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Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago
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Cats. 157–158 Two Groups of Relief Fragments

Glossary
  • About This Glossary

  • abacus

  • acroterion

  • acrylic emulsion

  • aedicula

  • aediculated

  • agalma

  • alabastron

  • Amazon

  • amphoriskos

  • ancile

  • anguipede

  • anisotropy

  • annealing

  • antoninianus

  • aplustre

  • apotheosis

  • apparitors

  • archaeometry

  • arete

  • argenteus

  • argillaceous

  • astragal

  • astragaloi

  • augur

  • augusta

  • Augustalis

  • augustus

  • aurelianus

  • aureus

  • backscatter electron imaging (BEI)

  • balteus

  • bar

  • batch

  • bedding plane

  • BEI

  • binder

  • binding medium

  • blank

  • breccia

  • brightfield reflected light

  • bruise

  • bucranium

  • caduceus

  • caesar

  • calcareous

  • cameo

  • cameo glass

  • cane

  • capite velato

  • carinated

  • catenary

  • celery handle

  • cella

  • chiastic

  • chiton

  • chlamys

  • chryselephantine

  • cista

  • clavus

  • cleavage

  • clipeus

  • cognomen

  • collegium

  • columbarium

  • commesso

  • Compton- and Rayleigh-scattered primary rhodium K lines

  • conchoidal fracture

  • consolidant

  • consolidate

  • constriction

  • consul

  • contrapposto

  • cornice

  • corona civica

  • cracking off

  • cramp

  • craquelure

  • crosscutting

  • crosshatching

  • cuirass

  • cultus

  • cyma

  • dactyliotheca

  • damnatio memoriae

  • decennalia

  • decor

  • decorum

  • deliciae

  • denarius

  • denoising

  • diadem

  • didrachm

  • Dionysian Mysteries

  • dissociation

  • diva

  • divi

  • divus

  • dolium

  • donative

  • drachm

  • embayment

  • emblema

  • emulsion

  • encaustic

  • eques

  • exergue

  • exfoliation

  • exit holes

  • facing

  • fascia

  • felicitas temporum

  • fibula

  • fill

  • fire polish

  • floating handle

  • fluorescence

  • foliation

  • follis

  • Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR)

  • freedman

  • FTIR

  • gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS)

  • gather

  • genetrix

  • gens

  • glyptic

  • gorgoneion

  • grain

  • ground

  • groze

  • hemidrachm

  • herm

  • heroic nudity

  • heroon

  • himation

  • honorific dative

  • hortus

  • hydria

  • hydrocarbons

  • ICP-MS

  • impasto

  • imperator

  • imperial cult

  • imperium

  • incuse

  • indecentia

  • inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

  • infold

  • infrared reflectography

  • infula

  • inpainting

  • iridescence

  • jacks

  • janiform

  • kalokagathia

  • kalos thanatos

  • K-alpha line

  • kantharos

  • K-beta line

  • keyed

  • keying

  • kicked

  • kithara

  • kolpos

  • Kopienkritik

  • kore

  • lacerna

  • lake pigment

  • laminar

  • lararium

  • laser ablation

  • lentoid

  • Lesbian cymation

  • lictor

  • lime

  • lineation

  • lituus

  • marteline

  • marver

  • massive

  • metamorphism

  • metope

  • micrite

  • moneyer

  • monumentum

  • mosaic glass technique

  • multispectral imaging

  • mural crown

  • naiskos

  • natron

  • nebris

  • negotium

  • NIST traceable

  • nomen

  • nymphaeum

  • odeum

  • olla

  • opaque glass

  • opera nobilia

  • optimas

  • opus sectile

  • opus tesselatum

  • opus vermiculatum

  • orbis comarum

  • otium

  • outfold

  • overblow

  • overpaint

  • paideia

  • palaestra

  • palette

  • palla

  • Palladium

  • pallium

  • paludamentum

  • panel

  • paraison

  • parazonium

  • partage

  • patera

  • pater patriae

  • pattern mold

  • pediment

  • pedum

  • Pegasus

  • pelta

  • peplos

  • peristyle

  • petrotectonics

  • photomicrograph

  • phyllosilicate

  • pietas

  • pietre dure

  • pigment

  • pinched

  • plane-polarized light

  • plasticizers

  • plebeian

  • polos

  • polychromy

  • polymorphs

  • pontifex maximus

  • pontil

  • popularis

  • porpax

  • pozzolana

  • praefericulum

  • praenomen

  • Praetorian Guard

  • princeps

  • protolith

  • prunt

  • pteryges

  • putto

  • quadriga

  • radial cut

  • raking light

  • Raman microspectroscopy

  • reflected light microscopy

  • registers

  • retouching

  • rigaree

  • ripping

  • rod

  • saeculum aureum

  • sagging

  • saponify

  • sarcophagus

  • scaenae frons

  • scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX)

  • Schulterbausch

  • section

  • segment

  • sella castrensis

  • SEM/EDX

  • SERS

  • shell gold

  • sigma

  • siliceous

  • siliqua

  • single-phase alloy

  • situla

  • size

  • sizing

  • skyphos

  • slumping

  • socle

  • solidus

  • spall

  • splashware

  • spolia

  • stable lead isotope ratio analysis

  • stereomicroscopic examination

  • stibadium

  • stippling

  • stoa

  • strain

  • strategos

  • strut

  • suovetaurilia

  • support

  • surface-enhanced Raman microspectroscopy (SERS)

  • suturing

  • tabula

  • taenia

  • tangential cut

  • tempera

  • tenon

  • terminus ante quem

  • terminus post quem

  • terra sigillata

  • tesserae

  • tetradrachm

  • tetrarchy

  • theomorphic

  • thermae

  • thermal expansion coefficient

  • thymiaterion

  • thyrsos

  • toga

  • tondo

  • tooling

  • torus

  • trail

  • transverse cut

  • tratteggio

  • tribunician power

  • triclinium

  • triskeles

  • triumvir

  • tunic

  • twinning

  • tympanum

  • ultraviolet (UV)

  • underdrawing

  • unguentarium

  • uraeus

  • UV

  • venationes

  • vicennalia

  • virtus

  • visible-induced luminescence imaging

  • weathering crust

  • weathering product

  • wheel-cut

  • xenia

  • X-ray diffraction

  • X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF)

  • XRF

  • About This Glossary

    • Several sources were particularly helpful in compiling this glossary: “CHARISMA: Technical Imaging” (British Museum), http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_projects/all_current_projects/charisma/technical_imaging.aspx; D. Dollemore, Acrylic Emulsion Technology: From Plastics to Paints It Changed Our World (American Chemical Society, 2008), http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/acrylicemulsion.html; “Glossary of Terminology,” in Dimension Stone Design Manual, version 7.2 (Marble Institute of America, 2011); C. Gorgoni, L. Lazzarini, P. Pallante, and B. Turi, “An Updated and Detailed Mineropetrographic and C-O Stable Isotopic Reference Database for the Main Mediterranean Marbles Used in Antiquity,” in ASMOSIA 5: Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone, edited by J. J. Herrmann, N. Herz, and R. Newman (Archetype, 2002), pp. 115–31; ICOMOS-ISCS, Illustrated Glossary on Stone Deterioration Patterns (International Council on Monuments and Sites, International Scientific Committee for Stone, 2008), http://iscs.icomos.org/glossary.html; “Imperial College Rock Library: Glossary” (Imperial College London, 2013), https://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/glossary.php; J. H. Kruhl and M. Nega, “The Fractal Shape of Sutured Quartz Grain Boundaries: Application as a Geothermometer,” Geologische Rundschau 85, 1 (Mar. 1996), pp. 38–43; K. Neuendorf, J. Mehl, Jr., and J. Jackson, eds., Glossary of Geology, 5th ed. (American Geosciences Institute, 2011); J. Theodore Peña, Roman Pottery in the Archaeological Record (Cambridge University Press, 2007); A. Pizzi and K. Mittal, eds., Handbook of Adhesive Technology, 2nd ed. (Marcel Dekker, 2003); G. Verri, “The Application of Visible-Induced Luminescence Imaging to the Examination of Museum Objects,” in O3A: Optics for Arts, Architecture, and Archaeology II, edited by Luca Pezzati and Renzo Salimbeni, Proceedings of SPIE—the International Society for Optical Engineering 7391 (SPIE, 2009). Special thanks to Roberto Bugini, geologist and researcher at the Istituto per la Conservazione e Valorizzazione dei Beni Culturali, Milan, who generously reviewed and the definitions related to petrographic microscopy.

  • abacus

    • “Square panel” (Latin, from Greek abax) Applied to tablets, sideboards, gameboards, and, as here, the square uppermost member of a capital, on which the architrave or other crossbeam for the load rests.

  • acroterion

    • (Greek; pl. acroteria) Decorative architectural element set at the corner of a roof or at its apex (highest point). Such decorations could be quite elaborate and frequently depicted figural subjects and vegetal designs.

  • acrylic emulsion

    • An emulsion is a mixture of two immiscible liquids that requires an emulsifying agent to keep the two liquids from separating. In the case of an acrylic emulsion, polymers of either methacrylic acid, acrylonitrile, or acrylic acid are combined with water and stabilized with surfactants. As the material dries, the water evaporates and the polymers fuse into an adhesive film.

  • aedicula

    • (Latin) A small structure used as a shrine, or a niche for a statue, often in the form of two columns supporting a pediment.

  • aediculated

    • (From Latin aedicula, “shrine”) A modern art historical term used to describe any building whose doors are framed by pairs of columns and often topped by a pediment, in the style of a shrine. Facades with two or three stories of openings framed by columns were favored in Roman architecture

  • agalma

    • “Glory, honor, delight” (Greek) This term broadly refers to gifts, adornments, and images given as offerings to the gods. It was also widely used metonymically to mean “a statue,” referring both to statues of deities that served votive or cultic functions and to portrait statues awarded to individuals for honorific purposes. The term also carried connotations of the glory a statue could bring to its patron, the person it represented, or the deity to whom it was dedicated.

