The dark halo technique in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters. A 17th c. empirical solution to mitigate the optical ‘simultaneous contrast’ effect?
Abstract Although the topic is rarely addressed in literature, a significant number of baroque paintings exhibit dark, halo-like shapes around the contours of the dramatis personae. Close examination of both finished and unfinished works suggests that this intriguing feature was a practical tool tha...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Heritage Science |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00634-w |
| _version_ | 1818941779821461504 |
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| author | Kirsten Derks Geert Van der Snickt Stijn Legrand Katlijne Van der Stighelen Koen Janssens |
| author_facet | Kirsten Derks Geert Van der Snickt Stijn Legrand Katlijne Van der Stighelen Koen Janssens |
| author_sort | Kirsten Derks |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Although the topic is rarely addressed in literature, a significant number of baroque paintings exhibit dark, halo-like shapes around the contours of the dramatis personae. Close examination of both finished and unfinished works suggests that this intriguing feature was a practical tool that helped the artist in the early painting stages. When applying the final brushwork, the halo lost its function, with some artists undertaking efforts to hide it. Although their visibility might not have been intended by the artists, today this dark paint beneath the surface is partially visible through the upper paint layers. Moreover, the disclosure of many halos using infrared photography (IRP), infrared reflectography (IRR) and macro X-ray fluorescence imaging (MA-XRF), additional to those that can be observed visually, suggests that this was a common and established element of 17th-century painting practice in Western Europe. Building on an existing hypothesis, we argue that halos can be considered as a solution to an optical problem that arose when baroque painters reversed the traditional, 15th- and 16th-century painting sequence of working from background to foreground. Instead, they started with the dominant parts of a composition, such as the face of a sitter. In that case, a temporary halo can provide the essential tonal reference to anticipate the chromatic impact of the final dark colored background on the adjacent delicate carnations. In particular, we attempt to clarify the prevalence of dark halos as a response to optical effects such as ‘simultaneous contrast’ and ‘the crispening effect’, described in literature only centuries later. As such, the recently termed ‘ring condition’ can be seen as the present-day equivalent of the ‘halo solution’ that was seemingly empirically or intuitively developed by 17th-century artists. Modern studies in visual perception proves that by laying a black ring around a target color, the optical impact of a surrounding color can be efficiently neutralized. Finally, by delving into works by Michael Sweerts, it becomes clear that resourceful artists might have adapted the halo technique and the underlying principles to their individual challenges, such as dealing with differently colored grounds. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:00:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c6662b3728954f05995c3d12d2aa388e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-7445 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:00:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heritage Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-c6662b3728954f05995c3d12d2aa388e2022-12-21T19:49:13ZengSpringerOpenHeritage Science2050-74452022-01-0110111610.1186/s40494-021-00634-wThe dark halo technique in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters. A 17th c. empirical solution to mitigate the optical ‘simultaneous contrast’ effect?Kirsten Derks0Geert Van der Snickt1Stijn Legrand2Katlijne Van der Stighelen3Koen Janssens4Faculty of Arts, Research group Art History, KU LeuvenFaculty of Design Sciences, ARCHES Research Group, University of AntwerpFaculty of Design Sciences, ARCHES Research Group, University of AntwerpFaculty of Arts, Research group Art History, KU LeuvenFaculty of Design Sciences, ARCHES Research Group, University of AntwerpAbstract Although the topic is rarely addressed in literature, a significant number of baroque paintings exhibit dark, halo-like shapes around the contours of the dramatis personae. Close examination of both finished and unfinished works suggests that this intriguing feature was a practical tool that helped the artist in the early painting stages. When applying the final brushwork, the halo lost its function, with some artists undertaking efforts to hide it. Although their visibility might not have been intended by the artists, today this dark paint beneath the surface is partially visible through the upper paint layers. Moreover, the disclosure of many halos using infrared photography (IRP), infrared reflectography (IRR) and macro X-ray fluorescence imaging (MA-XRF), additional to those that can be observed visually, suggests that this was a common and established element of 17th-century painting practice in Western Europe. Building on an existing hypothesis, we argue that halos can be considered as a solution to an optical problem that arose when baroque painters reversed the traditional, 15th- and 16th-century painting sequence of working from background to foreground. Instead, they started with the dominant parts of a composition, such as the face of a sitter. In that case, a temporary halo can provide the essential tonal reference to anticipate the chromatic impact of the final dark colored background on the adjacent delicate carnations. In particular, we attempt to clarify the prevalence of dark halos as a response to optical effects such as ‘simultaneous contrast’ and ‘the crispening effect’, described in literature only centuries later. As such, the recently termed ‘ring condition’ can be seen as the present-day equivalent of the ‘halo solution’ that was seemingly empirically or intuitively developed by 17th-century artists. Modern studies in visual perception proves that by laying a black ring around a target color, the optical impact of a surrounding color can be efficiently neutralized. Finally, by delving into works by Michael Sweerts, it becomes clear that resourceful artists might have adapted the halo technique and the underlying principles to their individual challenges, such as dealing with differently colored grounds.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00634-wSeventeenth centuryPainting techniqueFlandersNetherlandsMA-XRF scanning |
| spellingShingle | Kirsten Derks Geert Van der Snickt Stijn Legrand Katlijne Van der Stighelen Koen Janssens The dark halo technique in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters. A 17th c. empirical solution to mitigate the optical ‘simultaneous contrast’ effect? Heritage Science Seventeenth century Painting technique Flanders Netherlands MA-XRF scanning |
| title | The dark halo technique in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters. A 17th c. empirical solution to mitigate the optical ‘simultaneous contrast’ effect? |
| title_full | The dark halo technique in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters. A 17th c. empirical solution to mitigate the optical ‘simultaneous contrast’ effect? |
| title_fullStr | The dark halo technique in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters. A 17th c. empirical solution to mitigate the optical ‘simultaneous contrast’ effect? |
| title_full_unstemmed | The dark halo technique in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters. A 17th c. empirical solution to mitigate the optical ‘simultaneous contrast’ effect? |
| title_short | The dark halo technique in the oeuvre of Michael Sweerts and other Flemish and Dutch baroque painters. A 17th c. empirical solution to mitigate the optical ‘simultaneous contrast’ effect? |
| title_sort | dark halo technique in the oeuvre of michael sweerts and other flemish and dutch baroque painters a 17th c empirical solution to mitigate the optical simultaneous contrast effect |
| topic | Seventeenth century Painting technique Flanders Netherlands MA-XRF scanning |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00634-w |
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