Leonardo Da Vinci is well known as a great Renaissance artist and all-around genius. His paintings, manuscripts and collected works are still valuable and looked at today not only for their insights into that period in history but also for their level of innovation and ingenuity. For instance, his visual work established what we now call the High Renaissance, which is characterized by a certain painting style. This style included the use of chiaroscuro, the deliberate use of light and dark in a painting to create depth and relief.
Chiaroscuro is one component missing or not used effectively in paintings predating Leonardo's work. For example both Giotto (1301-37) and Fra Filippo Lippi (1406-69) are early- and mid-Renaissance artists in whose work the lighting can be stark or at the very least the lighting source is undefined. In these works shadows are determined by the color of the pigment, not the tone or the gradations of a color from light to dark.
The Technique of Chiaroscuro
Leonardo solved this dilemma in his own way. First, he established the tonal structure of the painting in a monochrome, from deepest black shadows to bright highlights, then colored through the application of translucent glazes in varying hues.An early example of this is his Annunciation (1473), where a dark under-painting can be seen. A more obvious example is his Madonna of the Rocks (1506). In this painting it is the tone and not the color that determines the dimensionality. Leonardo described this idea in his writings; that in shadow the individual quality of colors is lost, where an object is in shadow, it should not be differentiated from other objects of different colors. Only in bright light is the true color of an object seen.
Leonardo's Technique and Impact
Leonardo's use of chiaroscuro was used by artists after him to create a more natural and dramatic effect. His technique can be seen most notably in the works of artists such as Caravaggio and, to a lesser degree, Rembrandt.
The use of chiaroscuro helped to define High Renaissance art and has been used by countless artists since then who were looking to bring out details and features in their art and as a way to accentuate form. It is unclear whether Leonardo "invented" the technique of chiaroscuro, but he certainly pioneered it, and its expert use in his paintings is one of the reasons why his works are masterpieces.
Sources
- Chiaroscuro; The Yale Dictionary of Art & Artists (London: Yale University Press, 2000).
- Costantino Maria, Leonardo, (London: PRC Publishing, 2001).
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