Akademik

   A painting executed in monochrome (usually gray) to replicate the appearance of stone sculpture. In Netherlandish altarpieces, saints painted in grisaille usually figure on the shutters. When the altarpiece is opened, these exterior panels provide a contrast to the brilliantly colored interior scenes. An example is the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubert (c. 1425-1432; Ghent, Cathedral of St.-Bavon) where Sts. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist are painted in grisaille and therefore made to look like statues occupying Gothic niches. Similarly, Hans Memling's Last Judgment Triptych (1473; Danzig, Muzeum Pomorskie) shows the donors on the outer panels kneeling in front of grisaille figures of the Virgin, Child, and St. Michael. In Italy, quadratura ceilings often include figures in grisaille to imitate the sculpture that then adorned contemporary architecture. In Annibale Carracci's Farnese ceiling (c. 1597-1600; Rome, Palazzo Farnese), for example, herms painted in grisaille support fictive lintels adorned with shelled motifs to give the appearance of real architectural elements separating the various scenes.