The écorché (French: “flayed”) is a representation of a figure without the skin, displaying the muscles. Drawings of such figures were much used in academies of art when teaching plastic anatomy. Jea...

The antimension (Greek: in place of an altar ) is a decorated cloth that fulfils the same functions as a communion table. It is usually adorned with an engraved or hand-drawn image of the Entombment,...

Foundation document or book of instructions regulating the life of a monastery. Greek for “following the order.”

Cooperative association in Russia. Historically, these were semi-formal associations for various enterprises, such as building, painting, fishing, mining or commerce. Artels often worked far from hom...

Elevated walkway in front of the iconostasis in an Orthodox church.