This article explores the use and function of
the lucido technique in architectural work-
shops from the Renaissance through the late
eighteenth century. By examining evidence
from written sources and key drawing collec-
tions, the study compares the copying prac-
tices of architects with those of artists. The
findings reveal that transparent paper was
not appreciated as a copying medium in Eu-
rope’s architectural workshops until the mid-
eighteenth century. When employed, trans-
parent paper was primarily used for copying
figure and ornamental drawings that were
challenging to transfer using the pricking
technique. The paper argues that the
marginalization of transparent paper in archi-
tectural practice was possibly due to the
coating process and the characteristics of the
substances employed – vegetable oils and
resins – which were incompatible with the
working environment of architects. It was
only with the commercialization of machine-
made wove transparent paper in the early
nineteenth century that architects and engi-
neers began to systematically adopt this medium.