Late 18th century

Horse and Rider

This drawing shows how an image was transferred from one page to another. The original drawing seems to have depicted a stallion and a male rider, but only the horse was chosen for copying. The artist began by correcting its outlines with white paint as needed, then redrew them with black ink. To turn the drawing into a stencil, he pricked tiny holes along these outlines and down each strand of the horse's mane. Finally he patted charcoal dust over the drawing to transfer the horse design to the paper underneath. Horses were essential for transportation and war so a king's best horses were often memorialized in paintings.