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Glossary entry

Italian term or phrase:

materia pittorica

English translation:

paint / medium/a / painterly matter / impasto

Added to glossary by Ernestine Shargool
Oct 23, 2010 17:07
13 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Italian term

materia pittorica

Italian to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
describing a painting:

la povertà della materia pittorica è coerente con lo stile dell'artista negli ultimi anni della sua vita.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 paint / medium/a (depends on context)
Change log

Nov 6, 2010 04:39: Ernestine Shargool Created KOG entry

Nov 16, 2010 22:02: Ernestine Shargool changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/812677">Ernestine Shargool's</a> old entry - " materia pittorica "" to ""paint / medium/a / painterly matter""

Discussion

Magda P. Oct 23, 2010:
means of expression?
Moll (asker) Oct 23, 2010:
hello. We're talking about a sixteenth century fresco. We're talking about lack of colour and substance, not about subject matter. Later on in the text it says 'dai toni notevolmente ribassati e impoveriti del quadro in esame'.
philgoddard Oct 23, 2010:
More context please - what comes before and after this? What picture is it talking about? This would help in understanding what it means by povertà.

Proposed translations

+2
1 hr
Selected

paint / medium/a (depends on context)

'materia pittorica' often just means 'paint' o medium/a used in the painting. You should be able to tell from the rest of the text if this is what it means here.

Van Gogh infine arrivava spesso a spremere direttamente il colore dal tubetto, in modo che la materia pittorica non fusa acquistasse una sua essenza autonoma, carica di tensione dalla vitalità febbrile[6].
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittura_a_olio

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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-10-23 19:52:00 GMT)
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Synchronicity! I'm watching this programme (below) and the presenter has just used the expression "painterly matter" (which I had never heard before). It doesn't get many Ghits, but it's on BBC2!

In the second programme of his series on Renaissance painting, artist and writer Matthew Collings steps into the mysterious invented world of `The Garden of Earthly Delights' by Hieronymus Bosch. Using the latest high-resolution digital technology, Matthew is able to explore this extraordinary painting in minute detail and unravel some of the arcane messages that Bosch has woven into it.

http://www.onthebox.com/tv/episode/epe11845175001/renaissanc...


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Note added at 24 days (2010-11-16 22:01:11 GMT) Post-grading
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Also impasto for 'thick paint' (an Italian word, of course, but also used in English, and I've just heard it used by Muriel Gray talking about the Glasgow Boys - BBC 4).
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : I like "medium". But Matthew Collings is obviously trying to communicate with you telepathically!
2 hrs
Yes, I was impressed! ;-) When I've downloaded the programme I'll find the exact sentence... if I remember correctly it was something like "big gloops of painterly matter"! :-)
agree Sara Bollati : Painterly matter seems even more appropriate than medium. I found it does get many Ghits and it can be used to refer also to material other than just paint.
5 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
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