GLOSSARY
* Clicking on the images will take you to their museum catalogue notes, where available.
Paper
The most common support for drawings from the fifteenth century on. Paper became more readily available and affordable as the early modern period progressed, and was widely used in a variety of professions (see "glossary" under the section on "prints").
Artists seem to have favoured lighter papers, likely as this allowed for a greater clarity of line. Blue paper - coloured with cobalt or indigo - is often associated with sixteenth-century Venice. It proved an effective ground for a more nuanced tonal range in wash drawings. The blue would usually act as a middle ground between a brown wash and white heightening.
Vellum
A type of parchment usually made from sheep, goat, or calf skins, the latter being the most prized of the three. While more expensive than paper, vellum was also more durable. For this reason, although Renaissance drawings on vellum are quite rare, those that survive do so in relatively good condition. Vellum was often used in early-fifteenth century model books, and later, for finished drawings.
Panel
Before paper came to be the main support for drawings, small wooden panels, known as tablets, were often used. These would have been covered with a tinted wax or some type of ground whose surface could easily be cleaned. As a result, the tablet would be re-used multiple times. Wooden supports were also favoured by certain artists during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to produce "modellos" – a type of preparatory oil sketch – for paintings.
Chalk
At the end of the fourteenth century artists began to adopt natural chalks for drawings. The range was limited, with black and red being the most common colours used. White chalk also applied as a highlight (known as white heightening).
Black Chalk:
One of the most commonly used media in Renaissance drawings. Black chalk produced a much softer mark than pen and ink, and allowed for a freer line, broader strokes, and a rich tonal range when handled by an experienced draftsman. All artists regularly used black chalk. Ink and chalk were also often combined in drawings.
Red Chalk:
While red chalk is usually associated with seventeenth-century Bolognese, and eighteenth-century French drawings, its use is already mentioned by Cennino Cennini in his 'Libro dell’Arte' (a sort of “how to” guide for artists) in the Quattrocento. Red chalk was employed in the drawings of Botticelli, Leonardo, Fra Bartolommeo, Michelangelo, and Raphael among others.
Ink (Pen and Ink, Wash)
There were a number of different types of inks available in early modern Europe, but the most common to be used in drawing was iron-gall ink. This type of ink would have been almost jet black upon application. With time, however it had a tendency to turn brown.
Pen and Ink:
Ink was often used with pen (usually quill) to create clear lines and hatching.
Ink and Wash:
Ink could also be diluted and applied with a brush, to create lighter, broader marks, akin to watercolour.
Bodycolour
A mixture of a pigment with an opaque coloured paint, white lead, and a binding medium. The media was often used in early Quattrocento model books. It was later combined with ink and / or chalk to add shading or stronger colour to drawings.
Presentation Drawing
A highly finished drawing. Such works were often made as gifts for friends or patrons of the artist. Michelangelo is well-known for his presentation drawings.
Cartoon
A drawing used for the transfer of a design usually onto fresco or another type of painted surface. Many surviving cartoons are severely damaged, as the transfer process involved the cutting into the paper. Some highly finished cartoons were also used as visual guides for the painter and his assistants.
Garzone Study
A "garzone" refers to a figure - usually a male workshop assistant - posing to be drawn by his master or another artist in the workshop. The resulting sketch would often have been used for training purposes, and as a possible model to be incorporated into a painted composition. Most "garzone" studies can be identified by their subjects' contemporary dress.
Drawing Squared for Transfer
In preparation for a painting, artists would often draw individual or groups of figures, objects, animals, compositions, etc... onto a piece of paper, which would then be squared up. This permitted for an easier transfer of the drawn design onto a canvas or a panel.
Preparatory Sketch
A preparatory drawing or a sketch denotes a range of images usually intended for a painted panel, canvas, or fresco (although preparatory drawings could be used for any category of media). Many such works show the artist trying out different figural poses on a single sheet of paper, or filling a page with a a variety of sketches.
Composition Drawing
The term covers a wide range of drawing types that began to appear in the second half of the fifteenth century. Firstly, composition drawings could act as contract drawings, to be presented to a patron for approval. Secondly, in Northern Italy in particular, composition drawings would often be bound together in a volume, likely intended for reference and study within the workshop. Lastly, such works acted as a sort of final working out for the composition of a finished painting.