Saint Paul

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta was a Venetian draughtsman whose drawings in chalk and charcoal established him as one of the eighteenth century's most influential figure studies. His sheets, often rendered on toned paper with heightened whites, demonstrate a mastery of chiaroscuro and anatomical precision that set the standard for academic practice across Europe. Piazzetta's graphic work informed his parallel career as a painter of religious and allegorical subjects, yet his drawings remain his most distinctive achievement, prized for their psychological presence and technical virtuosity.

Venice