Grisaille

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The Baptism of Christ, one of Andrea del Sarto's gray monochrome frescoes in the Chiostro dello Scalzo, Florence (1511-26).

Grisaille (grĭ-zī', -zāl') (Fr. gris, grey) is a term for painting executed entirely in monochrome, in various shades of grey, particularly used in decoration to represent objects in relief.

A grisaille may be executed for its own sake as a decoration, as the first layer of an oil painting (in preparation for glazing layers of color over it), or as a model for an engraver to work from.

For example, the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine chapel have portions of the design in grisaille. At Hampton Court the lower part of the decoration of the great staircase by Antonio Verrio is in grisaille.

[edit] In Enamel and Stained Glass

window of St. Peter: Stained glass (white glass, grisaille and silver sulfide) and lead, France, ca. 1500–1510.

The term is also applied to monochrome painting in enamels, and also to stained glass; a fine example of grisaille glass is in the window known as the "Five Sisters",[1] at the end of the north transept in York cathedral.

Portions of a window may be done in grisaille, while other sections are done in colored glass.