Cangiante: Difference between revisions

'''Cangiante''' is one of the four canonical painting modes of [[Renaissance|the Renaissance]] (the other three being [[Unioneunione]], [[Chiaroscurochiaroscuro]], and [[Sfumatosfumato]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Marcia |title=Color and Meaning: Practice and Theory in Renaissance Painting |year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn = 978-0-521-45733-0}}</ref> The word itself derives from the Italian ''cangiare'' ("to change").

''Cangiante'' is characterized by thea painter'schange changingin tocolor anecessitated different,by lighter, hue when thean original huecolor's cannotdarkness beor madelightness lightlimitation. enoughFor orexample, on thewhen converse,painting changingshadows toon a darkeryellow hue whenobject, the original hue cannot be made dark enough. The painterartist may change,use for example, from the color yellow to the colora red (regardless of the object's actual color) when painting shadows on a yellow object simply because the yellow he has to work withpaint cannot be made dark enough to render shadows on that object (and the red can). There are, to be sure, other methods of rendering shadows (or highlights), but,(for oftenexample, the procedures available (mixing the original hue with black or brown), willbut these can render the shadow color dull and itimpure. may beDuring the painter'sRenaissance, intentionthe tovariety renderand evenavailability shadowsof in more pure colors. One must also keep in mind that, in the Renaissance, the availablepaint colors were severely limited in number and kind.

The greatest practitioner of thisthe cangiante technique was [[Michelangelo]], and it is illustratedespecially in many parts of the [[Sistine Chapel ceiling]]. InFor example, in the image of the prophet [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]], for instance, the use of ''cangiante'' can be clearly seen in thea transition from green to yellow is evident in the Prophetsubject's robes. After Michelangelo's time, the technique found widespread acceptance and is now a standard painting technique.