Camaieu – Representatives, Features and Benefits

What is Camaieu?

Camaieu is a pictorial technique by which an image is executed either entirely in tones or tints of a single color or in various tones unnatural to the object, figure or scene represented. When a painting is rendered monochromatically in gray, it is called grisaille, when in yellow, plum. Originating in the ancient world, camaieu was used in miniature painting to simulate cameos and in architectural decoration to simulate relief sculpture.

It usually refers to a painting or decoration executed in various shades of a single color. That is, a monochromatic painting in colors other than gray. When painted in different shades of gray, it is also called grisaille and when painted in plum yellow and dusty green as veneda.

History of Camaieu

Camaïeu, is a technique that employs two or three dyes of a single color, other than gray. It creates a tonal monochromatic image without regard to local or realistic color. There are several good reasons to work art in this style. Friezes, enamels and wall decorations can appear as if they were bas-reliefs, for example, as cameos.

In decorative arts, the term is applied to monochromatic painting in glazes. The technique uses an accumulation of white glaze to create highlights and areas of light on snuff boxes, clocks, rings, medallions, pendants, brooches, among others. These are widely known as cameos. So they are the same created in ceramics or earthenware, for example, as those perfected by Wedgwood.

This French word Camaïeu was once synonymous with cameo, but its meaning was restricted in the early eighteenth century to be closer to its origin. Camaïeu is also a registered trademark of the clothing manufacturer International.

Types of Camaieu

Camaïeu can also refer, following French usage, to chiaroscuro woodcuts that imitate highlighted drawing on tinted paper. However, the correct English term for this is chiaroscuro woodcuro. This French word was once synonymous with cameo, but its meaning was restricted in the early 18th century.

The camaieu derives from the intrinsic aesthetic of relief printing in which there is a gradation of color tone combined with textures and various levels of crossing of different lines. The effect is an interesting quality because it creates a sense of space and volume.

Characteristics of Camaieu

Also the technique of Camaieu (cameo), can make in glass, glassware decorated with figures and shapes of colored glass carved in relief on a background of contrasting colored glass.

This pottery is produced by blowing two layers of glass. When the glass has cooled, a rough outline of the desired design is drawn on its surface and covered with a protective layer of beeswax. The glass is then etched through to the inner layer, leaving the outline of the design in relief. The details of the design are carved by hand or with rotary tools.

Legacy of this painting

The camaieu (cameo) technique is also done in miniature works of art, which can be carved in carnelian and the rare sardonyx shell, mother-of-pearl or agate. Thus, cameos have an exquisite classical beauty that has held the attention of generations.

Main representatives of this painting

The camaieu technique, was used anciently in stone painting, in sculptural relief that appeared on many buildings in Greek and Roman antiquity and was eventually transposed into jewelry to wear in the form of what is now known as a Cameo, used in jewelry of all kinds, as well as in glass that is cut to form a raised profile or portrait.

A cameo is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing technical developments of antiquity, both as a quirky curiosity and as a miraculous union of art and nature.

The technique is used to this day by artists as an accumulation of white glaze to create reflections and areas of light. However, instead of using a black background, as in grisaille, the transparent glaze is placed first, underneath the whites.

This technique is also frequently used on snuff boxes, clocks and medallions. Camaïeu can also refer, following French usage, to the chiaroscuro woodcut that imitates the drawing highlighted on tinted paper. However, the correct English term for this is “chiaroscuro woodcuro”. This French word was once synonymous with cameo, but its meaning was restricted in the early 18th century.