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

The guests, several of whom described the gathering for this article, played tableau vivant, an old-timey version of charades, in which participants enact famous paintings.

From New York Times • Feb. 26, 2022

After all, close scrutiny of a painting or a sculpture is not the aim of a tableau vivant.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 16, 2021

In one project for Hixson’s course, which focused on socially engaged art, students dressed up to create a tableau vivant, or living picture, re-creating Raphael’s masterpiece “The School of Athens.”

From Washington Post • Mar. 22, 2017

It’s a tableau vivant of a woman dressed in a golden gown, sitting on a revolving platform and playing an E-minor chord on a guitar.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 11, 2016

And 189 in this transcript of the larger tableau vivant we find exactly the same phenomena.

From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by Davidson, John