DOI issue:
Nr. 3-4
DOI article:Grochowska-Angelus, Anna; Novljaković, Katarzyna [Contr.]: Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan: Technological structure analysis and the characteristics of painting technique
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49519#0341
REMBRANDT'S LANDSCAPE WITH THE GoOD SAMARITAN
331
I. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Landscape with the Good Samaritan, Surface
ofthe picture prior to conservation. Phot. Archiwum Fundacji Czartoryskich
to emphasise the mimetic content hidden in the symbols, literary allusions and emblems, the land-
scape itself, characterised as fantasy or fictional, is deliberately non-topographical.
The enormous tree with twisted, outstretched branches somewhat to the left of the middle
foreground divides the composition into two parts. The segment on the right consists of the group
of figures with the injured man on the horse led by the Samaritan, travelling on a road amidst trees
leading to a distant city at the foot of the mountain. The left part is composed of a vast panorama
with fields descending towards the river, illuminated by sun rays shining through dark, billowing
clouds.
Technological Structure and Materials
The landscape was painted on a support made of a single oak board with a horizontal grain. The
dimensions of the board are not perfectly matched, with the right and left ends measuring 42.1
and 42.2 cm, while the top and bottom are 65.6 cm and 65.4 cm long respectively. The board's
thickness ranges from 5 to 7mm, although near the top edge it thins to a mere 4 mm. The reverse
of the board is sawn and slightly bevelled on all four sides. The board was cut radially from the
trunk of a 200-year old tree more than a metre in diameter that originated from North-Western
Europe, presumably in the vicinity of the North Sea coast. One dendro-chronological study
points to 1624 as the earliest date that the tree could have been felled. The average time for the
seasoning of wood used in European painting during the 16th and 17th centuries is known to
have ranged from two to eight years.15
15 Dendrochronological analysis was performed and interpreted by Tomasz Ważny from the Institute of Monument
History Expertise and Conservation Institute of the Painting Technology and Technique Institute, in the Dendrology
Laboratory of the Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) in Toruń.
331
I. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Landscape with the Good Samaritan, Surface
ofthe picture prior to conservation. Phot. Archiwum Fundacji Czartoryskich
to emphasise the mimetic content hidden in the symbols, literary allusions and emblems, the land-
scape itself, characterised as fantasy or fictional, is deliberately non-topographical.
The enormous tree with twisted, outstretched branches somewhat to the left of the middle
foreground divides the composition into two parts. The segment on the right consists of the group
of figures with the injured man on the horse led by the Samaritan, travelling on a road amidst trees
leading to a distant city at the foot of the mountain. The left part is composed of a vast panorama
with fields descending towards the river, illuminated by sun rays shining through dark, billowing
clouds.
Technological Structure and Materials
The landscape was painted on a support made of a single oak board with a horizontal grain. The
dimensions of the board are not perfectly matched, with the right and left ends measuring 42.1
and 42.2 cm, while the top and bottom are 65.6 cm and 65.4 cm long respectively. The board's
thickness ranges from 5 to 7mm, although near the top edge it thins to a mere 4 mm. The reverse
of the board is sawn and slightly bevelled on all four sides. The board was cut radially from the
trunk of a 200-year old tree more than a metre in diameter that originated from North-Western
Europe, presumably in the vicinity of the North Sea coast. One dendro-chronological study
points to 1624 as the earliest date that the tree could have been felled. The average time for the
seasoning of wood used in European painting during the 16th and 17th centuries is known to
have ranged from two to eight years.15
15 Dendrochronological analysis was performed and interpreted by Tomasz Ważny from the Institute of Monument
History Expertise and Conservation Institute of the Painting Technology and Technique Institute, in the Dendrology
Laboratory of the Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) in Toruń.