Although lacking a precise definition, the fine art term "chiaroscuro" (from the Italian for "light-dark"; or the French "clair-obscur") describes the prominent contrast of light and shade in a painting, drawing or print, and the skill demonstrated by the artist in the management of shadows to create the illusion of three-dimensional forms.
The point is, solidity of form is only detectable in the presence of light. (For instance, it is only as dawn approaches that objects or figures - hitherto detectable only as slightly darker blobs than their surroundings - acquire volume and a three-dimensional appearance.) And if light emanates from a single source, it illuminates objects according to a specific set of rules. Chiaroscuro describes how …show more content…
Enduring in a somewhat primitive form during the era of Byzantine art (c.400-1400), the technique was refined in the West during the late Middle Ages and by 1400 was a standard feature in both gospel illuminations and …show more content…
In their consequent depictions of the Nativity and other scenes involving the infant Jesus, Renaissance artists such as Hugo van der Goes (1440-82) frequently made this holy light the predominant source of illumination, relying heavily on chiaroscuro in the process. Leonardo (Virgin of the Rocks) was another hugely influential pioneer of the technique. A compositional approach which was duly extended to the adult Jesus in scenes of the Last Supper by several painters including Tintoretto (1518-94). If most religious chiaroscuro during the Renaissance era served to create scenes of serenity and calm, Mannerism painters such as Caravaggio, Paolo Veronese (1528-88), Giovanni Baglione (1566-1643), Georges de La Tour (1593-1652) and others - tended to use it for more dramatic effect after earlier efforts by the likes of Ugo da Carpi
The point is, solidity of form is only detectable in the presence of light. (For instance, it is only as dawn approaches that objects or figures - hitherto detectable only as slightly darker blobs than their surroundings - acquire volume and a three-dimensional appearance.) And if light emanates from a single source, it illuminates objects according to a specific set of rules. Chiaroscuro describes how …show more content…
Enduring in a somewhat primitive form during the era of Byzantine art (c.400-1400), the technique was refined in the West during the late Middle Ages and by 1400 was a standard feature in both gospel illuminations and …show more content…
In their consequent depictions of the Nativity and other scenes involving the infant Jesus, Renaissance artists such as Hugo van der Goes (1440-82) frequently made this holy light the predominant source of illumination, relying heavily on chiaroscuro in the process. Leonardo (Virgin of the Rocks) was another hugely influential pioneer of the technique. A compositional approach which was duly extended to the adult Jesus in scenes of the Last Supper by several painters including Tintoretto (1518-94). If most religious chiaroscuro during the Renaissance era served to create scenes of serenity and calm, Mannerism painters such as Caravaggio, Paolo Veronese (1528-88), Giovanni Baglione (1566-1643), Georges de La Tour (1593-1652) and others - tended to use it for more dramatic effect after earlier efforts by the likes of Ugo da Carpi