Resources & Recommendations #2
to listen
Michelangelo’s Drawings: Mind of the Master
Is there such thing as too much Michelangelo? In 2020 Jim Cuno spoke with Edina Adam and Julian Brooks, co-curators of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s covid-disrupted exhibition Michelangelo: Mind of the Master. Around two dozen of the master’s drawings were brought together for the show which sadly too few people had the chance to see. The discussion covers Michelangelo’s graphic evolution, workshop processes and elements of his biography.
to watch
A Market for Imitation -- Engraving Drawing in Eighteenth-Century France
Sarah Grandin, Clark-Getty curatorial fellow, discusses the role of prints in making drawing more accessible to the growing marketplace of 18th century France. New processes such as the “crayon manner” engraving achieved extreme fidelity in the reproduction of drawings and new technologies allowed for the accurate replication of chalk’s contours and textures. Significantly, Grandin explains how to spot the difference between these hyper-realistic engravings and original drawings.
to read
A fascinating scholarly article by Barbara Tramelli on Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo and one of the lesser-known academies of the late 16th century, the Accademia de la Val di Blenio. Founded in 1560 in Milan the members of the academy included painters, sculptors, engineers, actors, and artisans. Under the influence of Bacchus, God of wine, the academicians assumed the guise of peasants, facchini, and drew caricatures. The academy placed an emphasis on the virtue of humility in spite of intellectual ambition.
