Giordano produced a series of drawings and preliminary sketches for the Casón in order to study the different parts of the ceiling. For the allegories and personifications he was largely inspired by Cesare Ripa and Vicenzo Cartari’s manuals of iconography.

The existence of inscriptions on his preparatory drawings must indicate that at some point they were used to provide information or to be approved by those who were responsible for devising the iconographic programme of the ceiling, to whom Giordano would have been obliged to supply sufficient information in order to make the significance of each of the figures understandable.

Bacchus in the Clouds. Black pencil and sepia watercolour on paper, 165 x 262 mm. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

The Four Parts of the World, The Four Seasons and Time. Black pencil, grey and sepia watercolour on paper, 266 x 384 mm. Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional

Minerva, Mars, Terror and Fury. Black pencil and sepia watercolour on paper, 222 x 335 mm. Florencia, Galleria degli Uffizi, Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe

The Iron Age. Black pencil, grey and sepia watercolour on paper, 210 x 120 mm. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado.

La musa Polimnia. Black pencil and sepia watercolour on paper, 150 x 110 mm. Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia

The Muses Polyhymnia and Thalia. Black pencil and sepia watercolour on paper, 150 x 110 mm. Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia

Three Pairs of Philosophers. Black pencil and sepia watercolour on paper, 215 x 297 mm. Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia

Pareja de filósofos, Black pencil and sepia watercolour on paper, 213 x 275 mm. Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia

Pareja de filósofos. Black pencil and sepia watercolour on paper, 186 x 291 mm. Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia

Small Angels bearing the Emblems of Justice. Black pencil on paper, 170 x 130 mm. Florencia, Galleria degli Uffizi, Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe