contrapposto

[kohn-truh-pos-toh]

noun

Fine Arts.

plural

contrappostos 

1. a representation of the human body in which the forms are organized on a varying or curving axis to provide an asymmetrical balance to the figure.

contrapposto

/ ˌkɒntrəˈpɒstəʊ /

noun

1. (in the visual arts) a curving or asymmetrical arrangement of the human figure with the shoulders, hips, and legs in different planes

Word History and Origins

Origin of contrapposto¹

1900–05; < Italian < Latin contrāpositus, past participle of contrāpōnere to place against. See contra ¹, posit

Word History and Origins

Origin of contrapposto¹

C20: from Italian, from the past participle of contrapporre, from Latin contra _contra- + pōnere to place

Example Sentences

In December, Casey and his husband and business partner, Nick Axelrod-Welk, who co-founded the website Into the Gloss and the brand Nécessaire, opened Contrapposto, a cosmetic dermatology clinic in West Hollywood.

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All the great bottoms of art history are in contrapposto — the Farnese Hercules, hip thrust out like a soccer goalie’s; Michelangelo’s David, who cradles his slingstone beside his perked right cheek.

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Third fundamental term: contrapposto, noun, Italian, a pose in which the body’s weight rests on one foot, resulting in a dynamic composition that puts the hips and shoulders at odds.

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“I teach them to trust their body more, to allow their hips to go one way and their upper body to go the other way, with contrapposto,” a term from visual art that describes the distribution of weight across the body, and resulting curves.

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Evenly spaced branches reached out from a trunk twisted into gentle contrapposto, its clusters of spring green foliage suggesting the outline of an isosceles triangle.

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