  • alabastron

    • (Greek; pl. alabastra) A small bottle or flask for perfume or oil, usually with a flattened rim, a narrow neck, a cylindrical body, and two small handles.

  • Amazon

    • A tribe of warlike women who were said to be from Scythia (an area broadly equivalent to modern-day Iran). They are said to have clashed with the Greeks during the Trojan War.

  • amphoriskos

    • “Small amphora” (Greek) A small jar with two handles used for perfume or oil.

  • ancile

    • (Latin; pl. ancilia) A shield with a narrow, oval-shaped central section and broad curving top and bottom. Twelve of these sacred shields were kept in a shrine to Mars, the god of war, in Rome.

  • anguipede

    • “Thin-foot” (Latin) Mythological hybrid creature with a human upper body and with snakes in the place of legs.

  • anisotropy

    • The condition of having some physical property that is not the same in all directions.

  • annealing

    • The process of keeping a completed glass object from cooling too quickly by holding it in an auxiliary part of the furnace or in a separate furnace. Cooling glass too quickly strains it; it will either break as it cools or later, especially if subjected to mechanical or thermal shock.

  • antoninianus

    • Traditional name used by numismatists (coin specialists) for the coin introduced in A.D. 214 by Emperor Caracalla (r. A.D. 211–17). This was the prevailing coin (the coin of the highest value) in the Roman Empire during the third century A.D. The name antoninianus is known from the Historia Augusta. Although long identified by scholars with this coin, it is now considered unlikely that this was the name that this coin type bore in antiquity, yet the established naming convention still continues to be used. The coin was originally issued in silver, but containing a percentage of bronze to enable the production of a larger number of coins at a lesser value. The coin was later entirely debased to bronze.

  • aplustre

    • “Stern ornament” (Latin) A decorative extension of the stern post of a naval ship, taking the form of a curved horn; often a symbol of naval victory.

  • apotheosis

    • “Deification” (Greek) The making of a deceased Roman emperor into a divinity, and the formal recognition of him as such in the Roman state religion.

  • apparitors

    • (From Latin apparitores) Salaried officials who assisted Roman magistrates and priests. Their occupational grades included scribae (clerks, also serving as cashiers or accountants), lictores (officials who announced the approach of a magistrate and served as his bodyguards), viatores (official errand runners), and praecones (announcers).

  • archaeometry

    • A subdivision of archaeology that utilizes the scientific method, technology, and engineering in the analysis and dating of archaeological objects and specimens.

  • arete

    • “Virtue, excellence” (Greek) Often used in the sense of manly courage.

  • argenteus

    • “Silver” (Latin) The name applied to a silver coin of the Roman Empire from the period of Diocletian’s coinage reform in A.D. 294. It was in use until about A.D. 310–13.

  • argillaceous

    • Rocks or sediments consisting of or containing clay.

  • astragal

    • “Anklebone” (from Greek astragalos) A convex semicircular molding on a column or stone relief.

  • astragaloi

    • “Anklebones,” “knucklebones” (Greek) This plural form of the Greek astragalos was used to signify the pieces for a game that was originally played with the anklebones of sheep, and which has come to bear the name knucklebones in English. It was a game much like dice. Each side of the bone was a different shape, and a differing number of points would be won depending on which side the bone landed on. In Rome, these bone pieces came to be made in other materials, such as glass.

  • augur

    • (Latin) A Roman priest who sought to predict the future by observing signs in nature, such as the flight patterns of birds.

  • augusta

    • (Latin) The feminine form of augustus. A title given to the wife—and sometimes also to other female family members, such as the mother—of a Roman emperor. Represented in coin inscriptions as AVGVSTA.

  • Augustalis

    • “Of or relating to Emperor Augustus” (Latin; pl. Augustales). Used as a shorthand for the augustales sodales, “Augustal companions”—the members of the college of priests set up following the death of Augustus by Emperor Tiberius to take care of the offices of his religious cult and, subsequently, the cult of the wider Julian family.

  • augustus

    • “Majestic, venerable,” “the revered one” (Latin; pl. augusti) Granted to Octavian Caesar as a title by the Senate in 27 B.C., following his defeat of his rival Mark Antony, and his establishment as the uncontested ruler of the Roman world. This subsequently became a title of all Roman emperors, with the exception of the two junior emperors of the tetrarchy in the late third century A.D., who carried the title Caesar. Represented in coin inscriptions as AVG, AVGVSTI, AVGVSTVS.

  • aurelianus

    • A reformed version of the antoninianus, containing a higher percentage of silver. It was introduced in A.D. 274 by Emperor Aurelian (r. A.D. 270–75).

  • aureus

    • “Golden” (Latin; pl. aurei). The standard gold coin for much of the Roman period, in use from the late Republic until the fourth century A.D.

  • backscatter electron imaging (BEI)

  • balteus

    • “Baldric” (Latin) A belt, worn crossing down from one shoulder to the opposite hip. Used to carry a sword or similar piece of military equipment.

  • bar

    • A compound length of glass formed by fusing a group of canes or rods together to create a more complex design using the mosaic glass technique.

  • batch

    • A mixture of raw materials for use in glassmaking.

  • bedding plane

    • A well-marked stratum of sedimentary rock visually demarcating one geological deposit from another. Rock tends to separate readily along bedding planes.

  • BEI

  • binder

  • binding medium

    • The material used to hold various solid, particulate components, including pigments and extenders, of paint together and which additionally serves to bind the solids together upon drying and adhere the paint material to the support.

  • blank

    • Any preliminary shape of glass in a cool state that requires further forming or finishing.

  • breccia

    • A sedimentary rock characterized by large angular fragments more than 2 mm in diameter.

  • brightfield reflected light

    • Illumination in the optical microscope may be directed at the specimen along different pathways to suit differing needs. In brightfield, the light follows the same path to the specimen surface as the viewer’s vision, resulting in a mirrorlike reflection if the surface is smooth. This can be useful in distinguishing the colors of opaque, reflective materials such as the components of an alloy in a metallographic cross section. When the colors of nonmetallic or nonopaque specimens must be seen, such as the corrosion products associated with a metallographic cross section, a pair of polarizing filters may be introduced into the light path before and after the specimen. These have the effect of canceling the mirrorlike reflections while allowing the inherent colors of the nonmetallic corrosion products to be distinguished.

  • bruise

    • An unintended white mark on any soft stone, particularly marble, resulting from an improper impact, either in strike angle or amount of force, that crushes the crystals and alters their translucency. Bruises can only be removed by carving or filing down into the stone past the depth of the bruise.

  • bucranium

    • “Ox skull” (Latin; pl. bucrania) A common motif in Roman art. They are typically represented in pairs, with garlands hanging between them.

  • caduceus

    • “Herald’s staff” (Latin) Often appears as an attribute of Hermes, the herald of the gods.

  • caesar

    • Cognomen of Julius Caesar, dictator and adoptive father of the first Roman emperor, Augustus. Thereafter it was taken as a name by Augustus (Octavian) and every Roman emperor after him, except during the tetrarchy, where it applied to the two junior of the four emperors alone. This title has continued to be referenced in various royal forms for many centuries, most recently in the German Kaiser and the Russian Tsar. Sometimes represented in coin inscriptions as CAES.

  • calcareous

    • A term used to describe a rock or other material that contains calcium carbonate.

  • cameo

    • A gemstone carved into a relief, typically making use of naturally occurring colored layers within the stone, to highlight the distinction between the figure and background.

  • cameo glass

    • A glass vessel blown of one color and covered with one or more layers of contrasting colors that are subsequently cut away to produce a design that stands out in relief from the background.

  • cane

    • A slender rod of glass, groups of which are bundled together and fused to form a polychrome design. The entire bundle can also be called a rod.

  • capite velato

    • “With head veiled” (Latin) This phrase refers to the Roman practice of covering one’s head with a veil when performing religious sacrifices.

  • carinated

    • Having a sharp bend or change in a profile.

  • catenary

    • A regular curve that mimics the natural hanging formation of a chain.

  • celery handle

    • A handle with lengthwise ribbing resembling a celery stalk.

  • cella

    • The room in a Roman temple that held the cult statue.

  • chiastic

  • chiton

    • (Greek) A light tunic—short or long, worn by men and women, and made of linen or silk—worn under the himation.

  • chlamys

    • (Greek; pl. chlamydes) A short woolen cloak worn only by men and fastened with a pin on one shoulder.

  • chryselephantine

    • “Of gold and ivory” (from Greek chryselephantinos). Adjective applied to statues (most famously Greek cult statues) that were made of these two materials.

  • cista

    • “Chest, basket” (Latin, from Greek kiste) Typically a wicker basket or chest used in Greek mystery cults.

  • clavus

    • One of a pair of vertical stripes sewn to the sides of the tunic, the width and color of which could denote status or, in the province of Egypt, general affiliation with the Roman administration.

  • cleavage

    • A condition in which one or more of the layers of an object are in the process of separating from the support or from each other. In rocks, cleavage occurs along localized planar fabrics that are the product of deformation or metamorphism. In minerals, cleavage is attributable to the regular orientation of atoms within the crystal lattice.

  • clipeus

    • “Round shield” (Latin) In art historical scholarship, this term is used to refer to a genre of portraiture (also known as an imago clipeata) in which a person’s likeness is enclosed within a rounded, shield-shaped frame. In the Roman period, this portrait format was associated with public honors and often carried heroic connotations. Although primarily displayed in the public sphere, the clipeus form was also employed in domestic contexts and was adapted for use on Roman funerary monuments.

  • cognomen

    • (Latin; pl. cognomina) The third name used by most Roman freedmen, following the praenomen (the forename) and the family nomen. This is the name that would commonly be used to designate a Roman man in public and was often a description of a personal characteristic.

