silverpoint

Drawing instrument consisting of silver wire encased in a holder, used on paper prepared with opaque white. An example of silverpoint is Dürer's Self-portrait (1484; Albertina, Vienna).

The ground was composed of powdered bones and gumwater, giving an ivory finish, though in Italy, and especially in Florence, tinted grounds were favoured. Being indelible and not liable to smudge, the silverpoint was convenient for the sketchbook, as in that which Dürer took with him on his visit to the Netherlands. Lead, copper, and gold metalpoints were also used, but silver was most popular in the 15th and 16th centuries.