Georges de La Tour

Georges de La Tour was a French Baroque artist, who painted mostly religious scenes in chiaroscuro style, lit by pale candlelight. La Tour's s early paintings shows influences from Caravaggio, and probably also from Jacques Bellange, but unlike Caravaggio his religious paintings lack dramatic effects. He painted using chiaroscuro, careful geometrical compositions, and very simplified depicting of forms. His painting method moves during his career towards greater simplicity and stillness. La Tour often painted several variations on the same subjects, and his surviving production is relatively small. After his death La Tour's work was forgotten until rediscovered by Hermann Voss, a German scholar, in the beginning of 20-th century. In the twentieth century a number of his works were recognized once more, but many aspects of his work remain controversial.