  • collegium

    • “A collection [or group] of associates” (Latin; pl. collegia) An association or guild with a professional, religious, domestic, or social focus.

  • columbarium

    • (Latin; pl. columbaria) A communal structure for the permanent placement and display of cinerary urns containing the cremated remains of the deceased.

  • commesso

    • A decorative art form originating in sixteenth-century Florence in which precisely cut gems and hard stones are combined with enameled gold elements. Sometimes called Florentine mosaic.

  • Compton- and Rayleigh-scattered primary rhodium K lines

    • The primary X-rays used to elicit fluorescence from the specimen (see X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy) are provided by an X-ray tube, a device that directs a stream of energetic electrons at a metal target, in this case rhodium. The X-rays produced cover a range of energies but are particularly intense at those energies that are characteristic of the target metal, the strongest of which are its K lines. Some of these rhodium X-rays will be scattered off the specimen and detected by the analyzer along with the desired fluorescent X-rays that are characteristic of the specimen being analyzed. These can be scattered in two ways: “elastically,” in which case they retain all of their original energy, or “inelastically,” in which case their energy is diminished by losses in the specimen. The two phenomena are designated by the names of the physicists Arthur Compton, for the inelastic mode, and Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt), for elastic scattering.

  • conchoidal fracture

    • A type of break in brittle materials that does not follow a natural plane of separation, resulting in a curved surface with concentric ripples. This appearance has been compared to a mussel shell, hence the word conchoid. Materials that display this property include quartz, flint, quartzite, jasper, and other fine-grained, amorphous minerals composed of pure silica, such as obsidian and glass.

  • consolidant

    • A dilute adhesive, usually solvent- or waterborne, used in conservation treatments either to readhere delicate, unstable, lifting, or flaking materials or surface features to a support or to add structural stability to an object by means of impregnation.

  • consolidate

  • constriction

    • An indentation made in the wall of a glass vessel with a wooden or metal tool during fabrication.

  • consul

    • (Latin) One of two chief magistrates of the Roman state, who were elected annually from the senatorial class under the Republic, and nominated by the emperor in the imperial period. Not infrequently, the emperor would nominate himself. Represented in coin inscriptions as COS.

  • contrapposto

    • “Counterposed” (Italian) A term used to describe, in a statue or drawing of a human figure, a pose in which the majority of the weight is placed on one leg, such that the upper torso is curved, and the hips and shoulders are each set at an angle, in opposition to one another. Also known as the chiastic principle.

  • cornice

    • “Ledge” (Italian) Horizontal banded molding crowning the top of a wall or relief.

  • corona civica

    • “Civic crown” (Latin) A wreath of oak leaves awarded to a man who had saved the life of a fellow Roman citizen in battle. Under the empire, this honor was considered also to be a special prerogative of the emperor.

  • cracking off

    • The process of detaching the unwanted portion of the paraison from the blowpipe and the intended rim. The process can be accomplished by cooling a metal-edged tool in water and holding it at the desired point while the object is still on the blowpipe and supported by a pontil. The resulting thermal shock will create a crack that allows the object to be removed by tapping the blowpipe. A file can be used to score the glass as well. The overblow can also be cracked off from the rim once the vessel has been detached from the blowpipe.

  • cramp

    • A U-shaped metal strap or pin used to join two pieces of stone together.

  • craquelure

    • A dense network of fine cracks on the surface of materials, usually attributable to the aging process but also sometimes created deliberately.

  • crosscutting

    • Cutting a board at a right angle to the direction of the grain.

  • crosshatching

    • A technique in which volume or texture is created by two sets of strokes of varying interval and thickness, usually close to perpendicular to one another, that create a kind of X shape.

  • cuirass

    • Body armor covering the torso, typically comprising a breastplate and a backplate that were hinged and fastened together at the sides.

  • cultus

    • “Culture, elegance, refinement” (Latin) Often used to refer to a person’s appearance, adornment, and style of dress.

  • cyma

    • “Wave, billow” (from Greek kyma) A term applied to an architectural molding in which a convex and a concave curve are juxtaposed. The concave curve is typically the one higher set, but inverted pairings are also possible. The term is also applied to borders with a similar pairing of a higher, protruding and a lower, recessed level.

  • dactyliotheca

    • (Latin, from Greek daktyliothēkē) A collection of carved gemstones—set in finger rings, small sculptures, or vessels—kept for their beauty, interest, or rarity; also the name for the case made to display the gems and for a book illustrating them. The word comes via Latin from the Greek daktulos (finger), because many such gems were carved to be set into finger rings, and thēkē (chest).

  • damnatio memoriae

    • “Condemnation of memory” (Latin) A decree of the Senate or emperor commanding that all images of and references to a person be destroyed and expunged, respectively. An act of annihilation of the person’s memory.

  • decennalia

    • (Latin) A celebration of ten years of an emperor’s reign.

  • decor

    • “Seemly, elegant, or fitting beauty” (Latin)

  • decorum

    • “The seemly, the elegant, the fitting” (Latin) An adjective used as a substantive noun to refer to the Roman value of appropriateness, as defined by norms of sociocultural acceptability and tradition. In aesthetic terms, it is often used to refer to the suitability of an artwork for its display context, depending on such considerations as its subject, style, medium, and scale.

  • deliciae

    • “Delights” (Latin) A plural term that was commonly applied to a singular object of special beauty—whether a work of art or a physically beautiful person—marking it out as darling, favorite, or exceptionally charming.

  • denarius

    • “Of ten” (Latin; pl. denarii) The main silver coin of the Roman world, worth ten as (the basic coin of the Roman system). It was first struck around 211 B.C.

  • denoising

    • The removal or reduction of random and extraneous variations in brightness or color from an image so as to improve its legibility or appearance to the viewer.

  • diadem

    • “Band, fillet” (Greek) A decorative strip of cloth or metal bound around the head—often a sign of victory or authority.

  • didrachm

    • (Greek; pl. didrachms) An ancient coin with the value of two drachms. See also drachm.

  • Dionysian Mysteries

    • Rituals connected to the cult of the god Dionysos, in which initiates used wine and other stimulants, as well as group behaviors such as chanting and dancing, in an attempt to enter a trancelike state intended to liberate the individual.

  • dissociation

    • A type of marble deterioration, also called grain-by-grain dissociation or granular disintegration, in which acidic solutions penetrate the stone and freely migrate between the crystal grains, dissolving some of the calcite matrix and leaving the grains unsupported. Over time the grains in these weakened areas fall away, resulting in a rough and weathered-looking surface.

  • diva

  • divi

  • divus

    • “Divine” (Latin; pl. divi) Adjective applied as a title to members of the imperial family who were deified after their deaths and received the attentions of cult, after the fashion of the Roman gods. The feminine form is diva (pl. divae).

  • dolium

    • (Latin; pl. dolia) A very large container made of fired earthenware, often lined with pitch or wax and used to store and transport wine, olive oil, or grain. Dolia can be more than six feet tall. Underwater excavations of shipwrecks have found rows of dolia in Roman cargo vessels, where they formed permanent containers in the hold.

  • donative

    • The donativum (a Latin term derived from donum, “gift,” and rendered in English as donative) was an exceptional payment made to soldiers, and particularly to the Praetorian Guard, by the Roman emperor. These gifts were typically of huge sums—in the region of five years’ wages—and paid in gold. They were given on special occasions, most notably upon an emperor’s accession, and as such became a guarantor of—or bribe for—loyalty. It was this established tradition of paying large donatives to the Praetorian Guard that ultimately led to the situation where the guard auctioned off the throne to the highest bidder, (the ultimately short-lived emperor) Didius Julianus, in A.D. 193.

  • drachm

    • (From Greek drachmē; pl. drachms) Suggested by Plutarch to have originally carried the meaning “a handful.” The term came to be used as a unit of weight, and to be the name of the silver coin used in classical Athens and in Hellenistic Greece. It carried the value of six obols—the basic coin of the Greek system.

  • embayment

    • A type of grain boundary demonstrating prominent curves. The term stems from the visual resemblance to bays in a coastline. This type of crystal margin (including engulfed or embayed) is a result of intermediate metamorphic conditions; straight boundaries, in contrast, are the result of metamorphic events of long duration.

  • emblema

    • (Latin; pl. emblemata) A mosaic panel prepared separately and inserted into a larger background (either mosaic or a different form of pavement) that was created on site.

  • emulsion

    • A mixture of two immiscible liquids that requires an emulsifying agent to keep the two liquids from separating.

  • encaustic

    • A painting technique in which pigments are dispersed in hot wax.

  • eques

    • “Horseman, knight” (from Latin equus, “horse”). A member of the lower of the two orders of Roman aristocracy (the higher being the group of six hundred senators). The equites were traditionally awarded a horse at public expense (equus publicus) for cavalry service. Men qualified for this status by wealth; they were required to have a fortune of 100,000 denarii (with a denarius being equivalent to a day’s wage for a laborer) from the time of Emperor Augustus (r. 27 B.C.–A.D. 14).

  • exergue

    • On the face of a coin, an area set below the main design, and often separated from it by a horizontal line.

  • exfoliation

    • A type of stone deterioration characterized by the detachment of multiple thin layers. This phenomenon is the result of internal stresses present in the rock that are exacerbated by environmental conditions.

  • exit holes

    • Small voids on a wooden surface made by the boring action of various types of insects, especially beetles.

  • facing

    • A material, usually tissue or cloth, applied to the front of an object to facilitate treatment or protect fragile areas; also, the act of applying such a material.

  • fascia

    • (Latin) A broad band of stone set directly above the columns in classical architecture, or as a frame around an inscription panel.

  • felicitas temporum

    • “Prosperity of the times” (Latin) This phrase was used variously on Roman coinage from the mid-first century A.D., as a claim that a state of peace and material advantage had been brought under the accession of a given emperor.

