What is the Definition and Meaning of Chiaroscuro?
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 the painter depicts the 3-D illumination of objects thus creating the illusion of solid forms.
