Grijsaard in lange mantel 1538 - 1592

Girolamo Muziano created this drawing, "Grijsaard in lange mantel", with pen in brown, over black chalk, on paper. Notice first the grid that underlies the figure. It's a reminder that drawing at this time was often a matter of painstaking replication or adjustment, a process akin to piecework, in which incremental labor was the order of the day. The red chalk has a warmth and softness, inviting touch. But in fact the medium is quite dry, requiring the artist to build up the image through many tiny, careful strokes. Look closely, and you can see the hatching that models the folds of the cloak. This wasn’t just a technique for representing drapery; it was a means of generating value, building up tone little by little. Each stroke stands for a unit of time spent. The entire image declares the amount of work that went into it. That’s the paradox of a drawing like this: it takes hours to execute, yet aims to create the illusion of effortless grace.