Weite Landschaft mit idealer rheinischer Burg (Wide landscape with an ideal Rhenish castle), Carl Theodor Reiffenstein, oil on canvas, 18 x 14 inches (45 x 36 cm)
This landscape painting by the 19th century German painter is a perfect example of counterchange — the reversal of value relationships between a shape or object and the background against which it’s set. In this case the dark against light at the top of the castle becomes light against dark in the center of the base.
See James Gurney’s excellent explanation of the principle in his 2008 post: Counterchange.
