John the Baptist is one of the most significant figures in Christian history, and was a frequent figure in Medieval art. He is easily identified with his cloak of camel hair, a description taken from the Gospel of Mark. John the Baptist is also usually depicted with a dove, as both were seen as signals of the coming Messiah in Jesus Christ.

The Bayeux Tapestry was notable as one of the first large scale pieces of art to celebrate and record a massive military victory in Europe since the Romans. As painting and sculpture had significantly faded in scale since the fall of the Roman Empire, tapestry was one of the few artistic mediums that was available to the Norman leaders who created it. With William the Conqueror being a foreign King in England, it also was created to glorify William and show the failings of the defeated English armies.

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Key words identifying Byzantine art are flat, floating, frontal, and gold. Rather than the realism and naturalism of Greco-Roman art, Byzantine art is focused on the spiritual or other-worldly. Therefore, it is less realistic, and shows its figures as more floating and unconnected with this world.

This work of art is known as "The Justinian Panel," precisely because it depicts the Emperor Justinian I of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire. Justinian reconquered the fallen Western portion of the Roman Empire, which included the Italian Peninsula, where this mosaic is located in Ravenna's Basilica of San Vitale, and he is appropriately represented in honor and glory. While surrounded by bishops and officials, Justinian is the only figure in the traditional "Tyrian purple" of Royalty in the Roman Empire and Medieval Europe, as well as being shown with a posthumous halo, showing his status as a Christian saint.

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The triptych was the most common form of altarpieces in Medieval art, usually being painted by the era's masters. A triptych features three separate panels that can fold up, all on some related theme. Usually, these would feature Jesus Christ in some form, as well as saints, angels, prophets, and even sometimes kings.

The term "Insular art," from the Latin "insula," island, is generally used to refer to the art of the British Isles from roughly 600 C.E. to the Norman Invasion in 1066 C.E. This art was widely different from the burgeoning Early Medieval Art in continental Europe. Thanks to the invasion of Anglo-Saxon peoples in Celtic Britain, "Insular Art" blends multiple styles in a unique way, usually focusing on design elements such as metalwork, jewelry, and tapestries.

"Homunculus" (or "homunculi," plural) literally means little man in Latin as the masculine diminutive for man ("homo"). Within the context of medieval art, this term is used to describe the strange depictions of Christ as an infant with elongated limbs and proportions and a serious and adult-like demeanor. These depictions were intended to represent the dualities of Christ in theology: human and God, young and timeless, earthly and heavenly.

"Sedes sapientiae" literally means the seat or throne of wisdom and refers to Mary as a symbolic throne for Christ (due to her status as the vessel of incarnation). Thus, iconographic representations of "sedes sapientiae" often depict Christ sitting on the lap of Mary, who herself is also sitting on a throne.

"Chi" (X) and "Rho" (P) are the first two Greek letters in Christ, so they do, in a way, serve as a monogram. Chi-Rhos are depicted in a variety of medieval art forms including manuscript illuminations, relief sculpture, seals and coins, and arms and armor.  

Byzantine Iconoclasm refers to the two distinct periods of the Byzantine Empire during which religious iconography and imagery were banned and large quantities of religious art were destroyed. Although the reign of Constantine V occurred during a period of Byzantine Iconoclasm and he may have been directly responsible for the first one, his reign was did not coincide with the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm.