Chiaroscuro art

Painting of a bust-length woman looking over her shoulder and wearing a headdress and a large pearl earring.

On July 23, 1599, Caravaggio signed a contract to paint two large paintings for the side walls of the Contarelli Chapel of San Luigi dei Francesi, the church of the French in Rome. The commission was secured for him by his patron Cardinal del Monte, whose links to the Medici meant that he had close connections with the French community in Rome. Not only was this Caravaggio’s first major public commission, but it involved working on a far larger scale than he had previously undertaken: the…

Jusepe de Ribera (Játiva/Valencia 1591 – 1652 Naples): St Paul the Hermit, c. 1647, oil on canvas, 130 x 103.5 cm. Acquired in 1936 as part of the Carstanjen collection. Inv. no. WRM 2553. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln

By admin in Art Tutorials > Painting Tutorials Chiaroscuro is an art term that’s used quite frequently, but sometimes without an understanding of exactly what it means. This article will cover the more important aspects of Chiaroscuro, primarily as it relates to painting. The word Chiaroscuro itself is Italian, and roughly means, “light and dark.” It was first used to describe a type of drawing on medium-dark paper where the artist created both darker areas with ink and lighter areas with…

Create a classical and realistic portrayal of a Renaissance man expressing charity, inspired by antique baroque paintings.