LATE RENAISSANCE

Raphael died in Rome in 1520, but Michelangelo lived on until 1564, producing some of his finest drawings in the intervening decades. By then a new generation of painters was emerging, including some from other parts of Europe - such as the Dutch Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574) and Spanish Gaspar Becerra - who took back model drawings of Roman works back to their home countries. Although the importance of drawing in Venice was questioned by Vasari, the few drawings by Titian (1490-1576) that survive, such as the Ashmolean’s Horse and Rider Falling, show us an artist for whom the practice was essential. His rival Tintoretto (1518-1594) left over 100 works on paper, lively studies of movement and the effects of light conveyed in long, sweeping strokes. North of the Alps we see outstanding works by followers of Dürer and Van Eyck such as Lucas Leyden (1494-1533) and Hans Holbein the Younger (ca. 1497-1543). The drawings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca. 1525-1569) are in a class of their own, conjuring up the social, political and religious turmoil that beset the Netherlands over the course of the 16th century.