What does ekphrastic mean?

Definitions for ekphrastic
ekphras·tic

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word ekphrastic.

Wiktionary

  1. ekphrasticadjective

    pertaining to ekphrasis; clear, lucid

  2. Etymology: From ekphrasis.

Wikipedia

  1. Ekphrastic

    The word ekphrasis, or ecphrasis, comes from the Greek for the written description of a work of art produced as a rhetorical or literary exercise, often used in the adjectival form ekphrastic. It is a vivid, often dramatic, verbal description of a visual work of art, either real or imagined. Thus, "an ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art." In ancient times, it might refer more broadly to a description of any thing, person, or experience. The word comes from the Greek ἐκ ek and φράσις phrásis, 'out' and 'speak' respectively, and the verb ἐκφράζειν ekphrázein, 'to proclaim or call an inanimate object by name'. The works of art described or evoked, may be real or imagined; sometimes it is hard to tell. Ancient ekphrastic writing can be useful evidence for art historians, especially where paintings are concerned, as virtually no original Greco-Roman examples survive. Ekphrasis has been considered generally to be a rhetorical device in which one medium of art tries to relate to another medium by defining and describing its essence and form, and in doing so, relate more directly to the audience, through its illuminative liveliness. A descriptive work of prose or poetry, a film, or even a photograph may thus highlight through its rhetorical vividness what is happening, or what is shown in, say, any of the visual arts, and in doing so, may enhance the original art and so take on a life of its own through its brilliant description. One example is a painting of a sculpture: the painting is "telling the story of" the sculpture, and so becoming a storyteller, as well as a story (work of art) itself. Virtually any type of artistic medium may be the actor of or subject of ekphrasis. One may not always be able, for example, to make an accurate sculpture of a book to retell the story in an authentic way; yet if it is the spirit of the book that we are more concerned about, it certainly can be conveyed by virtually any medium and thereby enhance the artistic impact of the original book through synergy.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of ekphrastic in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of ekphrastic in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2


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"ekphrastic." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/ekphrastic>.

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