The collection of European drawings in the J. Paul
Getty Museum, built up over a decade and a half, has increased steadily in both
breadth and depth. While the holdings of drawings from the Italian Renaissance
are particularly strong—including for instance, a double-sided sheet by
Leonardo da Vinci—other schools, the French, in particular, are also well
represented. The collection’s emphasis is on major draftsmen, such as David,
Dürer, Gainsborough, Goya, Ingres, Piranesi, Poussin, Raphael, Rembrandt,
Rubens, Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese, and Watteau, while the occasional
acquisition of groups of drawings has added strength in certain areas, such as
the German and Swiss Renaissance. Organized by national school, with artists
represented chronologically within each, this volume focuses on the most
important drawings in the collection, which admirably illustrate the
development of European drawing from the Renaissance onward.