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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#0345
ReMBRANDT'S LANDSCAPE WITH THE GoOD SAMARITAN
335
7. Detail ofthe sky to the left before
conservation
8. Gaps in the depicting ofthe sky caused by
breaks in the primer, diagonal strokes of the
brush interspersed with tiny specs of white.
State prior to conservation
that time included boiling in water - particularly for smali size panels, and immersing in linseed oil
heated to over I00°C.28 It is difficult to, however, to ascertain today whether the base of the Cra-
cow painting had been subjected to any of these processes. Even the dimensions of the panel are
significant; they have been thoughtfully measured to accord with the canon of the golden section
(the proportions of the height to width).
The painting's perfect condition, the almost imperceptible craquelure mentioned above and
almost enamel luminosity are the result of skilful application of oil binders.29 Characterising the
fatty paint agents in his handbook, Jan Hopliński cites Alexander Eibner:
'Well-preserved paintings ofthe 15th-17th centuries owe their good form, enamel smoothness, faint
cracking and insignificant yellowness to mighty bleached oils that dried gradually'.30
Observations concerning the Painting Technique
In our description of the painting technique, we use the dominant characteristics of the
composition and the painter's plans apparent to the viewer, which are not always in accordance
with the actual sequence of the painting process. In the final stages of completion, on the basis of
the initial 'dead-coloured' sketch,31 it is evident that Rembrant worked from back to front on his
composition, starting with the sky and gradually moving closer to the forefront of the painting, to
highlight the thistles at the very end.32
The oak placed in the foreground was rendered with a broad brushwork of umber mixed with
black using copiois amounts of a binding medium. The brush strokes reveal the traces of the
bristles from a flat brush. The light shining on the trunk is highlighted by scratches that would
28 Cf.: SLANSKY, op. cit., p. 256.
29 R. WHITE, J. KIRBY, 'Rembrandt and his Circle: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Paint Media, Re-examined', National
Galleiy Technical Bulletin 15 (1994), pp. 64-78.
30 J. HOPLIŃSKI, Farby i spoiwa malarskie ('Paints and painting binders'), Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków-Gdańsk-
Łódź 1990, p. 31; cf.: A. EIBNER, Uber fette Ole - Leindlersatzmittel und Ólfarben, Munchen 1922 and Die Ólfarbe
In Kunst und Handwerk, Munchen 1920.
31 Cf.: VAN DE WETERING op. cit., p. 32.
32 The question of composition sketch made with 'dead colouring', or monochrome undercoating was explained by Van
de Wetering in the subchapter, 'The First Sketch, the Monochrome Underpainting and the First Lay-in of Colour', op. cit.
pp. 23-32.
335
7. Detail ofthe sky to the left before
conservation
8. Gaps in the depicting ofthe sky caused by
breaks in the primer, diagonal strokes of the
brush interspersed with tiny specs of white.
State prior to conservation
that time included boiling in water - particularly for smali size panels, and immersing in linseed oil
heated to over I00°C.28 It is difficult to, however, to ascertain today whether the base of the Cra-
cow painting had been subjected to any of these processes. Even the dimensions of the panel are
significant; they have been thoughtfully measured to accord with the canon of the golden section
(the proportions of the height to width).
The painting's perfect condition, the almost imperceptible craquelure mentioned above and
almost enamel luminosity are the result of skilful application of oil binders.29 Characterising the
fatty paint agents in his handbook, Jan Hopliński cites Alexander Eibner:
'Well-preserved paintings ofthe 15th-17th centuries owe their good form, enamel smoothness, faint
cracking and insignificant yellowness to mighty bleached oils that dried gradually'.30
Observations concerning the Painting Technique
In our description of the painting technique, we use the dominant characteristics of the
composition and the painter's plans apparent to the viewer, which are not always in accordance
with the actual sequence of the painting process. In the final stages of completion, on the basis of
the initial 'dead-coloured' sketch,31 it is evident that Rembrant worked from back to front on his
composition, starting with the sky and gradually moving closer to the forefront of the painting, to
highlight the thistles at the very end.32
The oak placed in the foreground was rendered with a broad brushwork of umber mixed with
black using copiois amounts of a binding medium. The brush strokes reveal the traces of the
bristles from a flat brush. The light shining on the trunk is highlighted by scratches that would
28 Cf.: SLANSKY, op. cit., p. 256.
29 R. WHITE, J. KIRBY, 'Rembrandt and his Circle: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Paint Media, Re-examined', National
Galleiy Technical Bulletin 15 (1994), pp. 64-78.
30 J. HOPLIŃSKI, Farby i spoiwa malarskie ('Paints and painting binders'), Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków-Gdańsk-
Łódź 1990, p. 31; cf.: A. EIBNER, Uber fette Ole - Leindlersatzmittel und Ólfarben, Munchen 1922 and Die Ólfarbe
In Kunst und Handwerk, Munchen 1920.
31 Cf.: VAN DE WETERING op. cit., p. 32.
32 The question of composition sketch made with 'dead colouring', or monochrome undercoating was explained by Van
de Wetering in the subchapter, 'The First Sketch, the Monochrome Underpainting and the First Lay-in of Colour', op. cit.
pp. 23-32.