RENAISSANCE TECHNIQUES

SFUMATO CHIAROSCURO CANGIANTE UNIONE

SFUMATO
a technique making use of variations of a hue /

gradient colours in order to stump / to blur the outlines and to level the transition between the dark and the light areas; a technique attaining the illusion of depth through fine effects of shades by means of which some slight and delicate tone-hue transition is acquired; a technique enabling in the absence of margins and contours whatsoever - the subtle transition from the light areas to the dark ones.

Leonardo - Mona Lisa

Leonardo - Mona Lisa

Gerard David - Rest during the Flight to Egypt (c.1515)

Gerard David - Rest during the Flight to Egypt (c.1515)

Pieter Paul Rubens - Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus

Pieter Paul Rubens - Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus

CHIAROSCURO a technique whose role is to use light and shade in order to suggest threedimensionality in objects; a technique looking for a strong light-andshade contrast (usually) all over the canvas; a technique by means of which objects seem to loom / to get out of darkness.

Georges de La Tour Mary Magdalene (c.1625)

Georges de La Tour Mary Magdalene (c.1625)

Gerrit van Honthorst - The Matchmaker (1625)

Gerrit van Honthorst - The Matchmaker (1625)

Giovanni Baglione Sacred Love vs. Profane Love (1602)

Giovanni Baglione Sacred Love vs. Profane Love (1602)

CANGIANTE
a technique that implies choosing a different tone brighter or darker whenever the original tone cannot be lightened or darkened any more. For instance, the painter's hue could pass from yellow into red (irrespective of the actual colour of the object), when he paints the shades on a yellow object, just because the yellow in question cannot be darkened enough so as to properly render the shadow/s of that particular object.

Michelangelo Buonarroti Ceiling Of The Sistine Chapel 'Sybils Erithraea'

Michelangelo Buonarroti Ceiling Of The Sistine Chapel 'Sybils Erithraea'

Michelangelo - The Prophet Daniel from the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo - The Prophet Daniel from the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Marc Chagall - La mariee (1950)

Marc Chagall - La mariee (1950)

UNIONE
a technique that appeals to vivid, daring hues and shiny tints which are nevertheless in harmony / perfectly balanced; Yet, Raphael avoids sharp contrasts, by making use of ultramarine blue softened with some whitish grey or making use of some striking red against an aquamarine blue background, perfectly matching thus the shades and the golden brilliance of the flesh.

Andrea Mantegna - Parnassus (1496)

Andrea Mantegna - Parnassus (1496)

Masaccio - The Money Tribute

Masaccio - The Money Tribute

Raphael Santi Saint George

Raphael Santi Saint George

THE END