contraposto

Contrapposto, from the Italian contrapporre meaning "to place against," is a pose in sculpture and painting in which the weight of the body rests on one leg, causing the hips and shoulders to tilt in opposite directions. This creates an S-shaped curve of the torso and a sense of potential movement, rather than rigid frontal symmetry.

The effect emerged in ancient Greece during the later 5th century BCE, with early experimentation in the Kritios Boy (ca. 480 BCE) and reached maturity in works such as the Riace Warriors. Polykleitos’ Doryphoros (ca. 450–440 BCE) is often cited as a canonical example, linked to an explicit system of proportion that nonetheless relies on contrapposto to achieve naturalism.

What characterizes contrapposto is the shift of weight to one leg (the engaged leg), a relaxed knee on that side, raised hip on the opposite side, and a corresponding rotation of the shoulders and torso. The head may orient toward the upper side, creating an intelligible tension between opposites that implies motion.

The Renaissance revived contrapposto as part of recovering classical ideals; artists such as Michelangelo and later Baroque painters exploited the principle to convey vitality and expressiveness. In later periods, contrapposto was adapted and sometimes exaggerated (as in Mannerism) or returned to a more restrained form in neoclassicism.

In painting and sculpture, contrapposto functions as a visual device to animate the figure and organize a composition by distributing weight and counterbalancing forms across the body.

See also: Kritios Boy; Doryphoros; Michelangelo's David.