Читать книгу 1000 Drawings of Genius - Victoria Charles - Страница 3

1. Villard de Honnecourt, 1190–1235, French, A Lion and a Porcupine, c. 1225–1240. Graphite enhanced with pen on parchment, 22 × 14 cm. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. High Middle Ages.

Although it was written at a time when art was quickly shifting towards a whole new era, Cennino Cennini’s Trattato della pittura (1437) makes for a perfect summary of the artistic techniques of the Late Middle Ages, a kind of cookbook, as was typical of the centuries preceding the Renaissance. Presented here are a few of Cennini’s guidelines regarding drawing, as well as the author’s principles for the practice of art in general, some of which the modern reader will find curious, at the least:

“Chapter 8. In what manner you should begin to draw with a stile, and with what light. […] begin to draw with it from a copy as freely as you can, and so lightly that you can scarcely see what you have begun to do, deepening your strokes as you proceed, and going over them repeatedly, to make the shadows. Where you would make it darkest, go over it many times; and, on the contrary, make but few touches on the lights. And you must be guided by the light of the sun, and your eye, and your hand; and without these three things you can do nothing properly. Contrive always when you draw that the light be softened, and the sun strike on your left hand; and in this manner you should draw a short time every day, that you may not become tired or weary. […]

“Chapter 12. How, when drawing with a lead pencil, an error may be corrected. You may draw on paper also with the above-mentioned leaden stile, either with or without bone-dust; and if at any time you make an error, or you wish to remove any marks made by the leaden stile, take a crumb of bread, rub it over the paper, and efface whatever you please. And in the same manner you may shade with ink, or colours, or red tints, with the before-mentioned vehicle. […]

“Chapter 27. Showing how you should endeavour to draw and instruct yourself in design as much as you can. It is now requisite that you should copy from models, in order to attain the highest branches of the science. […] Having practised drawing a sufficient time on tablets, as I have before directed, always study and delight in drawing the best subjects which offer from the works of the great masters. If there are many good masters in the place where you live, so much the better for you. But I advise you always to select the best and most celebrated; and if you daily imitate this manner, it is scarcely possible but that you will acquire it; for if you copy today from this master and tomorrow from that, you will not acquire the manner of either; and as the different style of each master unsettles your mind, your own manner will become fantastic. If you will study this manner today and that tomorrow, you must of necessity copy neither perfectly; but if you continually adopt the manner of one master, your intellect must be very dull indeed if you do not find something to nourish it. And it will happen that if nature has bestowed on you any invention, you will acquire a manner of your own, which cannot be other than good, because your hand and your understanding being always accustomed to gather flowers, will always avoid the thorns.

“Chapter 28. How you should draw continually from nature, as well as from the masters. Remember that the most perfect guide that you can have and the best direction is to draw from nature: it is the best of all possible examples, and with a bold heart you may always trust to it, especially when you begin to have some knowledge of design. And continuing always and without fail to draw something every day, how little soever it may be, you will certainly attain excellence.

“Chapter 29. How you should regulate your manner of living so as to preserve decorum, and keep your hand in proper condition, and what company you should frequent; […] Your manner of living should be always regulated as if you were studying theology, philosophy, or any other science; that is to say, eating and drinking temperately – at the most twice a day, using light and good food, and but little wine; keeping in good condition, and restraining your hand, preserving it from fatigue, throwing stones or iron bars for instance, and many other things which are injurious to the hand, causing it to shake. There is still another cause, the occurrence of which may render your hand so unsteady that it will oscillate and tremble more than leaves shaken by the wind, and this is, frequenting too much the company of ladies. […]”

Cennino Cennini, Trattato della pittura, 1437

2. Anonymous, 13th century, English, The Building of Clifford’s Tower (from the Lives of the Offas by Matthew Paris, 1200–1259), c. 1250–1254. Ink on vellum. British Library, London. High Middle Ages.

3. Queen Mary Master, 14th century, English, Noah and the Ark (from the Queen Mary Psalter), c. 1310–1320. Ink on parchment. British Library, London. Late Middle Ages.

4. Queen Mary Master, 14th century, English, Hunting Scene (from the Queen Mary Psalter), c. 1310–1320. Ink on parchment. British Library, London. Late Middle Ages.

