What does grotesque mean in art?
What does grotesque mean in art?
Grotesque, in architecture and decorative art, fanciful mural or sculptural decoration involving mixed animal, human, and plant forms. The word is derived from the Italian grotteschi, referring to the grottoes in which these decorations were found c.
What does grotesque mean in literature?
The Grotesque – Nowadays, when people talk about “the grotesque,” their meaning is closer to its adjectival form: “very strange or ugly in a way that is not normal or natural.” The grotesque in literature focuses on the human body, and all the ways that it can be distorted or exaggerated: its aim is to simultaneously …
What is a grotesque carving?
A grotesque is a carved figure, usually of a mytholigical creature, demon, or strange beast, used as an ornamental feature in church decoration. Grotesques might depict human figures or faces, demons, animals, or other mythical creatures, often with exaggerated fierce of humourous expressions.
What is the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque?
The main difference between gargoyles and grotesques is that gargoyles contain a water sprout through the mouth, whereas grotesques do not. In architecture, gargoyles and grotesques are mythical and fantastical figures used for decorative purposes.
What is the best definition of grotesque?
grotesque • \groh-TESK\ • adjective. 1 : fanciful, bizarre 2 : absurdly incongruous 3 : departing markedly from the natural, the expected, or the typical. Examples: Gargoyles with twisted faces and grotesque features leered down from the medieval cathedral. “
Why do churches have grotesques?
During the Middles Ages, the Catholic Church used grotesques on their churches to tell the populace through the images how faith would protect them.
What is the meaning of grotesques?
1a : a style of decorative art characterized by fanciful or fantastic human and animal forms often interwoven with foliage or similar figures that may distort the natural into absurdity, ugliness, or caricature. b : a piece of work in this style an ornate structure, embellished with grotesques. 2 : one that is …
Are gargoyles evil or good?
Gargoyles were also thought to ward off evil. In this sense they served as almost an “evil eye”—they were evil-looking creatures that were designed to keep evil at bay.
What is the most famous gargoyle?
Notre Dame Cathedral
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris Perhaps the most well-known gargoyles in the world hover on Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Technically known as grotesques (true gargoyles have waterspouts as mouths), these monstrous creatures glare ominously down on the City of Light.
Who is a grotesque character?
A character whose behavior and more importantly appearance are out of the ordinary, bizarre, ugly and abnormal.
Why are gargoyles on Catholic churches?
The Catholic Church’s primary use of the gargoyle was to illustrate evil. The church wanted to convey a realistic image of the possibility of a damned afterlife. The Gothic idea was one of pain and suffering and the buildings loomed over the citizens in a romantically dramatic cloud.
What does grotesque mean in art and literature?
In art, performance, and literature, however, grotesque may also refer to something that simultaneously invokes in an audience a feeling of uncomfortable bizarreness as well as sympathetic pity. More specifically, the grotesque forms on Gothic buildings, when not used as drain-spouts, should not be called gargoyles,…
What’s the difference between a grotesque and a gargoyle?
In architecture the term “grotesque” means a carved stone figure. Grotesques are often confused with gargoyles, but the distinction is that gargoyles are figures that contain a water spout through the mouth, while grotesques do not.
When can bizarre be used to replace grotesque?
While all three words mean “conceived, made, or carried out without adherence to truth or reality,” grotesque may apply to what is conventionally ugly but artistically effective or it may connote ludicrous awkwardness or incongruity often with sinister or tragic overtones. When could bizarre be used to replace grotesque?
Is the word Grotesque a synonym for sans serif?
The word “Grotesque”, or “Grotesk” in German, is also frequently used as a synonym for sans-serif in typography. At other times, it is used (along with “Neo-Grotesque”, “Humanist”, “Lineal”, and “Geometric”) to describe a particular style or subset of sans-serif typefaces.
