Assumption of the Virgin 1759 - 1770

Jean Robert Ango created this ‘Assumption of the Virgin’ sometime between 1759 and 1773 using a humble material: red chalk. The seeming simplicity of this medium belies its potential for both subtlety and speed. Notice the hatching that defines the Virgin’s robes and the quick strokes suggesting the clouds beneath her. Chalk allows an artist to build up tone and volume rapidly, ideal for preliminary sketches. The immediacy and relative inexpensiveness of chalk also made it an ideal medium for academic study, allowing students to quickly iterate and refine their compositions. This drawing could very well be a preparatory sketch for a larger painting or print, where Ango was working out the composition. While the finished work may never have materialized, this drawing gives us insight into the artist's process, and the artistic conventions of his time. So, next time you see a chalk drawing, consider it not just as a finished work, but as a window into the artist’s practice. It reminds us that even the simplest of materials can reveal complex ideas.