'The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt' at the National Portrait Gallery

The current drawings exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery proudly proclaims we'll see works by artists from Leonardo to Rembrandt and that's what we get. We only get one drawing each by those big name artists and there's a goodly selection of Holbeins (as there would be) but it was the lesser known drawers that I found fascinating and it's them that I'll focus on. Not lesser know artists, for they are great masters, but not necessarily known for their drawings.

The first one I noticed was 'Man Wearing A Cap' by Filipino Lippi (the son of Fra Filippo Lippi). I've seen his glorious paintings in the National gallery and elsewhere but I've never thought of him as a drawer in any medium. That's clearly daft since he must have drawn to design his paintings but thinking of him sitting in his studio or in a tavern sketching away is something I've never considered. It's the same thing for Benozzo Gozzoli and his small drawing of a 'Boy with Curly Hair' - Gozzoli painted jewel-like panels and frescoes but he also drew.

I never expected to see drawings by Gozzoli or Lippi and that's why I enjoyed this exhibition so much. It gives us a glimpse into another side of artists we're familiar with but haven't considered in this way before. Was it just part of the job or was it recreation for these artists? Did they draw too relax or was it to collect faces and bodies to use in their painted works?

Another unexpected thrill was to see a drawing of a 'Woman Wearing A Hood' by Domenico Ghirlandaio. I love Ghirlandaio's series of frescoes around the high altar in Santa Maria Novella in Florence, with the variety of scenes and bright colours making the altar shimmer. There are lots of faces in those frescoes - they're full of crowds - and now I'll be wondering if this woman is one of them. Who is she and where did Ghirlandaio see her? Maybe he saw her in a market and wanted to catch her slight air of solemnity thinking that expression would look good in whatever work he was currently painting. Who knows?

One of the quotes on the walls around the exhibition was attributed to Leonardo who says, "Do you not see that among the beauties of mankind it is a very beautiful face which arrests passers-by and not their rich adornments." In a real sense, all faces are beautiful.

An artist I'd never heard of is Francesco Salviati and he's represented by 'Young Man Looking to His Left' which is exactly what he's doing. It's a lovely, delicate drawing and is more than a sketch - some serious work went into this drawing with all it's delicate shading. Look at that ear and then ruffle his hair. I wonder why Salviati wanted him looking to his left but not simply turning his head - what was he trying to capture? I'll never know.

There are, of course, a lot more drawings and artists in the exhibition than these I mention. There's a series of drawings by Holbein, almost a court-ful of Tudor faces and clothes, from the royal collection. It's odd to think that we all look broadly the same as people did all those centuries ago. I wonder if some enterprising soul will put on an exhibition of 20th and 21st Century drawings in a few hundred years time? Wouldn't that be something?

I'll close with one final drawing, this time by Leonardo who everyone knows as a drawer of rare distinction, and here's his 'Study of a Nude Man'.

The final quote on the wall, just as you exit, is from Cennino Cennini who wrote 'The Craftsman's Handbook' in around 1400. His words are wise:

"Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is it will be well worth while, and will do you a world of good."