Chiaroscuro is a contrasting of light and shade. Originally applied to painting, the term is used in the criticism of various literary forms involving the contrast of light and darkness, as in much of Hawthorne’s and Nabokov’s fiction and in Faulkner’sLight in August.Thomas Pynchon’sGravity’s Rainbowinvolves complex interplay of black and white. (HandbooktoLiterature)
Chiaroscuro inTheir Eyes Were Watching Godby Zora Neale Hurston
Janie walked to the door with the pan in her hand still stirring the cornmeal dough and looked towards the barn. Thesunfrom ambush was threatening the world with red daggers, but theshadowsweregrayand solid-looking around the barn. Logan with his shovel looked like a black bear doing some clumsy dance on his hind legs….
Then one day she sat and watched theshadowof herself going about tending store and prostrating itself before Jody, while all the time she herself sat under ashadytree with thewindblowing through herhairand her clothes. Somebody near about makingsummertime out oflonesomeness….
So Janie began to think ofDeath.Death, that strange being with the huge square toes who lived way in the West. The great one who lived in the straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof. What need hasDeathfor a cover, and whatwindscan blow against him? He stands in his high house that overlooks the world. Stands watchful and motionless alldaywith his sword drawn back, waiting for the messenger to bid him come. Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then. She was liable to find a feather from hiswingslying in her yard anydaynow. She was sad and afraid too. Poor Jody! He ought not to have to wrassle in there by himself. She sent Sam in to suggest a visit, but Jody said No. These medical doctors wuz all right with the Godly sick, but they didn’t know a thing about a case like his. He’d be all right just as soon as the two-headed man found what had been buried against him. He wasn’t going to die atall. That was what he thought. But Sam told her different, so she knew. And then if he hadn’t, the nextmorningshe was bound to know, for people began to gather in the big yard under the palm and china-berry trees. People who would not have dared to foot the place before crept in and did not come to the house. Just squattedunder the treesand waited. Rumor, that wingless bird, hadshadowedover the town….
Through the screamingwindthey heard things crashing and things hurtling and dashing with unbelievable velocity. A baby rabbit, terror ridden, squirmed through a hole in the floor and squatted off there in theshadowsagainst the wall, seeming to know that nobody wanted its flesh at such a time. And the lake got madder and madder with only its dikes between them and him.
In a littlewind-lull, Tea Cake touched Janie and said, “Ah reckon you wish now you had of stayed in yo’ big house ’way from such as dis, don’t yuh?”
“Naw.”
“Naw?”
“Yeah, naw. People don’t die till dey time come nohow, don’t keer where you at. Ah’m wid mah husband in uhstorm, dat’s all.”
“Thanky, Ma’am. But ’sposing you wuz tuhdie, now. You wouldn’t git mad at me for draggin’ yuh heah?”
“Naw. We been tuhgether round two years. If you kin see de light atdaybreak, you don’t keer if youdieatdusk. It’s so many people never seen delightat all. Ah wuz fumblin’ round and God opened de door….”
Soon everything around downstairs was shut and fastened. Janie mounted the stairs with herlamp. Thelightin her hand was like asparkofsun-stuffwashing her face infire. Hershadowbehind fellblackand headlong down the stairs. Now, in her room, the place tastedfreshagain. Thewindthrough theopenwindows had broomed out all thefetidfeeling ofabsenceandnothingness. She closed in and sat down. Combing road-dust out of herhair. Thinking….
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Sources
The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present
.Eric Kandel.
A Handbook to Literature.William Harmon.
“Cogito et Histoire de la Folie.”Jacques Derrida.
Cognitive Neuropsychology Section, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition.
Eats Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Lynne Truss.
The Elements of Style.William Strunk.
New Oxford American Dictionary.Edited by Angus Stevenson and Christine A. Lindberg.
The Norton Anthology of World Literature.Martin Puchner, et al.
The Norton Introduction to Philosophy.Gideon Rosen andAlex Byrne.
Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English. Patricia T. O’Conner
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft. Janet Burroway, Elizabeth Stuckey-French & Ned Stuckey-French.
Writing the Other. Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward.
Related:
- The Louvre at Twelve Miles an Hour
- Writing Chiaroscuro
- CHIAROSCURO HOVHANESS YAKAMOCHI | Prelude
« Back to Reference Index
FAQs
Chiaroscuro is a contrasting of light and shade. Originally applied to painting, the term is used in the criticism of various literary forms involving the contrast of light and darkness, as in much of Hawthorne's and Nabokov's fiction and in Faulkner's Light in August.
