1. EU-ARTECH Workshop on Seventeenth Century Northern European Paintings Techniques
12th December 2005
Contribution to the study of grounds of Flemish paintings on canvas from 1600 to 1650
Elisabeth MARTIN and Myriam EVENO
Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France - PARIS

2. Introduction
French-Flemish cultural area : north of the Loire to the Flandres : panel ground with chalk and glue
Transition between white and coloured grounds in France for canvas paintings :
What about canvas Flemish painting from the first half of the XVIIth century ?
Snyders – Nature morte - Amiens
Rubens - Descente de croix – Valenciennes

3. Flemish paintings on canvas from French collections
Lille 2004 Exhibition - “ Rubens “ (Techne 2005)
deployment of the Louvre collections in 1994
Little publications from this period
34 works executed by 13 painters from Antwerp
Rubens (11 paintings)
Jordaens (9 paintings)
The others painters (one or two paintings )
Snyders, Van Dyck, Seghers, de Crayer…
Technical
Cross-sections have been analyzed with scanning electron microscopy and EDS
Medium of some samples have been analyzed by IRTF and GC-MS

4. RUBENS Pierre-Paul (1577-1640):
La Descente de Croix – Lille – for the church of convent “des Capucins”
St François recevant l’Enfant Jésus des mains de la Vierge – Lille for the church of convent “des Capucins”
Saint François en extase – (atelier) – Lille
L’adoration des bergers – Cathédrale de Soissons
St Dominique et St François d'Assise préservant le monde de la colère du du Christ - Lyon- for “ St-Paul-des-Domicains ” from Antwerp
1615 ?
Ixion roi des Lapithes, trompé par Junon – Paris – Louvre :
La Descente de croix – Valenciennes – for the church “St Géry”
: for “ Palais du Luxembourg - Paris ”
Marie de Médicis en Bellone – Paris – Louvre
La Reine s’enfuit du château de Blois – Paris – Louvre :
L’adoration des Mages – Paris – Louvre –
? Thomyris, reine des scythes – Paris – Louvre

5. RUBENS Lower layer - white yellowish
Chalk
La Descente de Croix – Lille
Medium : oil
St François en extase
L’adoration des Bergers
La Reine s’enfuit de Blois
L’adoration des Mages
Marie de Médicis en Bellone
BSE image
Chalk with very little white lead
St François recevant l’Enfant Jésus des mains de la Vierge
St Dominique et St François d'Assise

6. RUBENS Lower layer slightly coloured
Chalk, a small amount of white lead, earth pigment and charcoal black
Descente de croix – Valenciennes
Calcium carbonate, white lead, and differents pigments « pincelier »
Ixion roi des Lapithes, trompé par Junon
Pierre Le Brun 1636 : “Recueil des essais des merveilles de la peinture”

7. RUBENS Upper layer - grey
White lead, a small amount of calcium carbonate and charcoal black
Descente de croix –
Valenciennes
White lead, calcium carbonate, lamp black
Marie de Médicis en Bellone –
White lead, calcium carbonate, charcoal black
Thomyris, reine des scythes…

8. RUBENS
St François recevant l’Enfant Jésus des mains de la Vierge – Lille - (enlargement by Rubens)
chalk with a small amount of lead
white lead with little calcium carbonate
Under drawing
XRay radiograph

9. Jacob JORDAENS – (1593-1678) about 1620 1640 For his residence
Saint Thomas et deux apôtres – Lille
Saint Jean l’Evangéliste et deux apôtres - Lille
1640 For his residence
Les signes du zodiaque – les poissons – Paris– Palais du Sénat
Les signes du zodiaque – la balance – Paris– Palais du Sénat
about 1650
Le repos de Diane – Paris– Louvre
L’adoration des bergers – Paris– Louvre
L’arrestation du Christ - Valenciennes
1653
Le jugement dernier – Paris– Louvre
Attributed to Jordaens :
Connais-toi toi-même - La jeunesse entre le vice et la vertu – Saint-Brieuc

10. Jordaens
Connais-toi toi-même - La jeunesse entre le vice et la vertu – Saint-Brieuc
L’arrestation du Christ - Valenciennes

