Chiaroscuro is an artistic technique which uses the effect of light and shadows to soften the edges and provide a more dramatic look to a painting.
It was developed in the Renaissance period in Italy with great artists such as Leonardo Da vinci and Vermeer being some of the earliest known painters to develop it and use it with great precision.
Hence, the style was a mainstay in the Renaissance period and has come to characterize the 'larger than life' feel of many works of art from the Era.
However, chiaroscuro is not limited to painting and was even used in woodcuts.
Pyramid of Menkaure. The third of the major pyramids at Giza belongs to Menkaure. This is the smallest of the three, rising to a height of 65 meters (213 feet), but the complex preserved some of the most stunning examples of sculpture to survive from all of Egyptian history.
