Christ Giving the Host to a Holy Abbess 1690

Giovanni Battista Gaulli sketched this drawing, "Christ Giving the Host to a Holy Abbess," using pen and brown ink with gray wash over black chalk. What's interesting here is not so much the religious subject matter, but the gridded lines underneath the sketch. This under-drawing allowed the artist to accurately transfer the composition to a larger surface. It was a labor-saving method that became very popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, essentially a mechanical aid for producing at scale. If you look closely, you’ll also see the artist using the wash to build up volume and shadow, giving his figures weight and presence. In doing so, Gaulli showed his mastery of technique. He has imbued the artwork with a dynamic sense of movement and spiritual drama, that is embedded in the very process by which it was produced. So next time you see a drawing like this, remember the unseen labor and the clever techniques that went into its making. It challenges the perceived hierarchy between high art and craft.