Agate Bowl
n.d.
Medium
Gouache over black chalk, on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
14.5 × 15 cm (5 3/4 × 5 15/16 in.)
Classification
gouache
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
115498
Art Historical Context
Giuseppe Grisoni’s *Agate Bowl* showcases the artist’s skill in capturing the subtle beauty of natural materials through delicate drawing techniques. Executed in gouache over black chalk on ivory laid paper, the small work measures just 14.5 by 15 centimeters. This intimate scale invites close viewing, allowing visitors to appreciate the luminous effects and fine gradations that gouache provides. The medium’s opaque, velvety quality is especially suited to rendering the banded, translucent appearance of agate, while the underlying black chalk gives structure and depth to the composition. As a...
About the Artist
Giuseppe Grisoni · 1699–1769
Giuseppe Grisoni was born in Mons, in the Spanish Netherlands, in 1699, to an Italian family, and his career unfolded across multiple European courts and cultural centers, making him a quintessentially cosmopolitan figure of the early eighteenth century. He received his artistic training in Florence, where he absorbed the rich tradition of Florentine portraiture and absorbed the influence of the G...