Silhouette

A silhouette (English: /ˌsɪl.uˈɛt/; French: ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single color, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the hole is typically presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all. The silhouette differs from an outline, which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. Silhouette images may be created in any visual artistic media, but were first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour, and often framed.Human silhouette targets are use for military, police and civilian firearms training.Metallic silhouette, like these of the National Rifle Association are used for target shooting.A traditional silhouette image of Jane Austen, 18th centuryBeethoven as a boy, finely cut with details of hair and clothing, 18th centuryThe Mudflap girl is a common modern image on car mudflapsSilhouette image representing human evolutionTraffic signs often use silhouettes. This sign warns that the road crosses a railway line.The flag of Cyprus shows a map of the country in silhouette form. Countries are often identified by silhouette maps.A silhouette of the Statue of Liberty in New York. Monuments are often identified by their silhouettes.The Osborne bull advertising sign in Las Cabezas de San Juan, Spain.RuminationBelow Bethesda TerraceRelaxing at a Japanese templeBarack and Michelle Obama watching fireworksWalpurgis nightLined up for sunsetThe SilentSunset at al Masjid al-NabawiStill water at duskCambodia at sunset A silhouette (English: /ˌsɪl.uˈɛt/; French: ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single color, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the hole is typically presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all. The silhouette differs from an outline, which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. Silhouette images may be created in any visual artistic media, but were first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour, and often framed. Cutting portraits, generally in profile, from black card became popular in the mid-18th century, though the term silhouette was seldom used until the early decades of the 19th century, and the tradition has continued under this name into the 21st century. They represented a cheap but effective alternative to the portrait miniature, and skilled specialist artists could cut a high-quality bust portrait, by far the most common style, in a matter of minutes, working purely by eye. Other artists, especially from about 1790, drew an outline on paper, then painted it in, which could be equally quick. From its original graphic meaning, the term silhouette has been extended to describe the sight or representation of a person, object or scene that is backlit, and appears dark against a lighter background. Anything that appears this way, for example, a figure standing backlit in a doorway, may be described as 'in silhouette'. Because a silhouette emphasises the outline, the word has also been used in the fields of fashion and fitness to describe the shape of a person's body or the shape created by wearing clothing of a particular style or period. The word silhouette is derived from the name of Étienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who, in 1759, was forced by France's credit crisis during the Seven Years' War to impose severe economic demands upon the French people, particularly the wealthy. Because of de Silhouette's austere economies, his name became synonymous with anything done or made cheaply and so with these outline portraits. Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a person's appearance. The term silhouette, although existing from the 18th century, was not applied to the art of portrait-making until the 19th century. In the 18th and early 19th century, “profiles” or “shades” as they were called were made by one of three methods: The silhouette is closely tied in mythology to the origins of art. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (circa 77–79 AD) Books XXXIV and XXXV, recounts the origin of painting. In Chapter 5 of Book XXXV, he writes,