Glossary of Terms
The glossary of terms has been created to support the understanding of terms used within the Pre-Raphaelite resource. Please contact us if you would like us to add or amend a term.
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Lay figure
A figure or mannequin, sometimes life size, used by artists to study a pose or the draping of clothing in place of a human model.
Lithograph
Printing technique. Based on the principle that oil and water do not mix. The image is drawn with a greasy crayon or ink onto a stone surface, usually limestone. The surface is kept damp with water. This allows the oil-based ink to adhere to the greasy areas, but not to the unmarked areas. The nineteenth-century saw the development of colour lithography that demanded a separate stone printing for each additional colour.
Reference: Antony Griffiths Prints and Printmaking: An Introduction to the history and techniques, British Museum, 1980.
