Grotesque

Weird shapes, distorted bodies, discomforting faces—this is what grotesque refers to today. But in the 16th century, the word grottesca, or cave-like, was borrowed from Italian to describe the decroative floral elements of the recently-rediscovered Domus Aurea, a lavish underground palace build by the Roman emperor Nero. In the 17th century, grotesque became associated with the exagerated caricatures that cavorted in the elaborate floral decorations in the margins of medieval manuscripts, and evolved from there to focus on the ghastly.