Between Nature, Anatomy and Art: Crispijn de Passe's Manual for Drawing Animals

Abstract

Engraver and publisher Crispijn de Passe the Younger (1594\u20131670) published a drawing manual for amateurs in 1643 entitled 'The Light of the Art of Drawing and Painting'. In keeping with tradition, the bulk of the manual dealt with drawing the human figure but, uniquely, the author added a section exclusively devoted to depicting animals. While it was based on sciences such as geometry and perspective, which had been widely used since the Renaissance, it also drew upon animal anatomy and osteology, fields that had been less explored. This article shows that De Passe combined long-standing teaching principles with the most up-to-date scientific literature. His attempt to establish a dialogue between art and science had only a limited impact because of the complexity of the method and the cost of the book.