Drapery Study, ca. 1522
Black chalk
6 1/2 x 6 3/8 in. (16.5 x 16.2 cm)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, Florence
Recto
Courtesy the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo
In preparing the figure of the kneeling Virgin in The Madonna of the Steps, Andrea uses a combination of short and long hatching lines to render the folds and fall of garments as they bunch around the lower body and tumble forward and down the steps. The blank vertical field just left of the knee is a placeholder for the leg of the Christ child, which occupies this spot in the painting.