The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto

Glossary of artistic and
architectural terms
LANGUAGE Artistic/architectural terms
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Ambulatory Corridor round the back of the altar formed by a continuation of the aisles.
Apse Recess at the altar end of a church.
Architrave The lowest part of the entablature.
Baldachin Canopy over an altar or tomb.
Baptistery Chapel for baptisms, often detached from church.
Baroque Dynamic architectural and sculptural style of seventeenth century and early eighteenth
century.
Campanile Belltower, sometimes detached.
Capital Top of a column.
Chancel Part of church containing the altar and sanctuary.
Choir Part of church in which the service is sung; often raised or screened, usually near the altar.
Crypt Burial place, usually under the choir.
Cupola Dome.
Entablature The part above the capital on a classical building.
Ex-Voto Painting or some other object presented as thanksgiving to a saint.
Fresco Painting applied to wet plaster so that pigments are absorbed into the wall.
Frieze Decorative strip along top of wall or on an entablature.
Iconostasis Screen between the sanctuary and nave in Eastern churches.
Lunette Semicircular panel above a door or window.
Nave Central space in a church, usually flanked by aisles.
Pantocrator An image of Christ, portrayed with outstretched arms in the act of blessing.
Piano Nobile Main floor, usually the first.
Polyptych Painting or carving on several joined wooden panels.
Portico The covered entrance to a building.
Rococo Florid eighteenth-century style.
Reliquary Receptacle for a saint’s relics.
Romanesque General term for plain architectural style of eleventh century to late thirteenth century.
Rood Screen Screen between sanctuary and nave, bearing a rood (crucifix).
Rustication Large blocks of stone with deep joints, or brick designed to simulate them.
Sanctuary Area immediately surrounding the high altar.
Stele Inscribed stone slab.
Stucco Heavy plaster made from water, sand, lime and powdered marble, used for decorative work.
Tessera Small square piece of stone or glass used in mosaics.
Tracery Geometrical or patterned stonework.
Transept Part of church at ninety degrees to the nave.
Trompe L’oeil Painting designed to trick the viewer into seeing a three-dimensional image.
Triptych Painting or carving on three joined panels.
Tympanum Panel enclosed by lintel of a door and the arch above it.