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#0342
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Anna Grochowska-Angelus, Katarzyna Novljaković
2. Detail ofthe reverse with label from the
Amsterdam exhibition ofl898
3. Detail of the reverse revealing traces of
sawing and filing ofthe lower edge ofthe
board as well as traces of spring growth
typical ofoak wood
In Rembrandt's day the few tradesmen selling painting materials traded not only raw panels
but also pre-primed ones.16 In this case, however, judging from the abrasions in the paint layer,
the groundwork is very thin, the wood grain ofthe panels being clearly visible in the portion ofthe
sky on the left side of the painting.
The Landscape with the Good Samaritan was painted on a panel thinly covered with a white
undercoat composed of a mixture of chalk and glue,17 while glutin-based glue was used as the
binding agent. The second layer consists of an oil primer18 or primuersel,19 which is a mixture of
natural earth colour pigments with supplements of yellow; massicot with linseed oil. A significant
observation needs to be emphasised that the colour of this layer was used by the artist on
numerous occasions during the painting of Landscape with the Good Samaritan., to create the
transparent effect through glazing.20
Infrared light reveals the dynamics of the creative process, since Rembrandt commenced with
a free, spontaneous modelling of the composition sketch. In some places its colour pattern shows
in the final look of the work. In this monochromatic composition sketch the artist modelled the
basie dark elements with a wide brush using an umber colour diversified with black. Examination
16 E. VAN DE WETERING, Rembrandt, The Painter at Work, Amsterdam 1997, p. 22.
17 The micro-chemical analysis of the pigments, infrared spectro-photometry of the binding mediums, sample sections
and the interpretation of the laser induced emission spectography was performed by Maria Rogóż of the Institute of
Conservatory Chemistry, whom we wish to thank for her co-operation. This laser induced emission spectography was
carried out by Marek Stankiewicz and Małgorzata Szymońska; X-ray photography, photography of luminescence under
UV rays and infrared, in sodium light, as well as macro photography carried out by Jan Rutkowski in the Applied
Physics Institute of the Art Work Conservation and Restoration Faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. Only
small-sized samples taken from the edges and defective spots in small quantities were used for the purpose ofthe study.
18 In Dutch and Flemish painting art of the 15th-17th centuries centuries, primer is a thin oil paint layer in carnation,
silvery grey or light brownish shade applied to a white chalk ground.; cf.: B. SLANSKY, Technika malarstwa ('Painting
Technique'), vol. I, Warszawa, 1960, pp. 267-8. This layer is described by scholars as 'bole undercoating'.
ROSTWOROWSKI, op. cit., p. 50 describes the board: '[...] with a thin chalk ground covered with bole underpainting',
while ZAŁUSKI, op. cit., p. 370, characterises the layers similarly as: '[...] on a thin chalk ground with a reddish russet
underpainting'. In technological descriptions the layer is described as bole ground; cf: B. SLANSKY, op. cit. p. 11
'Bole grounds are all the brown reddish shade grounds - no matter whether they actually contain red clay or if they
comprise other pigments of similar colour'.
19 Cf: VAN DE WETERING, op. cit., p. 20.
20 Ibid., p. 23, where this method of artist's work is described in detail.
Anna Grochowska-Angelus, Katarzyna Novljaković
2. Detail ofthe reverse with label from the
Amsterdam exhibition ofl898
3. Detail of the reverse revealing traces of
sawing and filing ofthe lower edge ofthe
board as well as traces of spring growth
typical ofoak wood
In Rembrandt's day the few tradesmen selling painting materials traded not only raw panels
but also pre-primed ones.16 In this case, however, judging from the abrasions in the paint layer,
the groundwork is very thin, the wood grain ofthe panels being clearly visible in the portion ofthe
sky on the left side of the painting.
The Landscape with the Good Samaritan was painted on a panel thinly covered with a white
undercoat composed of a mixture of chalk and glue,17 while glutin-based glue was used as the
binding agent. The second layer consists of an oil primer18 or primuersel,19 which is a mixture of
natural earth colour pigments with supplements of yellow; massicot with linseed oil. A significant
observation needs to be emphasised that the colour of this layer was used by the artist on
numerous occasions during the painting of Landscape with the Good Samaritan., to create the
transparent effect through glazing.20
Infrared light reveals the dynamics of the creative process, since Rembrandt commenced with
a free, spontaneous modelling of the composition sketch. In some places its colour pattern shows
in the final look of the work. In this monochromatic composition sketch the artist modelled the
basie dark elements with a wide brush using an umber colour diversified with black. Examination
16 E. VAN DE WETERING, Rembrandt, The Painter at Work, Amsterdam 1997, p. 22.
17 The micro-chemical analysis of the pigments, infrared spectro-photometry of the binding mediums, sample sections
and the interpretation of the laser induced emission spectography was performed by Maria Rogóż of the Institute of
Conservatory Chemistry, whom we wish to thank for her co-operation. This laser induced emission spectography was
carried out by Marek Stankiewicz and Małgorzata Szymońska; X-ray photography, photography of luminescence under
UV rays and infrared, in sodium light, as well as macro photography carried out by Jan Rutkowski in the Applied
Physics Institute of the Art Work Conservation and Restoration Faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. Only
small-sized samples taken from the edges and defective spots in small quantities were used for the purpose ofthe study.
18 In Dutch and Flemish painting art of the 15th-17th centuries centuries, primer is a thin oil paint layer in carnation,
silvery grey or light brownish shade applied to a white chalk ground.; cf.: B. SLANSKY, Technika malarstwa ('Painting
Technique'), vol. I, Warszawa, 1960, pp. 267-8. This layer is described by scholars as 'bole undercoating'.
ROSTWOROWSKI, op. cit., p. 50 describes the board: '[...] with a thin chalk ground covered with bole underpainting',
while ZAŁUSKI, op. cit., p. 370, characterises the layers similarly as: '[...] on a thin chalk ground with a reddish russet
underpainting'. In technological descriptions the layer is described as bole ground; cf: B. SLANSKY, op. cit. p. 11
'Bole grounds are all the brown reddish shade grounds - no matter whether they actually contain red clay or if they
comprise other pigments of similar colour'.
19 Cf: VAN DE WETERING, op. cit., p. 20.
20 Ibid., p. 23, where this method of artist's work is described in detail.