Art & Architecture
Arte · 160 articles · Principal contributors · All subjectsParticular Topics (Particolari)
-
Abbey (ABBAZIA)
ABBEY. - I. DEFINITION AND HISTORY. - Abbatia over the centuries has assumed various meanings, always however in relation to the word abbas… -
Academicism (ACCADEMISMO)
ACADEMICISM. - This name, to which an element of negative criticism is not foreign, has been given to that way of understanding and… -
Agemina (Da Agiam = Persia, in Arabic) (AGEMINA (DA AGIAM = PERSIA, IN ARABO))
AGEMINA (Da Agiam = Persia, in Arabic). - It is a synonym for "damascene" work and indicates a > AGEMINA - Detail of the door of the… -
Ancona
ANCONA. - The word perhaps derives from the Greek εἰκών = image, and denotes the painting or relief placed on the altar; it is a synonym of… -
Apocalypse (APOCALISSE)
APOCALYPSE. - A prophetic book that closes the New Testament. The title consists of the first Greek word of the text (Ἀποκάλυψις Ἱησοῦ… -
Apse (ABSIDE)
APSE. - 2. Chiusi, S. Vittore (11th cent.). (Toesca, St. dell'arte ital.). - 3. Sampierdarena, S. Bartolomeo (12th cent.). (Toesca, op.… -
Aquatint (ACQUATINTA)
AQUATINT. - An engraving technique which, on its own or combined with etching (v.) or drypoint (v.), produces various gradations of… -
Arabesque (ARABESCO)
ARABESQUE - A. in an Irish miniature. Lindisfarne Gospels (early 8th century) - London, British Museum, Cotton Ms. Nero I. crossed by… -
Architectural Orders (ORDINI ARCHITETTONICI)
ARCHITECTURAL ORDERS. - The system of load-bearing architectural elements (column and capital) and carried elements (entablature), which… -
Armadio
ARMADIO. - In the mosaics of the mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna and in a miniature of the Codex Amiatinus (Florence, Laurentian… -
Baldacchino
BALDACCHIN. - An ornament, for the most part square or rectangular in shape, of wood or of fabric with pendent hangings and fringes, which… -
Balustrade (BALAÚSTRA)
BALUSTRADE. - A railing consisting of vertical elements identical to one another, called balusters or little balusters, often rising from a… -
Banco (Ger. med. Panch, Lat. med. Banchum, Fr. Banc) (BANCO (TED. MED. PANCH, LAT. MED. BANCHUM, FRANC. BANC))
BANCO (Ger. med. Panch, Lat. med. Banchum, Fr. Banc). - A piece of furniture used since antiquity, consisting of a board resting on two or… -
Barbaric Art (BARBARICA, ARTE)
BARBARIC, ART. - Under the name Barbarian art are included the artistic manifestations of the Nordic peoples, and in particular of the… -
Baroque, Art (BAROCCA, ARTE)
BAROQUE, ART. - The term "baroque", which today criticism uses in a historical sense, that is, without any intrinsic value judgment, to… -
Beard (BARBA)
BEARD. - Among the early Christians the beard was a sign of authority, as Clement of Alexandria affirms (Paedagog., III, 11: PG 8, 633). In… -
Bell (CAMPANA)
BELL. - A bronze instrument shaped like an inverted cup, which sounds when its walls are struck by a clapper on the inside or by a hammer… -
Benedictine, Art (BENEDETTINA, ARTE)
BENEDICTINE, ART. - In the strict sense the term designates — and for this reason it is used by a good part of modern criticism — an… -
Bifora
BIFORA. - This is the name given to any window with two adjacent openings, generally divided by a small column, and enclosed in a single… -
Braccialetto (Armilium, Armilla, Brachiale, Manica)
BRACCIALETTO (Armilium, Armilla, Brachiale, Manica). - From prehistoric times down to the present, the bracelet has constituted a… -
Bracket (MENSOLA)
BRACKET. - In architecture, a load-bearing element consisting of a block of stone or wood (from the Latin mensula = small tablet) that… -
Bronze (BRONZO)
BRONZE. - Used for a great many purposes since antiquity, bronze played a preponderant part in Greek statuary beginning with the Attic… -
Bulino
BULINO. - It is the tool with which the copper or steel plate intended as a matrix for prints is directly engraved, without the aid of the… -
Buratto
BURATTO. - This name is given to a loosely woven fabric on which one embroiders with a needle stitch in a color different from the… -
Buttress (CONTRAFFORTE)
BUTTRESS. - Generic designation of a wall structure whose purpose is to counterbalance the thrusts in architectural organisms with vaults.… -
Byzantine, Art (BIZANTINA, ARTE)
