ekphrasis

American  

[ek-fruh-sis] / ˈɛk frə sɪs /

Or ecphrasis

noun

plural

ekphrases, ecphrases

1. a literary device consisting of a vivid, detailed description of a visual work of art.

   John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn” is a classic example of ekphrasis.

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Other Word Forms

• ecphrastic
  adjective
• ekphrastic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ekphrasis

First recorded in 1630–40; from Greek: “description,” from ekphrá(zein) “to describe” (from ek- ec- ( def. ) + phrázein “to speak”) + -sis -sis ( def. ); see phrase ( def. )

Explanation

Ekphrasis is a technique of writing about a work of visual art in great detail, as when a writer includes a vivid description of a painting in her novel. Ekphrasis is a literary device, a description of art which is so expressive that your reader can imagine it in detail. John Keats' famous "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is one well-known ekphrasis, a detailed reflection on a specific work of art. Ekphrasis can also be spoken or take other artistic forms — for example, your painting of a sculpture is also an ekphrasis, as is the song you wrote describing Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Example Sentences

The Reger was a marvelous example of musical ekphrasis — i.e., poetry about art.

From Washington Post • Nov. 6, 2022

The performance was a kind of call and response, or ekphrasis, with lyrics and chords inspired by Lethem's prose.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2018

The first printings of ekphrasis titles by Marcel Proust and Paul Gauguin sold out, as did a heftier collection of Donald Judd’s criticism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2018

The name for this hoary genre is ekphrasis, though in Lewis’s hands its conventions are scrambled.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 19, 2015

Ioannou grammatikou Gazes ekphrasis tou kosmikou pinakos tou en       kheimerio loutro.   ig.

From Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology by Mackail, J. W. (John William)