Capturing the Sublime: Italian Drawings of the Renaissance and Baroque July 2, 2012

The art of drawing assumed an unusually prominent role in Italy during the Renaissance and Baroque eras, not only in the training of artists and the demonstration of inherent genius and ability but also in the systematic development of projects that were ultimately collected and treasured as works of art in their own right. Although most drawings were undertaken for utilitarian purposes--to master representation or to prepare larger compositions--the evidence such sheets provide of an artist's unique temperament and style led 16th-century artist and author Giorgio Vasari to amass drawings as a reflection of those lives. Collectors ever since have found the process of interacting with these works on paper as satisfying and creative as the act of drawing itself.