VIENNA - In his famed painting treatise of ca. 1400, the Libro dell’Arte, Cennini held drawing in light and dark hues to be »the entrance and gateway to painting.« On tinted paper, it was often possible to work toward darker as well as lighter hues with breathtaking virtuosity. In this way, artists and their audiences succeeded in accessing entirely new aesthetic experiences. Master drawings such as Leonardo’s Head studies and Dürer’s Praying Hands paved the way for the recognition of drawing as an artistic genre equal to painting and still number among the most famous works of the Renaissance.

This exhibition of the ALBERTINA combines selected drawings from the museum’s own holdings with highcaliber loans from international collections to present an overview of this technique’s development, which was ultimately consummated by Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer.

On view from 7 March until 9 June 2025 at the ALBERTINA Museum in Vienna.

Leonardo da Vinci, Half-figure of an apostle, 1493-1495. Silverpoint, brown pen, on blue primed paper. The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna © The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna

Albrecht Dürer, Head of the angel playing a lute (Detail from „Rosenkranzfest“), 1506. Brush in gray and black, gray wash, heightened with opaque white, on blue paper. The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna © The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna

Hans Baldung Grien (Schwäbisch Gmünd 1484/85– 1545 Straßburg), New Year's greetings with three witches, 1514. Pen and brush in black and white opaque paint on brown primed paper. The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna © The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna

Upper Rhenish master, Sample sheet with evangelist symbols, various animals and wild man, around 1430-1440. Brush in white on black primed paper. Frankfurt am Main, Städel Museum, Inv. 638 Z © Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Leonardo da Vinci, Standing male nude, 1503–1506. Red chalk, pen and brown ink on red prepared paper. Windsor Castle, London, RCIN 912594 © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2025 | Royal Collection Trust

Antonio Pisano, referred to as Pisanello, Allegory of the Luxuria (recto), around 1426. Pen and brown ink, traces of metalpoint or black chalk on reddened paper. The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna © The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna

Raffael, Study of the Bridgewater Madonna (recto), around 1506–1507. Metalpoint and pen on brownish primed paper. The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna © The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna