Pouncing (spolvero)

A method of transferring a design from a cartoon to the prepared surface of a canvas, panel, or fresco. Holes are pricked along the outlines of the original design, which is then placed over the surface to be painted. Pounce, a fine powder of charcoal, chalk, or clay, is then dusted through the holes to mark the surface below. The technique was used for transferring whole compositions but was particularly useful for repetitive design passages, for which stencils were employed. Pounce marks can sometimes be seen on the surfaces of paintings and, if made with charcoal, such marks can be detected with infrared reflectography.

Source: Looking at Paintings: A Guide to Technical Terms / eds. Tiarna Doherty and Anne T Woollett. (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2009), p. 62.

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