Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

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Abstract As part of a five-year systematic survey of the techniques of English medieval wall paintings, the highly important late Romanesque and early Gothic paintings in the Holy Sepulchre Chapel in Winchester are being examined. The use of red lake in the Romanesque scheme is the earliest recorded use of this pigment in English wall painting; the identification of vivianite, now partially altered to a yellow form, is the first in any English medieval wall painting. All aspects of the technique of both schemes, including their complex laying out, pentimenti, pigments, media, and gilding are discussed in the context of contemporary European painting. Te chniques of the Romanesque and Gothic Wall Paintings in the Holy Sepulchre Chapel, Winchester Cathedral Helen C. Howard Leverhulme Research Fellow Conservation of Wall Painting Department Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House Strand, London WC2R ORN United Kingdom Introduction The exquisite Romanesque and Gothic paintings in the Holy Sepulchre Chapel constitute what is arguably the finest medieval painted interior in England. Dating from circa 1175 and circa 1220, respectively, their iconography and style have been discussed exhaustively by Park (1). From the technical point of view, they provide fascinating insight into the execution of two schemes of exceptionally high quality, separated in date by scarcely forty years, but painted in very different techniques. Although the technique of the earlier decoration is rooted in the tradition of painting a fresco, an additional proteinaceous binding medium and also lead pigments have been identified, which, together with the sweeping compositional changes made at an advanced stage of the painting process, suggest that significant portions were completed a secco. The Gothic painting is perhaps more typical of English medieval wall painting; though carbonation of lime is still the principal mechanism of binding, the use of large plaster patches, inclusion of additional organic binding media, and incorporation of pigments unsuitable for application in alkaline conditions preclude describing the technique as fresco. Investigation of the painting technique was undertaken as part of a comprehensive five-year study, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, of English medieval wall painting techniques and in conjunction with a conservation campaign in the chapel undertaken by the Courtauld Institute of Art and sponsored by the Skaggs Foundation (2) . The paintings The most striking area of late twelfth-century painting is on the east wall of the Chapel, comprising a Deposition in the upper register and, below the dividing geometric border, an Entombment with the Maries at the Sepulchre and the Harrowing of Hell. Uncovered when the overlying thirteenth-century scheme was detached in the 1960s, the painting has escaped the ravages of multifarious conservation treatments to which it would almost certainly have been subjected had it been exposed earlier. The surface was severely keyed in preparation for the thirteenth-century plaster, but despite these numerous damages the superb quality of the painting is evident (Fig. 1 and Plate 19). Traces of the Romanesque scheme survive elsewhere, as on the south wall above the western recess where a Resurrection of the Dead with an angel blowing the last trumpet is positioned on either side. Originally situated in the corresponding position above the eastern recess, but now transferred to the north wall of the chapel, is a striking mitered head and a sinopia for three scenes set under architectural canopies. To date, this sinopia is a unique find in the context of English medieval wall painting, and provides important evidence fo r the technique of the Romanesque scheme. Extensive remodeling of the chapel in the early thirteenth century, including the insertion of a rib vault, destroyed large portions of the Romanesque scheme and necessitated a complete redecoration. The resulting scheme is also of exceptionally high quality, but has been marred by a series of invasive conservation treatments. The painting originally decorating the east wall (and Howard 91
Figure ,' , Holy Sepulchre Chapel, Winchester Cathedrar General view of the twe!Jih-celltllry paillfill.R Oil the east wan Photograph courtesy if the COllservation if Wall Paintillg DepartlUCllt, Courtauld Institflle of Art, LOHdon, 92 Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice
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Historical Painting Techniques, Mat
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Contents vii viii Foreword Preface
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Foreword One of the first events or
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The discussions in this volume pres
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Plate 2a, above right. Attributed t
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Plate 4a, above. Jacques Louis Da
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Plate 7a, above. Valerio Mariana da
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Plate 9. Marco Palmezzano, Mystic M
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Plate 13, right. Surya in his Chari
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Plate 16. The Fifth King of Shambha
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Plate 20. Cross section oj Sample 3
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Plate 26, top. Titian, Venus and Ad
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Plate 29. Cross sections of the St.
