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grotesque
grotesque. A term originally used in the visual arts to describe a type of fanciful wall decoration (painted, carved, or moulded in stucco) characterized by the use of interlinked floral motifs, animal and human figures, masks, etc., often arranged in an vertical, column-like format. Such decoration was inspired by the ornament found in the excavated rooms (popularly called grotte, ‘grottoes’) of certain ancient Roman buildings, notably the Golden House of Nero in Rome, which began to be uncovered at the end of the 15th century. During the 16th century this kind of decoration spread from Italy to most of the countries of Europe. In France the word ‘grotesque’ was applied as an adjective to literature and even to people fairly early in the 17th century, and later in the same century this meaning spread to England, and the word began to assume its current sense in everyday parlance, suggesting the ridiculous, absurd, monstrous, or abnormal.
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IAN CHILVERS. "grotesque." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "grotesque." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-grotesque.html IAN CHILVERS. "grotesque." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-grotesque.html |
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grotesque
grotesque. A term originally used in the visual arts to describe a type of fanciful wall decoration (painted, carved, or moulded in stucco) characterized by the use of interlinked floral motifs, animal and human figures, masks, etc., often arranged in an vertical, column-like format. Such decoration was inspired by the ornament found in the excavated rooms (popularly called grotte: ‘grottoes’) of certain ancient Roman buildings, notably the Golden House of Nero in Rome, which began to be uncovered at the end of the 15th century. During the 16th century this kind of decoration spread from Italy to most of the countries of Europe. In France the word grotesque was applied as an adjective to literature and even to people fairly early in the 17th century, and later in the same century this meaning spread to England, and the word began to assume its current sense in everyday parlance, suggesting the ridiculous, absurd, monstrous, or abnormal.
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Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "grotesque." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "grotesque." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-grotesque.html IAN CHILVERS. "grotesque." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-grotesque.html |
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grotesque
grotesque.
1. Capricious Classical ornament (properly grottesque) consisting of animals, figures, flowers, foliage, fruits, and sphinxes, all connected together, and distinct from arabesques which do not have animal or humanoid representations. It is so called after the Antique decorations rediscovered (1488) during the Renaissance period in buried ruins of Roman buildings called grotte. Grotesques as a type of decoration were revived by Raphael (so sometimes called Raphaelesques), and were used at the Vatican Loggie (from c.1515) and the Villa Madama, Rome (1520–1). Designs for grotesques were made available in publications, and, with strapwork, were common in Renaissance and Mannerist schemes of decoration, especially in Northern Europe. 2. Picturesque irregular landscape, often with grottoes. Bibliography Chastel (1988); |
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JAMES STEVENS CURL. "grotesque." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES STEVENS CURL. "grotesque." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-grotesque.html JAMES STEVENS CURL. "grotesque." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-grotesque.html |
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grotesque
gro·tesque / grōˈtesk/ • adj. comically or repulsively ugly or distorted: grotesque facial distortions. ∎ incongruous or inappropriate to a shocking degree: a lifestyle of grotesque luxury. • n. 1. a very ugly or comically distorted figure, creature, or image: the rods are carved in the form of a series of gargoyle faces and grotesques. ∎ (the grotesque) that which is grotesque: images of the macabre and the grotesque. ∎ a style of decorative painting or sculpture consisting of the interweaving of human and animal forms with flowers and foliage. 2. Printing a family of 19th-century sans serif typefaces. DERIVATIVES: gro·tesque·ly adv. gro·tesque·ness n. |
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Cite this article
"grotesque." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "grotesque." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-grotesque.html "grotesque." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-grotesque.html |
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grotesque
grotesque sb. decorative painting or sculpture with fantastic interweaving of forms XVI; adj. pert. to work of such a character, fantastically extravagant XVII; ludicrously incongruous XVIII. Earliest forms crotescque, -esco, grot(t)esco; — F. crotesque — (with assim. to OF. crote GROT) It. grottesca, fem. of grottesco, f. grotta; finally assim. to F. grotesque; see GROT, -ESQUE. The special sense is said to be due to the Rom. application of grotta to chambers of old buildings revealed by excavation and containing mural paintings of a certain type.
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T. F. HOAD. "grotesque." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "grotesque." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-grotesque.html T. F. HOAD. "grotesque." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-grotesque.html |
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grotesque
grotesque
•Basque, Monégasque
•ask, bask, cask, flask, Krasnoyarsk, mask, masque, task
•facemask
•arabesque, burlesque, Dantesque, desk, grotesque, humoresque, Junoesque, Kafkaesque, Moresque, picaresque, picturesque, plateresque, Pythonesque, Romanesque, sculpturesque, statuesque
•bisque, brisk, disc, disk, fisc, frisk, risk, whisk
•laserdisc • obelisk • basilisk
•odalisque • tamarisk • asterisk
•mosque, Tosk
•kiosk • Nynorsk • brusque
•busk, dusk, husk, musk, rusk, tusk
•subfusc • Novosibirsk
•mollusc (US mollusk) • damask
•Vitebsk
•Aleksandrovsk, Sverdlovsk
•Khabarovsk • Komsomolsk
•Omsk, Tomsk
•Gdansk, Murmansk, Saransk
•Smolensk
•Chelyabinsk, Minsk
•Donetsk, Novokuznetsk
•Irkutsk, Yakutsk
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"grotesque." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "grotesque." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-grotesque.html "grotesque." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-grotesque.html |
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