Instytut Sztuki (Warschau) [Hrsg.]; Państwowy Instytut Sztuki (bis 1959) [Hrsg.]; Stowarzyszenie Historyków Sztuki [Hrsg.]: Biuletyn Historii Sztuki (67.2005)

338

Anna Grochowska-Angelus, Katarzyna Novljaković


13. Landscape with fields. Shaded areas
painted thinly and transparently, light in thick
impasto with scumbling

circular movements and spots that seem as if they were not fully covered by paint. The light that
shows through was attained by the diversity of blues, softly melted into the brighter, larger patch
with a thick grey paint applied. The richness of this grey was obtained by diagonal traces of a
bristle brush - imitating the sheets of rain and wind. In addition the artist introduced varied thick-
nesses of paint and utilised the colour of the primer. In the brightest fragment, we can also see
diagonal brushstrokes in thick paint. In the area where the whitened grey clearly stands out against
the dark rocks, the brushstroke changes into dabbing.
Description ofthe Painting's Condition and Conservatory Treatment
Conservation on Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan was carried out in the painting
conservation studio of the National Museum in Cracow's Czartoryski Museum in 2003. The op-
portunity for this renovation emerged when the painting was to be loaned to the National Museum
of Western Art in Tokyo for its exhibition titled Rembrandt and the Rembrandt School, The Bible,
Mythology and Ancient History, staged from September through to December 2003. The painting
required conservation work because of the progressing yellow and tarnish of the varnish, colour
change of retouches and accumulated surface dirt. Unsuitable conditions of preservation had
resulted in the partial loss of colour and detail, and limited the spatial perspective of the painting.
The conservation work was accompanied by technological examination, which broadened the
former knowledge of the materials used and of the structure of the painting.35
On commencing the work, we had no written record of any former treatment. Subsequent
investigation proved, however, that in 1898 the landscape had been sent 'through the shipping
agency house of H. Mendelsohn to Berlin in order to have it restored'.36 Conservation work had
been conducted by Alois Hauser, known as the Younger, between 1887-1919, who was the chief
conservator in the gallery of painting in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum.37

35 Examination performed in 2003; cf.: fns 13 and 15.

36 BCzart. page 254: 11.V11I.1898, p. 255: 19.VI1I.1898.

37 The short time needed for conservation and a description by Ochenkowski from 1918 concerning the darkened
retouches (ZAŁUSKI, op. cit., p. 372) are the evidence that the work Hausner performed was largely superficial. There
are no reasons to assume that only 20 years time darkened the retouches of such an experienced conservator, or that his
work was so bad. Therefore our conclusions are, that these retouches come from conservation carried out at an earlier
stage, and had been described earlier in an article by Wilhelm Bode in 1886: 'Unfortunately, it has very harmful reto-
uches in the portion of the sky, done by an unsuccessful renovator, who covered the pores of the oak wood showing
through the paint layer'. (ROSTWOROWSKI, op. cit., p. 112) See also: J. ŻMUDZIŃSKI, Restauracja zabytków
malarstwa sztalugowego w działalności krakowskiego Towarzystwa Opieki nad polskimi zabytkami sztuki 1 kultury
('The Restoration of the Easel Painting Monuments in the Works of the Cracow Society for the Protection of Polish Art
and Culture Monuments'), Yearbook of PAN Library in Cracow 1997 (1902-1926), p. 189.