Editing Mise en abyme (section)

{{Short description|Technique of placing a copy of an image within itself, or a story within a story}}
{{multiple image
| width = 240 | direction=vertical
| image_gap = 15
| image1 = Las Meninas, by Diego Velázquez, from Prado in Google Earth.jpg
| image2 = Abyss of regular octagons.svg
| caption1 = {{lang|es|[[Las Meninas]]}} by [[Diego Velázquez|Velázquez]], used by [[André Gide|Gide]] to demonstrate the technique of ''mise en abyme''
| caption2 = Infinite abyss of [[Similarity (geometry)#Similarity_with_a_center|similar]] [[star polygon]]s
}}
In [[Western art history]], '''''mise en abyme''''' ({{IPA|fr|miz ɑ̃n‿abim}}; also '''''mise en abîme''''') is the technique of placing a copy of an image within itself, often in a way that suggests an infinitely recurring sequence. In [[film theory]] and [[literary theory]], it refers to the [[story within a story]] technique. 

The term is derived from [[heraldry]], and means ''placed into [[Escutcheon (heraldry)#Points|abyss]]'' (exact middle of a shield). It was first appropriated for modern criticism by the French author [[André Gide]]. A common sense of the phrase is the visual experience of standing between two mirrors and seeing an infinite reproduction of one's image.<ref name="Rheinhardt2012">{{cite book|last=Rheinhardt|first=Dagmar|title=Youtopia. a Passion for the Dark: Architecture at the Intersection Between Digital Processes and Theatrical Performance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38_ZvEwnGtQC&pg=PT42|year=2012|publisher=Freerange Press|isbn=978-0-9808689-1-3|page=42}}</ref> Another is the [[Droste effect]], in which a picture appears within itself, in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear.<ref>Nänny. Max and Fischer, Olga, ''The Motivated Sign: Iconicity in Language and Literature'' p.&nbsp;37, John Benjamins and Jersey Ellis's Publishing Company (2001) {{ISBN|90-272-2574-5}}</ref> The Droste effect is named after the 1904 [[Droste]] cocoa package, which depicts a woman holding a tray bearing a Droste cocoa package, which bears a smaller version of her image.<ref>Törnqvist, Egil. ''Ibsen: A Doll's House'', p. 105, Cambridge University Press (1995) {{ISBN|0-521-47866-9}}</ref>