Temperance
Medium
black chalk heightened with white chalk, squared with black chalk
Dimensions
{"sheet":{"height":0.592,"width":0.437},"secondary support":{"height":0.612,"width":0.457},"tertiary support":{"height":0.612,"width":0.457}}
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1964.445
Tags
About this artwork
The gridded pattern superimposed over the figures in this scene indicates that this drawing was used a preparatory study for one of Domenichino’s frescoes depicting the four cardinal virtues inside the dome of the Church of San Carlo ai Catinari in Rome. This technique—called squaring—was a common method used in seventeenth-century Italy to transfer a design from one surface to another. Domenichino prepared the design on three separate sheets of paper, all with irregular edges cut and pasted ont...