  • fibula

    • (Latin) A brooch commonly worn by both men and women in the Roman world as a fastening for a cloak or other similar garment.

  • fill

    • A material applied to an area of loss in an object during conservation treatment in order to improve structural integrity or aesthetic compensation. Fills can be created from a wide array of materials but, according to the tenets of current conservation practice, should have a cohesive strength weaker that that of the material of the object itself and should be as reversible as possible so as to not impede future treatment of the object.

  • fire polish

    • The shiny, hard surface, usually on the outside of glass vessels made by sagging and slumping, created by the direct contact with the heat of the furnace.

  • floating handle

    • An unusual handle formed by attaching the gather of glass at the rim of the vessel and pulling it down and tooling the lower end so that it cools and does not adhere to the shoulder of the vessel. Most Roman handles are applied at the shoulder and pulled upward to the rim and attached.

  • fluorescence

    • Emission of light by an object or material when exposed to ultraviolet radiation.

  • foliation

    • Repetitive layering in metamorphic rocks due to the parallel arrangement of the minerals. The word comes from the Latin folium, “leaf,” and refers to the sheetlike planar structure.

  • follis

    • “Bellows, inflated ball, purse,” whence also “coin” (Latin) This term is occasionally applied to coinage in writings from around the fourth century A.D. On the basis of these references, the Latin word has come to be applied in numismatics—perhaps correctly—to the base metal coinage that was issued following the coin reforms of Diocletian in the late third century and that was used into the reign of Constantine in the West, and until the collapse of the base coinage system in the early fifth century in the East. A later series of coins, securely attested with this name, were subsequently issued by Anastasius I from A.D. 491. This coin type was the chief base metal coinage of the Byzantine Empire for the next six centuries.

  • Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR)

    • This extremely versatile technique allows researchers to characterize a vast array of materials, such as pigments, fillers, binders, and varnishes. Scientists compress a few microscopic particles of a sample into a thin film, place it under a microscope, and record a graph—called a spectrum—that shows peaks at the discrete frequencies at which the sample absorbs the incoming infrared radiation. By comparing this spectrum with a reference database, scientists can identify an unknown material. Using portable instruments, the technique can also be used noninvasively by collecting the infrared radiation that is reflected off the surface of the work of art examined, without the need to remove a sample.

  • freedman

    • The English term used to translate the Latin libertus—the designation of a former slave who had received his liberty (the feminine liberta was used to refer to a freedwoman). Slaves could sometimes buy their freedom in the Roman Empire or could be emancipated by their owners, often upon the owner’s death. Freedpersons carried many of the rights of citizens, but their freeborn children enjoyed all the rights of a Roman citizen. Freedpersons who became influential and wealthy were commonly resented in wider Roman society.

  • FTIR

  • gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS)

    • A technique that allows the precise identification of organic materials such as those used in adhesives, varnishes, and paint-binding media. A microscopic sample is first treated by pyrolysis (controlled heating in an inert atmosphere) and/or chemical preparation to release volatile organic molecules. These are separated by the gas chromatograph (GC) and enter the mass spectrometer (MS), where they are fragmented in an electron beam. Mass spectra, representing fingerprints, or patterns of fragments formed from the sample molecules, are interpreted and compared with reference databases to identify the components of the sample. When used with a pyrolysis interface, the technique is termed Py-GCMS; pyrolysis can also be performed in combination with a chemical reagent such as tetramethylammonium hydroxide in a technique known as thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation, or THM-Py-GCMS.

  • gather

    • Hot glass collected on the end of a blowpipe or pontil.

  • genetrix

    • “Mother, ancestress” (Latin) Used as a title of Venus, this term conveys the claims of the Julian family—and thereafter the imperial family—to Venus as their ancestor, based on her alleged role as the mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas. The term also carries connotations of fecundity and prosperity.

  • gens

    • “Clan, tribe” (Latin) Associations of related families, united by their shared name and in the execution of certain religious rites. These clans were originally restricted to the aristocracy—the patricians—but later (particularly after a law was passed to allow for intermarriage [connubium] between classes) also included the plebeians.

  • glyptic

    • The art or process of carving or engraving gems and precious stones.

  • gorgoneion

    • (Greek) Severed head of the Gorgon Medusa, which was fabled to have the power to turn the one who looked at it into stone. The image came to be used on armor to strike fear into an enemy. Representations of it were also believed to ward off evil.

  • grain

    • The orientation of cell fibers in wood, which produces distinct patterns according to the plane in which the lumber is cut.

  • ground

    • An opaque layer applied to a support, usually over a sizing layer, to prepare the support to receive paint. Also called priming or preparatory layer(s).

  • groze

    • To break away the edge of a glass object with a pliers or grozing iron in order to shape it.

  • hemidrachm

    • “Half-drachm” (from Greek; pl. hemidrachms) A coin of half the value of a drachm. This Greek coin denomination continued to be issued in the East under Roman rule.

  • herm

    • Connected to the name of the Greek messenger god Hermes, which has itself been suggested to derive from the Greek herma, “stone.” In ancient Greece, Hermes was associated with travel and borders and was identified with stone markers of boundaries or distance. By the classical period, stone busts of Hermes mounted on a rectangular pillar were a common marker of boundaries and crossroads and were referred to simply by the name Hermes. In the Roman period, the form was adapted for use as a type of decorative sculpture that was primarily displayed in the peristyle gardens of Roman villas. Roman herms such as these depicted a variety of subjects, including various deities, mythological figures, and Greek philosophers.

  • heroic nudity

    • An art historical term used to describe the appearance of idealized, predominantly nude male sculptures from Hellenistic Greek and Roman contexts. These sculptures typically represent deities and mythological heroes as well as contemporary rulers, generals, and other individuals. The nudity of such figures is thought to suggest the ideal world of Greek gods and heroes, which might be further evoked through the addition of weapons and other attributes alluding to a particular divine or heroic association. Where contemporary figures were depicted, the nudity shown did not relate to any guise in which they would have appeared in public life, but was rather a kind of costume that identified contemporary leaders with great heroes of the mythological past.

  • heroon

    • (Greek) A shrine to a Greek or Roman mythological hero, or to a historical figure who was treated as one, such as Alexander the Great. Such shrines were commonly built over the site believed, or claimed, to mark the grave of the hero. In the late Roman Empire in the East, wealthy individuals would also sometimes name their grand tomb a heroon, seeking to insert themselves into the company of the most famous figures of the ancient past.

  • himation

    • (Greek) A cloak or mantle worn by both men and women, consisting of a large rectangular piece of heavy fabric such as wool, usually draped diagonally over one shoulder and wrapped around the body. It was commonly worn over the chiton.

  • honorific dative

    • The dative is the form of a Latin or Greek noun that indicates receipt—that something is done “to” or “for” the person or thing named. “Honorific dative” is a phrase used in scholarship in instances when an inscription includes such a dative form, which indicates the person to whom the honor of the inscription is directed, as for example on a monument or statue dedication. Such datives appear on coins sporadically throughout Roman history, most frequently in the first and second centuries A.D., and relatively often for imperial women.

  • hortus

    • “Garden” (Latin; pl. horti) This term was applied both to practical gardens of vegetables and herbs and to the private pleasure gardens of the extremely wealthy.

  • hydria

    • “Large water jar” (Greek)

  • hydrocarbons

    • A class of compounds containing only hydrogen and carbon.

  • ICP-MS

  • impasto

    • Thick, textural application of paint.

  • imperator

    • (Latin) Originally signifying the commander in chief of the army, a power the Senate conferred, this term came to specifically designate Rome’s supreme military and political leader—its emperor. It is the root of the English term. Represented in coin inscriptions as IMP.

  • imperial cult

    • The worship of the emperor and members of the imperial house. Such veneration took place during their lifetime in the eastern part of the empire, where there was an established tradition of ruler worship, and was increasingly adopted in the West. Imperial persons who were viewed favorably upon their deaths also became objects of cult in the city of Rome itself.

  • imperium

    • “Command, power” (Latin) Originally signifying military power, this term came to be more specifically applied to that power held by governing Roman magistrates (such as consuls and praetors) in both political and judiciary matters, under the Republic. With Augustus’s rise to power, imperium came to be the sole prerogative of the emperor—voted to Augustus by the Senate every five or ten years throughout his reign. Thereafter the Senate voted imperium to every emperor upon his accession. The term also came to be applied to the area that was ruled, the empire.

  • incuse

    • “Punched in,” “stamped in” (from Latin incusus) A design that is pressed into the surface of a coin, rather than standing out from it in relief.

  • indecentia

    • “Unseemliness, impropriety” (Latin). Used in an aesthetic sense to indicate bad taste.

  • inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

    • Mass spectrometry is a means of elemental analysis based upon separating the elements within a specimen by their masses and counting their abundances. It offers excellent quantitative accuracy for minor and trace elements that may not be effectively detected by X-ray spectrometry. The atoms must be entirely liberated from the compounds in which they reside before they can be separated and quantified. One approach is to chemically dissolve the sample and to introduce this solution into a plasma, a highly energetic gas, from which the atoms can be drawn into the mass spectrometer for mass measurement and counting. In this case, the energetic plasma is sustained by coupling radio waves through an inductor, hence, an “inductively coupled plasma.”

  • infold

    • The tooling or inward folding of a vessel wall during blowing to create a rib on the inside of the vessel. This is sometimes referred to as cutting in.

  • infrared reflectography

    • This technique exploits the varied transmission, absorption, and reflection properties of infrared radiation by artists’ materials. The degree of penetration depends on the thickness of the paint, the pigments used, and the wavelength of the infrared radiation. Many paints appear partially or completely transparent, while others, such as black, absorb the infrared radiation and appear dark. An infrared-sensitive camera captures the light reflecting off the surface of the painting. The resulting image is known as an infrared reflectogram. Infrared reflectography is used to distinguish pigments, inscriptions, underdrawings (particularly those done in carbon-rich materials such as charcoal and pencil over a white or light-colored ground), and changes in a composition not visible to the naked eye.

