virtu

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
virtu
    n 1: love of or taste for fine objects of art [syn: {virtu},
         {vertu}, {connoisseurship}]
    2: artistic quality [syn: {virtu}, {vertu}]
    3: objet d'art collectively (especially fine antiques)
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Virtu \Vir*tu"\ (?; 277), n. [It. virt[`u] virtue, excellence,
   from L. virtus. See {Virtue}.]
   A love of the fine arts; a taste for curiosities. --J.
   Spence.
   [1913 Webster]

   {An article of virtu}, or {a piece of virtu} an object of art
      or antiquity; a curiosity, such as those found in museums
      or private collections.
      [1913 Webster]

            I had thoughts, in my chambers to place it in view,
            To be shown to my friends as a piece of virt[`u].
                                                  --Goldsmith.
      [1913 Webster]
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
43 Moby Thesaurus words for "virtu":
      aesthetics, art, art object, artistic skill, artistic taste,
      artistry, arty-craftiness, brainchild, bric-a-brac, classic,
      composition, connoisseurship, creation, design, dilettantism,
      epicureanism, epicurism, expertise, expertism, flair, friandise,
      gastronomy, grotesque, kitsch, master, masterpiece, masterwork,
      mobile, museum piece, nude, old master, pasticcio, pastiche, piece,
      piece of virtu, stabile, statue, still life, study, talent,
      virtuosity, work, work of art
antiflux / dictionary / virtu
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