This summer, Christ Church Picture Gallery presents an exhibition exploring how Renaissance artists have used coloured paper in their workshop practice; from preparing their papers with pastel-coloured chalk grounds, as described in Cennino Ceninni’s famous artists’ handbook (1437), to using readily produced blue paper (carta azzurra) made famous by artists in Venice.

The artworks have been selected from the renowned Christ Church collection of Old Master drawings, some of which have rarely been shown to the public because of their fragility. Among the drawings shown will be work by inventive Italian artists, Pietro Perugino (c. 1445-1523),Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1460/1466-1525/1526), Il Bronzino (1503-1572), Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-1594), Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510-1592), and other lesser-known draughtsmen who expressed their curiosity and playfulness on coloured grounds.