The 15th episode of the podcast "The Party of the Line" is entirely dedicated to the drawing techniques practiced in Italy during the Renaissance. Alexey Larionov's guest is Elena Shishkova, Head of the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Oriental Painting at the State Hermitage Museum and a top-category art restorer specializing in graphic works.
For many years, Elena has collected samples of paper and tools used by graphic artists, studied the characteristics of graphic techniques, and conducted material analyses. Dozens of drawings from both Western and Eastern schools have passed through her hands at the Hermitage.
In the podcast, drawing on a treatise by the Italian Renaissance artist Cennino Cennini, as well as on the results of the latest technical and technological research, Elena Shishkova explains:
- how to create a drawing with a metal stylus
- how to prepare a charcoal stick
- what "Italian chalk" is
- and why it is a mistake to call colored Renaissance drawings "pastels"
The focus is on drawings by Tintoretto, Giulio Romano, Parmigianino, Barocci, and other masters of Renaissance Italy.
The podcast is available via the link.