Artists have been enthralled by the brilliant colors of pastel since the 15th century. Beginning with handmade pencil-like sticks, pastels eventually became commercially fabricated and considerably softer, which freed artists to work in a more painterly manner. At the same time, the manufacture of large sheets of plate glass enabled artists to conserve and exhibit works of art on a scale heretofore Impossible. Pastel painting flourished at this intersection of science and art. Ellen Eagle will present images of paintings that illustrate the linear delicacy and painterly power of pastel in the powdery fingertips of some of the greatest artists throughout history.