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archaeology
The scientific study of people and cultures by an analysis of artifacts.

aristocracy
A class of people that hold rank, privilege or hereditary nobility.

art historian
A person who studies the history of art.

art history
The study of the history of visual arts.

artifact
An object made by a human being, for example a tool or ornament, especially one that has an archaeological interest.

balance
The way art elements are arranged to create a feeling of stability, or instability in a composition. The simplest type of balance is symmetry - an equal, regular arrangement of forms on either side of a central axis. Another type of balance is asymmetry, in which stability is achieved with differing elements that have equal visual weight or equal eye attraction.

bolognini
Currency used in Renaissance Venice, Italy. 10 bolognini is equal to 1/10 of a ducat.

burnished
Smoothed by rubbing or polishing. Traditionally a piece of polished stone was used to burnish gold leaf.

carbon dating
A method of dating objects which measures carbon generated from once living matter taking in carbon dioxide from the air.

Christian
Relating to a belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God and acceptance of his teachings.

chronological
Events arranged in the order in which they occurred.

commission
To hire an artist or workshop to make a work of art. The individual or company paying the artist will often give some guidelines concerning the subject, medium or size of the artwork. The artwork itself may be called a commission.

composition
The arrangement of shapes, forms, colors, areas of light and dark, and other elements in a work of art.

Counter-Reformation
A movement begun by the Catholic Church to counter the Protestants in Europe, who gained strength as a result of the Reformation.

ducats
Currency used in Renaissance Venice, Italy. Ducats were gold coins, equal in value to 10 Bolognini.

egg tempera
Colored pigments, ground into powder and mixed with egg yolks to create paint.

florin
Currency used in Renaissance Florence, Italy. Florins could be either gold or silver coins.

fresco
A painting on a wall or ceiling, made by brushing pigments into fresh plaster.

gesso
Gypsum powder added to liquid glue and used as a coating for painting surfaces such as wood panels or canvas.

guild
In Medieval and Renaissance times, professional and trade organizations were called guilds. Artists, merchants, lawyers, doctors, and many other professions and trades had separate guilds. Each guild established rules of behavior and quality for its members. Some also helped members who fell sick. Members had the benefits of full citizenship and unlike other workers, they could serve in the Signoria, the city's legislature.

gypsum
A white, chalk-like mineral. (calcium sulfate)

halo
A ring or circle of light around the head of a saint in a religious painting.

Hapsburg Empire
Also called Habsburg, a German family of rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and Austria-Hungary.

hieratic scale
Representing the sizes of things according to their importance, rather than how they would appear in the real world.

humanist
A scholar of the Renaissance who pursued the study and understanding of the ancient Greek and Roman empires. A person with a strong concern for human interests, values, and dignity.

iconography
The collections, description or study of images used in works of art.

Johann Gutenberg
Inventor of the moveable type printing press (1440).

landscape
Natural scenery, such as trees, rocks, rivers, lakes, mountains, sky and clouds.

linear perspective
The idea that converging lines meet at a single vanishing point and all shapes get smaller in all directions with increasing distance from the eye.

luminescence dating
Measuring the ionising radiation absorbed and stored by an object and its surrounding sediments in order to estimate the date it was made.

Marco Polo
In 1271 Marco Polo traveled with his father and uncle to China, and returned to Venice, Italy in 1295. Marco Polo wrote a book about his travels, which served as the only source of information about many parts of Asia for Europeans for until the late 1800s.

medieval
The Middle Ages — a period in history between the last emperor of Rome, 475 A.D., and the Renaissance, about 1450.

medium
The material with which an artist works (marble, clay, paint, wood, ink, etc.).

oil copal varnish
An oil containing resins which dry to a hard, protective finish.

oil paint
Paint that is created by mixing oil with colored pigments that are ground into powder.

opaque
Allowing no light to pass through, so that nothing can be seen through it.

Ottoman Empire
A Turkish empire that included parts of Asia and the Middle East.

palazzo
A large and usually official residence in Italy, more often a public building rather than a private residence.

patron
Patrons were clients, or consumers, during the Renaissance and they were generally considered to be the true "creator" of an artwork. The patron hired the artist and specified what they wanted and how much they would spend on time and materials. Contracts between patrons and artists often stipulated the quality and quantity of materials and could specify compositional details, such as the name of a given saint or the subject of the narrative scene.

picture plane
The two-dimensional, flat surface of a painting, drawing, or print.

pigments
Solid colored material, such as minerals, that form the basis of all types of paint.

poppy oil
An oil used to thin oil paint, can be substituted for linseed oil.

portrait
A painting, drawing, bust, photograph, or other representation of a realperson, living or dead, especially of the face.

primary colors
Red, yellow, and blue. All other colors are mixed from these three primary colors.

printing press
A machine that presses inked plates containing images or text onto paper or textiles.

profile
A representation of somebody's face as seen from the side.

proportion
The size of one shape or form in relation to another.

Protestant
A person who adheres to the beliefs of Protestantism — a Christian religion that denounced the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.

ratio
The relationship in quantity, amount, or size between two things.

Reformation
A European movement in the 16th century that sought to reform corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the development of Protestantism.

repetition
The reoccurrence of something in the same form. Regular repetition is a characteristic of pattern.

scale
The size of an object; the size of a work of art.

secondary colors
Colors formed by mixing together two primary colors. Red and yellow make orange, blue and yellow make green, and red and blue make violet.

Silk Road
A trade route stretching from Xian, China to the Mediterranean Sea, active from about 100 BC until the discovery of a sea route from Europe to Asia in the late 15th century dealt a damaging blow to trade along the Silk Road.

space
Refers to the distance or area between, around, above, below, or within things. Some art forms are three-dimensional (having height, width, and depth) and physically occupy space. Others begin with a two-dimensional surface and may create the illusion of space or depth.

spike oil
A substance similar to turpentine used to thin oils and speed drying time.

subject matter
The subject of a work of art; what the work of art is "about."

three-dimensional (3D)
Having height, width and depth, as in the case of free-standing sculpture.

three-quarter pose
A representation of somebody turned part way between a profile and a full frontal view of the face.

translucent
Allowing light to pass through; having a glowing appearance as if light were coming through.

triptych
A painting or carving made of three panels. Often triptychs served as altarpieces where the panels were hinged together so that when the outer panels were folded, the middle part was entirely covered.

two-dimensional (2D)
A flat surface, which has only height and width.

woodblock printing
Prints made from blocks of wood carved with pictures or text. The blocks are covered with Ink and then pressed on to paper where the Image or text Is transferred.