Painting Modes of the RENAISSANCE

 Originally published in

November 7, 2020

@ jeanillec.blogspot.com

Renaissance artists developed four different painting modes during Renaissance. The four canonical painting modes used modelling effects to create dimensionality in art. These were sfumato, unione, chiaroscuro and cangiante.

UNIONE Technique

The method of employing “Unione” in a painting creates a higher tonal key that where the image consists primarily of light tones, without dark excessive dark shadows that are seen in chiaroscuro.

The most prominent practitioner and creator of this technique is

RAPHAEL.

CANGIANTE Technique

In the Cangiante technique, one color abruptly replaces another color, to create shadow or to highlight an area that would be dulled more if the color would simply be mixed with brown or black.

The most prominent practitioner and creator of this technique is

MICHELANGELO.

CHIAROSCURO Technique

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.

The most prominent practitioner of this technique are

Rembrandt, da Vinci, and Caravaggio

however this technique was primarily

developed by

RAPHAEL.

SFUMATO Technique

Sfumato is a painting technique which involves blending the edge between colors so that there is a soft transition. The term "sfumato" is Italian which translates to soft, vague or blurred.

The most prominent practitioner creator of this technique is

LEONARDO DA VINCI.