BYZANTINE, ART. - Of the civilization that developed in the Eastern Roman Empire, with Constantinople as its center, between the 6th and… -
Calco
CALCO. - It is the reproduction of objects worked in relief obtained by means of impressions taken from the original with wax, clay,… -
Cameo (CAMMEO)
CAMEO. - A gem worked in relief, deriving the difference in colors from the different layers of hardstones. The first and principal… -
Campanile
CAMPANILE. - It is a structure standing on its own or incorporated into the church and intended to carry the bells at a height suitable for… -
Cancello
CANCELLO. - A movable closure of metal or wood; if fixed and continuous, in which case it is sometimes of stone, it takes the name of… -
Carpet (TAPPETO)
CARPET. - The fragments found in Turkestan (5th-6th centuries) and at al-Fusṭāt near Cairo (8th-9th centuries), knotted and with geometric… -
Cartoon (CARTONE)
CARTOON. - Painters call c. the preparatory drawing carried out at the very dimensions that the painting will have. Extremely useful in any… -
Cassapanca
CASSAPANCA. - It originated in the Middle Ages from the combination, perhaps intended to save space, of the bench (v.), which was the most… -
Castel Sant'Elia
CASTEL SANT'ELIA. - A comune in the province of Viterbo near Nepi, in the ancient Suppentine valley. It appears that St. Benedict founded a… -
Ceiling (SOFFITTO)
CEILING. - An architectural element tending to mask the overlying roof structures or, more simply, the sky of a room. What interests us… -
Ceramic Art (CERAMICA)
CERAMIC ART. - A generic term designating any product obtained through the successive use of two technical processes: 1) manipulation of… -
Chancellery, Palace of the (CANCELLERIA, PALAZZO DELLA)
CHANCELLERY, Palace of the. - It is one of the largest and most significant Renaissance buildings in Rome. Construction was begun in 1485… -
Chapel (CAPPELLA)
CHAPEL. - It is a small sacred building, either free-standing or placed inside buildings of different purpose such as public and private… -
Chiaroscuro
CHIAROSCURO. - It is determined in the vision of objects by the contrast between parts in light and parts in shadow. In art, these are said… -
Chisel (CESELLO)
CHISEL. - It is properly a steel tool used to draw, engrave, raise, flatten or clean the metal on which one is working; there are therefore… -
Chorale (CORALE)
CHORALE. - I. CHANT. - In current usage, the true choral or liturgical chant is Gregorian chant (v. CHANT). Polyphonic chant also takes the… -
Ciborium (CIBORIO)
CIBORIUM. - From the Greek κιβώριον, also called fastigium, tegurium, and in the Middle Ages tiburium. It was an arched covering supported… -
Cire-Perdue Casting (GETTO (FUSIONE A CERA PERDUTA))
CIRE-PERDUE CASTING. - Casting, or pouring, is in general the operation carried out in sculpture to obtain the definitive work from the… -
Classicism (CLASSICISMO)
CLASSICISM. - The concept of classicism, like that of Romanticism and, more recently (limited to the figurative arts) of Baroque, besides… -
Clock (OROLOGIO)
CLOCK. - Since antiquity there have been reports of instruments for measuring time applied to buildings; nevertheless the clock understood… -
Colonna
COLONNA. - It is a load-bearing element of circular section, generally of marble or stone, with a base and capital connected to similar… -
Color (COLORE)
COLOR. - Both the sensation produced by matter permeated with a light that determines in it a "quality," and the light itself that defines… -
Comb (PETTINE)
COMB. - From the Latin pecten, it is an instrument of bone, ivory, boxwood or other material, fitted with one or two rows of close-set… -
Confessional (CONFESSIONALE)
CONFESSIONAL. - A church furnishing in which the priest administers the sacrament of Penance. Confessionals in their present form began to… -
Coral (CORALLO)
CORAL. - The working of coral for artistic uses was characteristic of the peoples of the Mediterranean basin from the most ancient times.… -
Cornice
CORNICE. - The frame, besides being a decorative complement to an object and particularly to a painting, is also, according to a more… -
Cross (CROCE)
CROSS. - Instrument of torture, on which Jesus Christ died (Jn 19:17-31; Mt 27:32-42). SUMMARY: I. Instrument of torture. - II. Persons… -
Cubism (CUBISMO)
CUBISM. - This term designates one of the most significant tendencies in modern painting. It had its first manifestations at the beginning… -
