Art History Vocabulary (Greek)

Period in which Athens began to develop as a major center of ceramic production, creating both sculpture and vessels decorated with organized abstract designs.

Period in which Greeks were influenced by style of Eastern artists, drawing on work in a variety of media to invent a new approach to painting vessels.

Period in 7th century BCE/late 6th century BCE in which Greek culture began to take off in terms of visual arts, philosophy, and architecture.

Mid to late 5th century BCE, high point of Greek culture

4th century BCE to 330 BCE, Civil wars start

3rd century-1st century BCE, empire begins to fall apart.

Funerary vase

Ancient Greek jar for storing oil or wine, with an egg-shaped body and two curved handles.

Orientalized pattern meandering winding an object

Greek for "young man". Free-standing votive statues found marking graves and in sanctuaries.

Greek for "young woman". Female counterpart of Kouros

Draped rectangle of cloth pinned at the shoulders and belted to give a bloused effect

Form of clothing worn from the Archaic period (c. 750–c. 500 BC) to the Hellenistic period (323–30 BC). 

Form of clothing worn over a chiton

Row of columns that surrounded the main room

Accessible from all sides

Main room in a greek temple

Entrance (enclosed vestibule)

Fluted column

More slender fluted column, with a sculpted capital resting on a base

Fluted column with a highly sculpted capital (acanthus leaves)

Column components of a Doric order

The part that the column holds up; contains the cornice, frieze, and metopes.

Carved piece of the entablature, contains relief molds

Rectangular block between the metopes of a doric frieze.

Carved or painted rectangular panel between the triglyphs of a doric frieze

Uppermost section of a Classic entablature

Triangular gable found over major architectural elements; formed by an entablature at the ends of a raking cornice.

Column components of an Ionic order