Glossary: chiaroscuro

The origins of this term are from the renaissance and refer to a drawing where the colours of the base tone move from light to dark. From this development we get the chiaroscuro woodblock, printed by two separate blocks, one light and the other dark. The method of lighting a painting by a single candle or one source of light flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries. Dark interiors, with people and objects in shadows are lit by this single light source resulting in a sharp contrast and a scene of great drama.