Metodo di Spolvero - Dusting method

The 14th century artist would sketch out the major outlines of painting with a reddish-brown paint directly onto the arriccio. This part is called the SINOPIA, an underlayer of the fresco that can sometimes be uncovered through restoration and is sometimes displayed in museums. Sometimes you may actually see sinopia on walls where the top layer of the fresco has been ruined. This preparatory drawing in sinopia is a handy guide for the artist and also a way to show patron what he’ll be getting. Later in the 15th century, as drawing became more important in the practise of the visual arts, many artists made a series of preparatory designs culminating in a spolvero method, a life-size drawing on paper. The transparent cartoon is pierced with a needle and held it up to the arriccio; this page then is “pounced” with a sack of carbon so that a black outline are made. Afterward the reddish dots are connected in a full outline of the image by the small brush and water.