Saint George and the Dragon c. 1506

This drawing of Saint George and the Dragon, made by Raphael around the turn of the 16th century, comes to us via the traditional tools of the Renaissance artist: paper, pen, and brown ink. But don't mistake this scene of chivalric conquest for something straightforward. Look closely, and you'll see something of the labor involved. Raphael has used hatching to build up tone, varying the pressure of his hand to achieve an effect of three-dimensionality. The layered strokes create an impression of movement, the Saint, the horse, and the dragon all caught in dynamic action. But why devote so much time and skill to a drawing, when painting was the prestige medium? Well, drawings like this were essential to Raphael's workshop. They allowed him to work out compositions in advance, and to delegate portions of the finished painting to assistants. So even in this seemingly straightforward image, we glimpse the social context of artistic production. The hand that made this drawing was not just expressing creative genius, but managing a complex workshop system.