Angel
A spiritual messenger represented in Christian art as a humanlike heavenly being, conventionally winged and frequently used in architectural, devotional, and funerary sculpture.
Catholic Art
Sedes Sapientiae
A traditional title for the Virgin Mary in Christian theology and sacred art, referring to Mary as the throne or vessel through which Divine Wisdom — Christ — enters the world.
Aesthetic Canon
A recognized system of ideal proportions or formal rules used to guide the representation of the human body, architecture, or another class of forms.
Angelology
The theological and philosophical study of angels—their nature, orders, functions, and relationship to God and humanity.
Bel Composto
Bernini's principle of the total, unified artwork — sculpture, architecture, and light fused into one inseparable design.
Brachium Domini
"The arm of the Lord" — the outstretched divine hand emerging from clouds, a formula for God's power without a full figure.
Bust
The head-and-chest portrait format running from Roman verism through reliquary busts to Houdon's psychological realism.
Cherub
The Baroque cherub head, ubiquitous on Catholic altarpieces and tombs, is visually a classical putto — theologically it borrows the name of a far more austere angelic order.
Consonantia
A Latin term meaning agreement, harmony, or fitting relationship.