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Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== French, from ''Étienne de Silhouette'' †1767 French controller general of finances. *[http://en.wikipe...'
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==Origin==
French, from ''Étienne de Silhouette'' †1767 French controller general of finances.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_century 1783]
The word "silhouette" derives from the name of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_de_Silhouette Étienne de Silhouette], a French finance minister who, in 1759, was forced by France's credit crisis during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Years_War Seven Years War] to impose severe [[economic]] demands upon the French people, particularly the [[wealthy]]. Because of de Silhouette's [[austere]] economies, his name became eponymous with anything done or made cheaply and so with these outline portraits. Prior to the advent of [[photography]], silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a [[person]]'s [[appearance]].
The term "silhouette", although existing from the 18th century, was not applied to the [[art]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portraiture portrait-making] until the 19th century. In the 18th and early 19th century, “profiles” or “shades” as they were called were made by one of 3 [[methods]]: (1) painted on ivory, plaster, paper, card, or in reverse on glass; (2) “hollow-cut” where the negative image was traced and then cut away from light colored [[paper]] which was then laid atop a dark background; and (3) “cut & paste” where the figure was cut out of dark paper (usually free-hand) and then pasted onto a light background.
==Definitions==
*1: a likeness cut from [[dark]] material and mounted on a [[light]] ground or one sketched in outline and solidly colored in
*2: the outline of a [[body]] viewed as circumscribing a mass <the silhouette of a bird>
==Description==
A '''silhouette''' is the image of a [[person]], an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the [[art]] form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades of the 19th century. Silhouette images may be created in any artistic [[media]], but the [[tradition]] of cutting portraits from black card has continued into the 21st century.
From its original graphic [[meaning]], the term "silhouette" has been extended to describe the [[sight]] or [[representation]] of a [[person]], object or scene that is backlit, and appears dark against a lighter background. Anything that appears this way, for [[example]], a figure standing backlit in a doorway, may be described as "in silhouette". Because a silhouette [[emphasises]] the outline, the [[word]] has also been used in the fields of [[fashion]] and fitness to [[describe]] the shape of a person's [[body]] or the shape created by wearing clothing of a particular style or period.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silhouette]
[[Category: The Arts]]
==Origin==
French, from ''Étienne de Silhouette'' †1767 French controller general of finances.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_century 1783]
The word "silhouette" derives from the name of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tienne_de_Silhouette Étienne de Silhouette], a French finance minister who, in 1759, was forced by France's credit crisis during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Years_War Seven Years War] to impose severe [[economic]] demands upon the French people, particularly the [[wealthy]]. Because of de Silhouette's [[austere]] economies, his name became eponymous with anything done or made cheaply and so with these outline portraits. Prior to the advent of [[photography]], silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a [[person]]'s [[appearance]].
The term "silhouette", although existing from the 18th century, was not applied to the [[art]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portraiture portrait-making] until the 19th century. In the 18th and early 19th century, “profiles” or “shades” as they were called were made by one of 3 [[methods]]: (1) painted on ivory, plaster, paper, card, or in reverse on glass; (2) “hollow-cut” where the negative image was traced and then cut away from light colored [[paper]] which was then laid atop a dark background; and (3) “cut & paste” where the figure was cut out of dark paper (usually free-hand) and then pasted onto a light background.
==Definitions==
*1: a likeness cut from [[dark]] material and mounted on a [[light]] ground or one sketched in outline and solidly colored in
*2: the outline of a [[body]] viewed as circumscribing a mass <the silhouette of a bird>
==Description==
A '''silhouette''' is the image of a [[person]], an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the [[art]] form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades of the 19th century. Silhouette images may be created in any artistic [[media]], but the [[tradition]] of cutting portraits from black card has continued into the 21st century.
From its original graphic [[meaning]], the term "silhouette" has been extended to describe the [[sight]] or [[representation]] of a [[person]], object or scene that is backlit, and appears dark against a lighter background. Anything that appears this way, for [[example]], a figure standing backlit in a doorway, may be described as "in silhouette". Because a silhouette [[emphasises]] the outline, the [[word]] has also been used in the fields of [[fashion]] and fitness to [[describe]] the shape of a person's [[body]] or the shape created by wearing clothing of a particular style or period.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silhouette]
[[Category: The Arts]]
