1.489 Cm (58 5/8") W: 57.0 Cm (22 1/4") T: 1.27 Cm (44"); T Including Cradle: 3.96 Cm (1 9/16")
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NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART PAINTING CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT Vincenzo Foppa Saint Anthony of Padua oil (est.) on wood panel 1952.5.63 (1142) Samuel H. Kress Collection Dimensions (overall and painted surface): H: 1.489 cm (58 5/8") W: 57.0 cm (22 1/4") T: 1.27 cm (44"); T including cradle: 3.96 cm (1 9/16") Vincenzo Foppa Saint Bernadine oil (est.) on wood panel 1961.9.72 (1624) Samuel H. Kress Collection Dimensions (overall and painted surface): H: 1.489 cm (58 %") W. 57.0 cm (22 14") T: 1.27 cm (14") T including cradle: 3.81 cm (1 42") Examination Report June 1997; revised October 1999 Summary The two paintings were examined for the National Gallery of Art's Systematic Catalogue project in 1987. This report describes new technical evidence to confirm that the two panel paintings were once part of a triptych or polyptych: Originally, the draperies of two kneeling donors were depicted and pedestal-shaped areas were left in reserve, possibly for the altar's frame or the Madonna's throne. ' These elements, overpainted during an undocumented restoration prior to 1909,2 were revealed in new infrared reflectograms, ' overall x-radiographs# and with a stereomicroscope. Foppa used this format, with donors divided by the pilasters of the altar framework, in, for example, the Fornari polyptych, now in the Civic Museum, Savona.5 Re-examination of the panels clarified additional design changes made by the artist. While some of the revisions are relatively minor, when considered together, the many changes reveal a working method where the composition evolved at every stage of the process. There were: ' The donors and the pedestal shapes were not mentioned in previous technical reports, e.g. the Kress/NGA Condition and Restoration Records, footnoted in Fern Shapley's Catalogue of the Italian Paintings (National Gallery of Art, 1979), nor in the Examination Reports written in 1987 by Catherine Metzger and Paula DeCristofaro, NGA Painting Conservators. 2 See plates published in C J Ffoulkes & R Maiocchi, Vincenzo Foppa of Brescia, Founder of the Lombard School/ His Life and Work (London & New York, John Lane, 1909): plates not numbered. 3 This report contains revisions to the 1987 interpretations of the underdrawings, which were based on detail images made with an infrared vidicon camera. The new reflectograms made in April 1997 were of the panels overall and at a different region of the infrared spectrum (1.5-2.0 microns, using a Kodak PtSi 310-21X thermal imager). 4 X-radiographs showing the Saints' heads and hands are dated May 24, 1948. The same details of St Bernadino were x-radiographed again October 13, 196[1?]. It seems surprising that the presence of the donors was not discovered then, or when the paintings were cleaned and restored (St Anthony in 1949- 50; St Bernadino in 1961). Presumably, the overpaint was not removed during treatment. s Reproduced in Maria Grazia Balzarini, Vincenzo Foppa (Milan, Editoriale Jaca Book SpA, 1997): plates 75 & 76. Vincenzo Foppa 2 Saint Anthony of Padua 1952.5.63 (1142) Samuel H Kress Collection Saint Bernadino 1961.9.72 (1624> Samuel H Kress Collection · design changes made at the underdrawing stage: · St Anthony's robes were first cinched with a belt, then later a rope girdle; · the landscape was altered in the St Bernadino panel and included a walled city at the underdrawing stage; · the Saints were shorter: their hems and feet were moved down during the underdrawing stage; · the Saints' faces and hands were also revised during the underdrawing stage; · there are multiple styles of underdrawing lines, made by the same hand or possibly with studio assistance; · incised lines for elements not incorporated into the final design: · an incised plan for the low reddish-brown walls to enclose the Saints was not painted; · incised floorplans, where St Anthony stood on the top of three shallow steps, while St Bernadino stood on a pedestal, were not painted; · areas of gilding, later painted over by the artist: · more of the gilded columns showed because the Saints' hemlines were shorter at first; · design changes made during the painting stage: · some of the final drapery folds do not match the underdrawn folds; · an area left in reserve in the St Anthony panel, visible in x-radiographs, suggests that, early in the painting stage, Foppa intended to show more of the female donor's costume than he finally depicted. The compositions were underdrawn in a liquid medium, probably using a brush or a quill pen. While no hatching or crosshatching is apparent in the infrared images, washes to indicate shadows were applied during the underdrawing or at an undermodelling stage. The gilding was embellished with punchwork and pastiglia, and may have been toned with colored glazes. Punchworked shadows emphasize the fall of light from an external source to the left of the altarpiece. The