Jupiter and Ceres 1772 - 1782

Antoine François Callet made this drawing, Jupiter and Ceres, with brush and gray wash, over graphite. You can really see the fluidity of the wash technique here, which was often used for preparatory sketches. Wash relies on a dilution of pigment in a binder, usually glue or gum arabic. In Callet’s time, the material was favored for its speed and its capacity to create tonal gradations of light and shade. Look at the heavy shadowing on Jupiter’s leg. You can see how Callet exploits the technique to give a sense of three-dimensionality. It's the kind of illusionism he would need to master for the royal portraits that made his name. Drawings like this would have been crucial to the studio system of the time. Wash drawings were reproducible, so assistants could easily use them for reference. It’s a reminder that even a seemingly spontaneous sketch like this one was deeply embedded in a workshop context. Appreciating this making process is key to understanding the social world of art production.