Pius V and the Ambassador of the King of Poland 1707 - 1717

Benedetto Luti made this drawing, Pius V and the Ambassador of the King of Poland, using pen and brown ink, with watercolor and white gouache over black chalk. Note the economy of means. Luti uses hatching and contour lines to create both structure and subtle gradations of light and shadow. The paper itself plays an essential role here, as the figures and setting seem to emerge from a softly illuminated mist. This impression is heightened by the washes of color, which have been applied with considerable subtlety. Luti has employed his skills to present a vision of papal authority, but the processes of drawing and watercolor are themselves quite humble. There is a directness to the composition. The image has an immediacy that perhaps wouldn’t be present in a large-scale oil painting. It reminds us that even grand, seemingly immutable subjects can be brought into being with just a few simple materials and techniques, skillfully applied. This is an art of careful labor, not of industrial production.