Chiaroscuro in Baroque Painting: From Caravaggio to His Followers

An image can construct an entire understandable discourse regardless of language or era. In Baroque painting, allegories had that power: symbols like a balance with blindfolded eyes for justice, a flower next to the nose for smell, or a heart pierced by an arrow for love conveyed universal messages. During the Baroque period, these themes became especially popular, both because of the challenge they posed for artists, who had to innovate in their representation, and for the viewer, who had to decipher their meanings. Within this context, tenebrism emerged as one of the most influential and revolutionary languages of the