Lost and Found Contour (7)

Lost and Found Contour: a description of a form in which an object is revealed by distinct contours in some areas whereas other edges simply vanish or dissolve into the ground.

This contour only allows half the picture to be seen while the viewer's eyes fill in the rest. This type of clarity is more similar to a persons eyesight than if the composition were completely in focus and the viewer could see everything.


Here is a Caravaggio painting. Notice how around Jesus in the far right top corner, his clothing is lost in the shadow and the viewer's eyes fill in and assume where the rest of his clothing should be. The same thing happens to the person on the far left in the front. His leg is lost in the shadow but the eye assumes there is a leg there by the information Caravaggio gives the viewer.
This creates a more realistic painting.


This is the Egyptian god Anubis. There is not any lost and found contour in this relief making the shape flat as well as presenting all the information to the viewer. By doing this, the viewer can look at the composition and know what it is and everything it portrays.