staffage
/stəˈfɑːʒ
/noun [mass noun]
Accessory items in a painting, especially figures or animals in a landscape picture.Here, museum officials watch expectantly as a cow examines a recently acquired landscape painting with bovine staffage....
- Except for some staffage across the valley floor, the remainder of the vista corresponds to the etching with excruciating fidelity, with one notable exception.
- Instead, he resorted to artistic licence as regards scale, spatial relationships and the introduction of staffage.
Origin
Late 19th century: from German, from staffieren 'decorate', perhaps from Old French estoffer, from estoffe 'stuff'.