From Line to Light: Renaissance Drawing in Florence and Venice is at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, through October 10.

During the Italian Renaissance, drawing came of age, transforming from a slavish part of the design process to an esteemed independent activity. According to the artist-biographer Giorgio Vasari, it became “the father of the arts.” Strides of various kinds were made in different cities: in Florence and Rome the study of the human figure through life drawing was emphasized, while in Venice the search for tonal and coloristic effects led to the embrace of blue paper and the keen study of light and composition. Some of the Getty Museum’s most spectacular drawings – by Fra Bartolommeo, Andrea Mantegna, Jacopo Pontormo, Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, and Titian – are on view in this exhibition.