Donato Creti

Donato Creti executed these independent sketches of male saints in his distinctive pen style, which combines highly controlled parallel lines and crosshatching with fluid open lines, as seen in the lion and the draped fabric. Creti employed short flicks of the pen to create forms and imitate textures, revealing a great economy of means. Creti’s spontaneous pen drawings were praised during his lifetime particularly because he did not rely on underdrawings, highlighting his confident control of this demanding medium.