St John the Apostle standing with a book 1559 - 1613

Cigoli sketched St John the Apostle with a book using what looks like black chalk on paper. The material qualities of the paper support the softness and the depth of the black chalk to render the folds of St John’s gown. The appearance of the line work in the image seems to be coming from rapid and repetitive strokes that are not dissimilar to cross-hatching, a method in which fine parallel lines are drawn closely together to create the illusion of shading or texture in a drawing. It's important to note the labour involved in such a process, where depth and dimension are established with the accumulation of repetitive strokes, and the image materializes from such intensive work. Recognizing the skill, labor and time it took to produce this drawing, it is important to consider the artist's craft and the material used as central to the artistic process, and crucial to fully appreciate its value.