Appreciation …

… Caravaggio: Revelation and Revolution - The Catholic Thing.

Caravaggio’s work is almost always defined by darkness – by techniques known either as chiaroscuro or tenebrism, both often (the latter especially) credited to him as inventor. In each, darkness is used to give other images in the work an almost three-dimensional effect. In the two Emmaus paintings, the earlier is more chiaroscuro-like; the latter more tenebrist.