Home › Glossary › Letter B

Bas-Relief

Art
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A sculpture in which figures project only slightly from a flat background.

Detailed Definition
Bas-relief creates depth through shallow projection, allowing images to seem both embedded in and released from a surface. In poetry, the term can describe figures, memories, or narratives that emerge subtly from a restrained verbal field. A poem may work like bas-relief when its emotional drama remains partially concealed, visible through slight shifts in image, rhythm, syntax, or recurring detail.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poet can compare a remembered face to bas-relief, partly raised from the flat stone of memory; In an ekphrastic poem, shadows along a bas-relief can represent details of history that have nearly worn away; A short poem may use shallow depth deliberately, showing only one emotional layer while hinting at more beneath it; Write a poem about an ancient wall carving, using light and shadow to reveal the figures slowly
Additional Notes
Bas-relief creates shallow depth, unlike high relief, where forms project much farther from the background.
Also Known As
Low Relief
Skip to main content