Portrait of Gerhart Volk

- lime wood. Previous assertions that the support is parchmentt attached to a wooden panel could not be confirmed after examination under the stereomicroscope.

- a single plank, no knots, tangential cut

- width: 28.2/28.4 cm

- vertical split-marks, horizontal marks from a blockplane

- the joins were not reinforced

- the edges of the panel are straight and there is no sign of a rebate

- the bottom edge was trimmed at a later stage (not original)

- white ground, probably chalk/glue (not tested)

- relatively thick

- the painting was probably fitted in a working frame when the ground was applied and during the painting process. Along three sides of the panel (except at the bottom) the ground exhibits irregular, garland-shaped shrinkage with bubbles, see photograph.

- along three sides, except at the bottom, straight lines are incised in the chalk ground, indicating the format of the painted image.

- fine, crisscross sanding marks are visible under the stereomicroscope (only beneath the lighter areas of paint like the flesh paint, the hat and the shirt)

- no imprimatura

- no or very economical underdrawing, only a few lines in the area of the hands and one line at the right of the forehead (above the eye). Stylus or chalk

- visible under the stereomicroscope on the thumb at the edge of the cuff

- some deviation

- grey, semi-opaque underpaint beneath the garments (sleeve) semi-opaque brown tone for the fur and hair

- relatively simply layer structure, limited palette. face, hands, shirt and hat are outlined by the opaque paint of the background and the coat. Semi-opaque paint layers were applied over the the light ground and blended wet-in-wet to create light and shadow. The deep shadows were initially executed economically witha thin admixture of blackish-brown paint and softly blended to create the half-shadows. After drying the semi-opaque flesh tones were applied and in part scumbled over the shadows. Contours and highlights were applied wet-in-wet. The coat was underpainted in grey and brown and the folds were modelled wet-in-wet in a darker tone. The pomegranate motif was applied after the paint had dried.

- brushed, glazed, selectively highlighted

- small sized brushes

- not original, 19th century

- dimensions: 53.5 x 41 x 4 cm (including addition: 5 cm)

- coniferous wood, plaster, black shellac, gold

- mitred, chamfered engaged frame, black shellac with a gold inner edge and a matt gilded inlay

[Museum der bildenden Künste, 11.06.2014]

- an underdrawing is not readily visible

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]

"On the reverse of the panel with the portrait of Gerhard Volk on parchment there are inscriptions, possibly dating to the sixteenth century and indicating that it is the original support.[21] Technical examination of this picture could perhaps shed further light on whether the parchment was mounted on the auxiliary support before painting."

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 257]

Support:

quite fragile along both vertical edges due to old woodworm channels. Here the support (presumably in 1922) was thinned with a plane to cover the splits with canvas strips in the direction of the grain. The bottom edge has been trimmed, the corners in particular the right corner are damaged and in part consolidated with a chalk ground. The panel exhibits woodworm damage and exit holes only on the reverse and along the outer edge. The reverse was coated with a layer of darken oil. The panel exhibits a convex warp. The top edge has a very early chamfer, c. 3 cm in width (smoothed for the inscription)

Ground/Paint layers:

good adhesion, faint cracking pattern; glazes and opaque paint layers abraded (this condition was probably the reason for the extensive overpaint). the background is extensively overpainted, the garments are in part overpainted (the pomegranate pattern, the fur collar, the folds in the brown coat.) The flesh paint is retouched. The retouchings and overpaint have darkened. The flesh paint has increased in transparency.

Varnish:

bad surface appearance, different degrees of gloss, large areas are patchy, streaky and matt; the overpaint in the background is slightly wrinkled, the varnish has yellowed, the retouches and overpaint are in part matt, there are fingerprints in the varnish.

[Museum der bildenden Künste, 11.06.2014]

The picture has suffered, the face and hands being overcleaned, but the expression is authentic

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1978, 95, No. 126]

MdbK Restaurierungsakten: Bd. IV. Passed by the city council of Leipzig, 1925.

Sheets 6.-29. Treatment report by Walter Kühn, Leipzig [August 1925].

Pos. 327) 'Portrait, Gerhart Volk' by Cranach the Elder [Inv.-No. 727] cleaned, rubbed with oil of terpentine, regenerated [in red ink:] 'Paint very abraded. - varnish remained matt. Wooden panel suffering from extensive woodworm damage.'

[Museum der bildenden Künste, 11.06.2014]

Inventory MdbK: No. 727 , under conservation treatment:

'Restored by the paintings restorer Otto Schönfelder from Berlin. In May 1922 two splits on the right side were glued and the splits were reinforced with canvas strips on the reverse (by the storage keeper Barthel).'

[Museum der bildenden Künste, 11.06.2014]