Ricerche e analisi sul disegno “indipendente” e il rapporto con le stampe nel Settecento.
Pietro Giacomo Palmieri, Mauro Gandolfi e Jean Baptiste Pillement
Luca Fiorentino
This essay highlights the development of independent drawing, understood as works on paper conceived, sold, and regarded as “finished” artworks like paintings or sculptures, with origins traced back to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Drawing on literary sources, documents, and works by three prominent 18th-century artists – Pietro Giacomo Palmieri, Mauro Gandolfi, and Jean Baptiste Pillement – the author emphasizes their connection with printmaking. All three were printmakers and employed the intellectual play of technique exchange to entertain collectors, enthusiasts, and fellow artists. The essay also examines previously unpublished works, graphic techniques, and their relationship to engraving.