This elegant drawing with a metal point, partly revised in tempera, takes up a group of two figures from the fresco of the Baptism of Christ, painted by Perugino on a wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican around 1480. It is probably not a direct copy. from the fresco: the differences with the original, in fact, suggest a reworking mediated by an autographed drawing by Perugino. Inside the workshop of the great Umbrian master, in the 1880s, some of the preparatory drawings for the decoration of the Sistine Chapel certainly circulated, left by Perugino to his students so that they could practice copying and better understand the use of the techniques.

A typical example of a pen drawing made in Perugino's workshop in the eighties and nineties of the fifteenth century is exhibited here, as evidenced by the watermark of the paper. There are many pen drawings like this one, and it is easy to assume that Perugino also regularly used them as didactic tools. Exercise in the copy played a fundamental role in the training of young artists, because it allowed the learning of techniques and the creation of a repertoire of tested expressive formulas suitable for being modified and reused in different contexts.

This vibrant pen and ink drawing takes up the traditional iconography of the mystical marriage of Saint Catherine: at the center of the scene the Child Jesus on his mother's lap gives the young Catherine of Alexandria a wedding ring, a symbol of chastity and communion with God. dress worn by the saint recalls her royal status, while the broken wheel at her feet is a reminder of her martyrdom. The outlines of the figures were engraved with a stylus to make copies, according to a widespread practice in the Renaissance. The folds still visible on the sheet testify that in the past the drawing was folded several times, perhaps to be sent attached to a letter.

Intaglio prints were taken from this drawing by Giulio Romano, as evidenced by the engravings along the contours of the figure. In the sixteenth century the printing technique established itself throughout Europe, quickly becoming a great tool for spreading culture; also the artistic language of the great Renaissance masters was conveyed by the engravings, and Giulio Romano has enjoyed great popularity also thanks to the prints taken from his works. From this drawing in particular, an etching was taken by an engraver of the school of Fontainebleau who signs his works as an IQV Monogramist.

In the Rome of the sixteenth century, where the rediscovery of the ancient had a strong influence on the taste of the bourgeois, many notables and wealthy men try to evoke the sculptural magnificence of the ancient reliefs in their homes, commissioning monochrome frescoes to decorate the facades of their buildings. It was Polidoro da Caravaggio himself who perfected the technique of painted facades during the 1920s, together with Maturino da Firenze with whom he worked in over fifty construction sites.

This drawing testifies how the Emilian painter Biagio Pupini was in direct contact with the artistic environment of the Rome of the sixteenth century both for the fluidity of the stroke and for the taste for antiquity. Twelve-year-old Jesus is represented talking with the doctors in the temple of Jerusalem. However, the identification of the main scene is not immediate, because the drawing unfolds in various micro-narratives - in which visitors and scholars of the temple converse, move, transport the sacred texts - which divert attention from the heart of the scene positioned at the top of the left.

This metallic point drawing on prepared paper has been associated with the name of Raphael for many years, for the elegance and expressiveness of the sign. Traced back to Pietro Perugino on the occasion of this exhibition, it is probably a life drawing, with a boy from his workshop used as a model. The artist uses an archaic technique, difficult to use because it does not allow second thoughts since the line left by the metallic stylus on the prepared paper cannot be erased. The draftsman first sketches the figure with rapid strokes and then, with successive strokes of the stylus, gives a plastic form to the represented subject, also using watercolor ink and touches of white lead to accentuate the sculptural relief.

This intense female head in black stone is a preparatory drawing by Giulio Romano for the fresco with the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche in Palazzo Te in Mantua. The preparatory cartoon for the fresco was taken from this sheet, whose main features are entirely perforated for carrying over, and is no longer preserved today because the transfer to the wall often irreparably damages the cardboard. Collectors of all times have loved preparatory drawings and cartoons very much, to the point that they were often quoted as much as paintings. The composition of which this drawing is part - the scene of the wedding banquet of Cupid and Psyche - was conceived by Giulio Romano on the basis of the painting of the same subject frescoed by Raphael in the villa Farnesina for Agostino Chigi, a construction site in which Giulio himself was very active.

This vibrant drawing is part of a series of projects by Perino del Vaga for the ceiling of the palace of Admiral Andrea Doria (1466-1560) in Fassolo, an area of Genoa that was outside the city walls at the time the villa was built. . Even if the iconography of the individual ceiling squares differs from the actual version, the general setting is instead very faithful. The artist's indications on the choice of colors to be used in the different panels are still visible. This could be an intermediate stage of the project to be presented to the client to discuss with him the definitive choices to be made. In the verse of the drawing, shown here in reproduction, Perino has drawn several figures, captured in different expressive poses: in the upper portion of the sheet we recognize some women in contemporary clothes seen in profile, from behind, in conversation or hooded in their heavy clothing and , in the upper right corner, a group of men in conversation.

It is not only a sheet full of ancient studies and exercises on the theme of grotesque decoration, but in Perino del Vaga's intentions it probably had to be a sort of imaginative handbook of the ornamental repertoire very popular in the mid-sixteenth century, in which every single detail is treated with care and attention and enhanced thanks to bright watercolors. In an autographed handwritten note in the center of the sheet we read: Perin does assaj to be poor. The artist refers to his financial difficulties, which were known to his contemporaries to the point of being remembered even Vasari in his Lives. On the reverse, reproduced here, Perino draws a border for a tapestry, probably conceived for the Palazzo di Andrea Doria in Genoa.

Probably for this drawing Polidoro uses a model from life, even if the main source of inspiration is undoubtedly the Raphaelesque lesson, not only for the academic language that imbues it, but also for the skilful use of the technique of red stone drawing, medium much loved by Raphael for his expressive ability of material, linear and pictorial values. At the center of the composition is the study for one hand, which captures the viewer's attention with the palm facing forward. Renaissance artists understood how expressive hands could be, and often focused their studies on their gestures, as shown for example by Raphael's drawing reproduced here as a comparison, now preserved at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

Vincenzo Tamagni's talent as a draftsman was highly appreciated as early as the 16th century, and his drawings were sought after and purchased by many collectors, including Giorgio Vasari and Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774), the famous connoisseur to whom this sheet is belonged. In the Virgin Enthroned with Child and Saints Tamagni readjusted a form of compositional schemes familiar to him. The Virgin is placed on a raised throne with the Child balanced on her lap; the saints are difficult to identify, as they lack clear attributes, with the exception of the saint to the left of the Virgin, who could be St. Catherine of Siena. In the quick sketch of the Christ carrying the cross, Tamagni has an afterthought on the pose of Jesus' right arm which at first he imagined stretched out and bleeding, and finally bent to hold the cross. Both sheets are also drawn on the reverse, with mythological scenes.

Vincenzo Tamagni's talent as a draftsman was highly appreciated as early as the 16th century, and his drawings were sought after and purchased by many collectors, including Giorgio Vasari and Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774), the famous connoisseur to whom this sheet is belonged. In the Virgin Enthroned with Child and Saints Tamagni readjusted a form of compositional schemes familiar to him. The Virgin is placed on a raised throne with the Child balanced on her lap; the saints are difficult to identify, as they lack clear attributes, with the exception of the saint to the left of the Virgin, who could be St. Catherine of Siena. In the quick sketch of the Christ carrying the cross, Tamagni has an afterthought on the pose of Jesus' right arm which at first he imagined stretched out and bleeding, and finally bent to hold the cross. Both sheets are also drawn on the reverse, with mythological scenes.