In this month’s The Art of Seeing, we will explore the seemingly magical effects of light and dark in one work of art. It is something we take for granted today; the ability to create a three dimensional image on a flat surface. But when painters rediscovered that both light and dark were necessary to paint a three dimensional image, this not only brought the image to ‘life’, but altered the viewer’s encounters and responses to works of art forever.

In this month’s session, we will be guided by the words of Renaissance Magus, Marsilio Ficino, who wrote in his Letters;

“Black and sombre colours are necessary for the painter to portray the beauty of light. . . God uses formless matter to create every beautiful form of nature. . . ”

The coming together of opposites we see in art tells us of a deeper underlying cosmic principle, and of our nature. Ficino himself was referring to dark and light both in a literal sense and metaphorically. The opposing elements of light and dark are integral to both the visual world and to the inner landscape of the psyche. They are not just contrasts, but co-creators and are essential forces. Neither can exist without the other. For the artist, the dance of light and dark in a work of art became the means by which a painting was transformed from a flat image to something alive, elevating the viewer’s vision to new regions of the imagination.