Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The position of a figure in painting or sculpture in which the hips and legs are turned in a different direction from that of the shoulders and head; the twisting of a figure on its own vertical axis.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In pictorial or sculptural composition, the crossing of limbs and contrasting of masses which is especially pronounced in the works of Michelangelo.
Wiktionary
Etymologies
- From Italian (Wiktionary)
- Italian, past participle of contrapporre, to set opposite, contrast, from Latin contrāpōnere : contrā-, contra- + pōnere, to place; see apo- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“My buck, my shy puck, my slenderly fuck, anglepoise hips in contrapposto pose, full cocked — a paeon to your peter!”
“Most impressive is the opening, with the dancers grouped in contrapposto poses, the distinctive Renaissance S-curve of the torso, as harpsichords sound.”
The Washington Post: A singular vision: Nearing 80, Paul Taylor is as moving a dance figure as ever
“With over 4,000 pages and 2,400 images, it is a dialogue between Aztec and European cultures, with illustrations combining Mesoamerican colors and forms with Renaissance shading and contrapposto poses.”
The Huffington Post: Maite Gomez-Rejon: Cooking Art History: The Aztecs
“Walk With Contrapposto, 1968 is a video installation of Nauman acting out contrapposto, the exaggerated pose of classical sculpture, as he walks down a narrow, plywood hallway constructed in his studio.”
“From the dawning of Greek Classicism to well beyond the Italian Renaissance, artists learned to faithfully master contrapposto, linear perspective, and the like in order to achieve the great, mythic aspiration of beauty.”
The Huffington Post: Rebecca Taylor: All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Baldessari
“He flexes his six-pack in awkward contrapposto, while holding a leash attached to a man on all fours wearing a dog collar.”
The Wall Street Journal: Latest 'Aida' in London Fails to Deliver
“Cast in the contrapposto style, the David has captivated the public from the moment it was unveiled in 1504.”
The Huffington Post: Fern Siegel: Stage Door: Restoration, Phantom of the Opera
“She wore leather pants and shifted her weight constantly, throwing out knees and hips in lanky contrapposto as if freshly delighted by her surfeit of limb.”
Kissinger, Rushdie, Star Jones Splash Into Pool Room For Four Seasons' 50th
“Thus arranged — mangled, really, in a contorted contrapposto — he could observe the users of the bank's ATM without himself being seen.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘contrapposto’.
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It's a trap
trap, gin, snare, deadfall, trapezium, trapezoid, trappist, venus flytrap, foothold trap, trapping pit, glue trap, trap set and 98 more...
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stirrings
karuna, splanknizomai, tenderhearted, ridibund, exorable, amove, compassion, whole-souled, synkinesis, aileron, seminole, Chahar Bagh School and 36 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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ShuckFinn's Words
abecedarian, conflate, mondegreen, whit, truculent, downright, pugnacious, effluvium, canker, inveigle, obfuscate, melancholy and 227 more...
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colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
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katiefallwest's Words
facetious, hallows, snarky, literati, cantankerous, gryphon, esoteric, fortuitous, impetus, ubiquitous, muggle, colour and 144 more...
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
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ikepela's Words
quixotic, tempestuous, myriad, bubble, chevalier, archaic, soma, springs, strokes, snicker, lunacy, electricityscape and 110 more...
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Art Terms
mannerism, nonrepresentational, pointillism, serigraph, alla prima, trompe l'oeil, assemblage, arabesque, polychromatic, naive art, lumina, impasto and 104 more...
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Evin290's Words
puerile, fastidious, blatherskite, folderol, femtosecond, redox, incarnadine, cerulean, genuflection, muslin, multitudinous, miasma and 517 more...
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artsy
bohemian, acrylic, watercolor, brush, baroque, gothic, rococo, chiaroscuro, sfumato, encaustic, muse, starving and 44 more...
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on the body
palm, wrist, sternum, breast, digit, toes, philtrum, pinky, lips, tongue, palate, skin and 80 more...
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Architectural Nomenclature
See that part on that building?
mutule, muntin, modillion, voussoir, volute, corbel, trefoil, peristyle, guilloche, rinceau, transept, grisaille and 45 more...
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OrbitalCombustion's Words
nepenthe, phrontistery, peregrination, pervicacious, sinistrality, phallogocentric, prolixity, leptokurtic, ineffable, haecceity, lucubration, vicissitudes and 1026 more...
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reinaronq's Words
schadenfreude, phantasmagoria, catalyst, ameliorate, smackover, cataclysm, masticate, destitution, comparable, disingenuous, ambulatory, charismatic and 29 more...
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ashtonhaley's Words
contrapposto, vox populi, unabashed, convivial, quagmire, insurgence, altruism, alchemy, think, invent, aesthetic, innovate and 43 more...
Tweets
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