Grisaille

grisaille (monochrome painting in grey tones)

noun gri-ZAI Rare

Origin: from French gris, grey

Usage Note

Grisaille is a monochrome painting executed entirely in shades of grey, often used as underpainting or to imitate stone sculpture. Feminine noun borrowed from French; common in art-history vocabulary.

Examples

"Die Grisaille dient als tonaler Grundaufbau für die späteren Farbschichten."

Natural Translation

The grisaille serves as the tonal foundation for the later colour layers.

Literal Translation

The grisaille serves as tonal basic-structure for the later colour-layers.

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