Sclerotic scatter and focusing in eye painting: light through darkness

Abstract

. We aimed at searching in color art paintings through all art periods from Ancient Egyptian Art to Contemporary Art for sclerotic scatter (SS) and peripheral light focusing (PLF), using large-scale internet databases. These phenomena originate from the illuminated side of the eyeshell: limbal sclera for SS or cornea for PLF. They end at the darkness of the opposite limbal scleral side, where they are either scattered (SS) or concentrated (PLF) forming a clear arc or spot of light, respectively ("light through darkness"). We found SS and PLF in 83 and 2 paintings respectively out of 113,962 paintings analyzed. These forms of objective chiaroscuro help to reconstruct a basic sense of eyeball modelling by bringing the limbus out of the shadows. Among the paintings with SS, most were painted during the following periods: Renaissance (44), Baroque (15), Rococo (11). Sixty-one of the paintings with SS have a dark background compatible with the fact that SS is more easily observed under low ambient light illuminance ("light through darkness"). subtle, rare of see them a new light, to their proper treatment and restoration and is likely to enhance their economic value.