Detail of a flame burning on a floating wick in a glass of oil and water on a table, lighting the face, hand and white sleeve of a woman who gazes at it; everything farther away falls into brown darkness.

Concept · Seeing Light

Candlelight

A candle or lamp inside the picture lights nearby things strongly; its light fades quickly with distance.

When the flame is in view it becomes part of the subject, and the picture gets one bright center.

  • Candlelight was ordinary evening light in Wright of Derby's day, Christine Riding of the National Gallery, London, points out, so such scenes showed something familiar.
  • A hidden source can still be read from what it lights and the shadows it throws.

See

Image: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (photo © Museum Associates/LACMA) · Public domain (LACMA)

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