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There are currently 18 glossaries in this directory beginning with the letter M.
Maesta
The Italian word for ‘majesty’ used in art to refer to a depiction of the virgin and child on the throne surrounded by angels and saints.

Mahistick or Maulstick
A stick used by painters to steady and support the hand while working.

Marouflage
A technique for attaching, with glue, mural size painting on paper or fabric to a wall.

Marquise
A type of cut in which the stone is elongated and pointed at both ends. A marquise stone is longer than it is wide.

Matte
Flat, nonglossy; having a dull surface appearance. Variant spelling - matt.

Medium
A material used in art, e.g. Oil in painting, pencil in drawing or bronze in sculpture. The term is also used to refer a method, e.g. Painting as opposed to sculpture.

Mezzotint
A method of engraving on copper or steel in imitation of drawing in Indian ink, the light areas being scraped and burnished out of a prepared dark ground.

Miniature
A painting, usually a portrait of very small dimension, generally executed in watercolours on vellum and later on porcelain.

Mixed Media
In drawing and painting this refers to the use of different media in the same picture.

Mixed-Cut
A way in which diamonds are cut. Mixed-cut diamonds combine the qualities of the brilliant and step-cuts.

MM
The abbreviation for millimeter; our standard unit of measurement for jewelry dimensions. For an approximate conversion to inches, see below.
3MM is approximately 1/8 inch
6MM is approximately 1/4 inch
13MM is approximately 1/2 inch
19MM is approximately 3/4 inch
25MM is approximately 1 inch
50MM is approximately 2 inches
75MM is approximately 3 inches

Modernism
A reaction against the florid excesses of Art Nouveau, it sought to strip away unnecessary ornament and decoration in architecture and design.

Monochrome
A drawing or painting executed in one colour only.

Montage
A technique similar to collage, where the images are photographic.

Mosaic
Picture making technique using small units of variously coloured materials (glass, tile, and stone) set in a mortar.

Mother of Pearl
Thin layers of nacre that make up the iridescent interior of a mollusk shell. These layers are removed and used for watch faces and other pieces of jewelry.Naïve art

Motif
A repeated theme, subject or figure, e.g. in a design.

Mural
A picture or design painted directly onto a wall, a practice that began in very early times.