Art History and Stuff

Bastide - Oxford Definition

A medieval fortified town built for the colonization or pacification of an area, particularly associated with the south of France; also in modern usage in Provence to describe a small country house.

Bas-Relief (or Basso-Rilievo) - Oxford Definition

‘Low relief’, that is relief sculpture in which the figures never project more than half their true depth from the background.

The process of making containers out of a mesh of vegetable fibres in a technique similar to weaving. It is one of the oldest crafts and the earliest examples date from c.5000 BC in Iraq. Basketry probably preceded both textile weaving and pottery.

Basilica - Oxford Definition

[From the Greek basilik, ‘royal’] a church with aisles and a nave higher than the aisles. The nave was usually lit by the windows of a clerestory. Such churches first came into being in the Early Christian era and were modelled on Roman basilicas (large meeting places or halls of justice). With its longtitudinal axis, usually terminating with an apse at one end of the nave, the basilica plan was later adapted for Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals.

Base - Oxford Definition

[From the Greek basis, ‘that on which one stands’] the lower portion of any structure or architectural feature. Also the lower part of an heraldic shield. See CHIEF.

Basanite - Oxford Definition

A type of greywacke (conglomerate rock formed as a by-product of the decomposition of basaltic rock). It was highly prized and first used for sculpture by the ancient Egyptians who, until the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great c.332 BC, reserved it for statues of the gods. Varying in colour from very dark green to dark rusty brown, it was known to the Egyptians as the ‘stone of Bekhan’ and extracted, with considerable difficulty, from Mount Uadi Hammmt. In the 18th century Josiah Wedgwood invented and sold an imitation of basanite known as black basalt.

Basalt - Oxford Definition

A dark, hard (and therefore durable) igneous rock used for sculpture, for example in ancient Egypt and in parts of the southern Indian subcontinent. It is sometimes confused with the softer basanite.