We are excited to present you with an Art History Lecture by Tom Richards, Assistant Director of The Florence Academy of Art, focusing on how studio space and light can be used as a creative tool in painting. Richards takes us through several examples (a few of which are found here in Florence, Italy!) explaining how painters from the past created different effects through light.

Particularly described is how in the context of a studio space, that window height (side light, north light, skylight, etc.) and the placement of the model in relation to it along with the artist, creates very different outcomes that can be used to enhance the meaning and psychological impression a painting has on the viewer. From the well known set up of John Singer Sargent’s London and Paris studios (thanks to photographs) allowing for several interpretations of light, to the historical records showing that Jusepe de Ribera asked for an enlargement of a window in his studio, likely allowing for the dramatic lighting in his 1634 The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, to some more defuse and soft lighting in examples by Titian, Van Dyck and Velazquez, we explore how light and the placement of a model in a room can help an artist imply meaning and continue the narrative of their work.

Click below to for the list of selected artists mentioned in this lecture!