Cuff (Basso Latin Cofea) (CUFFIA (BASSO LAT. COFEA))
CUFF (Basso Latin Cofea). - Generally a piece of cloth intended to protect or bind the hair of men or women, especially of nuns. Already… -
Cuspide
CUSP. - The term c. (or spire, pinnacle, arrow) commonly designates the highest part of a building that ends in a point. Cusps of this kind… -
Dance of Death (DANZA MACABRA)
DANCE OF DEATH. - The theme is connected with the meditations common in the 14th and 15th centuries on the transience of human goods and… -
Deambulatory (DEAMBULATORIO)
DEAMBULATORY. - By d., or peribolos or ambulatory, is generally meant an annular corridor that runs around the apse, often continuing the… -
Deposition of Christ (DEPOSIZIONE DI CRISTO)
DEPOSITION OF CHRIST. - By this name is meant the scene depicting the removal of the dead Jesus from the Cross before his burial. The… -
Diaconicon (Διακονικόν), Diaconico
DIACONICON (Διακονικόν), DIACONICON. - ART. - A small room, often with an apse, found in basilical churches beside the apse, on the side… -
Diptych (DITTICO)
DIPTYCH. - I. ART. - From δίς = twice and πύσσειν = to fold. This name was given to two tablets or leaves joined on one side by a hinge or… -
Divisionism (DIVISIONISMO)
DIVISIONISM. - Name of a particular painting technique connected with Impressionism and with scientific theories of color. The principle on… -
Dome (CUPOLA)
DOME. - It is a hemispherical vault of raised semicircular, depressed or pointed profile resulting from the rotation of polycentric curves,… -
Domenico, Venetian (DOMENICO, VENEZIANO)
DOMENICO, VENEZIANO. Venetian painter, as can be gathered from his name, active in Florence, where he died in 1461. Very little information… -
Dossale
DOSSALE. - The term derives from the barbaric Latin dossalis; it is the word used to designate the cloth employed to cover walls, seats,… -
Drum (TAMBURO)
DRUM. - A wall structure connecting the pendentives and the dome, cylindrical or prismatic in shape, generally, in the latter case, with an… -
Embroidery (RICAMO)
EMBROIDERY. - Needlework on a pre-existing ground, clearly distinct from lace or needle-lace, whose ground is worked after the ornaments in… -
Enamel (SMALTO)
ENAMEL. - In goldsmiths' workshops, enamels have always had, in every era, a notable application for the decoration of objects. The… -
Encaustic (ENCAUSTO)
ENCAUSTIC. - It is among the oldest known types of painting with an advanced technique; substantially, that painting can be defined as… -
Engraving (INCISIONE)
ENGRAVING. - It is properly the art of incising figures, ornaments, etc., on any surface. It can therefore be an end in itself, as in… -
Etching (ACQUAFORTE)
ETCHING. - (From the medieval name of nitric acid, aqua fortis). A print obtained by means of a copper plate in which the grooves that… -
Expressionism (ESPRESSIONISMO)
EXPRESSIONISM. - This name designates an artistic movement which in the field of painting acquired a definiteness of orientations and… -
Filigree (FILIGRANA)
FILIGREE. - I. NELL'ARTE. - This name designates a work of goldsmithing in gold or silver threads twisted together, interwoven to form… -
Flagellation (FLAGELLAZIONE)
FLAGELLATION. - A means of punishment, variously employed, inflicted by blows of a whip or bundles of rods or flexible switches. Much used… -
Flight Into Egypt (FUGA IN EGITTO)
FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. - Episode in the life of Jesus, which occurred after the visit of the Magi and is briefly narrated in Mt. 2:13. Herod,… -
Fontana
FONTANA. - By fountain is meant an architectural-sculptural structure, of varying size, suited to receiving water and distributing it, for… -
Fontana, Prospero
FONTANA, PROSPERO - St. Alexis Distributing His Goods to the Poor. Bologna, church of S. Giacomo Maggiore. Madonna del Baraccano, St.… -
Fresco (AFFRESCO)
FRESCO. - This is the name given to any wall painting executed with colors dissolved in water on a thin layer of still "fresh" plaster,… -
Frieze (FREGIO)
FRIEZE. - The central zone of the entablature, between the architrave and the cornice, of a character that varies according to the… -
Frontone
FRONTONE. - The upper terminal part of a facade, generally triangular in shape so as to follow the slope of the roof. It was adopted in the… -
