Tenebrists

Tenebrists: Michelangelo de Caravaggio and the 17^th-century painters influenced by him who painted interior scenes, often lighted by candles or torches, having sharp contrasts of light and shade. Georges de La Tour (French) and Jose de Ribera (Spaniard in Naples) are considered Tenebrists. The words tenebrist and tenebrism were coined by later critics. See CHIAROSCURO.

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.