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grotesque |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Legal, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.02 sec. |
grotesqueIn architecture and decorative art, a mural or sculptural decoration combining animal, human, and plant forms. The word derives from the Italian grottesco, in reference to the grottolike underground rooms (grotte) where such ornaments were found during the excavation of Roman buildings c. 1500. The grotesque was revived in the Renaissance, and a fashion for it in 16th-century Italy quickly spread to the rest of Europe; it was used most frequently in fresco decoration (painted, carved, or molded) until the 19th century. grotesque 1. a 16th-century decorative style in which parts of human, animal, and plant forms are distorted and mixed 2. a decorative device, as in painting or sculpture, in this style How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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It was his notion that the moment one of the people took one of the truths to himself, called it his truth, and tried to live his life by it, he became a grotesque and the truth he embraced became a falsehood. In the finale she fell into some of those grotesque attitudes which were at the time popular among the dancers in the theatres up-town, giving to the Bowery public the phantasies of the aristocratic theatre-going public, at reduced rates. Moreover, it was not till late that the short plot was discarded for one of greater compass, and the grotesque diction of the earlier satyric form for the stately manner of Tragedy. |
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