Why did artists draw in the Renaissance?  What techniques and materials did they commonly use? Professor Victor Coonin (Rhodes College) will address these questions and others in a lecture to compliment the show “Drawing Connections. Inside the Minds of Italian Masters: A Selection from the John Mica Collection.”  The lecture will present specific examples that give insights into why and how drawings were made in Renaissance Italy. Using works by Leonardo da Vinci and other Italian Renaissance artists, Professor Coonin will reveal markings and other evidence of the artist’s hand never intended to be seen and techniques that may seem rather primitive to a modern audience.  He will also show the varied ways in which drawings functioned at the time, from preparatory studies for paintings to independent works of art.  [In anticipation, interested audience members may want to start growing flax and raising geese.]