contrapposto
nounUK /ˌkɒntɹəˈpɒstəʊ/ · US /ˌkɑntɹəˈpɑstoʊ/
Etymology Borrowed from Italian contrapposto (“contrasting; opposing”, adjective), the past participle of contrapporre (“to set against, counter”), from Latin contrāpōnere, the present active infinitive of contrāpōnō (“to oppose; to place opposite”), from contrā (“against; contrary to”) + pōnō (“to place, put”). The plural form contrapposti is borrowed from Italian contrapposti, the masculine plural form of contrapposto.
1
Art, Arts 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.
Especially sculpture
- 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.1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae: Art and Decadance from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, London; New Haven, Conn.: Yale Nota Bene, Yale University Press, published 2001, →ISBN:
- 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.1999, James Elkins, “Psychomachia”, in Pictures of the Body: Pain and Metamorphosis, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, part 1, page 87:
2 more examples
- The hawkers' athletic contrappostos, intellectual and imaginary rather than plausible, speak of the mind's superiority to the body.2002, Sean Shesgreen, “Broadsheet Cries and British Commerce”, in Images of the Outcast: The Urban Poor in the Cries of London, Manchester: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 36, column 1:
- 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.2022, Sarah Lepinski, Vanessa Rousseau, “Iconography and Imagery between Rome and the Provinces: A Case Study in Domestic Décor”, in Lea K. Cline, Nathan T. Elkins, editors, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, part II (Image and Semantics), page 203:
- Related terms
- contrapose, contraposition