Primo Pensiero - Art Drawing Definition

Jesus and the adulteress
By Rembrandt van Rijn

Primo Pensiero refers to an initial rough drawing or sketch. Or Primo Pensiero in the visual arts can mean a first thought or idea applied to and realised in an initial drawing or sketch. (Read More After Break)

A rough initial sketch by an artist is regarded as an example of their Primo Pensiero, or first thought. As a rough sketch is accepted and valued for being close as you can get to an artist's initial ideas for creation (or invenzione - meaning powers of imagination). From analysing these initial steps, one is able to get close to the artist's process of creation.