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Iconography
The study of the significance and interpretation of the subject matter of art.
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Contextualism
An interpretive approach in art history that focuses on the culture surrounding an art object. Unlike connoisseurship, contextualism utilizes the literature, history, economics and social developments (among other things) of a period as well as the object itself, to explain the meaning of an artwork.
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Patron
A patron is someone that supports an artist. They can be there for financial support or just support in general.
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Tromp l'oeil
A manner of representation in which the appearance of natural space and objects in re-created with the express intention of fooling the eye of the viewer, who may be convinced that the subject actually exists as three dimensional reality.
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Chiaroscuro
An Italian word designating the contrast of dark and light in a painting, drawing or print. It creates spacial depth and volumetric forms through gradations in the intensity of light and shadow
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Sfumato
Italian term meaning "smoky" soft, and mellow. In painting, the effort of haze in an image. Resembling the color of the atmosphere at dusk, sfumato gives a smoky effect
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Iconoclasm
The banning or destruction of images, especially icons and religious art. Iconoclasm in 8th and 9th century Byzantium and 16th and 17th century Protestant territories arose from differing beliefs about the power, meaning, function and purpose of imagery in religion.
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Baldachin
A canopy (whether suspended from the ceiling, projecting from a wall, or supported by columns) placed over an honorific or sacred space such as a throne or church altar.
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reliquary
A container, often made of precious materials, used as a repository to protect and display sacred relics.
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Tenebrism
The use of strong chiaroscuro and artificially illuminated areas to create a dramatic contrast of light and dark in a painting
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Still Life
A type of painting that has as its subject inanimate objects (such as food, dishes, fruit or flowers)
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Vanitas
An image, especially popular in Europe during the 17th century, in which all the objects symbolize the transience of life. Vanitas paintings are usually of still lifes or genre subjects
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