11. white lead and charcoal black
Jordaens
Upper layer : grey
white lead and charcoal black
except for the last painting :
L’arrestation du Christ
Le jugement dernier
Lower layer - white-yellowish
chalk
Saint Thomas et deux apôtres
Saint Jean et deux apôtres
Le repos de Diane
L’adoration des bergers
Le jugement dernier

12. White lead, some earth pigments, charcoal black
Jordaens
Lower layer - slightly coloured
chalk, little white lead, and different pigments « pincelier »
Les signes du zodiaque – les poissons
Les signes du zodiaque – la balance
L’arrestation du Christ –
Lower layer - grey
White lead, some earth pigments, charcoal black
Connais-toi toi-même - La jeunesse entre le vice et la vertu – Attr. to Joardens

13. The others painters Upper layer : grey Lower layer : white-yellowish -
white lead, and charcoal black and sometimes calcium carbonate
Lower layer : white-yellowish -
chalk
Pieter Brueghel II (Attri. à)( ) Adoration des Mages - Salins
Joos de Momper ( ) Paysage montagneux avec un pont et quatre cavaliers – Paris- Louvre
Anton Van Dyck ( ) Saint Sébastien secouru par les anges – (early work) – Paris- Louvre
Theodoor Van Thulden ( ) Le Christ ressuscité apparaissant à la Vierge Louvre - Jesuit church in Bruges. About 1660

14. Lower layer : white-yellowish-
chalk and little white lead
Gasper de Crayer ( ) Le martyre de Sainte Catherine – Grenoble
Lower layer : slightly coloured- chalk and some grain of minium
Gasper de Crayer Le Christ en croix entre Sainte Madeleine et Saint François – Paris - Louvre
Medium : oil

15. Lower layer : slightly coloured
Chalk with little earth pigment and little white lead
Gerard Seghers ( ) St François d'Assise réconforté par les anges après sa stigmatisation – ( ) Louvre –Paris
Medium : oil
Chalk with a little earth pigment
Hendrik de Clerck ( ) Diane découvrant la grossesse de Callisto -Louvre
Chalk with different pigments “pincelier”
Jan Fyt ( ) Gibier et corbeille de raisin observés par un chat - Louvre
Chalk with charcoal black
Anonymous (sometimes Philippe de Champaigne’s early work) Portrait from François van der Buch -Cambrai

16. coloured grounds Frans Snyders (1579-1657) :
Nature morte - Amiens
Trois chiens dans un garde-manger – Louvre
– red - orange : chalk and ochre
Medium : oil
Paul de Vos ( ) L’entrée des animaux dans l’arche de Noé – Paris - Louvre
First layer yellow-orange : chalk, ochre

17. coloured grounds Anton Van Dyck (1599-1641)
Le Christ en croix - Lille, about 1628 For the convent “des Récollets”
Red lower layer : chalk, little white lead, red ochre
Medium : oil

18. conclusion White grounds persisted for a long time - Coloured grounds
Van Thulden 1660, Jordaens 1653,
Saint Dominique et Saint François (Rubens) enlargement : 1670
Chalk with oil (with protein ?, Conversion de Saint Bavon IRPA 1999), sometimes with white lead,
Chalk with different pigments ; «  pincelier »
Coloured grounds
Rubens
(Italy )
La Transfiguration - Nancy - for Mantoue
England (1629) Peace and War (NGTB 1999)
Frans Snyders, Paul De Vos
Anton Van Dyck
Le Christ en croix, about 1628
red ground – French influence ?
(Le Golgotha, about 1630, Church of Malines, chalk ground IRPA )

19. Why aren’t white chalk grounds mentioned ?
Turquet de Mayerne manuscript from Pictoria sculptoria et quae subalternarum artium spectantia
Colored grounds
English brown red, yellow ochre, bolus, umber, charcoal black
white lead with English brown red, yellow ochre, bolus, umber, charcoal black
Why aren’t white chalk grounds mentioned ?
Manuscript written at Charles I court : English techniques ?
Manuscript does not refer to canvas purchased with grounds already applied ? (Van Hout, Leiden, 1998)

20. Remerciements : GC-MS : Juliette Langlois and Martine Regert
IRTF : Anne-Solenn Le Hô
MEB-EDS : Eric Laval