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graffito
graffito . 1 Method of ornamenting architectural plaster surfaces. The designs are produced by scratching a topcoat of plaster to reveal an undercoat of contrasting and deeper color. The technique of graffito was used in ancient cultures including those of Egypt and Greece. It was refined in Italian decorative art of the 15th and 16th cent., being then used to treat the entire facades of buildings as great formal mural decorations. Around windows and doors were architectural borders depicting pilasters, colonnettes, and caryatids; remaining surfaces were covered with medallions, garlands, and arabesque bands. Fine examples remain, especially at Florence, and the medium has occasionally been revived in modern buildings. Graffito decoration is applied to pottery by coating an unfired piece with a contrasting color of clay and scratching a design through it to show the color underneath. The slip ware of the Pennsylvania Germans is a good example of graffito work. It is also spelled sgraffito. 2 An irreverent inscription on a wall in a public place is also called a graffito (pl. graffiti). The term graffiti was first used in this sense by archaeologists to designate informal writings on tombs and ancient monuments. Today, as then, graffiti deal with a wide variety of subjects and are often satirical in tone. In the second half of the 20th cent. the term has been applied to many acts of property defacement involving paint and other graphic media.
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"graffito." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "graffito." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-graffito.html "graffito." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-graffito.html |
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graffito
graffito (or sgraffito) (Italian: ‘scratched’). Term now most commonly applied (usually in the plural—‘graffiti’) to an illicit design or inscription (often obscene) drawn, painted, or scratched on a wall; in a broader sense it is applied to any technique of producing a design by scratching through a layer of paint or other material to reveal a ground beneath it. In a medieval panel painting, for instance, decorative areas would be covered with gold leaf, burnished, and painted, and a design would then be scratched through the paint.
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IAN CHILVERS. "graffito." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "graffito." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-graffito.html IAN CHILVERS. "graffito." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-graffito.html |
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graffito
graffito pl. -i drawing or writing scratched on a wall. XIX. — It., irreg. f. graffiare scratch, f. graffio scratching, hook, of Gmc. orig.
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T. F. HOAD. "graffito." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "graffito." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-graffito.html T. F. HOAD. "graffito." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-graffito.html |
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graffito
graffito
•bateau, chateau, gateau, gelato, mulatto, plateau
•de facto, ipso facto
•alto
•canto, Esperanto, manteau, panto, portmanteau
•antipasto, impasto -
•agitato, Ambato, castrato, esparto, inamorato, legato, moderato, obbligato (US obligato), ostinato, pizzicato, rubato, staccato, tomato, vibrato, Waikato
•contralto
•allegretto, amaretto, amoretto, Canaletto, cornetto, falsetto, ghetto, larghetto, libretto, Loreto, Orvieto, Soweto, stiletto, Tintoretto, vaporetto, zucchetto
•perfecto, recto
•cento, cinquecento, divertimento, lento, memento, pimiento, portamento, Risorgimento, Sacramento, Sorrento, Trento
•manifesto, pesto, presto
•concerto
•Cato, Plato, potato
•Benito, bonito, burrito, coquito, graffito, Hirohito, incognito, Ito, magneto, Miskito, mosquito, Quito, Tito, veto
•ditto • in flagrante delicto • mistletoe
•pinto, Shinto
•tiptoe
•Callisto, fritto misto
•cogito • Felixstowe • Sillitoe
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Cite this article
"graffito." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "graffito." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-graffito.html "graffito." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-graffito.html |
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