Mead Audio Tours Here, Robert’s preliminary graphite sketch remains visible at the edges of the sculpted figure and pillar of Trajan’s Column, revealing the artist’s modifications to his initial design. Subsequent layers of wash create a wide range of shadows, while the blank paper effectively suggests strong daylight. The artist must have used a brush with only one or two hairs to finish the Corinthian architecture with a few staccato strokes. The wash-line ‘French mount’ decorated with ink, colored washes and gold leaf is typical of those first made in eighteenth-century France, and suggests the way in which the watercolor might originally have been displayed. Written by Stephanie Leung, Class of 2009 |
