Jennifer, as you're interested in candlelight effects and "chiaroscuro", a shadow-box would probably be a very good way to control lighting your setup. As noted, if you're looking to a "nighttime" ambience, if the box interior has a black or a very dark, non-reflective surface, (black velvet just about totally eliminates all reflected light) then shadows will be more intense. (If you
drink a fifth of Black Velvet, it will definitely be lights out, but you probably won't get much painting done . . .
)
Candles certainly are a troublesome light source for a number of reasons, but you can probably find a small electric light that can be controlled by a "dimmer" (rheostat). From the 17th century, many painters did "candlelight" scenes, and the genre continued to be popular well into the 1800s. The technique was most likely to work in grisaille, where color statements would be unimportant in bad light, and finish in good daylight.
It will take some fiddling to make a workable arrangement, but it's certainly not impossible to arrange your studio lighting so that the subject matter is "in the dark" and contrasty, while "spotlighting" your canvas and palette so that you can see well enough to paint comfortably without affecting the subject lighting.
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