Learn English – Word to describe a picture within a picture within another and so on

single-word-requests

I believe there is a word to describe a situation where a picture contains a smaller picture, a smaller version of itself, and so that contains an even smaller version and so on.

Does anyone know this word?

Best Answer

It is the Droste effect.

The Droste effect - known as mise en abyme in heraldry - is the effect of a picture appearing within itself, in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. The appearance is recursive: the smaller version contains an even smaller version of the picture, and so on. Only in theory could this go on forever; practically, it continues only as long as the resolution of the picture allows, which is relatively short, since each iteration geometrically reduces the picture's size. ... The effect is named after the image on the tins and boxes of Droste cocoa powder, one of the main Dutch brands, which displayed a nurse carrying a serving tray with a cup of hot chocolate and a box with the same image. This image, introduced in 1904 and maintained for decades with slight variations, became a household notion. Reportedly, poet and columnist Nico Scheepmaker introduced wider usage of the term in the late 1970s.

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