Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The position of a standing human figure whose weight is unequally distributed between the two legs, resulting in a slight curvature of the torso and a tilting of the pelvis and shoulders in opposite directions.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In pictorial or sculptural composition, the crossing of limbs and contrasting of masses which is especially pronounced in the works of Michelangelo.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun art The
position of afigure whosehips andlegs are twisted away from the direction of thehead andshoulders .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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My buck, my shy puck, my slenderly fuck, anglepoise hips in contrapposto pose, full cocked — a paeon to your peter!
The Lucifer Cantos 2/13 Hal Duncan 2009
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My buck, my shy puck, my slenderly fuck, anglepoise hips in contrapposto pose, full cocked — a paeon to your peter!
Archive 2009-07-01 Hal Duncan 2009
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David-the naturalistic stance known as contrapposto
unknown title 2009
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Cast in the contrapposto style, the David has captivated the public from the moment it was unveiled in 1504.
Fern Siegel: Stage Door: Restoration, Phantom of the Opera 2010
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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.
Maite Gomez-Rejon: Cooking Art History: The Aztecs Maite Gomez-Rejon 2010
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He flexes his six-pack in awkward contrapposto, while holding a leash attached to a man on all fours wearing a dog collar.
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Most impressive is the opening, with the dancers grouped in contrapposto poses, the distinctive Renaissance S-curve of the torso, as harpsichords sound.
A singular vision: Nearing 80, Paul Taylor is as moving a dance figure as ever 2010
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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.
Holly Shen: Nostalgic for Nauman Holly Shen 2010
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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.
Rebecca Taylor: All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Baldessari Rebecca Taylor 2010
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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 2009
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