Alto-relievo
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A form of sculpture in which carved figures or other objects protrude from the background. countable, uncountable
"Nobody is in the great pew of the Clavering family, except the statues of defunct baronets and their ladies: there is Sir Poyntz Clavering, Knight and Baronet, kneeling in a square beard opposite his wife in a ruff: a very fat lady, the Dame Rebecca Clavering, in alto-relievo, is borne up to Heaven by two little blue-veined angels, who seem to have a severe task—and so forth."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Nobody is in the great pew of the Clavering family, except the statues of defunct baronets and their ladies: there is Sir Poyntz Clavering, Knight and Baronet, kneeling in a square beard opposite his wife in a ruff: a very fat lady, the Dame Rebecca Clavering, in alto-relievo, is borne up to Heaven by two little blue-veined angels, who seem to have a severe task—and so forth."
Etymology
From Italian altorilievo (“high relief”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.