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Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio - The Getty PDF

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Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice PUBLICATIONS COORDINATION: Dinah Berland EDITING & PRODUCTION COORDINATION: Corinne Lightweaver EDITORIAL CONSULTATION: Jo Hill COVER DESIGN: Jackie Gallagher-Lange PRODUCTION & PRINTING: Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZERS: Erma Hermens, Art History Institute of the University of Leiden Marja Peek, Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science, Amsterdam © 1995 by The J. Paul Getty Trust All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN 0-89236-322-3 The Getty Conservation Institute is committed to the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide. The Institute seeks to advance scientiRc knowledge and professional practice and to raise public awareness of conservation. Through research, training, documentation, exchange of information, and ReId projects, the Institute addresses issues related to the conservation of museum objects and archival collections, archaeological monuments and sites, and historic bUildings and cities. The Institute is an operating program of the J. Paul Getty Trust. COVER ILLUSTRATION Gherardo Cibo, "Colchico," folio 17r of Herbarium, ca. 1570. Courtesy of the British Library. FRONTISPIECE Detail from Jan Baptiste Collaert, Color Olivi, 1566-1628. After Johannes Stradanus. Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum-Stichting, Amsterdam. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Historical painting techniques, materials, and studio practice : preprints of a symposium [held at] University of Leiden, the Netherlands, 26-29 June 1995/ edited by Arie Wallert, Erma Hermens, and Marja Peek. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-89236-322-3 (pbk.) 1. Painting-Techniques-Congresses. -Congresses. 3. Polychromy-Congresses. 1950- II. Hermens, Erma, 1958- ND1500.H57 2. Artists' materials- I. Wallert, Arie, . III. Peek, Marja, 1961- 1995 751' .09-dc20 95-9805 CIP Second printing 1996 iv 135 Molly Faries, Christa Steinbuchel, and J. R. J. van Asperen de Boer, Maarten van Heemskerck and Jan van Scorel's Haarlem Workshop 140 E. Melanie Gifford, Style and Technique in Dutch Landscape Painting in the 1620s 148 J¢rgen Wadum, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) and His Use of Perspective 155 Ilze Poriete, Dace Choldere, A Technical Study of the Materials and Methods Used by the Painters of the Latvian Churches in the Seventeenth Century 158 Melissa R. Katz, William Holman Hunt and the «Pre-Raphaelite Technique" 166 Jo Kirby, Ashok Roy, Paul Delaroche: A Case Study of Academic Painting 176 Joyce H. Townsend, and Painting Techniques and Materials of Turner Other British Artists 1775-1875 186 Stephen Hackney, Art for Art's Sake: The Materials and Techniques of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) 191 John R. Gayer, Painting on a Photographic Substrate: Notes Regarding Materials and Techniques over the Past 100 Years 196 Ernst van de Wetering, Reflections on the Relation between Technique and Style: The Use of the Palette by the SeventeenthCentury Painter 204 Index of Contributors vi Preface This volume of preprints, prepared for an international symposium on Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice at the Uni­ versity of Leiden, the Netherlands, 26-29 June 1995, contains the results of work on historical painting techniques from all parts of the world. The suggestion to organize such a meeting was raised during the symposium on the Technology of Art Works from the Central European Region or­ ganized by the Archives of Art Technology in Prague in 1993. The Prague symposium emphasized Czech painters and their techniques. To broaden the scope of attention, Erma Hermens of the Art History Institute of the University of Leiden and Marja Peek of the Art Historical Department of the Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science in Am­ sterdam took on the task of organizing a second meeting in Leiden. The purpose of the symposium and this publication is to promote a greater understanding of the changing boundaries and interaction between art historians, conservators, and conservation scientists working in the fields of historical painting techniques-including wall paintings and poly­ chrome sculpture-painting materials, and studio practice. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in historical paint­ ing techniques. The study of the painting techniques and materials used throughout history and in various cultures is by nature an interdisciplinary exercise. In the past such studies were sometimes conducted with little interaction between art historians, conservators, materials scientists, and historians of science, because each discipline tends to present the results of its studies to different forums. This volume aims to present different approaches to the study of historical painting techniques in the hope that it will encourage cooperation among these various disciplines. Information about painting techniques can be gained in a variety of ways, including the chemical or physical analyses of the materials found in the paintings. Analyses of a large number of paintings attributed to certain regions, schools, workshops, or individual masters can contribute to a history of painting techniques. Analytical results can also help art historians assess attributions and can support or reject their hypotheses. The analysts, however, need the art historians to inform them about the stylistic idiosyncrasies and significance of those schools, workshops, or mas­ ters. It is often rewarding to see what artists have said about their own work and to study their written sources on painting techniques. This kind of information has come down to us in diaries, such as Neri di Bicci's Ricor­ danze; in painting handbooks such as Cennini's Libra dell'Arte, in anony­ mous recipe books; and even in model books, such as Stephan Schriber's Musterbuch. These recipe books tell scientists what substances to look for in analysis. Both scientific and art historical information help us understand the significance of sometimes rather obscure recipes and tell us whether the methods and materials described are common or exceptional for the particular period. Today it is not unusual to find information from historical sources incorporated in the examination of individual paintings. viii The discussions in this volume present historical painting techniques from a variety of professional perspectives. With its wide range of topics and approaches to the study of historical painting techniques, this publi­ cation is presented in the hope that it will provide an impetus for further studies that involve material science, art history, conservation, archaeo­ metry, and the history of science. We also hope it will be one in a series of such interdisciplinary and collaborative volumes. In addition to thanking all the colleagues at our institutions who helped us with advice and expertise, we also would like to acknowledge the invaluable work and support of several individuals in particular. Miguel Angel Corzo, director of the Getty Conservation Institute, immediately supported the idea to publish the presentations of the symposium and generously provided his time and support in the production of the present volume. Agnes Grafin Ballestrem, director of the Central Research Lab­ oratory for Objects of Art and Science in Amsterdam, and A. W. A. Bos­ chloo of the Art History Institute of the University of Leiden supported the entire project from its initial stages and advised us during the editorial process. Corinne Lightweaver and Jo Hill, independent editorial consul­ tants, carried out invaluable work on the manuscripts, assisted by Joy Hart­ nett. In the preparation of these preprints for publication, we also wish to thank Dinah Berland, publications coordinator, the Getty Conservation Institute. Arie Wallert The Getty Conservation Institute Erma Hermens Art History Institute of the University of Leiden Marya Peek Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science, Amsterdam ix Plate la, left. Bartolomeo Vivarini, active 145� 149 1, Saint Peter, 1490. Tempera on partel. From Polyptych with Saint James the Greater, The Virgin and Child and Other Saints. The]. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu (71 . PB. 30). Plate 1 b, above. Detail from Vivarini's Saint Peter, showing clearly visible, individual brush strokes.

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