paint medium is estimated to be oil or an egg/oil mixture; scientific analysis of paint samples would be required to securely identify the medium: The painted images were cropped, presumably when the altar was dismantled or the panels were cradled, however, their present dimensions are probably very close to the original. Underdrawing As revealed in the overall infrared reflectogram composites (1.5-2.0 microns), the figures' outlines and major drapery folds were underdrawn in a liquid medium, probably with a brush or quill pen. While the underdrawing lines can be roughly separated into four styles,' the styles are not clearly related to specific stages because infrared images generally do not provide a "three- dimensional analysis." Thus, some of the underdrawing could be corrections to a studio assistant's underdrawing or Foppa's own underdrawn corrections to an earlier painting stage. The majority of the underdrawing consists of freely drawn, sketched lines with some repeated contours, made with a pointed brush or a quill pen. Passages include the two versions of Anthony's left hand, the first version of Bernadino's face and the hilltown behind him. Much, but 6 The Kress/NGA Condition and Restoration Records estimate the paint medium to be "Emulsified tempera." DeCristofaro wrote that "It is very difficult to determine [without scientific analysis] whether the paint medium employed is oil, tempera or an emulsion", while Metzger estimated it to be oil. The 1987 Examination Reports discuss only one type of underdrawing line visible with the infrared vidicon camera. Vincenzo Foppa 3 Saint Anthony of Padua 1952.5.63 (1142) Samuel H Kress Collection Saint Bernadino 1961.9.72 (1624) Samuel H Kress Collection not all, of the painted version follows this underdrawing. A similar style of underdrawing is seen in the infrared reflectogram composite of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Portrait of a Man: Some underdrawing lines are wider, having been made with a wider or softer brush, including the securely-drawn hooked curves describing Anthony's curly hair and a tree (?) on the left edge of the Bernadino panel. These wider underdrawing lines were not followed in the painted version. The third style is a securely-drawn, continuous line, probably made with a quill pen or a loaded brush. For example, the underdrawing in Anthony's face has a peculiar static quality due to strong, closed contour lines. The lines have a uniform width and weight. The curves are broken into angles. The eyesocket is drawn as a circle, without a sense of the artist searching for a contour. Passages like this suggest the use of a transferred design, using a Renaissance version of carbon paper. Although this section appears to have been transferred, Anthony's face was reworked: his eyes and nose were redrawn a second time, and his ear was shifted during the paint stage. The fourth style consists of long, rather tremulous, dashed lines. Some lines have blobs at the end, perhaps from a brush or quill pen. The line breaks are not related to changes in line direction. Thus, although the lines appear more tentative, they too seem to suggest the use of a transferred design. Examples of these dashed underdrawing lines are seen in the drapery folds in the cowl around Bernadino's neck. Some, but not all, of the dashed underdrawings lines match the painted drapery folds. A similar underdrawing style is found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Madonna and Child: And of the two published drawings by Foppa/° one exhibits similarities with this style. Comparison with the Oxford drawing is interesting as both underdrawing and drawing have long dashed contour lines. In the drawing, the horse and rider were reworked, and all of the extra limbs were allowed to remain visible. Once the form was decided, contours were reinforced with a dashed line and fixed with a wash, elements noted in the Wasington and Philadelphia underdrawings. However, both the Oxford and the Berlin drawings have hatching, consisting of short horizontal lines, which is not found in the underdrawings of the three paintings. It should be noted also that Foppa specialists do not agree whether the Oxford drawing is by Foppa, or School of. Part of the hesitency is due to poor condition and old reworking, and, more importantly for the present discussion, they have not listed which parts have been reworked. While no hatching or crosshatching is evident in infrared images of the Washington panels, washes were used to indicate shadows. These washes may have been applied as underdrawing 8 Theresa Lignelli, Painting Conservator, and Carl Strehlke, Curator, both at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, discussed the conservation treatment of the PMA's Foppa paintings in the NGA Conservation Department, April 1997. 9 The dashed underdrawing lines are visible in the infrared reflectogram composite (unpublished) and in normal light photographs (published by Balzarini using photographs taken before the 1997 restoration by Teresa Lignelli).