con⋅trap⋅pos⋅to
[kohn-truh-pos-toh] 
| a representation of the human body in which the forms are organized on a varying or curving axis to provide an asymmetrical balance to the figure. |
1900–05; < It < L contrāpositus, ptp. of contrāpōnere to place against. See contra-1 , posit
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| con·trap·pos·to (kōn'trə-pōs'tō) n. The position of a figure in painting or sculpture in which the hips and legs are turned in a different direction from that of the shoulders and head; the twisting of a figure on its own vertical axis. [Italian, past participle of contrapporre, to set opposite, contrast, from Latin contrāpōnere : contrā-, contra- + pōnere, to place; see apo- in Indo-European roots.] |
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contrapposto
(Italian: "opposite"), in the visual arts, a sculptural scheme, originated by the ancient Greeks, in which the standing human figure is poised such that the weight rests on one leg (called the engaged leg), freeing the other leg, which is bent at the knee. With the weight shift, the hips, shoulders, and head tilt, suggesting relaxation with the subtle internal organic movement that denotes life. Contrapposto may be used for draped as well as nude figures. The Greeks invented this formula in the early 5th century BC as an alternative to the stiffly static pose-in which the weight is distributed equally on both legs-that had dominated Greek figure sculpture in earlier periods. There is a clear development from the "Critius Boy" of the 5th century, whose leg is bent while his torso remains erect, to the completely relaxed 4th-century "Hermes Carrying the Infant Dionysus" by Praxiteles. The rhythmic ease of the contrapposto pose vastly enlarged the expressive possibilities of figure sculpture.
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