Rembrandt

'Rembrandt adopted this chiaroscuro technique early in his career, and for the rest of his life it was to be the main expressive vehicle of his work. He recognised in this shadowy light - in the deep well of a darkened interior or in a flickering mark of half-tones and reflections - the power of suggestion, of metaphor, the ability to create mood and to suggest realms of thought and feeling beyond the concrete surfaces of the material world. By cloaking his figures in a veil of shadows and half-lights, he created a shift of attention from the tangible world of perceived objects to the intangible one of spirit and feeling.'

from 'The History and Techniques of the Great Masters - Rembrandt' by Andrew Morrall, 1987, Chartwell Books.