morbidezza

[ mawr-bi-det-suh; Italian mawr-bee-det-tsah ]

/ ˌmɔr bɪˈdɛt sə; Italian mɔr biˈdɛt tsɑ /

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noun Fine Arts.

the effect of extreme softness and delicacy in pictorial and sculptural representations.

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Origin of morbidezza

1615–25; <Italian, equivalent to morbid(o) delicate (see morbid) + -ezza-ice

The colouring was more soft and Roman, with the dull gleam of pearls, a distinguished pallor, morbidezza.
The Prose Writings of Heinrich Heine|Heinrich Heine
A bad painter often hits the general features, though he fall ever so short of the graces of Titian, or the Morbidezza of Guido.
A Year's Journey through France and Part of Spain, Volume II (of 2)|Philip Thicknesse
She was tall, and her lovely arms showed through the black gauze of her dress with an exquisite roundness and morbidezza.
Suburban Sketches|William Dean Howells
They blend the morbidezza of the senses with a rare feeling for natural and artistic beauty.
Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature|John Addington Symonds

Both are marked by the same morbidezza, the same pliancy, as of acanthus leaves that feather round the marble of some Roman ruin.
Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature|John Addington Symonds