Marco Ricci (Venice, 1676–1730), Rocky Landscape with Figures Beside a Stream, n.d. Gouache on heavy paper 7 3/8 x 8 1/16 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; extended loan from the collection of Giuliano Ceseri, GMOA 1995.50E

NOTRE DAME, IN.- The Art of Disegno: Italian Prints and Drawings from the Georgia Museum of Art will be on view at the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame from January 11 to March 15, 2009. Organized by the Georgia Museum of Art, the exhibition features 53 works on paper produced in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

These prints and drawings from the Georgia Museum of Art and the Giuliano Ceseri Collection provide rare insight into the training, working habits and creative process of artists. For Italian artists of this era, the art of drawing was regarded as an intellectual as well as a practical activity, and the images found in this exhibition represent examples of the most fertile and inspired artistic creations found on paper during this period.

“Beginning in the 14th century and increasing in the following centuries, as paper became more widely available, drawings became critical tools of the design process for artists,” said Babette Bohn, professor of art history at Texas Christian University.

Drawings also enjoyed a close relationship with prints during this period. For example, Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s prints reveal a fantastical and visionary imagination. His works create an aura of mystery, not only because of the dramatic chiaroscuro, but also because of disappearing staircases, leaning ladders to nowhere and architectural elements that appear to have no real function.

“Prints enabled artists to replicate the designs created in drawings through a technology that provided the possibility of creating multiple works of art and facilitated the spread of the artists’ reputation around the world,” said Bohn.

The exhibition includes prints by some of the finest Italian printmakers, such as Parmigianino and Marcantonio Raimondi, and later examples by major figures such as Pietro Testa and Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione.

Guest curators for this exhibition are Babette Bohn, professor of art history at Texas Christian University, and Robert Randolf Coleman, associate professor of art history at the University of Notre Dame. The in-house coordinator is Giancarlo Fiorenza, former Pierre Daura Curator of European Art at the Georgia Museum of Art.

Nicolò Boldrini (Italian, active 1525/30–1570), Venus and Cupid, 1566, woodcut on oatmeal paper, chiaroscuro in two tones, 12 7/16 x 9 1/8 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, on extended loan from the collection of Giuliano Ceseri. GMOA 1995.773E

Circle of Bernardo Buontalenti (Florence, ca. 1531–1608), Study for a Warrior's Theatrical Costume, n.d. , Pen and brown ink with red wash on white paper, laid down; the upper right corner has been repaired, 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; extended loan from the collection of Giuliano Ceseri, GMOA 1995.347E

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Mogliano, 1720–1778),Carceri d'invenzione: Plate XI: The Arch with a Shell Ornament (Later State), 1749–50 and 1761. Etching on 18th-century laid paper 15 7/8 x 21 1/2 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; university purchase, GMOA 1973.2984