The Development of the Drawing Art in German Speaking Countries from the 15th to the First Half of 17th Century Regarding its Representation in Czech and Moravian Collections

The thesis deals with the development of drawing in German-speaking countries since the early 15 th century, when the late Gothic traditions still echoed, to mannerism in the 16 th and first half of the 17 th centuries, when the Baroque enjoyed its ascent. The introductory chapter is dedicated to the current state of ongoing research, especially in Germany. Eliška Fučíková, in her Candidate of Sciences (CSc.) thesis in 1969, and later Pavel Preiss and today Lubomír Slavíček, have dealt with the subject in Bohemia. The next chapter deals with drawing techniques in the respective periods, with a focus on the pen drawing common in Germany at the time. The chapter that follows summarises the typical characteristics of German drawing, which was usually more confined and firm in volume than the Italian drawing of the time. The section addressing the representation of German drawing in the Czech collections is dedicated to the provenance of the drawings and the resulting repertoire of the museum collections in the Czech Lands. The explored theme is well represented for the most part, despite a painful lack of drawings by Albrecht Dürer. The thesis' main section follows the development of drawing in different art circles in German-speaking regions, illustrating its subject with examples found in public..