5. Anonymous, 14th century, Leo (illustration to Treatise on Astrology by Albumazar, 787–886), c. 1325–1375. Ink on parchment, 27 × 18 cm. British Library, London. Late Middle Ages.

6. Anonymous, 14th century, Taurus (illustration to Treatise on Astrology by Albumazar, 787–886), c. 1325–1375. Ink on parchment, 27 × 18 cm. British Library, London. Late Middle Ages.

7. Jean Pucelle, c. 1300–1334, French, Annunciation to the Shepherds (folio from The Hours of Jeanne d’Évreux), 1324–1328. Grisaille, tempera and ink on vellum, 9.2 × 6.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. International Gothic.

8. Jean Pucelle, c. 1300–1334, French, Christ Bearing the Cross (folio from The Hours of Jeanne d’Évreux), 1324–1328. Grisaille, tempera and ink on vellum, 9.2 × 6.2 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. International Gothic.

9. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1285–1348, Italian, Annunciation (detail of the angel), c. 1340. Sinopia. Oratorio di San Galgano, San Galgano. International Gothic.

AMBROGIO LORENZETTI

(Siena, 1285–1348)

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, like his brother Pietro, belonged to the Sienese School dominated by the Byzantine tradition. They were the first Sienese to adopt the naturalistic approach of Giotto. There is also evidence that the brothers borrowed tools from each other. They were both major masters of naturalism. With the three-dimensional, Ambrogio foreshadowed the art of the Renaissance. He is well known for the fresco cycle Allegory of the Good and Bad Government, remarkable for its depiction of characters and of Sienese scenes. The frescos on the wall of the Hall of Nine (Sala della Pace) in the Palazzo Pubblico are one of the masterworks of their secular programmes. Ghiberti regarded Ambrogio as the greatest of Sienese 14th-century painters.

10. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1285–1348, Italian, Annunciation (detail of the Virgin), c. 1340. Sinopia. Oratorio di San Galgano, San Galgano. International Gothic.

11. Buonamico Buffalmacco, active 1315–1336, Italian, The Triumph of Death (detail of a woman with a little dog), c. 1330–1340. Sinopia. Camposanto, Pisa. Trecento.

12. Buonamico Buffalmacco, active 1315–1336, Italian, The Triumph of Death (detail of Saint Macarius the Great), c. 1330–1340. Sinopia. Camposanto, Pisa. Trecento.

13. Andrés Marçal de Sas, active c. 1393–1410, German, St. Catherine of Alexandria, date unknown. Pen and ink on parchment. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Late Gothic.

14. Andrés Marçal de Sas, active c. 1393–1410, German, Page of the Alphabet with the Letters R, S, T, U, date unknown. Pen and ink on parchment. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Late Gothic.

15. Andrés Marçal de Sas, active c. 1393–1410, German, Virgin of the Annunciation, date unknown. Pen and ink on parchment. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Late Gothic.

16. Giovanni da Milano, c. 1325–1370, Italian, Crucifixion, 1365. Brush and ink on brown prepared paper, 28.4 × 22 cm. Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin. Late Gothic.

17. Anonymous, 14th century, Italian, The Visitation, c. 1350. Pen and ink on parchment, 21.2 × 33.3 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. International Gothic.

18. Jean d’Orleans (attributed to), active c. 1356–1408, French, Parement of Narbonne, c. 1375. Grisaille on silk, 78 × 286 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. International Gothic.

19. Giovannino de’Grassi, c. 1350–1398, Italian, Two Young Women Playing Music, 1380–1398. Pen, ink and watercolour on parchment, 26 × 19 cm. Civica Biblioteca Angelo Mai, Bergamo. International Gothic.

20. Giovannino de’Grassi, c. 1350–1398, Italian, A Group of Young Men Singing, 1380–1398. Pen and ink on parchment, 26 × 19 cm. Civica Biblioteca Angelo Mai, Bergamo. International Gothic.

21. Giovannino de’Grassi, c. 1350–1398, Italian, A Prehistoric Man, 1380–1398. Pen and ink on parchment, 26 × 19 cm. Civica Biblioteca Angelo Mai, Bergamo. International Gothic.

22. Giovannino de’Grassi, c. 1350–1398, Italian, A Lion Eating a Deer, 1380–1398. Ink, traces of silver shades, white tempera and watercolour on parchment, 26 × 19 cm. Civica Biblioteca Angelo Mai, Bergamo. International Gothic.