De heilige Cecilia in haar doodsslaap before 1625

Pietro da Cortona created this drawing of Saint Cecilia in her death sleep, using graphite on paper. The very directness of this medium is notable. While da Cortona was celebrated for his large-scale, illusionistic frescoes, here he relies on the simple act of mark-making. Note the visible pressure of the graphite, with darker areas achieved through denser application. The texture of the paper itself becomes integral to the image. The result is a study that feels both immediate and intimate. Drawings like this were vital to the economies of art in da Cortona’s time, and continue to be today. On the one hand, they were a means of efficiently developing ideas. On the other, they were also a commodity; studies like this would have been collected and traded, prized for their demonstration of artistic skill. This drawing invites us to consider the relationship between labor, skill, and artistic value.