Angel Pietà, ca. 1595 – 1600

About the Work

Among the extant works from Palma il Giovane’s extensive drawing oeuvre are some thirty oil sketches on paper. Like the example on view here, the majority of them served as preliminary studies for paintings. Using a semi-dry brush technique, the artist started by sketching the figures in dark brown. He then executed the shaded sections, likewise in brown, before finally adding several accents in white and ochre. With this method he created a light-dark continuum lending plasticity to the body of Christ and clarity to the figures’ spatial interrelationships.