I learned a new word today – Chiaroscuro. It is a art technique, often used to emphasize and illuminate important figures in a painting or drawing. This technique uses colors and shades, to contrast between light and dark. The concept was picked up from renascence era paintings, and is commonly used in photography, and cinema where it is better known as split lighting.
Concept of duality
The word chiaroscuro itself has an Italian origin, chiaro is bright, and oscuro is dark. It also depicts how our minds work – sometimes bright, clear and happy and at other times dark, hazy or sad. This duality is also reflected in Chinese philosophy of Yin-Yang. This philosophy reinforces concept of opposite forces, that support each other. Conflicts of thought or mind are also depicted in a “chiaroscuro way” in some art-inspired postage stamps.
The divided face and tablet evoke psychological distress and treatment, while the tab identifies Lev-Hasharon Mental Health Medical Center.
Finland | 1987 | Mental Health — 90th Anniversary of the Finnish Mental Health Association | 1.70 markkaa | — | Michel 1016
The contrasting profiles express the right to mental health and the diversity of individual experience.
Half shaded face is a symbol of mood of mystery, inner conflict, and drama. It implies a duality in personality. In a symbolic sense, it can represent the conscious and unconscious mind. While all individuals have variations in their personality, it comes out to be most pronounced in bipolar mood disorders. Individuals with bipolar disorder have intense shifts in mood, energy levels and behavior, ranging from mania to depression.
Expression of stress
The shaded, worried faces and “Avoid Negative Stress” inscription connect emotional strain with the issue’s heart-health message.
The deep shadow on face can suggest that the person is lost in thought or has a complex inner world. Such depiction also implies that only a portion of their identity is presented. Such shadows can evoke a stressed or serious, pensive look.
Contrasting faces and the exposed heart and lungs present smoking as a choice with consequences for health.
Redemption and resolve
A portrait with half the face in warm light and half in shadow can also symbolize a moment of transition. Such chiaroscuro images also suggest a change, such as getting uplifted.
The child’s profile and concentric motif support the issue’s appeal for education, rehabilitation and inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities.
The joined medic and soldier honour two forms of frontline service during the pandemic; the illustration shows three copies of the same stamp.
Duality of addiction
Addiction is a state of moral complexity. Addictive substances hijack the brain’s reward system, primarily the dopamine pathway, leading to intense cravings and urges. Cravings lead to compulsive intake, beyond one’s capability to resist. This leads to moral complexity of indulgence despite known harms. The shadowed or dark side is often used to portray this complexity.
The upper, red-toned stamp combines a divided face and syringe with a seated figure to warn of drug dependence.
Monaco | 1972 | Lutte contre la drogue (Campaign Against Drugs) | 0.90 franc | — | —
The lower, green-toned stamp repeats the warning in contrasting colours; both stamps bear the cover’s 3 July 1972 first-day cancellation.
This technique of half-shaded face generates a sense of intrigue and suspense. It leads to questions about hidden secrets or an untold story. When paired with a somber expression, the shadows can represent hidden struggles with depression or trauma.
The contrast between a clear eye and its coloured, fragmented counterpart visualises altered perception; this cover is cancelled Bonn, 12 September 1996.
A contrast can also be created by showing only a half face against bright light, or multiple shaded iterations of a face. This is used in a set of four postage stamps from Romania (1999). This set includes depiction of unprotected sexual intercourse, as an example for duality of mind, caught between conflicting thoughts.
The left-hand stamp combines contrasting profiles, an embracing couple and an awareness ribbon to encourage reflection on HIV prevention.
Romania | 1999 | Gândește-te o clipă! (Think for a Moment!) — Drug prevention | 1,300 lei | D. Cojoc (signed) | —
The right-hand stamp juxtaposes a cannabis leaf, capsule and distressed figure to warn about drug-related harm.
The left-hand stamp links cigarettes and repeated profiles with a figure clutching the chest to convey the harms of smoking.
Romania | 1999 | Gândește-te o clipă! (Think for a Moment!) — Alcohol-abuse prevention | 800 lei | D. Cojoc (signed) | —
The right-hand stamp contrasts profiles with a slumped drinker, bottle and glass to depict the personal toll of alcohol misuse.
Emotions of Life and death
A contrast of shades can also be used to show a struggle between life and death. Two stamps from France below show this struggle as a warrior and contrast between pink of health and darkness of illness.
At left, the figure labelled “Scientia” confronts a many-headed hydra, making scientific resistance to cancer an allegorical battle.
France | 1970 | Lutte contre le cancer — Journée mondiale, 7 avril 1970 | 0.40 franc + 0.10 franc charity surcharge | Albert Decaris | Yvert & Tellier 1636
At right, the upright rose-coloured woman and inverted dark figure contrast life and mortality in a symbolic appeal against cancer.
Shades are indeed mysterious. A stroke of a brush can add a story worth a thousand words. Chiaroscuro it is – both bright and dark, alive and mortal, full of hope or a reflection of the past !!
I too learned an interesting word today, thanks Rajnish!!