To show the effects of light upon curved surfaces and enhance the effects of chiaroscuro, Leonardo da Vinci perfected the technique of sfumato, which he described as "without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane." Meaning, "to vanish like smoke," sfumato involved applying multiple thin ...

What is the purpose of a sfumato?

sfumato, (from Italian sfumare, “to tone down” or “to evaporate like smoke”), in painting or drawing, the fine shading that produces soft, imperceptible transitions between colours and tones.

When was sfumato invented?

Inventing the Technique

Da Vinci's first work incorporating sfumato is known as the Madonna of the Rocks, a triptych designed for the chapel in San Francesco Grande, painted between 1483 and 1485.