Nude Figure 1720

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta made this drawing, Nude Figure, with black chalk and white chalk heightening on grey paper. Chalk is a relatively direct medium, and the texture of the paper becomes part of the finished work, a far cry from the highly finished surfaces of oil painting that defined the period. Piazzetta applied the chalk with varying pressure, from light, feathery strokes to dense, almost velvety passages, giving volume to the figure. You can see how the shadows are built with tiny, precise strokes, creating a sense of depth and three-dimensionality. It’s a painstaking process. The artist coaxed a range of tones and textures from the chalk, capturing the nuances of light and shadow on the model's skin. The drawing has a certain social significance: chalk was a common material, used for quick sketches and studies. Piazzetta elevated it to a medium for serious artistic expression, challenging the traditional hierarchy that separated drawing from painting. He found beauty and value in the everyday.