  • infula

    • “Headband” (Latin; pl. infulae) A cloth band, typically made of wool, that was employed in religious contexts. The term was applied to the head adornment of priests and priestesses, but it could also refer to the bands worn by suppliants as well as those used to adorn sacrificial animals and altars.

  • inpainting

    • Painting done by a conservator to integrate areas of loss, damage, or fills with the original material. Such intervention is limited to the area of loss or damage and is carried out using substances that enable it to remain readily distinguishable from the original, do not discolor, and can be easily removed in the future.

  • iridescence

    • A rainbow-like effect on the surface of glass owing to the presence of very thin layers of weathering product.

  • jacks

    • A tonglike tool, the back of which is sprung and allows the glassblower to manipulate the shape of the vessel on the blowpipe.

  • janiform

    • In the form of the Roman god Janus—that is, with two heads, set back to back. The term is typically used to describe sculpted busts of this type.

  • kalokagathia

    • “The noble and the good” (Greek) Classical Greek phrase denoting the ideal behavior of male citizens, particularly in a military context.

  • kalos thanatos

    • “The noble death” (Greek) Honorable death on the battlefield for the good of one’s homeland.

  • K-alpha line

    • One of many X-ray emission energies produced by each of the elements in the periodic table. The K-alpha X-rays are often usefully employed to detect and measure the quantity of an element during X-ray spectrometry.

  • kantharos

    • (Greek) A wine cup with a footed, deep bowl and a pair of distinctive, high, looping handles—one set on each side. The kantharos is frequently associated with Dionysos, the god of wine.

  • K-beta line

    • A characteristic X-ray emission encountered in X-ray spectrometry. See K-alpha line.

  • keyed

  • keying

    • Roughening a surface in order to enhance the performance of an adhesive, bonding agent, plaster, or other material. The improved adhesion can be attributed to the increase in surface area resulting from the surface roughness.

  • kicked

    • Having a concavity in the base of a vessel, usually made by depressing the base with a tool. The provision of a kick—as in a wine bottle—strengthens the bottom of the vessel and reduces its capacity.

  • kithara

    • (Greek) A musical instrument of the lyre family, similar in some respects to the harp. It was strung with seven strings of equal length and generally stood on a flat base.

  • kolpos

    • “Bosom, lap”; also “bay, valley” (Greek) A term also applied to the fold of excess fabric in a Greek woman’s dress (whether the lighter chiton or the heavier peplos) that hung over the belt.

  • Kopienkritik

    • (German) A methodology developed in nineteenth-century German art historical scholarship in which Roman artworks (primarily sculptures) were studied in an attempt to reconstruct the appearance of earlier, Greek “original” artworks by renowned masters, which are no longer extant.

  • kore

    • “Maiden” (Greek) A term used to describe the Greek statues produced primarily during the sixth century B.C. that depict (particularly young) women, which could be set up as funerary monuments or dedications in temples.

  • lacerna

    • (Latin) A cloak adopted by the Romans from their neighbors to the west. Typically of thick weave and often including a hood to further protect the wearer from the rain, it was a practical garment, favored by military men.

  • lake pigment

    • A translucent pigment made by precipitating a dye onto an inert substrate.

  • laminar

    • Composed of thin layers. From lamina, a very thin sedimentary deposit, less than 1 cm thick.

  • lararium

    • (Latin; pl. lararia) Domestic shrine dedicated to the household gods (the Lares). The shrine could be painted directly on a wall, or it could be a niche or a small, templelike structure within which statuettes of the Lares were placed. Statuettes of other deities (both Roman and foreign) that were preferred by members of the household were also erected in lararia.

  • laser ablation

    • A procedure in which radiation from a laser beam is used to remove material from the surface of an object.

  • lentoid

    • Shaped like a lens. Describes the broad, flattened shape of a vessel.

  • Lesbian cymation

    • A repeating vegetal pattern often appearing on the architectural molding of a cornice. Named for the Greek island of Lesbos.

  • lictor

    • (Latin) A Roman official who had the role of bodyguard to Roman political leaders, such as consuls and the emperor. Lictores would carry symbolic rods, known as fasces, and also axes when outside the area that symbolically marked the city of Rome, known as the pomerium.

  • lime

    • An alkaline substance, calcium oxide (CaO), obtained by heating materials containing a large amount of calcium carbonate, such as limestone, seashells, or coral. When combined with water, lime forms calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), called slaked lime, into which various aggregates are mixed to create mortars, plasters, and cements. Lime is also used as a stabilizer in the formation of glass.

  • lineation

    • The repeated and parallel alignment of linear elements (i.e., the long dimensions of minerals) within a rock produced by oriented stress and pressure.

  • lituus

    • (Latin) The crooked staff carried by a Roman augur.

  • marteline

    • A small hammer with a pointed peen used by marble workers and sculptors.

  • marver

    • “Marble” (from French marbre) A smooth, flat surface (such as a stone or iron slab) on which softened glass is rolled, or marvered, when attached to a blowpipe or pontil, in order to smooth its surface or to consolidate applied decoration.

  • massive

    • A term used to describe a large concentration of ore in a single deposit rather than dispersed or in veins. This habit is particularly true of sulfides.

  • metamorphism

    • The mineralogical and structural transformation or alteration of a rock in response to temperature and pressure.

  • metope

    • (Greek) A rectangular stone slab, typically bearing sculpted relief decoration, and appearing as an architectural element in a Doric frieze. These panels were placed in alteration with triglyphs—narrower stone panels, marked with three vertical bands.

  • micrite

    • A term used to describe lime mud and thus a descriptor for a carbonate rock consisting predominantly of fine-grained calcite ranging in diameter up to 4 µm.

  • moneyer

    • An official responsible for the production of coinage.

  • monumentum

    • “Remembrance, memory,” “monument” (Latin) Frequently used to refer to a memorial structure that was constructed to exalt its patron, such as an arch, column, temple, or tomb.

  • mosaic glass technique

    • A process in which vessels or objects are built up of preformed elements of glass slowly heated until the glasses fuse together.

  • multispectral imaging

    • A method of examining objects by exposing them to frequencies across the electromagnetic spectrum—from ultraviolet (below 400 nm) to infrared (above 700 nm) radiation—in order to reveal features not visible to the naked eye.

  • mural crown

    • (From Latin corona muralis) A crown in the shape of a city wall that symbolized protection over a city.

  • naiskos

    • “Shrine” (Greek) The term is applied to Hellenistic funerary reliefs that were framed with columns and topped with a pediment to make them look like miniature temples or shrines.

  • natron

    • A mineral salt consisting of hydrated sodium carbonate.

  • nebris

    • “Fawn skin” (Latin, from Greek nebros) A fawn skin worn by Dionysos and his followers, particularly by his female worshippers, who were known as maenads. In some cases, the nebris takes the form of a panther skin.

  • negotium

    • “Business” (Latin). Literally the absence of otium, “leisure.”

  • NIST traceable

    • The U.S. National Institute of Standards Technology (a unit of the Department of Commerce) promulgates well-characterized materials that serve as analysis standards throughout the sciences and commerce. “Traceability” implies that the results of an analysis have been obtained from instruments calibrated with the use of these widely accepted standards.

  • nomen

    • “Name” (Latin; pl. nomina) This was specifically the term for the name that signaled the clan, the gens, to which a man belonged. In early times this was the surname. By the end of the Republic, it had become the middle of the three names borne by a man of rank. These three names came to be considered a distinguishing mark of all Roman male citizens by the early imperial period.

  • nymphaeum

    • (Latin, from Greek nymphaion; pl. nymphaea) Monument dedicated to the nymphs—female Greek water deities. In the Roman period, the term was applied to rooms, buildings, and monuments that contained fountains or water features.

  • odeum

    • (Latin, from Greek odeion; pl. odea) A small theater understood to have been used for performances of music.

  • olla

    • (Latin; pl. ollae) A round-bellied terra-cotta jar used for cooking and storage. Also used to house the cremated remains of the deceased.

  • opaque glass

    • A glass intentionally colored by the addition of a variety of compounds to create a nontransparent color.

  • opera nobilia

    • “Famous works,” “fine works” (Latin) This phrase appears in Pliny’s Natural History (36.39) as the opening of the title of a book by the Greek artist Pasiteles that chronicled noted paintings and sculptures of the ancient Greek world. It is employed in art historical scholarship as shorthand for renowned, typically long-lost Greek artworks from the classical past.

  • optimas

    • “Of the best, noblest” (Latin; pl. optimates) A member of the Senate prioritizing the interests of the ruling aristocracy in his political position. The opposing group—the populares—were also members of the Senate, but voted in favor of the people, often relying upon the support of the people to establish or maintain their political influence. Senators could, and commonly did, switch between these two strategies and categories.

  • opus sectile

    • A mosaic technique in which forms are made from larger pieces cut to shape rather than being composed of numerous tesserae.

  • opus tesselatum

    • A mosaic technique used for backgrounds and geometric designs in which the tesserae are laid out in regular horizontal or vertical lines.

  • opus vermiculatum

    • A mosaic technique incorporating minute tesserae, generally less than a few millimeters in size, in curving or winding forms to render more finely detailed compositions and achieve much subtler gradations of color.

  • orbis comarum

    • “Ring of hair” (Latin) A popular hairstyle for Roman women in the late first and early second centuries A.D., in which hair was piled up over the forehead in a high ring of curls that arced down to the ears.

  • otium

    • “Leisure” (Latin) This term broadly refers to the concept of leisure and the various physical and intellectual pleasures associated with its pursuit, which were typically the preserve of the wealthy ruling classes. Ambiguous in its meaning, it could carry both positive and negative connotations, referring to dignified, scholarly pursuits as well as inactivity and indulgence.

  • outfold

    • During blowing, the vessel wall is sometimes tooled or folded outward from within to create a rib on the outside of the vessel. This is sometimes referred to as cutting out.

