Shadows: The Depiction of Cast Shadows in Western Art

In this fascinating book, one of the foremost art historians in the world traces how cast shadows have been depicted in Western art through the centuries. E.H. Gombrich points out that cast shadows - the shadows thrown by objects on their surroundings in daylight and. under artificial illumination-can enhance the impression of the surrounding light as well as that of the solidity of the casting objects, can contribute to the mood of the scene, and can reveal the presence of features outside the space represented. Yet, says Gombrich, cast shadows appear only sporadically in art and - have been more frequently ignored or suppressed. Gombrich touches on the ambiguous nature of shadows in myth, legend, and philosophy, and he analyses the factors governing their shape: the location and form of the light source, the shape of the illuminated object and that of the surface on which the shadow falls, and the position of the viewer. Given this complexity, says Gombrich, it is not surprising that the correct construction of shadows was not fully mastered until the seventeenth century. Gombrich explains that earlier painters such as Masaccio and Campin, intent on a faithful rendering of visual reality, did incorporate shadows in their art, but that artists of Leonardo's time largely avoided painting them, and it was not until early in the seventeenth century that painters-particularly Caravaggio and Rembrandt-were again interested in the effects of shadows. After discussing the way shadows were represented by these and other seventeenth-century artists, Gombrich describes how Romantic, Impressionist, and Surrealist artists exploited the device of the cast shadow to enhance the illusion of realism or drama in their representations. This book will accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery, London, which runs from 26 April to 18 June 1995.