Answer:
Art reached its highest form in the Renaissance period, with the artists achieving perfection in terms of technique and clarity. The invention of linear perspective and developments in the usage of lights and shadows revolutionized visual arts, fine arts, sculpture and architecture in the two hundred years between 1400 and 1600. Renaissance art was driven by the notion of ‘humanism’ that downplayed religious and secular dogma, attaching greater importance to the individual. Italian artists attempted to revive the classical Greek and Roman art forms and styles as a response to the courtly International Gothic style that prevailed in the 14th century. Art wasnfused with greater realism, and consequent attention to detail, and also the mastery of the technique of creating illusions in painting by introducing ‘depth’ in picture and other components such as Chiaroscuro, Sfumato, Foreshortening, and Quadratura. In this context, the usage of the quote by da Vinci at the beginning of my paper becomes important as it is in the Renaissance that aspects of light and dark or shade invade the space of the artist’s canvas, with larger manifestations in Mannerism and Baroque art.
In the Renaissance light was a tool that artists used to define their subject matters, delineate them and bring out a certain sense of realism in the picture. Their works explore the contrasts between light and darkness, and remain clearly defined within sharp boundaries. Light contributes not only to illumination but also to the clarity of the subject matter and the detailing of it. Light to an extent even controlled the forms of the subject matter. The technique of contrasting light and dark, called “Chiaroscuro” (Italian light-dark), demonstrated the skill of an artist in the management of shadows to create a three-dimensional effect in a painting.
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