DOI Heft:
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DOI Artikel:Grochowska-Angelus, Anna; Novljaković, Katarzyna [Mitarb.]: Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan: Technological structure analysis and the characteristics of painting technique
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49519#0344
334
Anna Grochowska-Angelus, Katarzyna Novljaković
5. X-ray photograph. Woodgrain clearly
visible as well as metal nails and wax seal
(moulding and impasto containing lead are
observable)
6. Ultraviolet Picture. The thick layer
of varnish and extent of the retouching on top
are obvious. State prior to conservation
The methods of work and the stages of constructing the landscape are essentially very elear.
There are four such stages: primer, composition sketch, then the proper paint layer with impasto,
and, finally, restricted scumbling. The brushwork is quite'diverse, from very delicate and precise
to sweeping strokes, and from thick, opaque paint in the bright areas to scumbling in the dark
ones,24 using the colour of primer and the sketch, wet-into-wet, with minimum oil applied. By the
deliberate use of bristle and hair brushes Rembrandt enriched the texture of the painting.
The artist based the spatial dimension of Landscape... on the canons of diagonal geometrie
perspective, applying at the same time light effects and aerial perspective.
It seems that Rembrandt adopted the ideas of Jan Vredeman de Vries, the most influential
perspective theoretician of the I7th century.25
In conclusion, apart from the artist's excellent technique, it is important to notice the way he
focused on creating a coherent composition On the surface of the painting are visible isolated
irregular masses of white on the surface of the painting. These irregularly scattered lumps of
pigment might suggest their recycling from the palette or, quite simply, careless preparation.26 It is
worth mentioning that recycling of pigments coming from cleaned palettes and brushes was pre-
valent among artists at that time. Such a conclusion is based on the mixture of other colours found
in the intersection of the samples taken from the monochromatic composition sketch.27
However, the fineness of the almost imperceptible craquelure testifies to the painting's near
perfect state of preservation. This current state has undoubtedly been influenced by a very
accurate choice of panel: the wood type, the manner in which the panel was cut out of the trunk
and the maximum possible elimination of the movement of the wood. At that time the Dutch
Masters made their best painting from re-used panels made of seasoned oak boards which they
retrieved from old ships or tubs. Other methods of reducing the movement of the wood known at
24 M. RZEPIŃSKA, Historia koloru w dziejach malarstwa europejskiego ('The History of Colour in the European
Painting'), Kraków 1983. In the chapter entitled "Kolor w baroku", page 306-31 it is reiterated that 'As a rule, the
shades are thin and transparent, while the light is impasted'. The author repeats after the Baroque masters how important
it is '[...] to avoid mixing white with transparent dyestuffs, which are dark by nature, [...]'.
25 J. VREDEMAN DE VRIES, Perspective, The Hague, Leiden 1604-5; see also: A. K. WHEELOCK, Jft Jan Yermeer,
Warsaw 1994, p. 33.
26 The authoresses also encountered a further opinion expressed by a conservator of Rembrandt paintings, Martin Bilj,
who believes the said coagulation of pigments was a characteristic of the workshop aimed at achieving additional
intensity of light reflection.
27 Cf.: VAN DE WETERING, op. cit., p. 24.
Anna Grochowska-Angelus, Katarzyna Novljaković
5. X-ray photograph. Woodgrain clearly
visible as well as metal nails and wax seal
(moulding and impasto containing lead are
observable)
6. Ultraviolet Picture. The thick layer
of varnish and extent of the retouching on top
are obvious. State prior to conservation
The methods of work and the stages of constructing the landscape are essentially very elear.
There are four such stages: primer, composition sketch, then the proper paint layer with impasto,
and, finally, restricted scumbling. The brushwork is quite'diverse, from very delicate and precise
to sweeping strokes, and from thick, opaque paint in the bright areas to scumbling in the dark
ones,24 using the colour of primer and the sketch, wet-into-wet, with minimum oil applied. By the
deliberate use of bristle and hair brushes Rembrandt enriched the texture of the painting.
The artist based the spatial dimension of Landscape... on the canons of diagonal geometrie
perspective, applying at the same time light effects and aerial perspective.
It seems that Rembrandt adopted the ideas of Jan Vredeman de Vries, the most influential
perspective theoretician of the I7th century.25
In conclusion, apart from the artist's excellent technique, it is important to notice the way he
focused on creating a coherent composition On the surface of the painting are visible isolated
irregular masses of white on the surface of the painting. These irregularly scattered lumps of
pigment might suggest their recycling from the palette or, quite simply, careless preparation.26 It is
worth mentioning that recycling of pigments coming from cleaned palettes and brushes was pre-
valent among artists at that time. Such a conclusion is based on the mixture of other colours found
in the intersection of the samples taken from the monochromatic composition sketch.27
However, the fineness of the almost imperceptible craquelure testifies to the painting's near
perfect state of preservation. This current state has undoubtedly been influenced by a very
accurate choice of panel: the wood type, the manner in which the panel was cut out of the trunk
and the maximum possible elimination of the movement of the wood. At that time the Dutch
Masters made their best painting from re-used panels made of seasoned oak boards which they
retrieved from old ships or tubs. Other methods of reducing the movement of the wood known at
24 M. RZEPIŃSKA, Historia koloru w dziejach malarstwa europejskiego ('The History of Colour in the European
Painting'), Kraków 1983. In the chapter entitled "Kolor w baroku", page 306-31 it is reiterated that 'As a rule, the
shades are thin and transparent, while the light is impasted'. The author repeats after the Baroque masters how important
it is '[...] to avoid mixing white with transparent dyestuffs, which are dark by nature, [...]'.
25 J. VREDEMAN DE VRIES, Perspective, The Hague, Leiden 1604-5; see also: A. K. WHEELOCK, Jft Jan Yermeer,
Warsaw 1994, p. 33.
26 The authoresses also encountered a further opinion expressed by a conservator of Rembrandt paintings, Martin Bilj,
who believes the said coagulation of pigments was a characteristic of the workshop aimed at achieving additional
intensity of light reflection.
27 Cf.: VAN DE WETERING, op. cit., p. 24.