Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Figure 5. Detail of Lady Jal1e Grey from The ExeclItion of Lady Jane Grey.
white, red lake, and black), similar in color to that used in the watercolor
sketch; the presence of a thin layer of black paint above it, darkening or
obliterating it, suggests a change of mind. Above it is a much warmer version
of the underpaint layer, containing more red lake pigment, followed by the
desired red paint (Plate 34a) .
This grisaille probably represents the ebauche stage of the painting (36).
When it was dry, the local color was applied. Bouvier describes the use of a
series of premixed, graduated middle tones applied side by side and then
blended to give an smooth passage from light to dark across each part of the
painting, for both the ebauche and the final paint layers (37). The sim.plicity
and precision of the layer structure and the generally close relationship between
the depth of tone in the grisaille and the chiaroscuro of the finished
painting, as demonstrated in the painting of Lady Jane's dress, suggests that
something approaching this may have been done (Fig. 5). Only one or two
quite thin, even layers of paint may be present over the underpaint, with
perhaps an additional glaze or highlight. Observation of the paint surface,
however, and the occasional presence of extrem.ely thin scumbles or glazes of
paint (or sim.ply a greater concentration of paint medium) at the top of a
paint layer reveal the careful blending of tones. One paint layer frequently
appears to have been applied over another while the layer below was still
fresh, enabling one mid-tone to be merged into the next. Plate 34b shows a
cross section of paint from the shadow of a fold in Lady Jane's dress. The
grayish paint of the shadow, consisting of lead white with a little cobalt blue
and Cassel earth, merges with the creamier paint of the layer below so com-
Kirby and Roy 171