Allegory of Victory n.d.

This is Domenico Piola's 'Allegory of Victory,' made with pen and brown ink. Look closely, and you’ll see how Piola coaxes an impressive range of tones and textures from this humble material combination. The brown ink allows for tonal modelling, creating a sculptural effect on the page. It’s quite incredible, really, how this wash of brown ink delineates so expertly the folds of fabric, the texture of the foliage, and the soft, cherubic bodies of the figures. There is a tremendous skill on display here. The virtuoso handling of the pen and ink is a legacy of Italian Renaissance draftsmanship. Piola makes use of the pen to create thin lines to indicate the forms of the bodies, and uses an absorbent paper, so that the ink bleeds slightly to create a sense of depth and volume. The point here is that Piola's technical mastery elevates the drawing from a mere study to a powerful visual statement. We get a glimpse into the artist's mind, and a sense of the rich cultural traditions that informed his work.