<P> The word "sfumato" comes from the Italian language and is derived from "fumo" (smoke, fume). "Sfumato" translated into English means soft, vague or blurred . In Italian the word is often used as an adjective (like "biondo sfumato" for pale blonde hair) or as a verb ("l'affare è sfumato" would mean the deal has gone up in smoke). </P> <P> The technique is a fine shading meant to produce a soft transition between colours and tones, in order to achieve a more believable image . It is most often used by making subtle gradations that do not include lines or borders, from areas of light to areas of dark . The technique was used not only to give an elusive and illusionistic rendering of the human face but also to create rich atmospheric effects . Leonardo da Vinci described the technique as blending colours, without the use of lines or borders "in the manner of smoke". </P> <P> Leonardo da Vinci became the most prominent practitioner of sfumato, for instance, in Virgin of the Rocks and in his famous painting of the Mona Lisa . Leonardo da Vinci described sfumato as "without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane". </P> <P> Apart from Leonardo, other prominent practitioners of sfumato included Correggio, Raphael and Giorgione . Raphael's Virgin of the Field is a famous example (look especially at her face). Students and followers of Leonardo (called Leonardeschi) also tried their hands at sfumato after Leonardo: artists such as Bernardino Luini and Funisi . </P>

Leonardo is know for his techniques of shading called