Baxandall, Michael.

Shadows and enlightenment / Michael Baxandall.

New Haven : Yale University Press, ©1995.
©1995.

xii, 192 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

In this book, an eminent art historian draws on contemporary cognitive science, eighteenth-century theories of visual perception, and art history to discuss shadows and the visual knowledge they can offer.
Michael Baxandall begins by describing the physical constitution and different varieties of shadows. He then sketches the eighteenth-century empirical/nativist debate on the role of shadows in the perception of shape. Next he surveys modern research by cognitive scientists and machine vision workers, explaining how research is divided on the issue of how far and by what means shadows help or hinder perception of shape. Baxandall continues his exploration by recounting a neglected episode of shadow theory, the observations of a group of mid-eighteenth-century French scientists and artists on shadows as related to light and space. Finally he sets these various shadow universes into relation with each other, addressing the special problem of painting shadows, and analyses Chardin's painting The Young Draughtsman, in which shadow painting is both medium and theme.
The book includes an appendix that situates and summarizes the shadow system of Leonardo da Vinci, which has had a strong though partly underground influence on thinking about shadows for five hundred years.
"Shadows are holes in light. We see them all the time, and sometimes we notice them, but their part in our visual experience of the world is mysterious. In this book, an eminent art historian draws on contemporary cognitive science, eighteenth-century theories of visual perception, and art history to discuss shadows and the visual knowledge they can offer. Michael Baxandall begins by describing the physical constitution and different varieties of shadows. He then sketches the eighteenth-century empirical/nativist debate on the role of shadows in the perception of shape. Next he surveys modern research by cognitive scientists and machine vision workers, explaining how research is divided on the issue of how far and by what means shadows help or hinder perception of shape. Baxandall continues his exploration by recounting a neglected episode of shadow theory, the observations of a group of mid-eighteenth-century French scientists and artists on shadows as related to light and space. Finally he sets these various shadow universes into relation with each other, addressing the special problem of painting shadows, and analyzes Chardin's painting The Young Draughtsman, in which shadow painting is both medium and theme. The book includes an appendix that situates and summarizes the shadow system of Leonardo da Vinci, which has had a strong though partly underground influence on thinking about shadows for five hundred years."--Publisher's description.

0300059795 (hardcover)
9780300059793 (hardcover)

Shades and shadows in art.
Visual perception.
Art, Modern 18th century.
Art, Modern 20th century.
Art, Modern.
Visual Perception
Ombres dans l'art.
Perception visuelle.
Art 18e siècle.
Art 20e siècle.
visual perception.
Beeldende kunsten.
Visuele waarneming.
Schaduw.
Visual arts Visual perception

Location: Library main 191887
Call No.: ID N8243.S36.B38; ID:97-B2935
Status: Available