Drawing 204~ of a chemotherapy session …a friend’s father is fighting for his life.
I titled it Chiraroscuro on 2 levels:
one, it is an artistic term referring to the dramatic interplay of light and shadow in paintings. Italian, from chiaro clear, light + oscuro obscure, dark. More details and links below.
and
2. On a spiritual philosophical level; life is both dark and light.
My mother recited this German stanza ( author unknown) to us as she lay dying from stomach cancer in 1996
Licht und Schatten muss es geben, Light and shadow, there must be,
soll das Bild vollendet sein, To complete the picture,
wechseln müssen drum im Leben Life is an interchange of
finst’re Nacht und Sonnenschein. The deepest night and sunshine.
My history prof drilled it into us that Carvaggio was THE artist who mastered this. In 1600 he completed a contract to decorate the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. The two works making up the commission, the Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and Calling of Saint Matthew, were an immediate sensation. Caravaggio’s tenebrism (a heightened chiaroscuro) brought high drama to his subjects.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaroscuro