- Shadows and volume : Hogarth
In his book The Analysis of Beauty (1753), Hogarth shows that shadows are essential to the perception of volume. His study of the interaction between light and shade depends on the role of drawn shapes according to the medium - engraving and mezzotint, the background being preeminent in the latter.
Hogarth's drawings of shapes casting shadows in Plate II of The Analysis of Beauty.
- Shadows, soft focus and perception, from Hogarth to the present day
Shadows are combined with soft-focus in the perception of distance; this phenomenon of 'atmospheric perspective' already identified by Leonardo is described by Hogarth for cityscapes, ch. VIII and XIII (see previous reference).
A history of theories on shadows to the present day has been expounded by Roberto Casati, a philosopher working in the cognitive study of art (2000).
A mid-twentieth century contribution to the study of shadows was the work of Rudolph Arnheim. Major later books are Shadows and the Enlightenment (1995) by Baxandall, and Shadows (1995) by Ernst Gombrich, a theorist of visual perception in the arts.
The ENSAM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers) have developed a computer-aided study of shadows.
See details in the later chapter on shadows
Roberto Casati's history of shadows
Rudolf Arnheim on shadows (Muse, a University subscription) and Gestalten
A review of Gombrich's and Baxandall's books (JSTOR, a University subscription).
