Angel n.d.

Francesco Bartolozzi made this drawing of an angel in sanguine chalk, sometime in the late 18th century. Chalk is a humble material, yet in Bartolozzi’s skilled hands, it yields an image of grace and lightness. The choice of sanguine, a blood-red color, adds to the figure’s life-like quality, as does the texture of the chalk strokes themselves, which capture the softness of the angel's hair, the delicate folds of the drapery, and the ethereal quality of the wings. You can see the artist used hatching and cross-hatching to build up the tones and create a sense of depth, a process that demanded careful control. Bartolozzi was a master of printmaking, and his drawings often served as preparatory studies for engravings. In this context, the ease and immediacy of the chalk allowed him to explore ideas quickly, before translating them into the more exacting medium of print. Paying attention to the materials and making process helps us appreciate not only the artist's technical skill, but also the broader context in which the work was created.