Rinbee P.

Berida April 19, 2013

2BSA-2


SFUMATO

Sfumato means that there are no harsh outlines present (as in a coloring
book). Areas blend into one another through miniscule brushstrokes, which
makes for a rather hazy, albeit more realistic, depiction of light and
color. Sfumato is one of the four canonical painting modes of the
Renaissance (the other three being Cangiante, Chiaroscuro, and Unione).The
most prominent practitioner of sfumato was Leonardo da Vinci, and his famous
painting of the Mona Lisa exhibits the technique. Leonardo da Vinci described
sfumato as "without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus
plane.
Sfumato literally means "gone up in smoke". Sfumato is a painting
technique in which there are no harsh outlines, and it is painted with full strokes
that enhance color and light. The areas blend together, hence the term "Sfumato"
was used by Michael J. Gelb on his book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci to
describe one of da Vinci's mental abilities, namely the ability to hold two
paradoxical ideas in one's mind without difficulty. He points out that it is an
important component of open-mindedness as it allows one to hold different
perspectives at the same time and therefore avoid hindsight bias. Sfumato opens
up new dimensions for problem-solving, inspiration seeking, and seeing new
patterns while thinking about ambiguity, paradoxical ideas and systems thinking.

"Sfumato" derives from the Italian word for smoke, and describes a
technique of painting invented by Leonardo da Vinci (and emulated by many
artists thereafter). It's a way of blending colors or depths of color together to
create a filtered effect, veiling the subject in softness. It gives the subject a misty
appearance.
To quote Leonardo, "Between light and shadow there is an intermediate
state, something twofold, belonging to both, resembling a light shadow or a dark
light." He considered that "the secret of perfect beauty." You can see it in many of
his works, such as the Virgin of the Rocks; or, for a later interpretation, see
Wilhelm Leibl's "Girl by a Window."