Pl. -os. [It. alto-rilievo high relief; this spelling is sometimes used in Eng.] High relief; sculpture or carved work in which the figures project more than one half of their true proportions from the wall or surface on which they are carved. Hence concr. A sculpture or carving in high relief.
1717. Berkeley, in Fraser, Life (1871), 550. The infinite profusion of alto-relievo.
1762. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), I. 276. A fine bust of queen Elizabeth on onyx, alto relievo in profile.
1773. Brydone, Sicily, xix. (1809), 199. The representation of a boar-hunting in alto relievo, on white marble.
1878. Lady Herbert, trans. Hübner’s Round the World, II. v. 342. There are no alto-relievos.
