it allowed the renderer to alter line width by applying various amounts of pressure. Metal nibs for pens
had been in use since the Roman period although these points had less flexibility and tended to rust
(Turner, 1996 ). Inks were often used with wash for tonal qualities and shading, in both black and
browns. Natural chalk was also available; it was an immediate medium that facilitated quick sketches,
and could be purchased in tones of red, white, and black. In Italy, red chalk was known as Sanguine
suggesting a reference to blood. It was useful to create soft tones for portraits. Charcoal, made from
willow sticks, could be used for more detailed drawings. Its powdery quality permitted erasing,
although it smudged easily. Graphite, from Bavaria, was available since the early thirteenth century. It
was not, however, a popular drawing medium with artists and architects until the sixteenth century,
when it was found in Cumbria, England. Learning the techniques and acquiring the skills to profi-
ciently use these media were attained in the Renaissance workshops (Ames-Lewis and Wright, 1983 ;
Vasari, 1945 ; Turner, 1996 ; Bambach, 1999 ).EDUCATION; WORKSHOP CULTUREAlthough Renaissance architects made pilgrimages to sites of excavated ruins to draw and measure
the antiquities, most acquired their drawing skills in a prominent artist’s workshop (Ames-Lewis and
Wright, 1983 ; Vasari, 1945 ; Turner, 1996 ; Bambach, 1999 ). These workshops were organized for
efficiency, to accomplish the many tasks necessary for painting, frescos, sculpture, or tapestry. The
education of apprentice artists supported these endeavors. Bambach, Ames-Lewis and Wright
describe the organization of these workshops.
A large workshop may have had many artists, craftsmen, and assistants, all working together to
accomplish the tasks required for various projects. A successful master artist may have had many
projects in the process of design, or at various stages of completion, at any one time. For example,
assistants or apprentices might have been specialized in one or more of the numerous tasks involved
in fresco painting. They were skilled in enlarging a sketch to the size of the finished fresco, which
may have employed a grid for transfer. They (or a professional plasterer) applied the plaster in an
amount equal to the work to be completed that day. They moved and assembled scaffolding, or
ground and carried pigment to the site. The assistants and apprentices cut and joined the sheets of
paper to be used for cartoons (full-scale templates for transfer), pounced the powdered charcoal
through the cartoon onto the wet plastered surface, and assisted in the placing of these large tem-
plates. Painting and sculpture required comparable levels of effort. General workshop duties
included grinding pigments, preparing charcoal sticks, texturing drawing surfaces, chipping outer
layers of granite, or acting as models. As discussed earlier, these were the interdisciplinary tasks that
encouraged a sense of disegno.
The education of an apprentice often took many years, and involved learning many skills.
Promising young apprentices’ education revolved around drawing. They first learned to draw using a
silverpoint technique. A stylus, fashioned out of silver, was used to draw on a prepared surface. The
stylus scraped a fine line of silver deposit that then oxidized to leave a faint line of consistent diameter.
To achieve a bolder line the blunt end of the stylus was used. This technique required practice, since
the silverpoint line was not erasable. To allow for such practice, the apprentices prepared the surface of
a wood tablet that could be scraped off for reuse. Thus, silverpoint was used mostly for finished draw-
ings, especially those to be retained in the workshop’s archive. Other metals were used, but the line
(being consistent) did not allow for a shading method other than cross-hatching. After learning sketch-
ing and drawing, apprentices were given other tasks to develop necessary skills. They were encouraged
to study by drawing from a sculptured example, or by drawing each other. These exercises honed their
skills in observation, trained their visual perception, improved eye –hand coordination, and allowed
them to reproduce a natural looking figure exhibiting proper proportion. They imitated the master
artist’s style to learn from a great renderer, but also to provide consistency of style to the workshop’sH5719-Ch01.qxd 7/15/05 3:16 PM Page 22