What does staffage mean?
Definitions for staffage
staffage
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word staffage.
Did you actually mean stoppage or staff office?
Wiktionary
staffagenoun
The people and animals represented in a landscape painting
Wikipedia
Staffage
In painting, staffage (French pronunciation: [stafaʒ]) are the human and animal figures depicted in a scene, especially a landscape, that are not the primary subject matter of the work. Typically they are small, and there to add an indication of scale and add interest. Before the adoption of the word into the visual arts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Staffage in German could mean "accessories" or "decoration". The word can be used in two senses: as a general term for any figures in a work, even when they are, at least ostensibly, the main subject, and as a descriptive term for figures to whom no specific identity or story is attached, included merely for compositional or decorative reasons. In the latter sense, staffage are accessories to the scene, yet add life to the work; they provide depth to the painting and reinforce the main subject, as well as giving a clear scale to the rest of the composition. During the Baroque, painters such as Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain commonly used staffage. Some landscape specialists had other painters who were more adept at painting the human form add staffage to their canvasses. Staffage figures in the second sense defined above are always unnamed and should be distinguished from equally small figures with an identity, who were also used in landscapes in what is technically a very similar way. However, when named biblical or mythological figures are used, instead of unnamed "shepherds", "soldiers" and so on, this had the effect, according to the contemporary theory of the hierarchy of genres, in turning a landscape painting into a more prestigious, and often more valuable, history painting, even when the figures are small and inconspicuous amid a large landscape. Such works are often given modern titles in the form "Landscape with ...". Staffage should also be distinguished from the figures in genre paintings, who are also anonymous and typically from the common people, but who are the main subject of the painting. By the 19th century, books with patterns for hundreds of different staffage figures were published for painters to "cut and paste" into their compositions. Earlier artists had often kept drawings of such pattern figures, and the same figures often recur in several of the works of an artist, and can sometimes be traced passing to other artists.
Wikidata
Staffage
In painting, staffage, pronounced "staffarge" as in French, are the human and animal figures depicted in a scene, especially a landscape, that are not the primary subject matter of the work. Before the adoption of the word into the visual arts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Staffage in German could mean "accessories" or "decoration". The word can be used in two senses: as a general term for any figures in a work, even when they are, at least ostensibly, the main subject, and as a descriptive term for figures to whom no specific identity or story is attached, included merely for compositional or decorative reasons. In the latter sense, staffage are accessories to the scene, yet add life to the work; they provide depth to the painting and reinforce the main subject, as well as giving a clear scale to the rest of the composition. During the Baroque, painters such as Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain commonly used staffage. Some landscape specialists had other painters who were more adept at painting the human form add staffage to their canvasses. Staffage figures in the second sense defined above are always unnamed and should be distinguished from equally small figures with an identity, who were also used in landscapes in what is technically a very similar way. However when named biblical or mythological figures are used, instead of unnamed "shepherds", "soldiers" and so on, this had the effect, according to the contemporary theory of the hierarchy of genres, in turning a landscape painting into a more prestigious, and often more valuable, history painting, even when the figures are small and inconspicuous amid a large landscape. Such works are often given modern titles in the form "Landscape with ...".
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of staffage in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of staffage in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Translation
Find a translation for the staffage definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"staffage." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/staffage>.
Discuss these staffage definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In