What is the term for strong light-dark contrast in painting?

What is the term for strong light-dark contrast in painting? Chiaroscuro is the artistic use of light and shadow to create contrast, volume, and visual drama. The word combines Italian terms for “light” and “dark,” and it can describe both subtle modeling and bold divisions between illuminated and shadowed areas.

Artists used chiaroscuro to make painted figures appear three-dimensional by gradually shifting from highlights into half-tones and deep shadows. The method developed during the Renaissance and became especially prominent in Baroque art, when dramatic lighting often directed attention toward a key figure or moment.

Leonardo da Vinci explored delicate transitions, while Caravaggio pushed the effect toward intense theatrical illumination. Rembrandt also became closely associated with expressive light-dark modeling. A related term, tenebrism, describes an especially extreme form in which darkness dominates and isolated figures appear under a strong beam of light. Sfumato, by contrast, refers mainly to smoky, softly blended edges rather than overall light-dark contrast.