chiaroscuro

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The technique of using light and shade in pictorial representation.
2. n. The arrangement of light and dark elements in a pictorial work of art.
3. n. A woodcut technique in which several blocks are used to print different shades of a color.
4. n. A woodcut print made by this technique.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Light and shade; specifically, the general distribution of light and shade in a picture, whether painted, drawn, or engraved— that is, the combined effect of all its lights, shadows, and reflections. Strictly speaking, however, every object on which light strikes has its own chiaroscuro.
2. n. A drawing in black and white.
3. n. A method of printing engravings from several blocks representing lighter and darker shades, used especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; also, an engraving so printed.
4. Of or pertaining to light and shade in painting, drawing, or engraving.
5. Also clair-obscure, clare-obscure.
6. n. A style of painting on enameled pottery practised by the Italian potters.

Wiktionary

1. n. art An artistic technique developed during the Renaissance, referring to the use of exaggerated light contrasts in order to create the illusion of volume.
2. n. art A monochrome picture made by using several different shades of the same color.
3. n. art The use of blocks of wood of different colors in a woodcut.
4. n. photography A photographic technique in which one side of a face (for example) is well lit and the other is in shadow.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The arrangement of light and dark parts in a work of art, such as a drawing or painting, whether in monochrome or in color.
2. n. The art or practice of so arranging the light and dark parts as to produce a harmonious effect. Cf. clair-obscur.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a monochrome picture made by using several different shades of the same color