chiaroscuro

Meanings

Noun

• An artistic technique developed during the Renaissance, referring to the use of strong contrasts between light and dark in order to create the illusion of volume.
• A monochrome picture made by using several different shades of the same color.
• The use of two or more blocks of wood printed in different colors in a woodcut.
• A photographic technique in which one side of, for example, a face is well lit and the other is in shadow.

Adjective

• Possessing the qualities of a work of chiaroscuro.

Related

Similar words

• Rembrandt lighting

Origin

• Mid-17th century, borrowed from Italian chiaroscuro, from chiaro + oscuro.