I had wondered if You are what you wear: Dress and Costume in Renaissance and Baroque Drawings from Christ Church, the new exhibition at the Picture Gallery (until June 4) was going to be similar to their drapery exhibition of a few years ago, which looked at the challenge for artists of depicting materials. But not so; this is more about the person.

Consciously or unconsciously, the subjects of these 34 drawings from the late 15th to mid 17th centuries identify themselves by their clothes and accoutrements for what they are and where in society they belong. Mostly full- length studies, some portraits, they capture through meticulous use of pen and ink, or in more finished works, the individuality of empresses, soldiers, servants, saints, women spinning, praying, wearing ruffs, a nun, a fishmonger, a cook . . .

It starts with a nicely observed drawing by Federico Zuccaro (1541-1609) of a woman kneeling in prayer. Her waisted broad-sleeved dress falls softly about her, picked out in red and blue chalks, her rounded back moulding the fabric, and her head turned slightly towards us, quietly acknowledging our or someone’s presence.

For Caterina de Medici’s portrait, Domenico Fetti, the court painter at Mantua (1613-22), no more than suggests her gorgeous gown and bejewelled collar; instead he concentrates on her face adorned by a pearl drop earring.

A delightful red chalk study of youth with a flimsy paper hat perched on top of his head informs us he worked in a sculptor’s studio, perhaps as an apprentice. These slips of hats supposedly kept dust off the hair. Possibly drawn by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, it skilfully catches a moment of reflection or repose.

In contrast, movement and purpose comes across in an unnamed artist’s (after Andrea del Sarto) chalk study of a simply clad servant in tunic and tights hurrying up some steps carrying a bundle on his head.

Finally, pride in identity, in holding the standard high triumphs in A young man in armour by Guido Canlassi (pictured), called Il Cagnacci (1601-81). The use of heavy black chalk on blue coloured paper augments the sense of drama.