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A.Word.A.Day--grisaille

grisaille (gri-ZAI, ZAYL) noun

A painting in tones of a single color, especially gray, to represent objects in relief.

[From French grisaille (grayness), from gris (gray).]

An example: Odalisque in Grisaille by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.

"And the tenants-only restaurant and bar on the uppermost floors -- with their muted grisaille tones, baroque silver staircase surrounding a cylindrical glass elevator, and 360-degree views of all London -- are almost too perfect to believe."
David Littlejohn; It's a Pickle, It's a Pineapple -- It's a Brilliant New Skyscraper; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Sep 13, 2004.

"Mr. Okshteyn's large, grisaille photorealistic pictures are technically impressive, especially the ones made from graphite."
Art Guide; The New York Times; Mar 14, 2003.

See more usage examples of grisaille in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

This week's theme: words related to art.

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