Grotesque

When commonly used, grotesque means strange, fantastic, ugly or bizarre, and thus is often used to describe shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween masks or gargoyles on churches. More specifically, the grotesque forms on buildings which are not used as drainspouts should not be called gargoyles, but rather referred to simply as grotesques.

In art history

In art, grotesques are a decorative form of arabesques with interlaced garlands and strange animal figures which were fashionable in ancient Rome (as wall decoration, mosaics, etc.) and in Renaissance art as wall decoration, in marquetry (fine woodwork), in book illustration and in other decorative uses. It should not be confused with the decorative form of strapwork (the portrayal of leather straps in plaster or wood moldings). In Medieval Illuminated manuscripts terminology, drolleries, half-human thumbnails drawn in the margins, are also called "grotesques".

Related Topics:
Arabesque - Rome - Renaissance - Strapwork - Illuminated manuscript - Drolleries

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