silverpoint

silverpoint, method of drawing whereby a silver-tipped instrument is dragged across paper prepared with ground bone dust and gum water and then tinted with a pigment. The procedure results in drawings of extraordinary delicacy. It was used extensively in Europe from the late Middle Ages to the early 16th cent. The silverpoint instrument was a silver thread encased in wood, similar in design to a modern lead pencil. Among the foremost practitioners of the medium were Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer.

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metal point

 or silverpoint

Method of drawing with a small sharpened metal rod—of lead, copper, gold, or most commonly silver—on specially prepared paper or parchment. Silverpoint produces a fine gray line that oxidizes to a light brown; the technique is best suited for small-scale work. It first appeared in medieval Italy and achieved great popularity in the 15th century. Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci were its greatest exponents. It went out of fashion in the 17th century with the rise of the graphite pencil but was revived in the 18th century by the miniaturists and in the 20th century by Joseph Stella.