Gemme
GEMME. - The use of gems, especially in rings, was very widespread in the Roman world, and fashion ensured that it continued among… -
Ghiera
GHIERA. - A moulding that profiles the extrados of an arch. It is used especially in pre-Romanesque and Romanesque architecture, to which… -
Giada
GIADA. - A hard stone used in China in the industrial arts: it comes from two silicates, nephrite and jadeite, the first of calcium and… -
Gilding (DORATURA)
GILDING. - The use of gilding on objects, sculptures and architecture goes back to the most remote antiquity. The absolutely primordial… -
Glass (VETRO)
GLASS. - The most remote examples of glassmaking with an artistic character date back, in the Mediterranean basin, to the eighteenth… -
Goldsmithing (OREFICERIA)
GOLDSMITHING. - I. PALEOCRISTIAN GOLDSMITHING. - In the biographies of the popes, in the Liber Pontificalis, one finds lists of precious… -
Grotesques (GROTTESCHE)
GROTESQUES. - Wall decorations in stucco or fresco, depicting plant forms, human or animal figures often of strange shapes, and… -
Holy Trinity (TRINITÀ, SANTISSIMA)
HOLY TRINITY. - The Trinitarian mystery, the revelation to humanity of the intimate constitution of God, is enunciated in the following… -
Icons (ICONE)
ICONS. - A Greek word meaning image, which has come into use to indicate portable paintings with sacred images from the early centuries,… -
Illumination (MINIATURA)
ILLUMINATION. - Properly, the art of painting or adorning manuscripts; an ornamentation that in antiquity was executed predominantly with… -
Impressionism (IMPRESSIONISMO)
IMPRESSIONISM. - The term I. and the adjectives derived from it generally serve to indicate a painting in patches, summary, rapid, intended… -
Intrados (from French intrados) (INTRADOSSO (DAL FRANC. INTRADOS))
INTRADOS (from French intrados). - A technical term in architecture, equivalent to "soffit," denoting the inner, curved surface of arches… -
Ivory (Art) (AVORIO (ARTE))
IVORY (ART). - Ivory artifacts are frequent in ancient Christian funerary furnishings; they were often affixed to the loculi in the… -
Jesse, Tree of (JESSE, ALBERO DI)
JESSE, Tree of. - From the passage in Isaiah "egredietur virga de radice Jesse et flos de radice eius ascendet" (11:1), medieval… -
Jordan (GIORDANO)
GIORDANO - Holy Mass celebrated on the banks of the G. > (photograph by Anderson) > GIORDANO, LUCA - Self-portrait - Rome, Galleria… -
Koimesis (KÖIMESIS)
KOIMESIS. - It is a simultaneous representation of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and her passing into Heaven, which became established… -
Lacework (MERLETTO)
LACEWORK. - Lace, or merlo, trina, pizzo, is a transparent fabric worked by hand with the needle, with bobbins, with the crochet hook and… -
Lavabo
LAVABO. - A place and apparatus for ablutions. It became part of the ecclesiastical furnishings from the earliest Christian times; in use… -
Lectern (LEGGIO)
LECTERN. - A piece of furniture intended to support a liturgical book for public reading. It first appeared fixed upon ambos and, like the… -
Lectorium
LECTORIUM. - A dividing wall between choir and nave in medieval churches. In French it is called jubé, in English rood screen or roodloft,… -
Lesena
LESENA. - A pseudopilaster in slight relief from the wall, which has no structural function but only that of dividing the surfaces.… -
Liberty
LIBERTY. - The artistic movement that in Italy goes by the name of L. or "floral style," which in France and in many other European… -
Loggia
LOGGIA. — An open gallery on the upper floors of buildings, almost always with arches, rarely with an architrave. In church architecture it… -
Lunette (LUNETTA)
LUNETTE. - In architecture, a lunette is understood as the space resulting from the meeting of a vault with a flat surface; thus in a bay… -
Majolica (MAIOLICA)
MAJOLICA. - It is a variety of ceramics (v.), consisting of a body based on clay, firing in color, from red to flesh-pink. Its products,… -
Mandorla
MANDORLA - Christ seated within the m. Miniature from an Exultet (12th cent.) - Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, cod. 724 B 1, 13. An… -
Mannerism (MANIERISMO)
MANNERISM. - The value of the term, much debated and variously limited by recent art historiography, is linked to that of "maniera". For… -
Marble (MARMO)
