The shadows in the Baroque

From the Renaissance on, there is a more and more profound use and exploration of the shadows, and it is in the Baroque art period when the shadows become a matter of study: they are taught and learnt in the academies of arts.

However, its use is limited to blur the drawings, like they are dirty, even in detriment of its visual clarity. This was used and abused by the tenebrist painters of the Baroque period, like Rembrandt.

In artists such as Matthias Stomer, Gerrit van Honthorst, Hendrick ter Brugghen and Mattia Preti , their religious works use the shadows to emphasize the sacred presence of God.

Rembrandt and Peter de Hooch use the light and shadow to represent the space of the scene, and the time when it happened. Usually Rembrandt used only one light, a spot from where we can see the scene, and we can only see the objects and persons where that light touches.  This light defines the centre of interest of the painting. All the surrounding environments are blurred into shadows…