  • overblow

    • A byproduct of mold blowing, this is the portion of the paraison that remains outside the mold. The overblow is usually removed by cracking it off but may be incorporated into part of the finished body, such as the shoulder or neck.

  • overpaint

    • Paint or restoration material applied over the artist’s original. Most often applied by another artist or a restorer at a later date, overpaint was used to cover damages and make aesthetic changes to the artwork. It is often excessive and is generally avoided; losses, damages,or fills should instead be inpainted.

  • paideia

    • “Education, training” (Greek) This ancient Greek term came to be used in Rome to refer to an education in the Greek literature of the classical and Homeric past—understood to be vital in the formation of elite males.

  • palaestra

    • (Latin, from Greek palaistra; pl. palaestrae). A large, open courtyard for sporting activities, particularly wrestling. This institution was a focus of Greek civic life for men and boys. Imported into the Roman world with the fondness for Greek culture, palaestrae were incorporated into bath complexes as exercise spaces. Both women and men might use these exercise grounds in a Roman context, where exercises expanded to include games with a ball or hoop.

  • palette

    • Either the range of colors used by an artist for a particular work or the hard surface used by an artist to stage and mix colors.

  • palla

    • “Cloak” (Latin) The version of the pallium (the Roman equivalent of the Greek himation) worn by Roman women. A voluminous, loose outer garment that could be draped in a variety of ways, it was typically held in place by the wearer.

  • Palladium

    • (Latin; from Greek Palladion) The ancient image of the goddess Pallas Athena that was believed to guarantee the safety of Troy.

  • pallium

    • (Latin) The Roman version of the Greek himation. The generic or male equivalent of the more specifically female palla.

  • paludamentum

    • (Latin; pl. paludamenta) A military cloak, particularly that worn by a general. The paludamentum became a familiar feature in the portraiture of Roman emperors, due to their role as chief commander of the Roman army.

  • panel

    • Traditional description for a flat, wooden support used for painting.

  • paraison

    • (French) A gather on the end of a blowpipe that is already partly inflated.

  • parazonium

    • (Latin, from Greek parazonion; pl. parazonia) A long, triangular dagger.

  • partage

    • (From French partager, “to share or divide”) This arrangement permitted archaeological expeditions to provide funding, expertise, and training in return for a share of the excavated objects.

  • patera

    • “Libation bowl” (Latin; pl. paterae) Bowl for pouring out wine or other liquid offerings to the gods.

  • pater patriae

    • “Father of his country” (Latin) Honorific title used for certain Roman emperors. Represented in coin inscriptions as P P.

  • pattern mold

    • A cylindrical mold with an interior pattern into which a gather of glass is pushed before being expanded in order to impart the design to the surface of the glass. Also called a dip mold.

  • pediment

    • The monumental triangular masonry form that traditionally surmounted the shorter sides of Greek temples, and the entrance porch of Roman ones. These areas were often decorated with sculpture. The term is also applied to similar forms that surmount Roman reliefs and plaques.

  • pedum

    • “Shepherd’s crook” (Latin)

  • Pegasus

    • (Latin, from Greek Pēgasos) The winged horse of the Greek mythological hero Bellerophon.

  • pelta

    • (Latin, from Greek peltē) A small, light shield, often crescent-shaped.

  • peplos

    • (Greek) A long, tubular garment worn by Greek women that was either worn as the single main garment or worn over a chiton. It was made of a rectangular piece of cloth (typically wool) that was folded over at the top to create a distinctive overblouse or overpanel that hung down over the chest and back. The front and back of the garment were attached at the shoulder and were either sewn together or fastened with pins or brooches.

  • peristyle

    • (From Greek peristylos) A colonnade (columned walkway) around a central courtyard or garden. Originally a Greek form of architecture, it came to be widely used in the Roman world in civic structures and in the homes of the wealthy.

  • petrotectonics

    • A subdivision of geology focused on the structure of rocks in an effort to understand their past movements.

  • photomicrograph

    • A photograph of a thin section as viewed through a petrographic microscope.

  • phyllosilicate

    • A class of silicate, such as the mica group, characterized by the tendency to form flat sheets.

  • pietas

    • “Piety” (Latin) In Roman culture, the quality of fulfilling one’s duty both to the divine and to one’s homeland and family.

  • pietre dure

    • (Italian) Literally, “hard stone.” A type of inlay using pieces of stone that are cut to fit perfectly together. These objects appear almost like paintings and often incorporate varieties of stone that mimic features such as clouds, leaves, and feathers. Sometimes called Florentine mosaic.

  • pigment

    • Dry coloring matter, usually an insoluble powder, to be mixed with water, oil, or another base to produce paint.

  • pinched

    • Surface decoration achieved by squeezing the hot vessel wall between tongs or jacks. Pinching can also be achieved with a single tool, such as when forming the lip of a pitcher.

  • plane-polarized light

    • Polarized light is light that vibrates in a single direction due to its passage through a polarizing filter. In a polarizing microscope, the lower filter is usually oriented so that light vibrates parallel to the E-W direction. If the upper filter (the analyzer) is not inserted, the view is said to be under plane-polarized light. See also reflected light microscopy.

  • plasticizers

    • Additives that increase the flexibility or viscosity of a material.

  • plebeian

    • (From Latin plebs, “the [ordinary] people”) Adjective applied to Roman citizens who were not members of noble families, as well as to the institutions connected with, or belonging to, them.

  • polos

    • “Pole or axis of the celestial sphere,” “pole star” (Greek) A term also applied to a type of cylindrical crown, frequently worn by goddesses.

  • polychromy

    • (From Greek polus, “many,” and chrōma, “color.”) The practice of decorating an object with multiple colors.

  • polymorphs

    • Compounds with identical composition but differing crystal structures.

  • pontifex maximus

    • “Chief priest” (Latin) Specifically the chief priest of Rome. From the time of Augustus, this position was held by the emperor. Represented in coin inscriptions as PONTIF MAX, P M, PONTIF MAXIM.

  • pontil

    • (French) The pontil, or punty, is a solid metal rod that is usually tipped with a wad of hot glass, then applied to the base of a vessel to hold it during manufacture. It often leaves an irregular or ring-shaped scar—a pontil mark—on the base when removed.

  • popularis

    • (Latin; pl. populares) A “populist” senator, who relied on the people and their mechanisms of power for his support.

  • porpax

    • A bronze armband in the interior of a hoplite shield into which the forearm was passed that securely held the shield to the arm of the warrior.

  • pozzolana

    • (Italian) A type of volcanic ash that, when mixed with lime and water, creates a material that sets hard to form concrete, even under water. The Romans were the first to perfect and widely profit from the use of this material—particularly in the construction of underwater features such as harbors, and in architecturally complex structures like domes. The term derives from the modern Italian town of Pozzuoli, which is the location of the quarry where the majority of this ash was obtained in the Roman period.

  • praefericulum

    • (Latin) Vessel used for pouring out liquid offerings at Roman sacrifices.

  • praenomen

    • “Forename” (Latin; pl. praenomina) The first of the three names typical to Roman men—a personal name. The selection of possible names for this position was limited, with the result that many men in Roman society had the same praenomen. Consequently, these names were rarely used in typical public contexts. However, in the case of rulers such as the republican generals and subsequent emperors, whose full names often included more than three names, the entire name would be used in civic inscriptions and on coinage and would be commonly known.

  • Praetorian Guard

    • Special legions formed under Augustus that operated as the personal bodyguard of the emperor. They were disbanded by Emperor Constantine in A.D. 312.

  • princeps

    • “First” (Latin) Adopted by the first emperor, Augustus, as a title to imply that he was merely the “first” among fellow citizens, and so to soften the appearance of his autocratic power, continuing the fiction that he had “restored”—rather than ended—the Roman Republic. The term is the origin of the English word “prince.”

  • protolith

    • The unmetamorphosed parent rock from which a metamorphic rock is formed (e.g., the protolith of a marble is a limestone).

  • prunt

    • A blob of glass applied to a glass object primarily as decoration but also to afford a firm grip in the absence of a handle.

  • pteryges

    • “Wings, feathers” (Greek) Hinged, tongue-shaped lappets that were attached to the lower edge of the type of cuirass described by modern scholars as the classical cuirass. The pteryges hung over the row of long leather straps that were attached to the lower edge of the vestlike garment worn beneath the cuirass.

  • putto

    • (Italian; pl. putti) Renaissance Italian term for the ancient Greek and Roman depiction of nude, chubby infants, derived from representations of Cupid (son of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, equivalent to the Roman goddess Venus). These figures are typically engaged in mischievous, frolicking play, or else humorously represented engaging in practical, real-life tasks.

  • quadriga

    • (Latin) Four-horse chariot.

  • radial cut

    • Cuts or sections that are made lengthwise (longitudinally) along the rays or radius of a log, at right angles to the annual rings. Visually this type of cut can be identified by the presence of closely spaced, parallel bands. Also known as quarter-sawed lumber.

  • raking light

    • Illumination from an oblique angle used to highlight the topographical features of an artwork.

  • Raman microspectroscopy

    • This technique can be used to identify a wide range of materials nondestructively. Using a microscope, spectra can be recorded from samples as small as 1 micron (one thousandth of a millimeter) across, and individual pigment particles can be analyzed, either as loose samples or on the surface of cross sections. Visible and invisible laser light is focused through a microscope, and the small portion of light that interacts with the material under study (a phenomenon known as the Raman effect) is scattered back into the microscope onto the detector. This scattered radiation is recorded as a function of wavelength and displayed as a spectrum, a graph in which each particular compound has a characteristic fingerprint. Complementary to Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, this technique can characterize both inorganic compounds (such as pigments, fillers, and minerals) and some organic compounds, although with organic substances it is sometimes impaired by the fluorescence of the materials under the laser.

