Chiaroscuro can refer to either strong or reduced contrast between light and dark in a drawing or painting.
Chiaroscuro can refer to strong light-dark contrasts used by artists to create volume in three- dimensional forms, and it also applies to similar effects in cinema and photography. Chiaroscuro is one of the canonical painting modes(s) of the Renaissance (alongside cangiante [colour mixing to lighten/darken colour], sfumato or softened edges, and unione [painting technique where the colours transition smoothly, without hard lines]).
In a painting context, chiaroscuro perspective also refers to gradients that diminish the illusion of 3-D form and the separation of figure from ground as the distance of the object/scene from the eye increases. It is accomplished in painting by reducing the contrast between highlight and shadow values in painting/modelling, and in sculpture by shallower carving and low or flattened relief (relievo schiacciato), which together reduce the contrast of natural light on sculpture.
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