Studying 18th-Century Paintings and Works of Art on Paper Studying 18th-Century Paintings and Works of Art on Paper This book contains papers presented at the international technical art history conference Studying 18th Century Paintings & Art on Paper which focused on artists’ techniques and materials, source research, conservation science, the history of science and technology, and the history of trade and pharmacy during the 18th century. Proceedings, II,CATS 2014 Tradition and changes in artistic practices were examined in the light of the establishment of a series of national art academies in Europe throughout the century. A scientific peer review committee selected the papers from a range of high quality presentations. The papers are lavishly illustrated and cover the making of paintings and artworks on paper throughout the and Kimberley Evans Edited Muir by Helen 18th century, thereby illustrating a vast range of artists’ and workshop practices. The conference was organised by the Centre for Art Technological Studies and Conservation – CATS – in collaboration with Nationalmuseet (Stockholm), Metropolia University of Applied Science (Helsinki), and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo (Oslo). Archetype Archetype Publications Publications www.archetype.co.uk ISBN 978-1-909492-23-3 in association with CATS Proceedings, II, 2014 9 781909 492233 Edited by Helen Evans and Kimberley Muir S18CP-Cover-v3.indd All Pages 17/08/2015 09:54 STUDYING 18TH-CENTURY PAINTINGS AND WORKS OF ART ON PAPER CATS Proceedings, II, 2014 Edited by Helen Evans and Kimberley Muir Archetype Publications www.archetype.co.uk in association with is online publication is available as a paperback book from Archetype Publications, www.archetype.co.uk, ISBN 978-909492-23-3 First published 2015 by Archetype Publications Ltd in association with CATS, Copenhagen Archetype Publications Ltd c/o International Academic Projects 1 Birdcage Walk London SW1H 9JJ www.archetype.co.uk © 2015 CATS, Copenhagen e Centre for Art Technological Studies and Conservation (CATS) was made possible by a substantial donation by the Villum Foundation and the Velux Foundation, and is a collaborative research venture between the National Gallery of Denmark (SMK), the National Museum of Denmark (NMD) and the School of Conservation (SoC) at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation. ISBN: 978-1-909492-23-3 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. e publisher would be pleased to rectify any omissions in future reprints. Front cover illustration: Joshua Reynolds, Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, c.1776, oil, resin and wax on canvas, 127.8 × 102.4 cm, e Wallace Collection, inv. P48. (© e Wallace Collection. Photo: e National Gallery, London) Back cover illustrations: (from left to right) X-radiograph of Jens Juel, Sophie Birgitta Mathiesen, 1760–1802, oil on canvas, 45.0 × 37.0 cm, Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. KMS4795 (© SMK); Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, Apollo, 1718, oil on canvas, 192 × 262 cm, Mauritshuis, e Hague, inv. 1135, (photo: Margareta Svensson); Nicolai Abildgaard, e Wounded Philoctetes, 1775, oil on canvas, 123 × 175.5 cm, Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. KMS586 (© SMK); José del Castillo, Male Nude, 1759, chalk on paper, 55.4 × 42.4 cm, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, drawing 1944 (© e Library of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid.) Printed on acid-free paper Designed by Marcus Nichols at PDQ Digital Media Solutions Ltd. Typeset by PDQ Digital Media Solutions Ltd, Bungay Printed and bound in Great Britain by Latimer Trend & Co. Ltd, Plymouth CONTENTS Foreword vii Discipline and wonder: the 18th-century art academy and the invention of the artist as a free practitioner 1 Mikkel Bogh e effect of Prussian blue on the technique of the Danish court painters Hendrik Krock and Benoît le Coffre 7 Loa Ludvigsen, Mikala Bagge and Vibeke Rask Breaking new ground: investigating Pellegrini’s use of ground in the Golden Room of the Mauritshuis 16 Carol Pottasch, Susan Smelt and Ralph Haswell Liotard’s pastels: techniques of an 18th-century pastellist 31 Leila Sauvage and Cécile Gombaud An investigation of the painting technique in portraits by Jens Juel 46 Tine Louise Slotsgaard 72 florin for colours, white and glue: the Tiepolos, the Veninos and Würzburg 58 Andreas Burmester and Stefanie Correll e coarse painter and his position in 17th- and 18th-century Dutch decorative painting 70 