1494
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Two Peasants is a 1494 ink by Italian 15th Century, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows two men in loose, old-fashioned clothes. One stands still, holding a hat and a staff, while the other walks with a limp, adjusting his hat. Their faces are wrinkled, and their clothes look worn. The lines are rough but full of movement. The artist used tiny parallel lines to build up shadows and texture—this is called cross-hatching. It makes the figures look three-dimensional despite being just ink on paper. Next, look up *cross-hatching* to see how artists create depth with lines.
This anonymous Italian engraver from the 1490s carved images that could be peeled apart like paper dolls—each knot in the "First Knot" print was cut from a single sheet so you could lift the loops right off the page.
See the richer artist page
![The Destruction of the Egyptian Idols [verso]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/646d3c2b8098cfee/thumb.webp)
![The Flight into Egypt [recto]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/8f4d5275d7f90f98/thumb.webp)