Grisaille
The grisaille is a painting technique based on a gray monochrome painting in cameo that produces the sensation of being a relieveescultórico. It was made fashionable by various sculptors in the fourteenth century, using it in sketches and drawings, because with this technique managed to give the illusion of relief through a highly nuanced chiaroscuro, with various shades of one color, usually gray or dark yellow the closest possible to the color of the stone.
Although the use of the gray starts in the High Middle Ages, its generalization began in France in the studio of painter and sculptor André Beauneveu. It was used mainly in manuscripts (as in Heures de Jeanne d'Evreux, by Jean Pucelle, Cloisters, New York), and above all in frames, sculptures or replacing architectural elements (Psalter of the Duc de Berry, 1380-1385, Bibliothèque Nationale , Paris). Under the reign of Charles V, using the gray had a remarkable boom, especially in the miniature, glass and paint (Front of Narbonne, Louvre). Its use will be a feature of Nordic painting: in the back of the reredos is used to represent the Annunciation in grisaille (The Mystic Lamb, Jan Van Eyck, St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent).
For a while, the gray was a religious function being associated with time of Lent, the Catholic liturgy, but soon lost this function: in times of Bruegel and Bosch (The Prodigal Son, Boymans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam), became pictorial procedure, translating the false perspective, tested the ability of the painter. In this way was used by many artists: Andrea del Sarto, Correggio, Beccafumi, Rubens, Van Dyck, etc.
In the mid-sixteenth century, had great success in grisaille enamel, with Pierre Reymond and brothers Pénicaud. In the eighteenth century, was one of the varieties of rococo sketch or Pittoni painters like Boucher, PJ Sauvage false underwent specialty painted reliefs. Since then it has remained a technique used by many artists.
The Baptism of Christ
