Cortona's idealized head of a youth shows the extremely refined shading that is possible with black
chalk. Cortona used a combination of parallel hatching and stumping to achieve the fine gradations of
surface tone that give this head three-dimensional volume.
Pietro Berrettini, called
Pietro da Cortona
(Italian, 1596-1669)
Detail from Study for the
Head of St. Michael, 1633
Black chalk on beige laid
paper, perimeter
mounted to cream laid
paper, 19 x 16.
centimeters Leonard C.