sfumato

[ sfoo-mah-toh ]

/ sfuˈmɑ toʊ /

the subtle and minute gradation of tone and color used to blur or veil the contours of a form in painting.

Origin of sfumato

1840–50; < Italian, past participle of sfumare to gradate tone or color, equivalent to s- < Latin ex- ex-¹ + fumare to smoke < Latin fumāre; see fume

sfm, sfo, sforza, sforzando, sfr., sfumato, sfw, sfx, sfz, sg, sgabello

It is like a picture, or a succession of pictures, painted in what the Italians call the sfumato, or "smoky" manner.

The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne |Frank Preston Stearns
The gods were everything and nothing; they got lost in a sfumato.

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism |Franz Cumont
All the secrets of richness, softness, and morbidenza, all the mysteries of pastoso and sfumato were his.

Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning |Robert Browning

sfumato

/ (sfuːˈmɑːtəʊ) /

(in painting) a gradual transition between areas of different colour, avoiding sharp outlines

from Italian, from sfumato shaded off, from sfumare to shade off, from Latin ex- 1 + fūmāre to smoke