1. Beginnings in 15th and 16th-century Italy
The term colorito, from the Latin color, denoting the art and theory of coloration, was introduced into European usage (French coloris, Spanish colorido, English coloring, German Kolorit) from the late 15th century, beginning in Italy. Leon Battista Alberti, in his treatise Della pittura (1435/36; “On Painting”), while acknowledging the fundamental distinction …