silverpoint
Americannoun
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a technique of drawing with a silver stylus on specially prepared paper.
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a drawing made by this technique.
noun
Etymology
Origin of silverpoint
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We see Hans Holbein the Elder’s magnificent silverpoint portrait of Mathes Roriczer, drawn about 1490.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
The lines, made with graphite or silverpoint, waver slightly; the surfaces are often smudgy or blotchy.
From Washington Post • Feb. 25, 2022
The final price of $12.2 million was marginally better than the $11.5 million given in 2001 for Leonardo’s slightly larger silverpoint study “Horse and rider,” the previous auction high for a drawing by the artist.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 8, 2021
Laetitia Masson, an expert in old master drawings at Christie's, described silverpoint as "a very difficult technique, because it doesn't really admit any mistake".
From BBC • Jul. 7, 2021
Early on Tuesday we departed, but before that, I did Jan Prevost's portrait in silverpoint, and gave his wife 10 stivers at parting.
From Memoirs of Journeys to Venice and the Low Countries by Tombo, Rudolf
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
