Drawing as Discipline
The sixteenth-century painter and art historian Giorgio Vasari called drawing, or disegno, “the father of our three arts: architecture, sculpture, and painting.” Fundamental to the creative process, drawing was the backbone of artistic training in Renaissance Italy and consisted of two principal components: copying from the masters and drawing the human figure. Through the mid-fifteenth century, aspiring artists were instructed to make copies after drawings in a model-book, a compendium of motifs (human figures, flora, and fauna) passed from one generation to another, ready to be inserted into paintings or illuminated manuscripts. With the shift away from this medieval tradition—and toward a greater emphasis on individual artistic expression—copying from a wide variety of easily available sources, such as prints and plaster casts, became a way of honing and perfecting one’s draftsmanship beyond the confines of the workshop or teaching academy. These settings provided the principal context for the study of anatomy and the figure in motion, with apprentices and students often posing as models for life-drawing sessions.
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Coronation of the VirginStyle of Altichiero, Italian, fl. 1369–before 1393
Coronation of the Virgin, ca. 1430
x1945-1 -
Studies of a Standing Male Nude, Seated Male Nude, and Bust of a WomanBaccio Bandinelli, Italian, 1493–1560
Studies of a Standing Male Nude, Seated Male Nude, and Bust of a Woman, 1520s
1998-866 -
Seated Male NudeGian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian, 1598–1680
Seated Male Nude, ca. 1618–24
2005-128 -
Semi-Reclining Male NudeCecco Bravo (Francesco Montelatici), Italian, 1601 - 1661
Semi-Reclining Male Nude, 1650s
x1947-141 -
The Practice of the Visual ArtsCornelis Cort, Netherlandish, 1533–1578 | after Jan van der Straet, Flemish, 1523–1605
The Practice of the Visual Arts, 1578
x1987-36 -
Adam and EveAlbrecht Dürer, German, 1471–1528
Adam and Eve, 1504
x1960-28 -
Statuette of a nude youthEtruscan
School of Vulci
Statuette of a nude youth, late 4th century B.C.
y1956-94 -
Chiomara and the CenturionNiccolo Giolfino, Italian, 1476–ca. 1555
Chiomara and the Centurion,
y1935-30 -
Horse Looking to Right, with Cornucopia and ShieldSchool of Andrea Mantegna, Italian, 1430/31–1506
Horse Looking to Right, with Cornucopia and Shield, ca. 1500
x1944-271 -
Lorenzo de’ MediciGiovanbattista Naldini, Italian, 1535 - 1591 | after Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian, 1475–1564
Lorenzo de’ Medici, ca. 1565
x1948-761 -
Giuliano de’ MediciGiovanbattista Naldini, Italian, 1535 - 1591 | after Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian, 1475–1564
Giuliano de’ Medici, ca. 1565
x1948-762 -
AdamMarcantonio Raimondi, Italian, 1470/82–1527/1534 | after Albrecht Dürer, German, 1471–1528
Adam, 1505–09
x1945-47
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