The book highlights the key role played by drawing in artistic teaching and in how artists studied the human body and the natural world. Aspects of regional difference, the development of new drawing techniques and classes of graphic work, such as finished presentation pieces to impress patrons, are also explored. An extended introduction focusing on how and why artists made drawings, with a special emphasis on the pivotal role of Leonardo, is richly illustrated with examples from the two collections that elucidate the technique and function of the works. This is followed by catalogue entries for just over 100 drawings where discussion of their function and significance is supported by comparative illustrations of related works, such as paintings.

More than any other medium, drawings give a direct insight into how Italian Renaissance artists worked. This book charts the development of drawing in Italy from 14oo, just prior to the emergence in Florence of the classically inspired naturalism of the Renaissance, to around 1510when Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian were on the verge of taking the innovations of earlier masters, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Pollaiuolo,in a new direction. It brings together just over a hundred of the most remarkable drawings from the collections of the Uffizi in Florence and the British Museum in London, most of which have never been seen together before. It features nearly fiftY of the greatest artists, including Filippo and Filippino Lippi, Jacopo and Gentile Bellini, Botticelli,Mantegna, Verrocchio and Carpaccio.

  The book highlights the vital part drawing played in artistic teaching and shows how artists studied the human body, often using life models,and the natural world. It also explores aspects of regional difference, the development of new drawing techniques with unprecedented expressive qualities, and classes of graphic work, from preparatory drawings to finished presentation pieces made to impress patrons.

  The extended introduction focuses on how and why artists drew. An emphasis on the pivotal role of Leonardo demonstrates how the of drawings brings us a closer understanding of his imagination. This is followed by a catalogue of drawings where discussion of their significance is supported by illustrations of related works,such as paintings. The results of new scientific investigation also reveal fresh insights into how the drawings were made.

SPONSOR'S FOREWORD

DIRECTORS' FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DATES OF THE LIVES OF THE EXHIBITED ARTISTS

MAP OF RENAISSANCE ITALY c.15OO

Introduction

 The function and survival of Italian fifteenth-century drawings

 The technique of Italian Renaissance drawings

 The development of drawing during the Italian Renaissance

 Leonardo

 The legacy of fifteenth-century drawing

The collection of Italian fifteenth-century drawings

in the British Museum

History of the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi

Catalogue

Key to contributors and note to the reader

Notes to catalogue entries

Key to Uffizi provenances

Appendix: scientific investigation

Bibliography

Index

Picture acknowledgements