Literary notes about Polychromatic (AI summary)
The term "polychromatic" is used in literature to evoke a rich tapestry of color, often serving as both a literal and symbolic descriptor. Writers employ the word to bring to life vivid architectural details and decorative motifs—ranging from the intricate, multicolored layers on walls and stucco ([1], [2], [3], [4]) to entire urban landscapes painted with bold hues ([5], [6]). Beyond its visual reference, "polychromatic" can also color characterizations and moods, suggesting an interplay of diverse, sometimes overwhelming, emotional tones—such as in depictions where a character is transformed by or contrasted with a spectrum of colors ([7], [8]). In each case, the term enriches the narrative by inviting readers to see the world in a dynamic array of colors.
- The inner, as well as the outer walls, had a stone covering up to a certain height, and higher up a polychromatic layer of stucco.
— from The Historians' History of the World in Twenty-Five Volumes, Volume 01 Prolegomena; Egypt, Mesopotamia - Our cities faced the sun in those days, towering in polychromatic splendor.
— from Walls of Acid by Henry Hasse - This small, but typically Rhenish, parish church has also a series of polychromatic decorations which completely cover its available wall space.
— from The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield - The general effect of the interior is decidedly high coloured, with much polychromatic decoration and painted glass.
— from The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield - After so many months' absence, the polychromatic decorations of our English streets, looming up through the smoke, seemed both strange and familiar.
— from Miss Cayley's Adventures by Grant Allen - The architecture of Egypt, of Mesopotamia, of Persia, was polychromatic.
— from A History of Greek Art With an Introductory Chapter on Art in Egypt and Mesopotamia by F. B. (Frank Bigelow) Tarbell - Then out of his door and down the walk strode—not the polychromatic victim of a lost summertime, but the sheepman, rehabilitated.
— from Heart of the West [Annotated] by O. Henry - Bewitched as by the spinning of a polychromatic top, he could not leave the Island.
— from Sinister Street, vol. 2 by Compton MacKenzie
