Old Master Drawings are so classified primarily because of the medium and support employed, and the date of the work. The designation is commonly understood to include works of the 15th through 18th centuries most often executed in chalk, or pen & ink, and/or brush and wash, usually supported by paper but sometimes vellum or parchment. Generally, their purpose is of a preliminary or preparatory nature - to study, for instance, the pose of a figure for a painting, like the Gatti presented here, or fresco, like the Annibale, or the fall of drapery, or compositional alternatives for a final painting, like the Tiepolo, or sculpture, like the Bernini, or the design for a wall, such as the Moucheron. But drawings can also be autonomous works, conceived for their own sake, like the Divine Heads of Michelangelo, the portraits of Bernini, the pastoral or garden landscapes of Natoire or Fragonard, the capriccios of Guardi or, as can be seen here, the pastel portrait by Luti, the Classical Landscape by Moucheron, the religious composition by Caula. The use of one color of chalk was often augmented to include two colors, such as the combination of red & black, as in the Zuccaro portrait of a Young Boy, or black & white chalk - a very, though not exclusively, Venetian Renaissance concoction, especially appealing when applied to blue paper, like the study here of a Dog by an artist close to Veronese; or the trois crayons technique in which the French excelled, beginning with Watteau and emulated by Schouman in the example viewable here. Leonardo at the beginning of the 16th century and Barocci at the end, favored the use of many colored chalks, including yellows and oranges - a soft yet rich mixture that appealed as well to Mola in 17th century Rome, Castiglione (who also added vivid touches of oil paint) in 17th century Genoa, and culminating in the pastels, first of Benedetto Luti in Rome during the first two decades of the 18th century (a very charming example is posted here) , and soon after with the portaits of Rosalba Carriere in Venice, and then with such a good number of French artists in Paris that today it is of them whom we think as the masters of the medium.
Some Renaissance draughtsman in Italy and Germany especially, composed highly finished autonomous drawings, monochromatic compositions embellished with highlights of gold or white gouache applied with the point of a brush, similar to the Prospero Fontana shown here. Often these exquisite works would have been on papers tinted with a hint of hue or otherwise prepared with a pigmented ground, like the Caula here.Yet when Goltzius, for one, applied this method to a panel, we drew some kind of a distinction and refer to such works as paintings. Equally confusing, the use of multicolored paints when the medium is gouache or watercolor, does not preclude us from including these works with other drawings, such as the exquisite Camerón y Boronat here. Their support is usually paper and sometimes, like with Marco Ricci's gouaches, leather or parchment.
We have touched on the topic of autonomous sheets which it should be noted also encompass works intended to record or document the completion or existence of another work of art, such as one of the many drawings after Antiquities by Pietro Testa commissioned by Cassiano dal Pozzo shown here, or Claude's gorgeous landscapes populated with mythological figures that document the subject and composition of his autograph paintings. We have also alluded to studies as that type of drawing that evolves because it is part of a process, such as the Alberti and the Roncalli displayed here. Studies can be from nature or life such as the Legs by Gatti or the Landscape by Cortona, or the Reclining Peasant by a French artist, to be incorporated into another final work. Studies can also be dictated by a thought or conception of the artist, like the Bernini for the facade of a building, the decoration of a wall or ceiling like the Chiari, or compositions for paintings, engravings or frescos such as the van Loon and Perino, the design of a frontispiece, the ornament on a silver soup tureen or limestone garden urn, or theatrical stage set like the Marco Ricci here, or for costume design.
Oil sketches are akin to drawings in that they are often executed on paper. Their purpose is sometimes exploratory, like the Procaccini Head of an Angel. When sufficiently articulated, they can serve as "presentation pieces," enabling a patron to get an idea of what the artist's larger-scaled and more elaborate project will look like, see for instance the Ridolfi. Grisailles and brunailles in oil, monochromatic by nature, are often relegated to the drawings departments of institutions, even though they are painted and were often executed on linen.
It is hoped that the previously uninitiated will be intrigued by the material presented here. Our intention is to show what a rich and varied field this is and to inspire you to view the drawings displayed on this web-site. Whether or not you are tempted to acquire one drawing or begin a collection, looking and learning can be extremely enjoyable and rewarding.