  • reflected light microscopy

    • A technique used to examine opaque substances like metals, wood, and paint. The light is directed onto the surface of the sample and is returned to the microscope objective by either specular or diffused reflection in accordance with the physical properties of the sample. Specific information about a sample can be gleaned using adaptations of this technique, including brightfield reflected light, darkfield illumination (in which the sample is placed against a dark background), and polarized light (in which polarizing filters are placed above and below the sample).

  • registers

    • Bands or sections into which a design is divided.

  • retouching

    • A term commonly used interchangeably with inpainting to refer to the type of painting done by a conservator to integrate areas of loss, damage, or fills with the original material. Such intervention is limited to the area of loss or damage and is carried out using substances that enable it to remain readily distinguishable from the original, do not discolor, and can be easily removed in the future.

  • rigaree

    • A raised band or pattern of bands, usually made by crimping applied trails.

  • ripping

    • Cutting a board parallel to the grain.

  • rod

    • See canes. A rod can also be a monochrome length of glass cut from a trail.

  • saeculum aureum

    • “Golden age” (Latin) A time of unusual prosperity and security.

  • sagging

    • The process of heating a blank until it becomes soft and gradually flows under its own weight over a former mold and eventually assumes the shape of the mold. Soda-lime glass becomes soft at about 1110°F (600°C).

  • saponify

    • The process of converting a fat into a soap by the addition of a strong alkaline compound such as lye.

  • sarcophagus

    • (Latin; pl. sarcophagi) A stone coffin, commonly used throughout the Roman Empire from the second century A.D., though occasionally found earlier. They were primarily produced in Rome, Athens, and Asia Minor and were frequently decorated with relief sculpture.

  • scaenae frons

    • “Stage facade” (Latin) The monumental stone facade that ornamented the rear of the stage in a Roman theater, often populated with large-scale sculpture.

  • scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX)

    • This technique utilizes electrons, rather than light, to create an image of a sample. It allows for the analysis of very small quantities of materials. The sample is coated with a thin film of carbon, and a small beam of electrons is focused on the sample’s surface. Secondary electrons allow scientists to obtain an image at very high magnifications (up to 100,000×); backscattered electrons (BSE) highlight the distribution of the elements, recording them in different shades of gray according to their atomic weight; and X-ray emission allows analysts to determine which elements are present and to infer inorganic (mineral and synthetic) pigments and fillers. The EDX spectrum consists of a graph containing a series of peaks, each one occurring at a precise energy characteristic of a particular element. It is important to note that this technique gives information about what elements are present in a sample but not about their relationships to one another; it also does not indicate the organic compounds (such as binding medium) present. For these reasons, it is best complemented with polarized light microscopy or a molecular fingerprinting technique such as Raman microspectroscopy or Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy.

  • Schulterbausch

    • “Shoulder pad” (German) A term used to designate the representation of folds of drapery hanging over the shoulder of a sculpted or painted figure.

  • section

  • segment

    • Irregular pieces of cane or chunks of multilayered glass or sandwich gold glass squares used in the mosaic glass technique.

  • sella castrensis

    • “Military camp seat” (Latin) Folding campstool with a piece of leather or durable fabric stretched to provide the seat. Such seats were used by military commanders, and as such, were indicative of authority.

  • SEM/EDX

  • SERS

  • shell gold

    • A paint made by mixing gold powder with gum arabic, so called because it was traditionally stored in mussel shells. The gold powder was prepared by grinding gold leaf in honey.

  • sigma

    • (Greek) The Greek letter S, whose lunate form is essentially the same shape as the letter C in the Latin alphabet. The term can be used to refer to a stone bench or wooden couch of this shape, also known as a stibadium.

  • siliceous

    • A term used to describe a rock rich in silica, in particular free silica as opposed to silicates.

  • siliqua

    • “Seed, pod” (Latin) The name of a very small weight or measure in late antiquity, further recorded as the name for a coin that was worth one-twenty-fourth of a solidus. Although this particular coin type has not been securely identified, the name has come to be applied in numismatic convention to small silver coins that were produced from the fourth century A.D.

  • single-phase alloy

    • A single-phase alloy is one in which the metal ingredients are homogeneously intermingled down to the atomic scale. Brass of the composition used for repoussé is such an example involving copper and zinc in a single phase. If lead were added to this composition, it would remain distributed in small islands rather than dissolve in the copper and zinc, making a mixture of two phases, discernible under a microscope.

  • situla

    • “Bucket, urn” (Latin) A bucket- or pail-shaped vessel. Also known as a sitella.

  • size

  • sizing

    • Material additives, commonly gelatin or glue, added to a support, such as wood, canvas, or paper, to seal it and reduce its ability to absorb paint and other media. Also called size. In the preparation of canvas, hardboards, and panels, the size is applied before the ground layers. The process of applying the size layer is called sizing.

  • skyphos

    • “Cup” (Greek; pl. skyphoi) A deep, round-bodied drinking cup with short handles set on opposite sides of the brim.

  • slumping

    • Slumping is like sagging in that it is the process of heating a blank until it becomes soft and flows under its own weight into a mold and eventually assumes the shape of the mold. However, in slumping the process is repeated in several stages, using increasingly deeper molds to make the process more gradual to prevent distortion.

  • socle

    • A low plinth or columnar pedestal, sometimes with articulated contours, that supports an artwork, usually a sculpture.

  • solidus

    • “Solid, firm” (Latin; pl. solidi) A gold coin from the late Roman and early Byzantine period, introduced by Constantine the Great (r. A.D. 306–37). It displaced the aureus in A.D. 324.

  • spall

    • A chip, fragment, or flake from a piece of stone or the corresponding void left on the surface.

  • splashware

    • Glass objects decorated with bits of colored glass that are picked up on the paraison and either left in relief or marvered and further inflated.

  • spolia

    • “Spoils” (Latin) The armor, wealth, and artworks taken from a defeated enemy. The term is also used in art historical scholarship to indicate sculptural elements that were taken from the monument of a Roman emperor or leader to be reused in the new construction of a monument of another emperor or leader.

  • stable lead isotope ratio analysis

    • Like most elements, lead exists in several isotopes with differing masses. The most common of these are stable in the sense that they do not undergo radioactive decay. However, because they are partially the product of the radioactive decay of the elements uranium and thorium, their proportions vary slightly in nature, depending on the age of the geological deposits from which the lead ore originates. The ratios of four of these stable lead isotopes have been shown to be indicators of the geological origin of lead and of copper containing natural traces of lead. As such, they can be used to determine the sources of metals distributed through ancient trade. Caution is required in interpretation, however, since metals from different sources frequently have been recycled and mixed in the process.

  • stereomicroscopic examination

    • Examination of an object with a stereomicroscope, which utilizes reflected light and is designed with two oculars, one corresponding to each eye, to give a three-dimensional visualization of the object at a magnified scale.

  • stibadium

    • “A semicircular seat or couch” (Latin) See also sigma.

  • stippling

    • Creating a pattern or shading using small dots.

  • stoa

    • “Colonnade” (Greek) Typically a roofed colonnade built onto a temple or civic building to provide a sheltered walkway. Artworks including sculptures and paintings were commonly displayed within them.

  • strain

    • A term used by geologists to refer to deformation. Twinning is a very typical indication of strain in calcite grains.

  • strategos

    • “General” (Greek; pl. strategoi) Primarily signified a military leader but was later also used for certain ceremonial roles in Greece under Roman rule.

  • strut

    • A marble projection included in a sculptural composition to lend structural support to an otherwise vulnerable area.

  • suovetaurilia

    • (Latin) A Roman ritual sacrifice of a pig (sus), a ram or sheep (ovis), and a bull (taurus).

  • support

    • The physical substrate of a two-dimensional artwork, including textiles, wood, and other types of board, metal, and paper. The term can also be used for any internal armature inside a three-dimensional artwork or sculpture.

  • surface-enhanced Raman microspectroscopy (SERS)

    • A type of Raman microspectroscopy that requires specific preparation of the sample before analysis. Because of its extremely high sensitivity and its ability to quench fluorescence, it is particularly well suited to the identification of natural organic colorants like those used to make lake pigments. A silver colloid, a suspension of silver nanoparticles obtained by chemical reduction of a silver salt (generally silver nitrate), is typically employed. Prior to analysis, the sample is exposed to hydrofluoric acid vapors in order to increase the absorption of the dye on the metal surface of the silver colloid, thus enhancing the SERS signal. After that, a small drop of the silver colloid is deposited onto the sample and analysis is carried out with a Raman microscope.

  • suturing

    • A type of grain boundary in which the interfaces between the crystals resemble interlaced fingers. These grains are strongly interlocked and are the result of unstable conditions following brief metamorphic events.

  • tabula

    • “Panel, tablet, board, table” (Latin; pl. tabulae) In art historical scholarship, this term is used to describe both painted wooden panels and marble panels, the latter of which were typically intended to carry an inscription.

  • taenia

    • “Band, ribbon, fillet” (Latin, from Greek tainia) Typically worn by athletes as a sign of victory.

  • tangential cut

    • Cuts or sections that are made lengthwise (longitudinally), perpendicular to the rays or radius of a log and tangential to the concentric annual rings. Visually this type of cut can be identified by the presence of irregular, wavy bands. Also known as slab-cut or plane-sawed lumber.

  • tempera

    • A painting technique in which pigments are dispersed in a medium miscible with water, most commonly egg yolk.

  • tenon

    • A projecting piece of stone carved for insertion into a concavity or socket in another piece of stone.

  • terminus ante quem

    • “Limit before which” (Latin). The latest date at which an event may have occurred.

  • terminus post quem

    • “Limit after which” (Latin). The earliest date at which an event may have occurred.

  • terra sigillata

    • A fine Roman ceramic that was manufactured in large quantities and found in many regions of the empire. The surface has a hard, fine, glossy, red-orange to brick-red slip and is often elaborated with molded geometric and figured relief decoration.

