Telling a story using shadows, and the nineteenth century controversy over the colour of shadows.
shadow
From the shadowed silhouette painted by the legendary Dibutades to paintings of families involved in shadow play.
Used by Joseph Wright of Derby to symbolise knowledge coming from darkness, by Henry Fuseli for the mysterious even supernatural, and Millet and van Gogh for poverty.
A whirlwind trip through the history of compositional chiaroscuro, from the Renaissance, through Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi, to Rembrandt.
Why do Canaletto’s gondolas not have shadows? Where did Cézanne get his shadows wrong, and why, and what colour are shadows really?
Was painting ‘invented’ by the maid of Corinth? What is ‘shadow play’, and how have painters extended it to religious works? A short history of shadows in painting.
Considers the role of texture and detail gradient, shading and shadow in the depiction of depth in paintings.
The Eclectic Light Company 