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| Annibale Carracci Studies of Putti for Naples fresco before 1605 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| Francesco Albani St John the Evangelist with Eagle study for fresco ca. 1605 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| Francesco Albani Fall of Phaeton study for fresco in Palazzo Giustiniani, Rome ca. 1609 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |
"Once the artist had drawn the cartoon, he had two options for transferring the design to the painted support. The first involved pricking tiny holes into the drawing with a pin or stylus, along the outlines and contours. The cartoon was then held up to the painted surface and the holes were tapped with a muslin bag filled with charcoal dust. This is called pouncing. When the cartoon was removed, tiny dots of black charcoal replicating the design were left on the painted surface to serve as guidelines for painting. The second method of transfer was by incision. This technique was most useful for frescoes. The cartoon was held up to the moist plaster wall and its outlines were traced with a stylus, leaving an imprint of the design on the wall. Pouncing was a laborious process, while incision was much faster. The only problem with incision was that it cut the cartoon to shreds. Pouncing did not destroy the cartoon. Cartoons were also destroyed when they were cut up into sections that could be painted in a day's work. The best way of preserving a cartoon was to put an identical, blank sheet below the drawing during the pricking. This produced a substitute cartoon that had no drawing on it but that could be used for pouncing. This is undoubtedly what happened to leonardo's Portrait of Isabella d'Este, which was copied on more than one occasion in Isabella's lifetime. Renaissance cartoons are now very rare. Even if they survived the transfer process, their very scale made them difficult to preserve."
– from Master Drawings of the Italian Renaissance by Clair Van Cleave (Harvard University Press, 2007)
The Italian "studies for frescoes" grouped here from the British Museum and from the Royal Collection at Windsor are clearly products of an earlier stage of composition than the full-size, finished cartoons discussed above by Clair Van Cleave. Instead, these smaller sheets embodied compositional options and ideas, some of which were eventually modified and endorsed and enlarged and refined and used.
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| Agostino Tassi St Peter on Malta with Serpent study for fresco ca. 1615 drawing British Museum |
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| Giambattista Crespi Contorted Figure of Bearded Man study for fresco ca. 1618 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| Andrea Sacchi Midas and Bacchus supporting Silenus on a Donkey study for fresco ca. 1622-24 drawing British Museum |
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| Andrea Sacchi Mocking of Christ study for fresco ca. 1635 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Lanfranco St Matthew surrounded by Angels study for pendentive fresco ca. 1634-35 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Lanfranco St John the Evangelist surrounded by Angels study for pendentive fresco ca. 1634-35 drawing British Museum |
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| Domenichino Head of St Luke study for fresco at Sant'Andrea della Valle, Rome ca. 1624 drawing British Museum |
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| Domenichino St Matthew and the Angel study for fresco at Sant'Andrea della Valle, Rome ca. 1624 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| Domenichino St John the Baptist revealing Christ to St Peter and St Andrew study for fresco at Sant'Andrea della Valle ca. 1625 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| Domenichino Christ in Glory study for fresco ca. 1631-33 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| Domenichino Three Male Figures supporting Two Poles study for fresco ca. 1633 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| Domenichino Crouching Lion study for fresco ca. 1638 drawing Royal Collection, Windsor |