A Dictionary of Terms in Art.
EDITED AND ILLUSTRATED BY
F. W. FAIRHOLT, F.S.A.
WITH
Five Hundred Engravings
ON WOOD
A
dictionary of terms in art
Frederick William Fairholt
John E. Pritchard.
Frontispiece.
DISH OF ITALIAN MAJOLICA
OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
(See
p. 279.)
A Dictionary of Terms in Art.
EDITED AND ILLUSTRATED BY
F. W. FAIRHOLT, F.S.A.
WITH
Five Hundred Engravings
ON WOOD
STRAHAN & CO.
56 LUDGATE HILL,
PREFACE.
THE somewhat discursive character of a work like
the present, which is devoted to a brief illustrative explanation of all such
phraseology as may properly be called "the language of the Arts,"
demands at its outset some few words descriptive of its character and object.
The plan embraced in the present work includes
all such terms as are generally employed in painting, sculpture, and engraving,
whether descriptive of real objects, or the principles of action which rule the
mind and guide the hand of the artist. It thus comprises the AEsthetics of Art, as well as their practical results. But
as it is desirable to make this a useful hand-book for all persons interested
in Art, all such terms, ancient or modern, as may be used in describing the contents
of a museum or picture-gallery, are here explained. Thus, the technical terms
for antique vases, or mediaeval pottery; sacred and domestic implements; as
well as for costume, civil and military, armour,
arms, &c., are described; all which form the component parts of a picture,
or may be included in its description; notices of the various schools of Art,
and of public picture-galleries in England; an analysis of colours
and artistic implements; descriptions of ornamental woods or precious stones; a
brief notice of the saints and their symbols; such manufacturing processes as
call Art to their aid, or such terms in architecture and the cognate arts as
are necessarily used in general Art. Other works may be consulted with
advantage by the student who wishes for detailed
information on any particular branch of these - such as Costume, Architecture,
Heraldry,
vi PREFACE.
&c.: to all such subjects books have been
devoted, sufficiently lucid, and embellished with illustrative engravings;
throughout this Dictionary, such books have been carefully indicated in
foot-notes, as a further guide to the student; our principal object being to
include only those terms which are generally and familiarly used, leaving the
most abstruse for the pages of such volumes as may be more properly devoted to
explanations which would exceed our regulated space, and belong rather to peculiar than to general Art. Thus, while this Dictionary exhibits a somewhat wide
range of subject, the restrictive limit embodied in its title will prevent its
resemblance to any other; giving it a completeness and utility as a general
reference-book to all students or amateurs of the Fine Arts.
Circa. 1855.
A DICTIONARY OF TERMS IN
ART.
ABA-ABO.