chiaroscuro

American  

[kee-ahr-uh-skyoor-oh] / kiˌɑr əˈskjʊər oʊ /

noun

chiaroscuros plural

1. the distribution of light and shade in a picture.

2. Painting. the use of deep variations in and subtle gradations of light and shade, especially to enhance the delineation of character and for general dramatic effect.

   Rembrandt is a master of chiaroscuro.

3. a woodcut print in which the colors are produced by the use of different blocks with different colors.

4. a sketch in light and shade.

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chiaroscuro British  

/ kɪˌɑːrəˈskʊərəʊ /

noun

1. the artistic distribution of light and dark masses in a picture

2. monochrome painting using light and dark only, as in grisaille

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• chiaroscurism
  noun
• chiaroscurist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• chiaroscuros
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chiaroscuro

1680–90; < Italian, equivalent to chiaro bright (< Latin clārus ) + oscuro dark (< Latin obscūrus ). See clear, obscure

Explanation

Chiaroscuro is an Italian artistic term used to describe the dramatic effect of contrasting areas of light and dark in an artwork, particularly paintings. It comes from the combination of the Italian words for "light" and "dark." Nowadays chiaroscuro applies to a far wider array of dramatic lighting effects, particularly in movies — anything dark and moody with great slashes of shadow, is very chiaroscuro. Film Noir, of all the film genres, is the best example of chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro remains essentially a technical word, though, and is not often used in everyday conversation — unless you happen to be a film critic of course.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chiaroscuro chiaroscuros

“There’s an authenticity to noir. Nothing is just black or white. Everything is chiaroscuro and there’s complexity and depth and nuance to each of the characters,” Cage explains.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

The intense chiaroscuro evokes the mysticism of William Blake.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

Like her day-to-day life, it is a work of chiaroscuro, a portrait of extremes: roses and guns.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

The dramatic scenes are shot in chiaroscuro and in warm, expressive light so the character is always the focal point of lighting and photography.

From Salon ● Mar. 16, 2023

What Corelli did was create a musical version of chiaroscuro by contrasting a big-sounding band of stringed instruments with a small group, switching between the big and the small throughout the piece.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Epic entertainment chiaroscuros are often dull and unrealistic, hence the push in recent decades to test and reshape our definition of virtue.

From Salon ● May 26, 2025

Particularly influential were his use of live models, raking light effects and dramatic chiaroscuros, and a strong narrative drive.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2016

The chiaroscuros, especially the Venetian prints, can be found in many leading collections in Europe and the United States, but the full-color sheets after Ricci are excessively rare, particularly in complete sets.

From John Baptist Jackson 18th-Century Master of the Color Woodcut by Kainen, Jacob

Hendrick Goltzius of Haarlem, whose first chiaroscuros date from 1588, combined both Italian and German influences with marvelously crisp drawing and cutting and sharper color combinations than were common.

From John Baptist Jackson 18th-Century Master of the Color Woodcut by Kainen, Jacob

In this iconoclastic atmosphere Jackson’s almost forgotten chiaroscuros no longer appeared as failures of technique, for they had been so regarded by most earlier writers, but as deliberately novel efforts in an original style.

From John Baptist Jackson 18th-Century Master of the Color Woodcut by Kainen, Jacob

Related Words

• cloudy
• leafy
• shaded
• shadowy