Zoomorphic
Describing a form, figure, ornament, or object shaped as an animal or incorporating animal characteristics.
Composition
Sacra Conversazione
A Renaissance compositional type placing the Virgin and Child together with saints in a unified shared space rather than in separate compartments.
Foreshortening
The visual compression of a form that projects toward or away from the viewer.
Frontality
A compositional orientation in which a figure or sculpture is conceived primarily in relation to a frontal viewpoint.
Serpentinata
An Italian term for a spiraling, flame-like figure pose in which the body turns around its vertical axis through successive opposing movements.
Serpentine
A winding, S-shaped or spiraling line or movement.
Symbolism
The use of forms, figures, attributes, materials, gestures, or compositional relationships to carry meanings beyond their literal appearance.
Tondo
An artwork composed within a circular format.
Volute
A spiral or scroll-shaped ornament, most famously the paired spirals of an Ionic capital.
Equipoise
A condition of equilibrium or finely controlled balance.