Leonardo's Colour and Chiaroscuro Author(s): John Shearman Source: Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 25. Bd., H. 1 (1962), pp. 13-47 Published by: Deutscher Kunstverlag GmbH Munchen Berlin Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1481484 . Accessed: 27/02/2014 13:46 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Deutscher Kunstverlag GmbH Munchen Berlin is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.111.215.12 on Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:46:34 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions LEONARDO'S COLOUR AND CHIAROSCURO By JohnShearman It is unfortunatelythe case that the analysis and interpretationof colour in paintings lags far behind other aspects of formal historical criticism.The subject seems to be in some degree of dis- repute,or at the best open to suspicion,and not without reason. It is rare that observationsin this field descend fromthe general to the particular1, or fromfrank subjectivity(even quasi-mysticism) to the admittedlymore tedious but ultimatelymore rewardingobjectivity that is, for example, nor- mally regarded as indispensablein modern studies of perspective.The following study was under- taken in the belief that colour (and its dependents,light and chiaroscuro)can just as well be sub- 2 mittedto argumentand historicalcriticism The analogy between perspectiveand colour is not casual.