Daedalus and Icarus n.d.

Giulio Romano likely made this drawing of Daedalus and Icarus in the first half of the 16th century, using pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk. The effect of the drawing is dependent on the artist’s mastery of the tools available to him. Look closely and you'll notice the dynamic cross-hatching and the delicate lines. The pen and ink, combined with the brown wash, allows Romano to build volume and depth, to create the illusion of three-dimensionality. Romano worked in the High Renaissance, a period in which the status of the artist was elevated. As such, drawing was not simply a preliminary step towards a finished painting or sculpture, but a valued end in itself. The artist’s virtuosity is central here. But consider too, that this image has a clear narrative: the ill-fated flight of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and plummeted to his death. It is a story of the dangers of over-reaching, a theme as relevant to artistic ambition as it is to life.