When you have a picture that repeats within itself, seemingly endlessly, you can call it an infinity mirror, a repeating anchor, a portal to hell, or a mise en abyme ("a placing into an abyss").

Or, if you're trying to name what's happening in the image, rather than naming the image itself, you can call it the Droste effect.

In other words, the Droste effect is the seemingly impossible infinite repetition of an image within itself.

And if you want to get figurative, you can say that something creates the Droste effect, or falls into the Droste effect, if it seems to create or contain smaller copies or repetitions of itself. If you're scratching your head over that, don't worry; we'll explore some examples here in a minute.

The term "Droste effect" has definitely been around since the 1970s, but it may date as far back as 1904. It's named for the design below, created by Jan Misset in 1904 for a tin of hot cocoa produced by Droste, a Dutch brand.

In the design, check out the box of cocoa on the tray!

(Source)

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, the countable kind: "The ad makes use of the Droste effect."

Other forms: 

None.

how to use it:

The "Droste effect" is one of those delightfully specific terms that you may never need in your life. But if you do, you've got it! 

You might talk literally about images, posters, advertisements, and other media that create, achieve, or employ the Droste effect. Or you might talk about people finding, noticing, or delighting in the Droste effect. 

Or, you might talk figuratively about things that seem to use the Droste effect, or that collapse into the Droste effect, or that get sucked into the Droste effect. Like the model village of Bourton-on-the-Water, which contains a model model village, which contains a model model model village, which contains a model model model model village. Bourton-on-the-Water seems to have collapsed into the Droste effect.

examples:

(Source)

"The illustration on the book's front cover contains an infinite regression, an example of the Droste effect."
— "Dark Arts Defence – Basics for Beginners," Harry Potter Wiki, undated

"In the past two weeks, articles about Williams have often featured prominently on the Drudge Report. Last Wednesday afternoon, the website went quasi-Droste effect, posting a picture of Williams standing next to a screen displaying an image of himself that had appeared in another Drudge Report banner earlier in the day." 
— Callum Borchers, Washington Post, 16 October 2016

"It seemed as if Breitbart was descending into a Droste effect. A story about the writing of a story came as news to the story's writer and caused the writer to stop writing the story in an effort to rewrite the story about the story."
— Wil S. Hylton, New York Times, 16 August 2017

has this page helped you understand "Droste effect"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "Droste effect" without saying "picture in picture in picture" or "mise en abyme."

try it out:

Check out M. C. Escher's 1956 lithograph below, called Print Gallery. Here's how Wikipedia explains it: "It depicts a man in a gallery viewing a print of a seaport, and among the buildings in the seaport is the very gallery in which he is standing."

It's often cited as an example of the Droste effect, but notice how the image rotates as it repeats, and notice how the center is a void, a white nothingness.

(Source)

In your opinion, does Print Gallery make good use of the Droste effect? In other words, do you find Print Gallery an interesting, stimulating, creative use of the Droste effect? Or do you find it uncomfortable, disturbing, or dizzying?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

This month, our game is "Smorgasbord of Wordly Lore!"

Try a trivia question each day. It’ll have something to do with a food or a drink. You can play on hard mode by answering the question cold, or play on easy mode by highlighting the multiple choice options. To see the correct answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today: According to some sources, in 1765, a French man opened a new kind of business where he displayed a Biblical phrase in Latin that translates to "Come to me, those whose stomachs ache, and I will restore you." What kind of business was it?

Highlight below to reveal the multiple choice options.…
A. The first restaurant
B. The first coffee shop
C. The first bar

review this word:

1. A near opposite of the DROSTE EFFECT could be

A. a SOUR TASTE.
B. an UGLY SOUND.
C. a SINGLE IMAGE.

2. The speaker in Poe's "_____" seems to go mad, falling into the Droste effect, muttering "_____"

A. The Raven .. Thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!
B. A Dream Within a Dream .. Is all that we see or seem / But a dream within a dream?
C. The Bells .. To the tolling of the bells, / Of the bells, bells, bells, bells— / Bells, bells, bells— / To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. B Answer to the game question: The first restaurant.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.