morbidezza

American  

[mawr-bi-det-suh, mawr-bee-det-tsah] / ˌmɔr bɪˈdɛt sə, mɔr biˈdɛt tsɑ /

noun

Fine Arts.

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

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Etymology

Origin of morbidezza

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

Example Sentences

He was compared to Sorolla y Bastida for vitality; the morbidezza of his flesh-tints was stated to be unrivalled even by—I forget the name, painting is not my speciality.

From The Grim Smile of the Five Towns by Bennett, Arnold

It had that creamy morbidezza one sees in a furled magnolia bud.

From A Butterfly on the Wheel by Gull, Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger

But you took to drawing plans; you don't understand morbidezza, and that kind of thing.

From Middlemarch by Eliot, George

Morbidezza is the precise phrase; morbidezza may be found in Chopin's art, in the very feverish moments when he seems brimming over with high spirits.

From Promenades of an Impressionist by Huneker, James

Environed thus, and with a peculiarly Italian morbidezza, or plasticity we find Machiavelli.

From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 10 by Brann, William Cowper