MARBLE. - For sculpture, the marbles most generally used are the white ones, called for that very reason statuary marbles, among which the… -
Matroneum (MATRONEO)
MATRONEUM. - The part reserved for women in the early Christian churches (generally the right nave or the right transept), separated from… -
Medal (MEDAGLIA)
MEDAL. - The word m. derives from the Latin metalla and in the Middle Ages indicated the half-denarius or obol. When this fell into disuse,… -
Modern Sacred Art (MODERNA, ARTE SACRA)
MODERN, SACRED ART. - It can be said that since the eighteenth-century movement of encyclopedism, sacred art no longer had that expression… -
Mosque (MOSCHEA)
MOSQUE. - A building for Muslim worship, which in its primitive type would derive, according to some, from the Arab dwelling house. The… -
Moulding (MODANATURA)
MOULDING. - A term that encompasses all the lesser members of the architectural orders. There are eight principal mouldings: fillet, bead… -
Murano, School of Art of (MURANO, SCUOLA ARTISTICA DI)
MURANO, SCHOOL OF ART OF. - In the course of the 15th century, M. gave birth to a considerable number of artists who, although without… -
Neoclassicism (NEOCLASSICISMO)
NEOCLASSICISM. - In a broad sense it can mean any deliberate or programmatic return to expressive forms of classical taste; thus one has… -
Niche (EDICOLA)
NICHE. - The word, derived from the Latin "aedicula," a diminutive of "aedes" = temple, properly means a small temple, a small chapel,… -
Norman Sicilian, Art (SICULO NORMANNA, ARTE)
SICULO-NORMAN, ART. - Also called Siculo-Arab-Norman art: it is the name that 19th-century historians assigned to the Sicilian artistic… -
Ottonian Art (OTTONIANA, ARTE)
OTTONIAN, ART. - "Ottonian art" is the name given to the German art of the 10th century and the first twenty-five years of the 11th century… -
Painting (PITTURA)
PAINTING. - It can be defined as that complex of requirements and rules, subjective and objective, which an artist fulfills in order to… -
Pala
PALA. - Commonly confused with ancona (v.), a term better used to indicate compositions in carved wood or glazed terracotta, the term p.… -
Papier-mâché (CARTAPESTA)
PAPIER-MÂCHÉ. - Papier-mâché (not to be confused with "Roman cardboard" or "carton pierre" or "elo-plastica," which is a refinement of… -
Pelican (PELLICANO)
PELICAN. - A bird of the order Steganopodes, family Pelecanidae, which lives on the shores of lakes in warm regions; its white plumage… -
Pietà (Art) (PIETÀ (ARTE))
PIETÀ (Art). - It seems that the figurative model of the P., conceived as the mourning of the Madonna over the body of the dead Christ,… -
Plaster (in art) (GESSO (NELL'ARTE))
PLASTER (IN ART). - Chemically, gypsum is hydrated calcium sulfate, poorly soluble in water. This solubility increases, however, as the… -
Polyptych (POLITTICO)
POLYPTYCH. - Term generally adopted to indicate a complex of more than three painted panels, joined together by a frame of an architectural… -
Popular Iconography (ICONOGRAFIA POPOLARE)
POPULAR ICONOGRAPHY. - Sacred images have also been represented in ways suited to the taste, beliefs, and needs of the common people, and… -
Porcelain (PORCELLANA)
PORCELAIN. - It is one of the great classes into which the products of ceramics (v.) are divided. It is a paste artificially composed cold… -
Portal (PORTA)
PORTAL. - In antiquity, alongside the monumental type, already present in Egyptian and Assyrian civilization, which in the imperial age… -
Portico
PORTICO. - The classic type of the portico, developed in Greco-Roman art, presents itself as a rectangular building, elongated, open on one… -
Predella
PREDELLA. - In wood and marble, it is the panel or marble slab in the form of a very elongated rectangle, often divided into various… -
Prothesis (PROTESI)
PROTHESIS. - As "diaconicum," it is a term used to indicate, in Byzantine architecture or architecture derived from it, one of the two… -
Prothyron (PROTIRO)
PROTHYRON. - A small structure attached to the entrance of a church building, of a quadriportico or of a portico, is called a p.; in its… -
Pulvino
PULVINO. - The name itself (cushion) indicates its function; it is a marble element generally placed above the capital to support the… -
Puntasecca (PUNT'ASECCA)
PUNTASECCA. - By p. is meant that engraving obtained by the artist working the metal plate directly with a burin having a conical point or,… -