What is the theory of chiaroscuro? ›
The more technical use of the term chiaroscuro is the effect of light modelling in painting, drawing, or printmaking, where three-dimensional volume is suggested by the value gradation of colour and the analytical division of light and shadow shapes—often called "shading".
What does the chiaroscuro symbolize? ›
This is an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted.
What are the effects of chiaroscuro? ›
In the graphic arts, the term chiaroscuro refers to a particular technique for making a woodcut print in which effects of light and shade are produced by printing each tone from a different wood block. The technique was first used in woodcuts in Italy in the 16th century, probably by the printmaker Ugo da Carpi.
What is the figurative meaning of chiaroscuro? ›
Chiaroscuro is an Italian word that means “light-dark.” In art, it is a technique that uses extreme contrasts between light and dark to create a dramatic, evocative, three-dimensional composition.
What is the term chiaroscuro? ›
The word chiaroscuro is Italian for light and shadow. It's one of the classic techniques used in the works of artists like Rembrandt, da Vinci, and Caravaggio. It refers to the use of light and shadow to create the illusion of light from a specific source shining on the figures and objects in the painting.
What is the color theory of chiaroscuro? ›
Remember the 5 steps of chiaroscuro: highlight, halftone, shadow, reflected light, cast shadow. For example, with the combination of yellow, orange, and red, yellow will be the highlights, orange will be the mid tones and reflected light, and red will be the shadows.
What mood does chiaroscuro create? ›
Because this technique obscures part of the subject in question, it's often used to create suspense, and is common in thriller or horror films. Of course, The Godfather isn't a typical thriller/horror film – but it still utilized chiaroscuro to generate suspense.
What are the five values of chiaroscuro? ›
The chiaroscuro method uses five defined values: cast shadow, reflected light, core shadow, light, and: Highlight. In Chiaroscuro method, highlight refers to the technique to distinguish certain areas in the art so the viewer could pay more attention to the point that the artist wanted to conveys.
What is the goal of chiaroscuro? ›
Chiaroscuro is both an artistic technique and a storytelling device; it stages drama, creates depth, and shapes spaces—applying meaning to objects and environments.
Chiaroscuro, derived from the Italian words “chiaro” (light) and “oscuro” (dark), is a powerful artistic technique that emphasises strong contrasts between light and shadow. This technique has been used for centuries to create dramatic, visually arresting paintings.
What does the technique of chiaroscuro rely on? ›
The use of chiaroscuro in visual arts relies on sharp contrasts between light and darkness. The use of clear forms in visual artworks, specifically paintings, drawings, and prints, often requires the use of light to highlight the depth of solid bodies.
How does chiaroscuro affect the audience? ›
As Jordy Vandeput at Cinecom puts it, audiences perceive chiaroscuro lighting as depth because they're seeing “multiple layers of brightness.” An object or character in the foreground that is lit clearer than something in the background—even if that's just the right side of a person's face contrasted with the slightly ...
What are the characteristics of chiaroscuro? ›
Chiaroscuro is a painting technique that was established and became famous in the Renaissance period in the 15th century. The technique is about working with high contrast between light and shadow and requires good knowledge of perspective, physical effects of light, brightness, and even the paints used.
What role does chiaroscuro play? ›
If you've ever admired famous paintings such as Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Saint Jerome Writing, you have seen chiaroscuro art at its finest. Chiaroscuro is a technique that uses light and dark to create a strong contrast, allowing you to add richness and depth to your paintings.
What is an example of a chiaroscuro? ›
07/7'The Virgin of the Rocks' by Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Virgin of the Rocks' is an example of subtle chiaroscuro beauty in Renaissance art. In this painting, light softly falls and covers the figure and face of the Virgin Mary, infant Jesus, and other angelic characters.
What is an example of chiaroscuro in a sentence? ›
He specialized in chiaroscuro wood carving, especially of religious themes and scenes. These forms are drawn angularly, not roundly modeled in chiaroscuro. His chiaroscuro, in the sense of realistic shading and three-dimensionalism, was reasonably advanced, as were his perspectives.
What is word chiaroscuro? ›
Chiaroscuro is an Italian artistic term used to describe the dramatic effect of contrasting areas of light and dark in an artwork, particularly paintings.
What is the meaning of chiaroscuro tone? ›
Contrasting Tones
This technique was known as 'chiaroscuro' (meaning 'light-dark' in Italian) and involved using black ink for dark tones and white gouache for lighter tones, while mid-tones were made from the blue paper that was commonly used in Northern Italy at the time.
.Eric Kandel.
.William Harmon.
William Strunk.