Contrapposto

Quick meaning: Contrapposto is a noun meaning (art, especially sculpture, uncountable) The position of a human figure whose hips and legs are twisted away from the direction of the head and shoulders; (countable) an instance of this.

Meaning

(art, especially sculpture, uncountable) The position of a human figure whose hips and legs are twisted away from the direction of the head and shoulders; (countable) an instance of this.

Example Sentences

The hawkers' athletic contrappostos, intellectual and imaginary rather than plausible, speak of the mind's superiority to the body.

Yes, the difference between the expressive faces and baroque contrappostos of the figures on the Antonine panels and the squat, awkward bodies of the Constantinian frieze is interesting to note, but neither era's relief panels on the Arch are wholly indicative of the visual culture of their respective moments.

The Archaic kouros was always callipygian, the large buttocks more stressed and valued than the face. But the buttocks of the Kritios Boy have a feminine refinement, as erotic as breasts in Venetian painting. The contrapposto flexes one buttock and relaxes the other. The artist imagines them as apple and pear, glowing and compact.

The difference can be seen in the two competition reliefs for the doors of the Florence Baptistery by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi[…]: Ghiberti (right) offers a relaxed demonstration of his skill, close to the dancing definition of contrapposto, whereas Brunelleschi (left) proffers several tautly knotted contrapposti.

Word Forms

• contrappostos
• contrapposti

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include countercast, contorsion, contrafactum, travesty, rubato, pasticcio.

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