![]() ![]() The uppermost “varnish and retouching” layer, but not the overpaint, was removed before imaging spectroscopy was done. An area of the cross section is shown on the right, recorded with three different methods (from left to right): ( A) Backscattered electron image recorded with a scanning electron microscope (SEM-BSE) and ( B) lead distribution image recorded with an SEM equipped with an energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS-Pb), followed by ( C) an optical microscopy (OM) image. The scheme on the left illustrates the stratigraphy observed in the paint cross section collected in 1950 to 1951 and reanalyzed here. Paint microsample extracted from the body of the Lamb. 3 in a cross section taken from the Lamb’s body in 1950 to 1951 the reanalysis of this cross section is discussed in Results. For illustration purposes, these layers can be seen in Fig. Ultimately, after the paint had dried for a year or so, a varnish layer typically was applied to saturate the colors of the final painting. In the final paint stage, he completed the image with subtle details and rich colors. Guided by the design laid out in the underdrawing, the artist applied one or more layers of underpaint to define the colors of the design in schematic fashion. He then sealed the ground layer and drawing with a translucent priming (or isolation layer) of drying oil tinted with small amounts of lead white, chalk, carbon black, and traces of earth pigments, which ensured that the absorbent glue-bound layer would not drain the oil medium from the subsequent paint layers. The artist drew the planned image on the white ground layer with a black underdrawing. The wood panel, typically oak, was prepared for painting with a “ground” layer of chalk bound with glue. The paint samples studied during the 1950s treatment showed the layer structure typical of an early Netherlandish panel painting. This research was undertaken with a twofold aim: to understand the original paint structure of the altarpiece and to identify areas where overpaints applied by earlier restorers obscured the Eyckian original ( 5). During the extensive technical investigation that guided the conservation treatment undertaken in 1950 to 1951, researchers made use of minute paint samples mounted in cross section for microscopic analysis of the paintings’ material composition and layer sequence. In the mid-20th century, the extraction and characterization of microsamples by light microscopy and microchemical testing were pivotal developments ( 3, 4) toward a better understanding of the material used by the artists. Today, the panels are again the subject of an extensive conservation and research campaign, and as was the case 70 years ago, state-of-the-art diagnostic instrumentation has been exhaustively exploited. Already in 1950, the panel paintings were protagonists of the first wave of scientific restoration treatments ( 1), i.e., art conservation interventions consistently supported by chemical research and analytical measurements, with the ensuing insights published in the emerging domain-specific journals of that time ( 2). This iconic work is not only associated with the flowering of oil painting but also with the birth of cultural heritage science over 500 years later. Color image taken after the 1950s treatment and before the 2019 treatment (© Lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw). The white rectangle indicates the area featuring the Lamb of God, the central motif of this polyptych and subject of this paper. The Ghent Altarpiece by the Van Eyck brothers (1432, Cathedral of Saint Bavo, Ghent, Belgium) with the wings opened. 1), the viewer is drawn into the central panel, The Adoration of the Lamb, which represents the sacrifice of Christ with a depiction of the Lamb of God, standing on an altar, blood pouring into a chalice. When the wings of the altarpiece are open ( Fig. The Ghent Altarpiece reveals the remarkable potential of the oil medium to evoke tangible materials from living plants to glittering jewels to soft fleece and, in the process, transform a sacred scene into a vivid extension of the real world. We know of no other surviving works by Hubert, but Jan’s paintings have been so influential that, for centuries, a long-standing myth credited him as the “inventor” of oil painting. Verses inscribed on the original frames of the outer wings record that the altarpiece was begun by Hubert van Eyck and completed after his death by his brother, Jan. 1) by the brothers Hubert and Jan Van Eyck is considered one of the founding masterpieces of Western European painting and of Early Netherlandish painting in particular, bearing witness to a visual acuity and painterly skills unequalled at the time. ![]()
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