the artist then fills with molten metal.
Minoan pottery decoration that depicts sea creatures with flowing, curvilinear motifs all over the vessel.
The Bronze Age culture of Crete, called Minoan, after King Minos of Crete from Greek mythology, c. 3000 BCE-1200 BCE.
A monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man.
A late Bronze Age culture in the Aegean established c. 1600 BCE.
a circular, vaulted structure, often a tomb or a temple.
A round, stone-built tomb with a corbeled dome, characteristic of royal burials in the Mycenaean Greek civilization. Also known as a beehive tomb. A tholos tomb was approached via a passage known as a dromos.
