Raphael, Madonna Della Quercia ca. 1517-19
One of the most distinct characteristics of the chiaroscuro mode is having a strong contrast between the highest and the lowest value. The illustration above exaggerated the highlights in Raphael's painting in order to show how much of the painting is devoted to expressing light and shadow. There are more parts with higher value than lower value and the lower value is surrounding the highlighted parts. Also, Raphel tends to use dramatic highlights to emphasize certain figures like the two infants. This fantastical lighting also reveals his philosophical belief in neoplatonism.
Raphael, Madonna Della Quercia ca. 1517-19
Since the theatrical lighting is emphasized in the chiaroscuro mode, Raphael's value transition is dynamic. The parts of the highest value are left almost white, while the lowest value parts are painted almost black. In order to dramatically express the high and low value, Raphel reduces the value variation of the midtones. The illustration above indicates gradiating midtones; the gradients on the right side are made by extracting the actual midtones of the photo of the painting, showing a little value change of the midtones.
Raphael, Madonna Della Quercia ca. 1517-19
The chiaroscuro mode not only emphasizes great contrast and value transition from high to low, but also uses saturated colors. The oil glazing technique also contributes to maintaining saturated colors in all value ranges. In addition, it is noticeable that Raphael only uses fully saturated colors for the important figures. The colors of the draperies that the main figures have are illustrated in each box next to them. One should note that the most saturated colors are painted in the midtone areas. In contrast, the background plants and rocks have lower value and less saturated colors. The plants in the very front near the Madonna's foot may reveal the oil glazing technique of mixign red and green. Therefore, his neoplatonic, mystical atmosphere is created by a dynamic difference of value and saturation levels.
Raphael, Madonna Della Quercia ca. 1517-19
Raphael's philosophical perspective in Neo-Platonism has been also revealed through the background setting. He uses neo-classical architectural figures such as the Corinthian order of a column base, reminding of the Greek goddess. As classical architectural orders were reviving in the Renaissance period, this broken base also suggests neo-classicism. The further background portrays a fantastical sky with saturated colors and various subtle hue shifts that creates perceptible but mystical atmosphere.
Raphael, Madonna Della Quercia ca. 1517-19 Leonardo, Madonna :& Child with St. Anne, 1500-13
These illustrations contain de-saturated photos of paintings by Raphael and Leonardo in order to examine and compare the value range of each painting. It is evident that Raphel's chiaroscuro mode painting has a more dramatic contrast between high and low value, while Leonardo's Sfumato mode painting has less contrast and smoother value transition. Therefore, Chiaroscuro mode is not practiced to achieve a balance in value levels like Sfumato mode emphasizing unity of all value levels.