Top-left lighting is an artistic convention in which illustrations are produced so that the light appears to come from the top left of the picture. The vertical element of the convention comes from the human intuition that sunlight comes from above. Most people prefer lighting from the left when resolving a convex–concave ambiguity, and this preference may be stronger for

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

people. This is reflected in Roman

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s and in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

, baroque and

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

art. In cartography, the predominant custom of placing the shadow on the right-hand side of hill profiles was established during the 15th century. Computer interfaces tend to use top left lighting as well (cf. Windows 9x and macOS screenshot), although this trend has gradually shifted more towards light coming straight from the top (cf. Android key light.) There are notable exceptions to this convention, such as Sandro Botticelli's '' The Birth of Venus'' due to the point of view which may represent geographical perspective and location. Viewing images that do not conform to this convention may show a form of convex–concave ambiguity.

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See also