Glossary · Drawing
Cartoon (Art)
A full-scale preparatory drawing — the same size as the intended final work — used to transfer a composition to panel, canvas, or wall. Not a comic strip: the art-historical sense predates that usage by centuries.
Definition
An art cartoon (cartone in Italian, simply "large sheet of paper") is a preparatory drawing made at the exact scale of the finished work. Once a composition was resolved in small sketches and studies, a full-scale cartoon allowed the artist to work out every detail of proportion and pose before committing to the expensive final surface.
Transfer Methods
Cartoons were transferred to the working surface by two main methods:
- Pouncing: The cartoon's outlines were pricked with a pin, then a bag of charcoal dust (the "pounce") was dabbed over the holes, leaving dotted outlines on the surface below.
- Incision: The lines were traced with a stylus, pressing through the cartoon into the soft ground beneath.
Leonardo's Virgin and Child with St Anne cartoon (National Gallery, London) is one of the most famous surviving Renaissance cartoons — a finished, shaded drawing of extraordinary beauty that may never have been directly used for transfer.