The Italian Language

Learn about the Italian language, grammar, vocabulary and culture

The Italian language has contributed as number of words related to art, principally XIV to XVII century techniques, as this was the period of the great Italian artists, such as Raphael and Michelangelo. Some of these words are:

Italian	English
affresco	Mural painting using pigment mixed with water on a wall previously coated with lime-plaster.
alla prima	Wet on wet, direct painting. Painting directly on the canvas without prior underpainting.
arte povera	An Italian artistic movement of the XX century.
bozzetto	A sculptor’s small-scale model of a larger work.
capriccio	A fanciful picture or an XVIII technique, where real an imaginary buildings are combined together, or existing ones are rearranged.
cassone	A large chess. In the Renaissance they were decorated with paintings.
chiaroscuro	Light and shade, usually highly contrasted, in a painting.
cinquecento	The XVI century in Italian art.
contrapposto	Referring to a type of pose, inspired by the Greeks and much used by the Mannerists.
dilettante	Amateur.
duecento	The XIII century in Italian art.
fiammingo	Related to a group of Flemish (Fiammingo) painters settled in Italy.
fresco	Mural painting using pigment mixed with water on a wall previously coated with lime-plaster.
gesso	A chalky white pigment mixed with glue used as a grounding in the Middle Ages and Renaissance on panel and canvas. Also plaster of Paris.
graffito (pl. graffiti) graffito	A technique where scratching a wall of one colour reveals a ground of another colour, thereby making any design stand out.
impasto	The placing of a thick opaque layer of paint on canvas, allowing the pantstrokes (or the marks of another instrument) to be seen.
imprimatura	A thin layer of paint applied to a ground, serving either as a middle tone or a means of making the ground less absorbent.
intaglio	Engraving on glass, stone, ceramic or other similar materials. Also refers to a printing technique.
intarsia	A technique where other substances are inlayed in wood, creating a design.
loggia	A room or porch opened to the air.
Madonna	The Virgin.
novecento	The XX century in Italian art.
Novecento Italiano	A XX century Italian movement.
ottocento	The XIX century in Italian art.
pasticcio	Pastiche.
patina	The signs of ageing left on works of art, principally sculptures.
pietà	A work depicting the Virgin with Jesus after His descent from the cross.
pietra dura	Hard stone. This usually refers to a type of mosaic using semiprecious stone.
pietra serena	A grey, malleable stone, typical of Tuscany.
putto	A small, chubby baby, usually represented nude and with wings as an accessory in mythological paintings.
quadrattura	A type of trompe l’oeil (illusionist) painting.
quadro riportato	A ceiling painting that does not use illusionistic effects.
quattrocento	The XIV century in Italian art.
rilievo	high-relief.
sacra conversazione	A painting of the Madonna and Child surrounded by saints.
scagliola	imitation marble.
seicento	The XVII century in Italian art.
sepia	A type of brown ink.
settecento	The XVIII century in Italian art.
sfumato	The blurring of contours in a painting.
graffito graffito	A technique where scratching a wall of one colour reveals a ground of another colour, thereby making any design stand out.
sinopia	The underpainting in fresco technique.
sotto in sù	A type of illusionistic ceiling painting.
Spazialismo	A XX century artistic movement.
stucco	A type of plaster.
tempera	A type of paint made from pigment, glue or gum and dissolved in water. When egg yolk is used it is referred to as egg tempera.
terracotta	Clay baked until it becomes hard and compact.
tondo	A round picture.
trecento	The XIII century in Italian art.
veduta	A panorama, landscape or cityscape.
virtù	The love for works of art or curios or an interest for the fine arts.
virtuoso	Someone learned in the fine arts.

 

	A terracotta flower-pot, a type of pot widely used in Italy, and principally in Tuscany, where gardeners often plant lemons or oranges

 

	The Loggia dei Lanzi, in Florence Aquatint by J. Maina (Ca. 1820)

 

The Pazzi Crucifixion (1494-96) at Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, in Florence, by Pietro Perugino, an example of fresco

Beato Angelico, Coronation of the Virgin, 1434-35. An example of tempera on wood

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