Portret van paus Leo XII 1800 - 1853

Giovanni Silvagni drew this portrait of Pope Leo XII using graphite, or lead pencil. What I find compelling about this drawing is the way it elevates a common material to the realm of fine art. Graphite, since its large-scale mining began in the 16th century, has been used for everything from marking sheep to industrial applications. But here, Silvagni has exploited graphite's capacity for fine detail and subtle tonal gradations to capture the likeness of a powerful man. Look closely, and you'll notice how Silvagni uses delicate hatching and cross-hatching to model the pope's face and vestments, creating a sense of depth and volume. He coaxes a range of values from the graphite, from the barely-there strokes defining the background to the darker lines that delineate the pope's features. Silvagni reminds us that even the most humble materials can be transformed into works of beauty and meaning.