Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Figure 3. Andrea Mantegl1a, The Presentation in the Te mple. Origil1al strailler with panel inserts
seen from front, 68. 9 X 86.3 CII. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
Gold highlighting
The intricate details and extensive gold highlighting of the Getty Adoration
are laid out over preparatory base colors such as those visible on the borders
of the Ecce Homo. In the latter, Mantegna probably finished the painting after
it was placed into a frame (which no longer exists), as suggested by the fine
details painted up to a one-half-inch border all around. The feathered-out
colors on two edges of the Getty Adoration give an indication of such preparatory
colors (Plates 24, 25). The figures themselves are placed against a
uniform black background. The halos of St. Joseph, the Virgin, and the Christ
Child, painted in shell gold (fmely ground gold in gum arabic), are executed
with fine, concentric brush marks that gradually become longer and thicker
toward the outer rim (Plate 24). The simulated Cufic letters on the Virgin's
dress, the coins in Balthazar's cup, the censer and red cap of Melchior, and
the earrings and brooch of Balthazar are all highlighted with fm e gold lines.
This all was done in a technique that is consistent with Alcherius' descriptions.
Concluding observations
The recent Mantegna exhibit at the Royal Academy in London and the
Metropolitan Museum in New York provided us with a better understanding
of Mantegna's use of distemper and gave us an opportunity to study the
varnished and unvarnished paintings next to each other (29).
Many distemper paintings that have been varnished have been considered
irreversibly damaged. The recent restoration of the Adoration was a successful
attempt to improve the aesthetic quality of the painting and reverse the glossy
surface to a matte one, a surface that is more consistent with the original
technique.
Notes
1. Important Old Master Pictures (Part 1). 1985. London: Christie, Manson, and Woods,
Ltd. 18 April 1985:39-44.
Rothe 115