Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro uses strong contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional forms, establish spatial depth, and direct attention.

Tenebrism: A dramatic painting style that sets brightly illuminated figures against extensive darkness. It intensifies chiaroscuro by making darkness dominate the composition.
The Calling of Saint Matthew: A painting by Caravaggio depicting Christ calling Matthew, completed around 1600. A beam of light isolates the figures and gives the biblical scene its dramatic focus.
Leonardo da Vinci: An Italian Renaissance artist, engineer, and scientist known for works including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. His experiments with modeling and shadow helped establish chiaroscuro in Renaissance painting.
Woodcut: A relief-printing technique in which an image is cut into a wooden block and printed from raised surfaces. Artists can use contrasting carved and uncarved areas to create bold light-dark effects.
Sfumato: A painting technique that softens transitions between colors and tones without sharp outlines. Its smoky transitions model forms without the stark contrasts often associated with chiaroscuro.
Value (art): The relative lightness or darkness of a color, independent of its hue and saturation. Arranging values creates the contrasts that make chiaroscuro legible.
The Supper at Emmaus (Caravaggio, 1601): A Caravaggio painting of the moment when the resurrected Jesus is recognized at a meal. Strongly lit figures and deep shadows turn a quiet setting into a revelation.
Renaissance: A European cultural movement, beginning in Italy, that renewed interest in classical learning and art. Chiaroscuro developed within Renaissance efforts to represent volume and naturalistic light.
Engraving: A printmaking process in which lines are cut into a plate and hold the printing ink. Dense lines and crosshatching can model forms through tonal contrast.
Cloisonnism: A painting style that separates flat areas of color with bold, dark outlines. It defines forms with outlines rather than modeling them through light-dark transitions.

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