中文简介：

从提香和丁托列托时期，到卡纳莱托和提埃波罗时期，绘画是艺术实践的重要组成部分，在威尼斯受到高度的重视。在本书中，作者颠覆了人们对威尼斯绘画重要性的传统看法，既从文艺复兴到大游学时代，绘画是一种艺术和行为，并揭示了艺术在理论、实践和鉴赏方面的真正意义。作者凯瑟琳·惠斯勒（Catherine Whistler）汇集了艺术理论、实践和收藏的各个方面，并强调在提升文学话语权与制作和收集平面艺术的实践之间的互动与紧张关系。她的分析挑战了单纯从色彩角度对威尼斯艺术所做的传统定义，表明了16世纪的威尼斯艺术家和作家对绘画与“迪塞诺”（设计）在艺术中的作用和重要性有着深刻的认识。书中丰富的插图支持了多个引人注目的论点，同时也传达了素描本身的多样性、趣味性和美感。学者、收藏家、艺术史学家与任何对绘画着迷的人都会被这本书深深吸引。

英文简介：

From the time of Titian and Tintoretto to that of Canaletto and Tiepolo, drawing was an important part of artistic practice and was highly valued in Venice. This exciting new study overturns traditional views on the significance of drawing in Venice, as an art and an act, from the Renaissance to the age of the Grand Tour. Gathering together the separate strands of theory, artistic practice, and collecting, Catherine Whistler highlights the interactions and tensions between a developing literary discourse and the practices of making and collecting graphic art. Her analysis challenges the conventional definition of Venetian art purely in terms of color, demonstrating that 16th-century Venetian artists and writers had a highly developed sense of the role and importance of disegno and drawing in art. The book's generous illustrations support these striking arguments, as well as conveying the great variety, interest, and beauty of the drawings themselves.