Early Europe and Colonial Americas, 200–1750 CE

Edict of Milan (313 CE)

Decree by Emperor Constantine granting religious tolerance to Christians and ending state persecution, helping explain Christianity’s shift toward public church art and architecture.

“Peace of the Church” (380 CE)

Under Emperor Theodosius, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and pagan religions/heresies were prohibited, increasing the scale and authority of Christian imagery and buildings.

Byzantine Empire

Eastern Roman Empire centered at Constantinople; Greek became the official language and Christianity the dominant religion; lasted over 1000 years until 1453.

Iconoclastic Controversy (726–843 CE)

Byzantine conflict over sacred images, beginning under Leo III and resolved with restoration of icons in 843; involved image destruction and persecution of icon supporters.

Iconoclast

Person/group in Byzantium who opposed icons, arguing images were idolatrous and violated the Ten Commandments.

Iconodule (Iconodules)

Supporters of icons in Byzantium who argued images were necessary for veneration and worship (veneration directed through the image, not worship of the material object).

al-Andalus

Islamic-ruled regions of Iberia after the Muslim conquest beginning in 711 CE; a key setting for Iberian Islamic art and cross-cultural exchange.

Reconquista (ended 1492)

Long campaign that ended Muslim rule in al-Andalus, reshaping the political and cultural map of Iberia.

Black Death (1348)

Devastating pandemic (Yersinia pestis) spread along trade routes; massive mortality (possibly up to 50% of Europe), causing social/economic upheaval and influencing art focused on suffering and salvation.

Humanism

Renaissance intellectual emphasis on learning, human potential, and the material world as worthy of serious depiction; helps explain renewed classical interest in art.

Protestant Reformation

16th-century movement (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli) challenging papal authority and stressing individual faith and the Bible; reshaped imagery, patronage, and print culture.

Syncretism

Blending of Indigenous, European, and African practices and images in colonial Americas, formed under colonial power conditions (not merely “peaceful mixing”).

Catacomb

Underground burial passageways (noted as extensive beneath Rome) used for large-scale burial and associated with early Christian community memory.

Catacomb of Priscilla

Early Christian funerary site in Rome (2nd–3rd centuries; excavated tufa and fresco) with imagery aimed at teaching, comfort, and hope in salvation.

Orant figure

Praying figure with outstretched arms; in early Christian funerary art it visually embodies prayer for salvation.

Good Shepherd (Christian motif)

Christ shown as a pastoral shepherd type borrowed from Greco-Roman imagery; symbolizes Christ rescuing sinners, especially meaningful in burial contexts.

Basilica (as church model)

Roman civic building type adapted for Christian worship because its long, axial plan could hold many people and direct attention to the altar.

Santa Sabina

Early Christian basilica in Rome (422–432; brick/stone/wood roof) with three aisles, apse, strong axial nave, and no transept; includes selenite windows and spolia columns.

Apse

Semicircular (or rounded) termination of a church where the altar area is located; a focal point in basilica planning.

Spolia

Reuse of older building materials (often Roman/pagan) in new structures; can signal continuity, wealth, and/or Christianity’s triumph over paganism.

Pendentives

Curved triangular supports that transition from a square base to a circular dome, enabling large domes to appear to “float” above space.

Hagia Sophia

Monumental church in Constantinople/Istanbul (532–537) built under Justinian; uses pendentives and a dome with 40 windows to create a luminous, centralized awe effect.

Mosaic (Byzantine)

Image-making with small pieces (tesserae) that produces durable, luminous surfaces; widely used to project theology and authority in Byzantine churches.

Tesserae

Small pieces (glass, stone, etc.) arranged to form mosaics, contributing to shimmering, light-responsive imagery.

Encaustic

Painting technique using pigment mixed with hot wax and fused by heat; used in some early Byzantine icons (e.g., Sinai panels).

Icon

Sacred image (often Christ, Virgin, or saints) used as a focus for prayer; treated as a conduit for veneration rather than an “idol.”

San Vitale

Church in Ravenna (526–547) with centralized octagonal design; interior mosaics emphasize imperial presence and church-state partnership.

Chi-Rho (XP)

Monogram of Christ; appears, for example, on a soldier’s shield in the Justinian mosaic, linking military power to defense of the faith.

Vienna Genesis

Luxury early 6th-century illuminated manuscript (tempera, gold/silver on purple vellum) written in Greek; uses continuous narrative and classical-influenced figures.

Continuous narrative

Storytelling method where the same character appears multiple times within one visual field to show successive events (used in Vienna Genesis).

Hypostyle mosque

Mosque plan type with a large hall supported by many columns, creating flexible space for communal prayer (e.g., Córdoba).

Great Mosque of Córdoba

Major hypostyle mosque begun 784–786 with later expansions; famous for double-tiered arches creating height and rhythmic, seemingly infinite space.

Arabesque

Stylized vegetal ornament common in Islamic art and architecture, often combined with geometry and calligraphy to shape immersive surfaces.

Geometric pattern (Islamic ornament)

Mathematically structured design system in Islamic art; functions as intellectual, ordered ornament rather than “random decoration.”

Pyxis of al-Mughira

Umayyad Spain court luxury object (968; carved ivory); small container whose precious material and inscription convey elite identity and dynastic messaging.

Alhambra

14th-century palace complex in Granada using water, gardens, tilework, stucco, and calligraphy to create an immersive “palace-as-paradise” environment expressing authority.

Interlace

Insular (Hiberno-Saxon) decorative motif of intricately woven lines; prominent in manuscripts like the Lindisfarne Gospels.

Cloisonné

Metalworking/enamel technique using wire partitions (cells) filled with materials (e.g., stones/enamel); associated with early medieval portable luxury arts.

Lindisfarne Gospels

Insular illuminated manuscript (c. 700; ink/pigments/gold on vellum) combining Christian text with dense patterning; used for services and devotion.

Reliquary

Container for relics (physical remnants associated with holy figures), believed to carry spiritual power for healing, protection, and intercession.

Reliquary of Sainte-Foy

Reliquary statue at Conques (gold/silver/gemstones/enamel over wood; 9th century with later additions) housing Sainte Foy’s skull and fueled pilgrimage through its commanding presence.

Tympanum

Semicircular sculpted area over a church portal used for public instruction; Romanesque examples often depict Last Judgment themes for pilgrims.

Mandorla

Almond-shaped halo-like frame around a sacred figure; in Romanesque Last Judgment imagery it surrounds Christ as judge.

Flying buttress

Gothic structural support transferring thrust from vaults to external piers, enabling taller walls and larger stained-glass windows (notably at Chartres).

Chartres Cathedral

Gothic cathedral (rebuilt 1194–1220) emphasizing height and stained-glass light; a Marian shrine associated with the relic of Mary’s tunic.

Lancet window

Tall, narrow pointed-arch stained-glass window typical of Gothic architecture; can carry dense iconographic programs (e.g., Belle Verrière).

Bible moralisée (Moralized Bible)

Luxury manuscript format pairing Old and New Testament scenes with commentary to show parallels; often arranged in medallions echoing stained-glass design.

Fresco

Painting technique applying pigment to wet plaster; used for large wall programs (e.g., Giotto’s Arena Chapel; Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel).

Linear perspective

Renaissance method using orthogonals converging to a vanishing point to create believable depth and to focus attention (e.g., Leonardo’s Last Supper).

Tenebrism

Extreme contrast of dark and light used to intensify drama and guide interpretation in Baroque painting (associated with Caravaggio).