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Silverpoint
pre-dates graphite as a drawing medium. Its use is associated
largely with the Renaissance and with old masters such as Jan Van Eyck,
Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, Raphael, and as late as Rembrandt.
During the 15th and
16th centuries, the surface was prepared with a ground
composed of powdered bones and gumwater, giving it an ivory
finish - although in Italy, and especially in Florence, tinted grounds
were favored.
Silverpoint (or
metal point) had numerous advantages as a medium and a technique. Renaissance
artists used silver and occasionally leadpoint for preparatory sketches
under their paintings and frescoes as well as for studies on paper.
Silverpoint carried the advantage that it did not interact with
the paint - especially important when egg tempera was employed. And,
of course, it had the advantage of being completely contained in a
single device; no supplementary solutions or materials were needed for
the silverpoint application.
These same
characteristics allowed silverpoint to be used in several applications outside of the world of art. Its fixity and ease made
it the perfect device for quick handwritten records or calculations that
could later be "erased" with a new ground. “Their
surfaces, usually made from a mixture of gesso and glue but sometimes
from black bitumen, allowed merchants, writers, musicians, artists and
travelers of all kinds to jot down notes with the use of a metal stylus
when it would have been difficult or impossible to use pen and ink.”
“More suited to permanent drawing is the silverpoint, which
requires special preparation of the foundation and, once applied, cannot
be corrected. Its stroke, also pale gray, oxidizes into brown and
adheres unerasably. Silverpoint drawings accordingly require a clearer
concept of form and a steady hand because corrections remain visible.
Because too much pressure can bring about cracks in the foundation, the
strokes must be even; emphases, modelling, and light phenomena must be
rendered either by means of dense hachures, repetitions, and blanks or
else supplemented by other mediums.
Despite these difficulties, silverpoint was much used in the 15th
and 16th centuries. Dürer's notebook on a journey to Holland shows
landscapes, portraits, and various objects that interested him drawn in
this demanding technique. Silverpoint was much in demand for portrait
drawings from the 15th into the 17th century; and revived in the
18th-century Romantic era.”
But despite its obvious advantages, silverpoint was
surpassed by graphite by the 18th century. Although there were
occasional revivals of use in the 19th century, it fell to the side as a
common technique. There are
a few modern works (the 1920 portrait of Marcel Duchamp by Joseph Stella
in MOMA) that employ the technique. It is still occasionally used by
modern artists.
For
additional information see:
http://www.folger.edu/pr_preview.cfm?prid=187&is_archived=1
http://www.silverpointweb.com/overview.html
http://www.phf.upenn.edu/Images/writingsurfaces.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverpoint
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/544951/silverpoint
A
special thanks to Mark Dimunation for his help in compiling this
information.
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