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Two Peasants

Italian 15th Century

1494

ink

paper

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Renaissance Renaissance

Dominant colour

Two Peasants is a 1494 ink by Italian 15th Century, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.

Who painted this?: Italian 15th Century
When & what style?: 1494 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: National Gallery of Art

About this work

This sketch shows two rough-looking men in loose clothes and wide-brimmed hats. One stands with his hand on his hip, the other walks away, his cloak billowing. The lines are scratchy and dark, almost like they were drawn fast. The paper has a textured look, with faint lines running through it. That’s because it’s an old *engraving*—the artist etched the design into a metal plate, then pressed it onto paper. Next, check out how *cross-hatching* works to create depth.

About the artist

Artist

Italian 15th Century

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