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sfumato
[ sfoo-mah-toh ]
/ sfuˈmɑ toʊ /
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noun Fine Arts.
the subtle and minute gradation of tone and color used to blur or veil the contours of a form in painting.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use sfumato in a sentence
It is like a picture, or a succession of pictures, painted in what the Italians call the sfumato, or "smoky" manner.
The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne|Frank Preston StearnsAll the secrets of richness, softness, and morbidenza, all the mysteries of pastoso and sfumato were his.
Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning|Robert BrowningThe gods were everything and nothing; they got lost in a sfumato.
The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism|Franz Cumont
British Dictionary definitions for sfumato
sfumato
/ (sfuːˈmɑːtəʊ) /
noun
(in painting) a gradual transition between areas of different colour, avoiding sharp outlines
Word Origin for sfumato
from Italian, from sfumato shaded off, from sfumare to shade off, from Latin ex- 1 + fūmāre to smoke
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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