sfumato

[ sfoo-mah-toh ]

noun

, Fine Arts.

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

sfumato

/ sfuːˈmɑːtəʊ /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sfumato¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sfumato¹

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

Example Sentences

He creates a technique called sfumato, which comes from the Italian word fumo, or “smoke.”

From Literature

His new technique of sfumato blurs everything together, the way smoke dissolves into air.

From Literature

The Mona Lisa is the height of sfumato.

From Literature

But some behold a deeper beauty there, too—the Mona Lisa’s hazy landscape and beguiling expression alike arise from Leonardo’s use of sfumato, a complex technique in which soft outlines emerge from many delicate layers of paint, like figures from a fog.

From Scientific American

Similar to the Italian lemons—the tarter Sorrento and the sweeter Sfumato—used to make limoncello, my two lemon varieties impart different levels of sweetness and tartness.

From Salon