Purism (PURISMO)
PURISM. - The term and the attribute "purist" have been transferred into the field of the figurative arts from that of literature, in which… -
Refectory (REFETTORIO)
REFECTORY. - A room in convents and monasteries intended for communal meals. It is usually a large rectangular hall accessible from the… -
Relief (RILIEVO)
RELIEF. - In the figurative arts it is distinguished from the statuary group by being attached to a background plane from which figures,… -
Reliquary (RELIQUIARIO)
RELIQUARY. - The current name for the object chosen to contain relics; but since antiquity it has had a very great variety of names… -
Repoussé Work (FERRO BATTUTO)
REPOUSSÉ WORK. - The working of wrought iron, that is, of hammered, embossed and carved iron, with artistic intent, had its first diffusion… -
Resurrection of Jesus Christ (RISURREZIONE DI GESÙ CRISTO)
RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. - The historical fact of the R. of Christ and the related dogmatic treatment are set out at the entry GESÙ… -
Retablo
RETABLO. - The interpretation given here of this word, which belongs to the Spanish language, remains confined to the meaning it takes on… -
Rib (COSTOLONE)
RIB. - This is the name generally given to the arch placed diagonally that forms the load-bearing framework of vaults. This principle was… -
Rococo (ROCOCÒ)
ROCOCO. - Term that came into use in France in the 1700s to denote, together with the other term "rocaille", a particular kind of… -
Romanesque Art (ROMANICA, ARTE)
ROMANESQUE, ART. - The term "Romanesque" denotes that particular moment in European artistic culture, comprised between the 11th and 12th… -
Rosone
ROSONE. - A circular window decorated with tracery, generally situated on the facade of churches. The use of strongly splayed circular… -
Sacra Conversazione
SACRED CONVERSATION (SACRED CONVERSATION). - A composition in which images of saints are depicted in attitudes and expressions of… -
Scenography (SCENOGRAFIA)
SCENOGRAPHY. - It is properly the art of painting scenes for theatrical performances, but since it is evident that the unity of a spectacle… -
Scorpion (SCORPIONE)
SCORPION. - An animal of the arachnids, arthrogastric, of an olive-brown color; the flat body is provided with two large chelicerae and a… -
Sculpture (SCULTURA)
SCULPTURE. - It is properly the art tending to bring out the forms of figures and things in any material, either fully in the round, or in… -
Seasons (STAGIONI)
SEASONS. - The theme of the Seasons, because of its allegorical scope, interested Christian art from its very origins (v.… -
Stoffe
STOFFE. — The most recent excavations show that the art of weaving goes back to the most remote Stone Age. The discoveries made in Egypt,… -
Stucco
STUCCO. - It is a mixture of lime and pozzolana blended with marble dust or gypsum; once dried it becomes hard and workable with a chisel… -
Tapestry (ARAZZO)
TAPESTRY. - It is a special fabric made with a high-and-low warp loom using threads of wool and silk colored in many gradations and… -
Tarsia
TARSIA. - A craft practice consisting in joining on the surface fragments or veneers of differently colored woods in order to obtain, also… -
Tiburium (TIBURIO)
TIBURIUM. - This is the name given to a polygonal roof divided into wedge-shaped sections, covered on the outside by masonry that supports… -
Tomb (TOMBA)
TOMB. - The tomb is of interest to the history of civilization as an often irreplaceable testimony to the creative aptitudes of very… -
Toreutics (TOREUTICA)
TOREUTICS. - It is the art of working metals through casting, hammering, engraving, chasing, etc. Especially for antiquity the term is used… -
Vault (VÒLTA)
VAULT. - A roof wall structure, shaped in view according to a curved surface, and exerting a thrusting action on its supports (piers);… -
Watercolor (ACQUERELLO)
WATERCOLOR. - A method of painting on a white or very light ground by means of transparent colours, prepared with gum arabic and glycerine… -
Window (FINESTRA)
WINDOW. - An opening through the full thickness of a wall, made for the admission of light. It may consist of one, two or more elements… -
Wood (LEGNO)
WOOD. - From the earliest manifestations of Mediterranean civilization, precious wooden material found use in the applied arts. During the…