belvedere

views updated May 21 2018

belvedere a summer house or open-sided gallery, typically at rooftop level, commanding a fine view; the word comes (in the late 16th century) from Italian, literally ‘fair sight’. (See also the Apollo Belvedere at Apollo.)
Belvedere Torso a Greek sculpture fragment of a male nude, believed to have been copied by the Athenian sculptor Apollonius from a 2nd-century original; the pose of the torso influenced Michelangelo and was much studied in the Late Renaissance and Baroque periods.

belvedere

views updated Jun 08 2018

belvedere. Any raised structure or tower erected over the roof of a dwelling-house or on a vantage-point in a landscape from which pleasant scenery may be viewed. Such a building in a garden might be in the form of a Classical temple, and is also termed a gazebo, mirador, or summer-house.

belvedere

views updated May 18 2018

bel·ve·dere / ˈbelviˌdi(ə)r/ • n. a summerhouse or open-sided gallery, usually at rooftop level, commanding a fine view.

belvedere

views updated May 23 2018

belvedere turret on a building commanding a view. XVI. (partly through F. belvédère) — It. belvedere lit. ‘fair sight’, f. bel, bello beautiful + vedere sight.