Piet Bakker, Margriet van Eikema Hommes and Katrien Keune A ‘painted chamber’ in Beverwijk by Jacobus Luberti Augustini: novel insights into the working methods 83 and painting practices in a painted wall-hanging factory Ige Verslype, Johanneke Verhave, Susan Smelt, Katrien Keune, Hinke Sigmond and Margriet van Eikema Hommes Eighteenth-century practices in the art academies in Spain: the use of paper in prints and drawings 96 Clara de la Peña Mc Tigue Nicolai Abildgaard: an 18th-century Danish artist and his paper 109 Ingelise Nielsen and Niels Borring Semi-mechanical transfer methods in Nicolai Abildgaard’s drawings 118 Niels Borring Canvas supports in paintings by Nicolai Abildgaard: fabrics and formats 128 Troels Filtenborg ‘1st olio after Capivi’: copaiba balsam in the paintings of Sir Joshua Reynolds 140 Alexandra Gent, Rachel Morrison and Nelly von Aderkas Ferdinand Bauer’s Flora Graeca colour code 153 Richard Mulholland v FOREWORD is is the second CATS conference proceedings with papers Editors from the international conference Technology & Practice: Studying 18th Century Paintings & Art on Paper. is two-day Dr Helen Evans technical art history conference was held on 2–3 June 2014 Paper Conservator at the 18th-century Frederiksberg Palace in Copenhagen. Nationalmuseum e conference was organised by CATS in collaboration with Stockholm Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Science in Helsinki, Sweden Finland, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden, and the University of Oslo, Norway. Dr Kimberley Muir e conference focused on artists’ techniques and mate- Assistant Research Conservator rials, source research, conservation science, the history of e Art Institute of Chicago science and technology, trade and pharmacy during the 18th Chicago century. Speakers explored tradition and changes in artistic USA practices in the light of the establishment of a series of national art academies in Europe throughout the century. e talks included topics such as workshop practice and materials, art historical and technical approaches to documentary evidence, Organising committee and technical examination and the analysis of paintings and drawings. Issues of trade, supply and questions concerning CATS the demand for materials for diverse artistic expressions were Mette Kokkenborg; Johanne Marie Nielsen; Andreas Swane; also analysed and discussed. Two keynote presentations and Daniel Rosenstrøm; Jack Johnsen; Astrid Wiik; Marion 16 papers were presented of which 15 appear in this publi- Limbrecht; Jørgen Wadum cation following peer review and editing by our two most capable editors. We hope you will find this second volume of CATS confer- ence proceedings as enjoyable and enlightening as the previous one and that the information contained herein will stimulate further research into aspects of studying the technology and practice of 18th-century paintings and art on paper. As with the first CATS Proceedings, this volume is also available as a paperback book from Archetype Publications. On behalf of the organisers Prof Dr Jørgen Wadum Director of CATS vii Scientific committee Sponsors Prof Dr Bruno G. Brunetti, Dipartimento di Chimica and Bruker, Tru Vue, Leica, Frederiksberg Palace Centre SMAArt, Universita’ di Perugia, Perugia, Italy Mads Chr. Christensen, MSc, Conservation Scientist, National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark Rica Jones, Conservator in Private Practice, UK Dr Ingelise Nielsen, Associate Professor and Head of Department, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, School of Conservation, Copenhagen, Denmark Dr Ashok Roy, Director of Collections, e National Gallery, London, United Kingdom Tannar Ruuben, MSc, MA, Senior Lecturer, Conservator of Paintings, Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Science, Helsinki, Finland Mikkel Scharff, MSc, Associate Professor, Head of the Conservation School and Department, e Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, School of Conservation, Copenhagen, Denmark Kriste Sibul, MSc, MA, Director of Preservation, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden Dorthe V. P. Sommer, MSc, Assistant Professor, e Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, School of Conservation, Copenhagen, Denmark Prof Dr Ron Spronk, Professor of Art History, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada and Hieronymus Bosch Chair, Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen, e Netherlands Dr Noëlle Streeton, Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Jesper