Frontispiece from Cipriani's "Rudiments of Drawing" 1792

Francesco Bartolozzi created this engraving, "Frontispiece from Cipriani's 'Rudiments of Drawing'," as an introduction to a drawing manual, during a time when art education was becoming more formalized. Consider the role of classical imagery here: a draped, idealized woman, likely representing art or learning, guides cherubic figures. These cherubs embody innocence and potential. It is an era of Enlightenment ideals, and with it comes the entrenched belief in the accessibility and universality of knowledge, but who gets access, and how? This image, with its allegorical figures, speaks to the gendered and class-based dynamics of artistic training in the 18th century. While advocating for the ‘rudiments of drawing’—the foundational skills—the image subtly reinforces the traditional canon and the social hierarchies that governed artistic production. It invites us to reflect on who was encouraged to learn, what they were taught, and whose stories were deemed worthy of representation.