Drawing blood of Pietro Annigoni - Male face

Artist: Pietro Annigoni (1910-1988)

Born in Milan in 1910, Pietro Annigoni moved with his family to Florence in 1925, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1930 he exhibited his works for the first time in a collective exhibition and in 1932 he held his first solo exhibition. Four years later he also exhibited in Milan, obtaining numerous acclaim. Specializing in portraiture, he painted faces of important people, including Elizabeth II, Pope John XXIII, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Although he is remembered as "the painter of queens", Annigoni also painted portraits of ordinary people, works of rare intensity, united by an interest in psychological introspection. Between 1966 and 1988 he had his greatest period of fame and in these years he exhibited numerous times at the Royal Academy in London and in Italy between Florence and Milan. His production also includes important sacred subjects, which he created mainly in fresco for famous Italian basilicas. Annigoni died in Florence in 1988.

Age: 20th Century / 1901 - 2000

20th Century / 1901 - 2000

Subject: Portrait/Face

Artistic technique: Drawing

Il disegno è il processo di tracciare segni su una superficie tramite l'applicazione di una pressione o il trascinamento di un apposito strumento sulla superficie. Gli strumenti sono: matite in grafite o colorate, penna, pennelli fini con inchiostro, pastelli a cera o carboncini; i supporti tradizionali più frequenti sono carta, cartoncino, tavola, muro, tela, rame, vetro.

Technical specification: Sanguine

The blood, that in the artistic tradition defines a particular graphics technique, is a drawing tool, one of the oldest. It is composed of hematite, a ferrous mineral, cut into strips, and properly pointed, with which you can draw on the paper signs from the characteristic reddish colour that reminds of blood (hence the name of the blood). The mixture of iron, moreover, is often enriched with small amounts of ochre.