Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. High relief; in sculpture, a form of relief in which the figures or other objects represented stand out very boldly from the background. More or less important portions of the design may even be carved entirely in the round. An alto-rilievo, or a work in alto-rilievo, is a relief sculptured in this form. See cut on next page. See
bas-relief and mezzo-rilievo.
Wiktionary
- n. High relief; sculptured work in which the figures project more than half their thickness.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Sculp.) High relief; sculptured work in which the figures project more than half their thickness.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a sculptural relief in which forms extend out from the background to at least half their depth
Etymologies
- Italian (Wiktionary)
Examples
“This (p. xxiii) portrait presents an _alto-rilievo_ which is well adapted for medals only; it is conceived in the spirit of the French school, which has always attached great importance to the truthful rendering of flesh.”
The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876
“In 1233 Niccola was in Lucca; the alto-rilievo of the Deposition over the side door of the cathedral may be of this date.”
“There are two principal kinds of relief: Low Relief (bas-relief, basso-rilievo), the figures of which have only a limited thickness, and in which the appearance of solidity is achieved by the effect of light and shade; and High Relief (grand-relief, alto-rilievo), in which the figures sometimes appear entirely in the round.”
“The degree of relief is alto-rilievo, like those on the Roman sarcophagi and the pulpits of the Pisani; in shape it is almost as high as it is long; this unusual proportion is similar to some of the divisions of the bronze reliefs in the Donatello pulpits at San Lorenzo.”
“The moon's idealizing glamour had left no trace of the uncouthness of the place which the daylight revealed; the little log house, the great overhanging chestnut-oaks, the jagged precipice before the door, the vague outlines of the distant ranges, all suffused with a magic sheen, might have seemed a stupendous alto-rilievo in silver repoussè.”
“I shall engrave it in _alto-rilievo, _ make the words with pebbles on the turf just above high-water mark.”
“I never before saw nearly so distinct a cloud-picture, or rather sculpture; for it came out in alto-rilievo on the body of the cloud.”
“The west front is indeed its chief beauty of exterior attraction; and it was once rendered doubly interesting by a profusion of alto-rilievo statues, which _disappeared_ during the commotions of the revolution.”
A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One
“For all I know Ayers has relief sculptures of their likenesses in alto-rilievo style over the portal of his seminar room, and I don’t doubt for a minute that he’s a terrific classroom teacher).”
“a long pilaster-like, or alto-rilievo column, of slender dimensions, running from bottom to top, with a sort of Roman capital.”
A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One
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