Cangiante

Hall,[1] which has gained considerable acceptance,[2] this is one of the canonical painting modes of the Renaissance; i.e. one of the four modes of painting colours available to Italian High Renaissance painters, along with sfumato, chiaroscuro and unione.

The greatest practitioner of the cangiante technique was Michelangelo,[4] especially in many parts of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

For example, in the image of the prophet Daniel, a transition from green to yellow is evident in the subject's robes.

In late Renaissance Mannerist painting, artists (following the lead of Michelangelo) became quite inventive in their use of cangiantismo, employing it wherever a stronger color effect was needed in a composition.

The effect was meant to imitate the quality of "shot silk", sometimes today referred to as "iridescent" material, which shows simultaneous variations in color depending on the angle of illumination and viewpoint.