Shadows : the depiction of cast shadows in Western art / E.H. Gombrich.
2014
N8243.S36 G66 2014
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Details
Title
Shadows : the depiction of cast shadows in Western art / E.H. Gombrich.
Edition
New edition.
ISBN
9780300210040 (hardback)
0300210043 (hardback)
9780300210064 (e-book)
0300210043 (hardback)
9780300210064 (e-book)
Published
New Haven : Yale University Press, [2014]
Copyright
©2014
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (97 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color)
Call Number
N8243.S36 G66 2014
Dewey Decimal Classification
701.82
Summary
Cast shadows have been exploited in art to enhance the impression of the surrounding light as well as that of the solidity of the casting objects. They can contribute to the mood of the scene, and can reveal the presence of features outside the space represented, but as Professor Gombrich points out, they appear only sporadicaly and have been more frequently ignored or suppressed in Western art. Gombrich touches on the ambiguous nature of shadows in myth, legend, and philosophy, and briefly analyses the factors governing their shape: the location and form of the light source, the shape of the illuminated object and that of the surface on which the shadow falls, and the position of the viewer. Early Renaissance painters such as Masaccio and Campin, intent on a faithful rendering of visual reality, did incorporate shadows in their art, but artists of Leonardo's time largely avoided painting them, and it was not until early in the seventeenth century that painters - particualrly Caravaggio and Rembrandt - were again interested in the effects of shadows. In subsequent centuries artists of the Romantic, Impressionist and Surrealist movements exploited the device of the cast shadow to enhance the realism or drama of their images.
Note
"This book was first published to accompany an exhibition in the Sunley Room at the National Gallery, London, June 1995"--Title page verso.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Added Author
MacGregor, Neil, 1946- writer of foreword.
Penny, Nicholas, 1949- writer of introduction.
Penny, Nicholas, 1949- writer of introduction.
Added Corporate Author
National Gallery (Great Britain), issuing body.
Available in Other Form
Shadows : the depiction of cast shadows in Western art.
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Table of Contents
Foreword / by Neil MacGregor
Introduction / by Nicholas Penny
Aspects of cast shadows: The art historian's eye ; Cast shadows and the laws of optics ; The shadow in myth and legend ; Observations on cast shadows in the history of painting
Artistic functions of cast shadows: Illustrated by paintings in the National Gallery.
Introduction / by Nicholas Penny
Aspects of cast shadows: The art historian's eye ; Cast shadows and the laws of optics ; The shadow in myth and legend ; Observations on cast shadows in the history of painting
Artistic functions of cast shadows: Illustrated by paintings in the National Gallery.