frontality

noun

fron·​tal·​i·​ty ˌfrən-ˈta-lə-tē 

1

sculpture : a schematic composition of the front view that is complete without lateral movement

2

painting : the depiction of an object, figure, or scene in a plane parallel to the plane of the picture surface

Examples of frontality in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The painting’s rich detail and foursquare frontality all but command attention. —Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2023

But such efforts were entirely consistent with his practice of sending two paintings to the Salon every year—modern life subjects and portraits—calculated, in their scale and stark frontality, to command attention on the densely hung walls of the Palais de l’Industrie. —Colin B. Bailey, The New York Review of Books, 17 Nov. 2020

But with their stiff frontality, artifice, high-key colors and stylization, his figures had a strong element of abstraction. —Roberta Smith, New York Times, 20 June 2021

But his figures, with exquisite contours akin to Botticelli’s, have a blunt frontality that recalls American folk art. —BostonGlobe.com, 31 Oct. 2019

Napoleon’s stature here is magnified by the hieratic frontality of his pose and the fact that the image fills almost the entire canvas. —Benjamin Shull, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined at sense 1