Udkast til loftsdekoration 1612 - 1695

This design for a ceiling decoration was created by Pierre Mignard, likely in the latter half of the 17th century, using pen and brown ink, with brown wash and white gouache on paper. The drawing's material qualities are very much the point. Brown ink, with its ease of flow, allows Mignard to quickly render a heavenly host in a very provisional way. It gives us insight into his process. The brown wash adds depth and volume, while touches of white gouache bring highlights to the clouds and figures, enhancing the ethereal quality of the scene. This kind of drawing was made to propose a much larger, more elaborate painted composition, one that would have demanded considerable labor to execute. We can tell that Mignard was a master of his trade, not just by the skill evident here, but by the sheer speed with which he could set down an idea. The apparent effortlessness in the drawing belies the amount of skilled work that would have been involved in the production process. And that is part of the point: a demonstration of virtuosity.