Dispersion And Cohesion—The Comparison And Study Of Light In Greco And Rembrandt's Paintings

In Western paintings,light is not only the media and means for limners to recognize and express the world,but also the contents and themes that limners from different epochs expressed.Ideas in philosophical meanings as well as nature in scientific meanings are contained in the light of the paintings,which present the value orientations and spirit appeals of their certain epochs.For the reason that light determines shadow,considering light as the starting point,this paper attempts to deeply explore how distinct light in Greco’s and Rembrandt’s paintings emerged by using juxtaposing and contrasting method.Combining the tradition that Greco and Rembrandt inherited respectively and the different epochs,different view of practices for painting from these two masters are defined.Finally based on the previous discussion,this paper probes what common enlightenments from the light in these two masters’ paintings are,which can contribute to our practical experience and subject establishment.This paper has five sections: first section comes up with different features of light from Greco and Rembrandt as well as their different tradition;second section mainly expounds the artistry evolution of light in Greco’s and Rembrandt’s paintings as well as their personal life experiences.Combining the artistic practice and life experiences,the unique reasons why and how they expressed the light are carefully demonstrated;analyzing specific paintings of Greco and Rembrandt,the third section illustrates the specific methods and means that are used;fourth section discusses sense of colour and their categories from Greco and Rembrandt in order to have a comprehensive understanding of how they used light;fifth section is the conclusion of the light,demonstrating the features that they have in common and further analyzing how they dealt with the relationship between inheriting the tradition and expressing the subjects.