ABSTRACT
Transparencies, are paintings on silk, and with such thin and transparent colours as admit the light to pass through the picture; these are much used for decorations, illuminations, and by means of artificial and brilliant light placed behind them, they have a very gay and sprightly effect. The various continuities in technique between transparencies and prior forms of optical exhibition highlight that what was most original about them was their status as fashionable, feminine handicrafts. With transparencies the viewer is no longer looking at painted light; s/he is actually experiencing light refracted through painted glass or translucent cloth. Lacking the skill and quality of an Old Master, the transparencies require the external light source not only to animate them but to bring them into the realm of the aesthetic. Echoing Genesis, light rather than female artistry is made the true creative agent.
