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I was looking up “cameo” and came across this definition:
A gem or shell carved in relief, especially one in which the raised design and the background consist of layers of contrasting colors.
Source: American Heritage Dictionary definition of “cameo”
This just confuses me more. What does “carved in relief” mean?
"Carved in relief" is a style of carving where an image stands out (or occasionally is cut into) a flat background.
For example this is a relief carving of a Viking ship:
Cameo jewellery typically also displays this kind of carving:
Did you try looking up relief in a dictionary? Check out Macmillan, definition #4:
relief (n.)
arta design or sculpture consisting of a raised surface on a flat background
You can also see some examples by looking up the phrase on Google images.
The woman on the brooch on the left is carved in relief. On the other hand, the wheel on the right is stamped in relief:
In addition to being used in the phrase in relief, the word relief can also be used adjectivally:
Everything that does not exist is a relief sculpture carved into the stone of consciousness.
It means that the background has been cut away to make it look like the the sculpted or carved material has been raised.
