The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds

The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds (1635) by Georges de La Tour. Its palette is led by soot (#0f1113, 35%) and bistre (#29221c, 20%), with accents of golden olive, warm grey, rich sienna, light golden sand and bone. Overall the canvas is dark, muted and warm.

Color reading

Black and brown cover about nine-tenths of the canvas. Its most vivid color, rich sienna #8E3C24, takes up 6% of it.

Palette

#0f1113 MG 223 soot 35.5% of canvas
#29221c MG 219 bistre 20.1% of canvas
#413726 MG 177 dark taupe 14.5% of canvas
#635b3b MG 193 golden olive 9.2% of canvas
#8b7b5c MG 174 warm grey 8.2% of canvas
#8e3c24 MG 147 rich sienna 5.7% of canvas
#a6a08a MG 190 light golden sand 4.6% of canvas
#cbc8a9 MG 171 bone 2.2% of canvas

Color families

Black 51%, Brown 41%, Gray 3%, Yellow 2%, Red 2%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.33
Contrast: 0.52
Vividness: 0.027
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 187 cells
Hue range: 0.50
Focus: 0.00

Composition

51% of the visual weight is in the right half, 62% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.00 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 26% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 27% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1635
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 106.0 × 146.0 cm
Genre: genre art
Collection: Department of Paintings of the Louvre

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More by Georges de La Tour

Joseph the Carpenter, 1642
Magdalene with the Smoking Flame, c. 1642