Contre-jour

Contre-jour is defined as “against daylight”. In photography, this means pointing the camera directly towards a light source. The concept in painting is similar where the subject is backlit usually by the sun or, in the case of Titian’s powerful painting (scroll to bottom) depicting the Virgin Mary’s ascent into heaven, a holy radiance. The effects of contre-jour can be dramatic or subtle. Titian uses contre-jour to emphasize Mary’s purity and to convey an almighty other-worldliness. I am using contre-jour in my painting Words Alone Can’t in a more understated way to comment on the luminosity of youth and the transcendental qualities of music.

Words Alone Can’t. Acrylic on canvas. 30 x 40 inches

Assumption of the Virgin (1516-18) by Titian. Oil on panel. Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice, Italy. Image source Wikimedia Commons

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