repoussoir means the use of an object such as a curtain extremely close up to the picture plane in a painting. This originates from Baroque paintings and is used to create depth.
repoussoir is pronounced /ɹəpuˈswɑɹ/.
Why “repoussoir” is a great word
A compositional device in painting, typically an object or figure in the extreme foreground, used to force an illusion of spatial depth and to direct the viewer’s gaze into the picture plane. Borrowed from French repoussoir, from the verb repousser (“to push back, repulse”). Unlike “foreground,” which is merely the nearest pictorial zone, or “foreshortening,” which manipulates the form of a single object, a repoussoir is a deliberate, framing obstacle—a repelled thing that paradoxically pulls the world into being behind it. It is the dark silhouette of a standing figure at the left edge of a Canaletto, the overhanging branch that frames a distant valley, or the weathered stone urn crowding the corner of a Poussin—all insisting that the eye pause, then travel. It is the painter’s admission that we often need something pushed into our path to make us look beyond it.
Etymology
Borrowed from French repoussoir.
noun
- The use of an object such as a curtain extremely close up to the picture plane in a painting. This originates from Baroque paintings and is used to create depth
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- repoussé 54% match — A metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side. vs repoussoir →
- foreshorten 52% match — To render the image of an object such that it appears to be receding in space as it is perceived visually. vs repoussoir →
- foreshortening 50% match — A technique for creating the appearance that the object of a drawing is extending into space by shortening the lines with which that object is drawn. vs repoussoir →
- retable 49% match — A table or shelf behind an altar, on which are placed images or holy objects. vs repoussoir →
- repoussage 48% match — The art or process of hammering out or pressing thin metal from the reverse side, either to produce decorative work or to level up part of an etched plate that has been worked so as to cause a depression. vs repoussoir →
- contrapposto 48% match — 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. vs repoussoir →
- retroussage 47% match — A method of producing effective tones in the printing of etchings by skilful treatment of the ink in certain parts. vs repoussoir →
- rebuff 46% match — A sudden resistance or refusal. vs repoussoir →