tableau vivant

American  

[ta-bloh vee-vahn] / ta bloʊ viˈvɑ̃ /

noun

French.

plural

tableaux vivants

1. tableau.

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tableau vivant British  

/ tablo vivɑ̃ /

noun

1. a representation of a scene, painting, sculpture, etc, by a person or group posed silent and motionless

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Etymology

Origin of tableau vivant

Literally, “living picture”

Example Sentences

This tableau vivant of corseted dancers encased in seventeenth-century hoopskirts resembles a painting by Velázquez inflected with contemporary haute-couture decadence.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 15, 2019

The vision God bless us every one, a Tudorbethan tableau vivant of bronzed meats, spice and familial merriment.

From The Guardian • Dec. 23, 2018

For his debut presentation, an informal tableau vivant, she made a point of not arriving until the final minutes.

From Washington Post • Jun. 2, 2018

Borrowing aesthetic motifs from earlier art, like medieval and Renaissance painting, Ms. Bruguera’s tableau vivant asks you to “stop looking and start thinking” about politics, history and violence.

From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2018

In another moment a curious and deeply interesting tableau vivant was revealed to their astonished gaze.

From The Golden Dream Adventures in the Far West by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)