  • tesserae

    • (Latin; sing. tessera) Small squares or cubed pieces of cut stone, glass, terra-cotta, or other material used to create a mosaic.

  • tetradrachm

    • (Greek; pl. tetradrachms) An ancient Greek silver coin, with the value of four drachms. See also drachm.

  • tetrarchy

    • System of Roman imperial rule in which four coemperors were based in different cities across the empire. There were initially two senior emperors, each with the title Augustus, and two junior emperors, each with the title of Caesar. Later four emperors each carried the title Augustus. This system of power persisted, in some form or another, from A.D. 293 to 313. After a stable beginning, the system became prone to rivalry and ended in bloodshed.

  • theomorphic

    • “In the form of a god” (from Greek theos, “god,” and morphos, “form”) In art historical scholarship, this term is commonly applied to portraits in which a human subject is represented with a body type associated with a divinity, including its characteristic dress, attributes, and pose.

  • thermae

    • “Baths” (Latin) Large complexes designed for public bathing that comprised pools of varying temperatures. These structures focused on cleanliness, socializing, exercise, and relaxation. Derived from the Greek thermos, “hot,” this term most strictly designated the hot-water baths but was commonly used to refer to bath complexes as a whole.

  • thermal expansion coefficient

    • A material property describing the extent to which a material expands on heating and contracts on cooling. Also known as the coefficient of linear thermal expansion.

  • thymiaterion

    • “Censer, incense burner” (Greek) A vessel for burning incense, commonly in the form of a stand with a dish-like area at the top.

  • thyrsos

    • (Greek; pl. thyrsoi) A staff or wand topped with a pinecone and typically decorated with vine leaves, ivy, and sometimes a ribbon, used in religious rites usually associated with Dionysos.

  • toga

    • (Latin) The defining garment of the Roman male citizen. Foreigners, slaves, and even allies were forbidden to wear the toga. In very early times it was worn by women, and later it was prescribed for prostitutes as a sign of shame. It served as the costume for children of both sexes in decorated variants, in certain contexts. A strip of woven wool some 6 meters (18 feet) long with a curved bottom edge, the toga was worn over the tunic. The toga would be draped over the left shoulder, around the back, across the front, and over the left shoulder and arm again, in very complex loops and folds that required a skilled slave to arrange. The organization of these loops underwent change in fashion over time. Though the toga is thought to have been the proper daily dress in early times, its heavy fabric, difficult arrangement, and cumbersome nature meant that it was worn less and less in daily life, eventually becoming ceremonial or elite attire. Its wear was broadly restricted to the city of Rome, although officials in the provinces might wear it—as would the emperor when not on military campaign.

  • tondo

    • (From Italian rotundo, “round”) A circular sculpted relief or panel painting.

  • tooling

    • Manipulating hot glass with wooden or metal tools in order to shape or decorate a form.

  • torus

    • “Knot, bulge, swelling” (Latin) A term also used for a large molding of convex, semicircular profile that often sits just above the plinth of a classical column base.

  • trail

    • A strand of glass, roughly circular in section, drawn from a gather of glass.

  • transverse cut

    • Cross sections of or latitudinal cuts across a log. Visually this cut can be identified by the presence of concentric annual rings with rays extending outward like the spokes of a wheel.

  • tratteggio

    • An artistic technique in which paint is applied in fine vertical and parallel lines that, from a distance, coalesce into the appearance of a solid field.

  • tribunician power

    • Under the Roman Republic, the tribunician power (Latin tribunitia potestas) was the authority held by one of the elected officials (Latin tribuni, “tribunes”) of the people (Latin plebs), who would represent the demands of ordinary Roman citizens before the Senate and veto any proposal that was not beneficial to the people. They were protected from any violence by law, and by an oath of the people to protect them. From the beginning of the empire with Augustus, the emperors took over this role, counting the years of their rule by their years as “tribune of the people,” and maximizing upon the personal protection that came with it. The emperors thus framed themselves as champions of ordinary citizens, though the democratic system that had created this role had been abolished. Represented in coin inscriptions as TR POT, TR P.

  • triclinium

    • “Dining room” (Latin; pl. triclinia) Named for the standard arrangement of three (tri-) couches (Greek klinai), typically set together to form a horseshoe shape, around a central table.

  • triskeles

    • “Three-legged” (Greek) A term applied as a noun to the symbol of three bent legs, or three spirals, arranged at equal distances around a central point.

  • triumvir

    • “A man of the three” (Latin) In the Roman period, a title given to a member of one of the committees of three men who was assigned to deal with the administration of some public entity, such as the prisons or sewers. Also used as a designation for a member of the political alliances that came to be known as the first and second “triumvirate” (Latin triumviratus). The second of these dissolved into the imperial system, as Octavian defeated his fellow triumvir Antony, and outmaneuvered the other, Lepidus, to take the position of sole ruler and the title of Princeps.

  • tunic

    • (From Latin tunica) A simple garment made of two rectangles of wool or linen, stitched together at the sides and on the shoulders, leaving holes for the arms and head, and worn belted around the waist. This was the basic garment of Roman dress, worn by men and women of all ranks and occupations. Most Roman men would wear only a tunic on most occasions. Members of the Senate and the equites (the knights) had the right to wear tunics marked with a pair of parallel purple stripes as a signal of status. Slaves and workmen would wear tunics to the knee. Those who did not need to be able to move so freely, and those who held higher status, would wear a longer version. Women would always wear them long, with either a palla or a stola (a woolen dress) as an accompaniment—or with both. Men would wear the toga over the tunic on formal occasions. Multiple tunics of varying thickness might be worn one over the other in cold weather.

  • twinning

    • Twinning refers to the tendency of two or more mineral crystals of the same phase to join together according to a set of basic rules or laws. If the orientation of the conjoined crystals follows the same law, they are said to be multiple or repeated twins. If the alignment of these multiple twins is parallel, they are referred to as polysynthetic twins.

  • tympanum

    • (Latin, from Greek tympanon) Hand drum, much like a large tambourine. Played in the rites of deities such as Cybele and Dionysos, among other contexts.

  • ultraviolet (UV)

    • Invisible to the naked eye, UV radiation has energies beyond the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Materials at the surface of an artwork may exhibit fluorescence in characteristic colors in response to UV radiation, depending on their chemical composition. UV-induced fluorescence is visible to the naked eye and can be documented photographically. UV imaging is used to help verify or differentiate surface coatings, pigment composition, and reworkings or restorations and can aid in their identification when coupled with other means of point analysis. UV radiation is also routinely used to study the fluorescence from constituent layers of cross sections under a microscope.

  • underdrawing

    • Compositional sketch drawn usually directly on top of the ground layer in painting. Underdrawings can vary in media and level of detail, from simple contours to drawings that are volumetric and heavily detailed.

  • unguentarium

    • (Latin; pl. unguentaria) A term commonly applied to ancient Roman bottles for scented oils and fine toilet items. It appears, however, that the term was invented in the nineteenth century, by analogy with unguentarius, “perfume seller,” and similar words that the Romans used in connection with perfumes.

  • uraeus

    • (Latin, from Greek ouraios, “of the tail”) This Latinized term was coined in the nineteenth century as a descriptor for the rearing snake (or sometimes snakes) that adorned the front of the crown of Egyptian rulers, worn from the New Kingdom down to the late Ptolemaic period, including sometimes by Cleopatra.

  • UV

  • venationes

    • “Hunts” (Latin; sing. venatio) A term used to denote wild beast hunts staged in the arena, in which gladiators engaged in combat with wild animals such as bears, lions, and elephants that were imported from the edges of the empire for this purpose.

  • vicennalia

    • (Latin, from viginti, “twenty”) A celebration of twenty years of an emperor’s reign.

  • virtus

    • “Virtue, excellence” (Latin, from vir, “man”) Originally signified specifically male qualities of manliness or bravery. The concept later expanded to denote excellence or virtue of any kind and could be applied to either gender.

  • visible-induced luminescence imaging

    • Visible-induced luminescence is a type of multispectral imaging technique that has proved very reliable in the identification of Egyptian blue, Han blue, and Han purple pigments. These pigments emit a characteristic white fluorescence when exposed to wavelengths in the near-infrared range (800–1700 nm). The fluorescence is not actually visible to the naked eye and must be captured using an infrared camera and filters.

  • weathering crust

  • weathering product

    • The surface condition of a glass resulting from interaction with its environment, usually from chemical interaction with the soil, water, or air. Factors affecting the weathering product include the chemical composition of the glass, the surrounding conditions, and the time in those conditions.

  • wheel-cut

    • Cutting the surface with a stone wheel or a wheel fed with abrasive to produce a wide range of patterns.

  • xenia

    • “Gifts” (Latin, from Greek xenios, “hospitality”) In the Roman period, this term was applied to gifts such as chickens, eggs, fruits, and vegetables that were given to guests by the owners of country houses where such foodstuffs were produced. By extension, the term came to be used to refer to images of such items that appeared in wall paintings and mosaics, in which they are thought to have conveyed messages of the prosperity and abundance of the household in which they were displayed.

  • X-ray diffraction

    • An analytical technique used for the identification of crystalline materials, such as inorganic pigments, minerals, or corrosion products. X-rays produce a characteristic diffraction pattern when focused on a small crystalline sample. This pattern is recorded and compared to patterns from reference samples to provide a definitive identification of individual crystalline phases within the sample material.

  • X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF)

    • This noninvasive means of analysis utilizes a focused beam of X-rays to excite the atoms that constitute the artwork and measure the emitted energy. It provides a characteristic fingerprint of the elements contained in the sampled volume, thus allowing conservation scientists to formulate hypotheses about the artwork’s inorganic components (pigments, extenders, metallic elements, and the like, but not binding media or organic pigments). In the case of paintings, the sampled volume often includes all painting layers and may also include information about the support.

  • XRF

Click a glossary term on the left to view its definition.

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