contrapposto
/ˌkɒntɹəˈpɒstəʊ/
contrapposto means 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. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
contrapposto is pronounced /ˌkɒntɹəˈpɒstəʊ/.
Why “contrapposto” is a great word
CONTRAPPOSTO — [Noun] A pose in sculpture or painting where the human figure stands with most of its weight on one leg, causing the hips and shoulders to rest at opposing angles. From Italian *contrapposto* (past participle of *contrapporre*, 'to set against'), from Latin *contrāpōnō* ('to oppose, place opposite'), from *contrā* ('against') + *pōnō* ('to place'). First attested in English in 1903. Unlike *symmetria*, which demands a rigid, formal balance, or *frontality*, which presents a figure frozen and facing forward, contrapposto is a dynamic equilibrium, a geometry of breath. It is the coiled potential of a marble athlete about to spring, the graceful spill of fabric over a shifted hip, and the serene, swaying axis of a Renaissance Madonna—the entire history of art learning how to make stone stand as if it had just paused to think.
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.
noun
- 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.“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.”