The Luminous Trace

The origins of metalpoint (silverpoint, goldpoint, etc.) drawing are widely thought to lie in classical antiquity. The Luminous Trace investigates the artefactual and literary evidence for the use of metalpoint through the ages from earliest times up to its revival, particularly in the United States, in the later 20th and early 21st centuries, reviewing the history and historiography of metalpoint and its use for drawing and writing. Metalpoint drawings are the central objects of this study and their physical features are the prime consideration, juxtaposed with the written evidence which may suggest why artefacts look as they do.

The origins of metalpoint (silverpoint, goldpoint, etc.) drawing are widely thought to lie in classical antiquity. The Luminous Trace investigates the artefactual and literary evidence for the use of metalpoint through the ages from earliest times up to its revival, particularly in the United States, in the later 20th and early 21st centuries, reviewing the history and historiography of metalpoint and its use for drawing and writing. Metalpoint drawings are the central objects of this study and their physical features are the prime consideration, juxtaposed with the written evidence which may suggest why artefacts look as they do.

Acknowledgements

Introduction: the challenge of drawing in metalpoint

The metalpoint drawing: material and technique

Recent historiographical studies

The challenge

Ancient drawing and writing materials

Metalpoint drawing in classical antiquity?

The physical evidence for line drawing in classical antiquity

Modern interpretations of the ancient evidence

The writing tablet: materials, formats and functions

Ancient styli: physical evidence

Drawing and writing in metalpoint in the Middle Ages

Drawing - painting - writing

Iconography of Christianity triumphant

Artefactual evidence for marking with metal styli on tablets

Textual evidence for marking with metalpoint

Underdrawing, rulings, and other markings in leadpoint, graphite and hardpoint (blind stylus)

Rulings

Marginal drawings and compilation notes

Underdrawings

Marking and supporting materials used in pattern books

The evidence of artists' technical manuals and recipe books

The metalpoint in Trecento and early Quattrocento Italy

The liminal space of Trecento art

Metalpoint drawing in the Italian Trecento

Presentation drawings

Copy/contract drawing

Drawings of contested function

Preparatory studies

Drawings made directly on the primary support

Written evidence for metalpoint drawing: Cennino Cennini's Il Libro dell'arte

Cennini's comments on drawing

Drawing practice in early Quattrocento Italy

The meaning of the appearance of Quattrocento metalpoint drawings

Historiographical positions

Art historiographical positions

Visual evidence of the classical past

Drawing in Quattrocento Florence

The artist's evolving status, the revival of antiquity and the shifting status of drawings

Indirect physical evidence for reconstructing the activity of drawing in antiquity

Leonardo da Vinci and metalpoint

Metalpoint in Cinquecento Italy

Metalpoints for drawing and writing: late medieval and early modern northern Europe

Introduction: context

The production of drawings

Independent drawings?

Model books on tablets, mainly metalpoint

Sixteenth-century metalpoint sketchbook drawings

Fifteenth- and sixteenth-century metalpoint drawings for painted portraits

More sixteenth-century metalpoint drawings

Rembrandt and metalpoint

Eighteenth-century metalpoint drawings

Writing tablets: fifteenth-eighteenth century

Modern metalpoint

The attraction of line

Later nineteenth-century metalpoint drawing in England

Later nineteenth- and twentieth-century metalpoint drawing in America

Twentieth-century European metalpoint drawings

'Patent improved memorandum' and other metallic books

The renaissance of metalpoint in contemporary America

Appendix 1

Joseph Meder, Das Buchlein vom Silbersteft, Vienna,

1909 translated by Susan Thorne

Appendix 2

Bibliographical review of recent literature on analysis and conservation of metalpoint drawings

Colour of metalpoint lines as an identifier

Faded metalpoint lines

Investigation of grounds

Investigation of metalpoint lines

The presence of mercury and other metal inclusions in metalpoint lines

Preservation and conservation

Notes

Bibliography

Index,

Acknowledgements

Introduction: the challenge of drawing in metalpoint

The metalpoint drawing: material and technique

Recent historiographical studies

The challenge

Ancient drawing and writing materials

Metalpoint drawing in classical antiquity?

The physical evidence for line drawing in classical antiquity

Modern interpretations of the ancient evidence

The writing tablet: materials, formats and functions

Ancient styli: physical evidence

Drawing and writing in metalpoint in the Middle Ages

Drawing – painting – writing

Iconography of Christianity triumphant

Artefactual evidence for marking with metal styli on tablets

Textual evidence for marking with metalpoint

Underdrawing, rulings, and other markings in leadpoint, graphite and hardpoint (blind stylus)

Rulings

Marginal drawings and compilation notes

Underdrawings

Marking and supporting materials used in pattern books

The evidence of artists’ technical manuals and recipe books

The metalpoint in Trecento and early Quattrocento Italy

The liminal space of Trecento art

Metalpoint drawing in the Italian Trecento

Presentation drawings

Copy/contract drawing

Drawings of contested function

Preparatory studies

Drawings made directly on the primary support

Written evidence for metalpoint drawing: Cennino Cennini’s Il Libro dell’arte

Cennini’s comments on drawing

Drawing practice in early Quattrocento Italy

The meaning of the appearance of Quattrocento metalpoint drawings

Historiographical positions

Art historiographical positions

Visual evidence of the classical past

Drawing in Quattrocento Florence

The artist’s evolving status, the revival of antiquity and the shifting status of drawings

Indirect physical evidence for reconstructing the activity of drawing in antiquity

Leonardo da Vinci and metalpoint

Metalpoint in Cinquecento Italy

Metalpoints for drawing and writing: late medieval and early modern northern Europe

Introduction: context

The production of drawings

Independent drawings?

Model books on tablets, mainly metalpoint

Sixteenth-century metalpoint sketchbook drawings

Fifteenth- and sixteenth-century metalpoint drawings for painted portraits

More sixteenth-century metalpoint drawings

Rembrandt and metalpoint

Eighteenth-century metalpoint drawings

Writing tablets: fifteenth–eighteenth century

Modern metalpoint

The attraction of line

Later nineteenth-century metalpoint drawing in England

Later nineteenth- and twentieth-century metalpoint drawing in America

Twentieth-century European metalpoint drawings

‘Patent improved memorandum’ and other metallic books

The renaissance of metalpoint in contemporary America

Appendix 1

Joseph Meder, Das Buchlein vom Silbersteft, Vienna,

1909 translated by Susan Thorne

Appendix 2

Bibliographical review of recent literature on analysis and conservation of metalpoint drawings

Colour of metalpoint lines as an identifier

Faded metalpoint lines

Investigation of grounds

Investigation of metalpoint lines

The presence of mercury and other metal inclusions in metalpoint lines

Preservation and conservation

Notes

Bibliography

Index

• By (author) Thea Burns

"This book is an invaluable resource for conservators and scientists undertaking analysis of metalpoints...In The Luminous Trace, Thea Burns presents the history of the metal point medium with greater clarity and accuracy than any prior source. I expect The Luminous Trace will soon become the definitive source on the history of drawing and writing in metalpoint." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation - March 2015, Vol.54, No. I, pp57-59 "Primary texts on the subject include: Joseph Meder, The Mastery of Drawing; James Watrous, The Craft of Old-Master Drawings; and Thea Burns, The Luminous Trace: Drawing and Writing in Metalpoint." Drawings under Scrutiny: The Materials and Techniques of Metalpoint' in Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns - Washington 2015, pp21 note 1.
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