bozzetti

Bozzetti are rough preliminary drawings or small-scale models used to explore ideas before creating a finished work. In art, design, architecture, sculpture, and related fields, a bozzetto aims to test composition, gesture, or form quickly and informally, providing a visual or physical sense of how the final piece might look.

The term derives from Italian bozza, meaning draft or sketch. Historically, bozzetti have been employed by artists from the Renaissance onward as a means to experiment with ideas, plan layouts, and communicate concepts to patrons or collaborators. They can range from quick pencil or charcoal studies to lightweight, in-plaster or clay maquettes used to imagine a sculpture or architectural proposal.

Common methods and materials include pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, watercolor, or small-scale clay or wax models. Bozzetti are typically smaller in size and produced with a focus on capturing essential relationships—composition, movement, light, and proportion—rather than finishing details. They may be independent works with artistic value in their own right or preparatory steps toward a larger project.

Bozzetti appear across disciplines: in painting, sculpture, architecture, fashion design, theater, and filmmaking. In sculpture, a bozzetto can be a preliminary model before a larger sculpture; in architecture, a maquette or drawing may serve a similar function. In contemporary practice, bozzetti remain a practical tool for ideation, as well as a historical record of an artist’s creative process.