Picture that features more than one person and communicates something about them. Because it was important to include certain people in a group portrait, artists and publishers sometimes added individ [..]

Artwork or building that has many colors.

Movement advocating the immediate end of slavery. The abolitionist movement began in earnest in the United States in the 1820s and expanded under the influence of the Second Great Awakening, a Christi [..]

Paint made with pigment (color) suspended in acrylic polymer (a synthetic medium), rather than in natural oils, such as linseed, used in oil paints. It is a modern medium that came into use in the 195 [..]

Three-dimensional art made by building up material (such as clay) to produce forms, instead of carving it away.

Type of photograph that is printed on paper coated with silver salts (the substance that turns dark when it is exposed to light in a camera) suspended in egg whites (albumen). Albumen prints were more [..]

Symbolic representation of an idea, concept, or truth. In art, allegories are often expressed through symbolic fictional figures, such as “Columbia,” a woman who represents America; or Father Time, an [..]

Type of photograph made between 1850 and 1860 in which a negative was attached to a piece of glass with black paper or cloth behind it. Against the black background, the tones of the resulting

Latin for “before the war.” It refers to the period between 1820 and 1860 in American history.

Term encompassing a range of ideas opposing slavery. It included abolitionism, or the idea that slavery should be ended immediately. But it also included other positions, including colonization and gr [..]