Chiaroscuro definition

kē-ärə-sko͝orō, -skyo͝orō
chiaroscuros
See word origin
Frequency:
The technique of using light and shade in pictorial representation.
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Light and shade in a painting, drawing, etc. treated so as to produce the illusion of depth, a dramatic effect, etc.
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The arrangement of light and dark elements in a pictorial work of art.
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A woodcut technique in which several blocks are used to print different shades of a color.
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A woodcut print made by this technique.
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A style of painting, drawing, etc. emphasizing this.
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A painting, drawing, etc. in which chiaroscuro is used.
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(art) An artistic technique developed during the Renaissance, referring to the use of exaggerated light contrasts in order to create the illusion of volume.
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(art) A monochrome picture made by using several different shades of the same color.
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(art) The use of blocks of wood of different colors in a woodcut.
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(photography) A photographic technique in which one side of a face (for example) is well lit and the other is in shadow.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
chiaroscuro
Plural:
chiaroscuri, chiaroscuros

Origin of chiaroscuro

  • Italian chiaro bright, light (from Latin clārus clear kelə-2 in Indo-European roots) oscuro dark (from Latin obscūrus (s)keu- in Indo-European roots)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Italian chiaroscuro, from chiaro (“light”) + oscuro (“dark”).

    From Wiktionary

Chiaroscuro Sentence Examples

  • His colouring for the most part is unpleasing, partly owing to his violent treatment of skies with crude blues and orange, and his chiaroscuro usually is much exaggerated.

  • But before accepting this conclusion as final, one must not lose sight of the fact that the so-called chiaroscuro engraving was at the height of its use in Italy at the same time that embassies from thc Christians in Japan visited Rome, and that it is thus possiblc that the suggestion at least may have been derived from Europe.

  • Somewhat more successful has been an attemptinaugurated by Hashimoto GahO and Kawabata Gyokushoto combine the art of the West with that of Japan by adding to the latter the chiaroscuro and the linear perspective of the former.

  • So perfectly does the modern Japanese embroiderer elaborate his scheme of values that all the essential elements of pictorial effects chiaroscuro, aerial perspective and atmosphere are present in his work.

  • The act was further enhanced by the trickery of lighting contrasts which brought to mind the effect of dramatic chiaroscuro.

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Words near chiaroscuro in the Dictionary