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Chiaroscuro

[kee-ahr-uh-skyoor-oh]

noun, plural -ros.

the distribution of light and shade in a picture.

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.

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

a sketch in light and shade.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Chiaroscuro

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Chiaroscuro has a plethora of syllables.

So is cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine. Does it mean:

an obscure term ostensibly referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust, sometimes cited as one of the longest words in the English language.

a white, crystalline, water-insoluble, powerful high explosive, C3H6N6O6, used chiefly in bombs and shells.

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Example Sentences

Her realist scenes are made all the more dramatic by chiaroscuro.

Chiaroscuro visuals, askew close-ups, jagged editing-they're all it takes to create a nuanced creepiness.

His lighting heightens the chiaroscuro effect and brings out all the details of face, manner and clothes.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

chiaroscuro (kɪˌɑːrəˈskʊərəʊ)

—n , pl -ros
1.	the artistic distribution of light and dark masses in a picture
2.	monochrome painting using light and dark only, as in grisaille

[C17: from Italian, from chiaroclear + oscuroobscure]

chiaro'scurist

—n

chiaro'scurism

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

chiaroscuro

1680s, "disposition of light and dark in a picture," lit. "bright-dark," from It. chiaro (from L. clarus) + oscuro (from L. obscurus).

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Related Words

clair-obscure clare-obscure

Dutch Early Renaissance

Matching Quote

"Part of the portrait painter's art, we must be careful to note, is to produce a sort of synthesis, something more various, richer, than even an astute photographer (now or yesterday) can catch by snapping a shutter in a camera. The portrait painter must be skilled in human observation, he must actually be moved by his subject as well as by his profession. True, an ambitious photographer might spend as much clock time as a painter in "studying" his subject, looking for the right shade of mood and the right chiaroscuro to articulate it. Yet this method, the photographic one, must necessarily rely too much on the subject's timed cooperation, since, materially speaking, all the photographer can record is a single moment, no matter how tactically approached and psychologically prepared that moment be."

-Parker Tyler

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Chiaroscuro

chi·a·ro·scu·ro