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Plate 33. Paul Delaroehe, The Execu
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Plate 35, right. Detail Jrom the lo
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Abstract This paper argues for an i
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we find a description of the affini
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2. A Practical Treatise on Painting
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knowledge and understanding of the
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Table 1. Scientific methods used Jo
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the painting together, share backgr
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y distance with "the aid of the air
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ected, shadows would appear matte a
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The differences in saturation, clea
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19. White, R. Personal communicatio
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occupation agreable pour charmer l'
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DE PEJN'FURE PRATIQUE. Par demit::
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In spite of the laments of certain
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While cooking their eggs, two young
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some used for painting (i.e., amber
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ange of artists' materials, books o
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Figure 3. Personal account book, 18
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paper resulted in a volume of corre
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4. HKI MS 865-1993, 497. The move i
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[1] How to make a gold ground. Take
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Page 76 and 77: [37] To make crude verzino for writ
Page 78 and 79: it on what you are working, with a
Page 80 and 81: 28. On these "clothlet colors," see
Page 82 and 83: it also includes instructions fo r
Page 84 and 85: Ricordi di belli colori Initially i
Page 86 and 87: Figure 4. Gherardo Cibo, "Fusaina [
Page 88 and 89: The treatise is typical for the lat
Page 90 and 91: Filza CXLIII, fols. 1122r, 1125v, 1
Page 92 and 93: that is, plaster of Paris, which ha
Page 94 and 95: 100 80 60 40 a 3500 30.00 2500 2000
Page 96 and 97: process described by Cennini for ge
Page 98 and 99: Abstract The frequent use of verdig
Page 100 and 101: strating that spreading this glaze
Page 102 and 103: 10. Thompson, op. cit., 61. 11. Ber
Page 104 and 105: Tingry, in 1830, gives a recipe for
Page 106 and 107: elonged to William Mallord Turner (
Page 108 and 109: 500 450 As Ph As 400 350 Fe Co 300
Page 110 and 111: 19. Merrifield, op. cit., 745-6. 20
Page 112 and 113: Table 1. Tibetan color names, trans
Page 114 and 115: J Figure 3. Three-dimensional spect
Page 116 and 117: Figure 5. Detail IR-reflectogram fr
Page 118 and 119: Abstract Icons preserved in the Nil
Page 120 and 121: I )--------------------------1 I i
Page 122 and 123: The understanding of an icon and it
Page 126 and 127: later transferred to an artificial
Page 128 and 129: Winchester Cathedral Holy Sepulchre
Page 130 and 131: Gilding. Gold leaf was applied for
Page 132 and 133: Winchester Cathedral Holy Sepulchre
Page 134 and 135: scanning electron microscopy I ener
Page 136 and 137: Notes 1. Park, D. 1983. The wall pa
Page 138 and 139: Abstract It is rare for ancient ext
Page 140 and 141: Sa. Location : Salisbury west front
Page 142 and 143: sheltered eye on the southernmost c
Page 144 and 145: Abstract Extensive examination of A
Page 146 and 147: create surface gloss and could be v
Page 148 and 149: Figure 3. Andrea Mantegl1a, The Pre
Page 150 and 151: Abstract In September 1992 the J Pa
Page 152 and 153: arrow in Adonis's right hand ends a
Page 154 and 155: For the early works are executed wi
Page 156 and 157: J Figure 3. Fluorescence spectrul1'
Page 158 and 159: This property was deliberately used
Page 160 and 161: Abstract The St. Anne Altarpiece (N
Page 162 and 163: Figure 3. Infrared reJlectogram ass
Page 164 and 165: Figure 5. Irifrared niflectogram as
Page 166 and 167: followed by modeling layers and gla
Page 168 and 169: Abstract Based on extensive informa
Page 170 and 171: o . (Vv..-.< 1 2. underdrawing, and
Page 172 and 173: The key position of Lamentation in
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Figure 1. Workshop of Jan Bruegel,
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Figure 3. Camelis Vroom, Landscape
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Figure 5. Infrared photograph of Es
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at the beginning of the seventeenth
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artist like Vermeer had to use all
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Figure 1. Perspective drawing of Ve
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Hague, 1996). The author is also gr
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Abstract The paper presents some re
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Summary We can conclude after this
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the product, a salesman motivated b
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complaints, have been strictly adhe
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F(gure 8. Illfrared rriflectograph
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13. Hunt, W. H. 1905-1 906. Pre-Rap
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Figure 1. The Execution of Lady Jan
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Figure 3. The Execution of Lady Jan
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Figure 5. Detail of Lady Jal1e Grey
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Figure 6. Paul Delaroche, The Execu
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38. Merimee,J.-F.-L. 1830. De la pe
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F(gure 1. J. M. W. Turner, Goring M
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Figl/re 3. Detail if lower left, s/
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Figure 5. J. M. W. Tumer's The Dawn
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TabLe 1. Dates of manufa cture of i
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Kennedy of the Ulster Museum, Viola
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Figure 2. James Whistler, Nocturne
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5). There are many such examples of
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Abstract This paper discusses aspec
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1960s in North America. Requiring b
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2. Eder, ]. M. 1945. History of Pho
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Figure 1. Jan Baptiste Collaert, Co
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sudden increase in the dimensions o
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lacks. Passages painted with mixtur
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8. It is not clear when people firs
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Errata for Historical Painting Tech
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PAGE 159 Figure 2. Image source: Pe
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