Learn English – What does “carved in relief” mean

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I was looking up “cameo” and came across this definition:

A gem or shell carved in relief, especially one in which the raised design and the background consist of layers of contrasting colors.
Source: American Heritage Dictionary definition of “cameo”

This just confuses me more. What does “carved in relief” mean?

Best Answer

"Carved in relief" is a style of carving where an image stands out (or occasionally is cut into) a flat background.

For example this is a relief carving of a Viking ship:

low relief carving of Viking ship

Cameo jewellery typically also displays this kind of carving:

enter image description here

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