Take a closer look at how drawings became tools of invention, transmission, and artistic identity in Venice and the surrounding region. Furio Rinaldi, curator in charge of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, underscores drawing’s enduring power as a testament to artistic imagination. This exploration of Venetian visual culture sheds light on graphic works by Titian, Rosalba Carriera, Giovanni Battista and Domenico Tiepolo, and more.

Furio Rinaldi, PhD, is curator in charge of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, the department of works on paper of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. An expert on Italian Renaissance drawings, Rinaldi organized the exhibitions Tamara de Lempicka (2024), Botticelli Drawings (2023), and Color into Line: Pastel from the Renaissance to the Present (2021). In 2022, he received a fellowship at I Tatti — The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. He serves on the vetting committee of Frieze Masters in London and the editorial board of the journal Paragone.

This program is part of our “A Closer Look” series, a curatorial lecture series exploring the development of our collections and their art historical significance. The series features in-depth presentations that highlight collection gems while demystifying creative practices that span thousands of years.

Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo, Head of a Youth with His Hand Covering His Face (detail), ca. 1760. Black and red chalk on white paper, 14 15/16 x 11 in. (38 x 28 cm). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, museum purchase, gift of Roger Thomas and Arthur Libera, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts Fund, and gift of Patricia Nagy Olsen. Photograph by Jorge Bachmann, courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco