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| Battistello Caracciolo Annunciation ca. 1625-30 oil on canvas Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut |
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| Lavinia Fontana Virgin adoring the sleeping Christ Child ca. 1605-1610 oil on panel Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Pietro Novelli Virgin and Child in Glory before 1647 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
"From about 1600 onwards darkness took up "statistically" more and more space, and in numerous Italian and Spanish pictures it predominated over light, frequently spreading over two-thirds or more of the area of the canvas. . . . Such darkness is a value active both artistically and psychologically and is indispensable for displaying various possibilities of light and for introducing an element of mystery, ambiguity, and understatement. The contrast with darkness lends to the light a dynamic quality and brings in the element of drama and pathos. Thanks to this contrast the traditional biblical subjects acquire an exalted mood and new meanings. The darkness of paintings, deepening from the late 16th century onwards, does not concern solely the scenes called notti, in which the action takes place at night and is illuminated by a torch or an oil lamp. In the vast majority of religious pictures the place and time of the scene are undecipherable. We are not sure whether it is day or night, whether the scene is laid indoors or outdoors. The source of light is very frequently invisible, remaining outside the picture, so that only a shaft of brightness can be seen; and when it does appear within the picture the light emanates from the Child, the Holy Spirit, or the angels, thus being clearly of a metaphysical nature, though the model of representing it follows real optical effects."
– Maria Rzepińska and Krystyna Malcharek, from Tenebrism in Baroque Painting and its Ideological Background, published in the journal Artibus et Historiae, 1986
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| Giovanni Antonio Galli Mary Magdalene ca. 1625-35 oil on canvas Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Cesare Rossetti St George and the Dragon ca. 1620-40 oil on panel Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Francisco de Zurbarán St Francis ca. 1640-45 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Jusepe de Ribera St Paul the Hermit ca. 1638 oil on canvas Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Jusepe de Ribera St Onophrius 1642 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Pietro Paolini Allegory of the Five Senses ca. 1630 oil on canvas Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Luca Giordano Ecce Homo ca. 1650-59 oil on panel Walters Art Museum, Baltimore |
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| Theodoor van Loon Adoration of the Shepherds ca. 1620-30 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Pietro Paolini Young artist working by lamplight before 1681 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Pietro Paolini Fruit and Vase of Flowers on a Ledge before 1681 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Giovanni Paolo Spadino Peaches and Pears in a Glass Bowl ca. 1690 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |