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Home | Exhibitions | Barocci: A lesson in drawing | Barocci Drawings: Types of drawings

Barocci Drawings: Finished compositional studies

Barocci was a very innovative draftsman due to his unusual techniques and his original approach to the final phase of the preparatory process. After experimenting with innumerable preparatory studies, once he had a good idea of how he wanted a painting to look, he would make a finished compositional study in oil or gouache to explore ‘chiaroscuro’ effects. This new type of drawing was termed by Bellori ‘cartoncino per i lumi’ or ‘per il chiaroscuro’ (small cartoon for the study of light and shade) and was the most elaborate drawing in the entire process. After having completed this compositional drawing he would place a full-scale cartoon in charcoal, chalk, or pastels on paper over the primed canvas and trace the contours with a stylus so that the drawing never deviated from the original design.