Two naked little children 

Editor: This drawing, "Two naked little children" by Guercino, done in chalk, presents two cherubic figures. It feels intimate, like a candid glimpse. What stands out to you in terms of the drawing's formal elements? Curator: The initial, arresting quality of the piece is certainly its immediate, sketch-like nature. This imparts the drawing's aforementioned sense of intimacy. I am drawn to the contrast of the stark white ground and sanguine lines: their stark chromatic relationship generates tension. This visual binary draws the eye across the picture plane, as does the contrasting detail between the defined lines of the subject to the left versus the rather hazier execution to the right. Editor: So, you see the tension not only in color, but also in the levels of definition? Curator: Precisely. The formal qualities of this work are inextricably linked to its content; in my eyes, a meditation upon two distinct formal modalities of perception -- clarity versus obscurity -- or perhaps even artistic creation itself. Guercino has given us an opportunity here to understand his methods, offering an insight into both process and the very foundations of his painterly language. Do you not agree that we, in fact, gain two drawings for the price of one, so to speak? Editor: I never considered it as a dialogue on the process itself, rather than just a preparatory study! Now I am able to look at all those structural elements with new eyes. Curator: That, I feel, is the enduring power of Baroque draftsmanship: its ability to fold the mechanics of production into the ultimate reception.