From the Middle Ages, strictly regulated for trade between producer and consumer, then dominated by increasingly rich merchants and middlemen.
van Schendel
An early Rembrandt, chiaroscuro lighting, one of Adam Elsheimer’s oil on copper paintings, above Frederick the Great, and adorning Goya’s painting hat.
Goya’s crockery salesman, Lhermitte’s Les Halles in Paris, a trio of specialist markets, Rosa Bonheur’s horse fair in Paris, and the last hay market in London.
From the burning brands and oil lamps of the Greeks and Romans, to the soft light of candles, then in the 19th century came gaslights.
“A human observer is able to recognise the colour of objects irrespective of the light used to illuminate the objects.” “Colour constancy does not exist in humans.” Which is right?
Examples from Wright of Derby, Turner, Millet, van Gogh, Bonnard and others. But how many used the monochrome of scotopic vision?
What do paintings look like to someone with deuteranopia? Why do great paintings ‘draw’ the eye? Do we see the colours the artist intended? And how many words for blue are in Ukrainian?
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.
An illustrated timeline and overview of how the human visual environment, and perception of it, has changed from ancient times to virtual reality.
The Eclectic Light Company 