St Jerome in a rocky landscape

Identification of wood species: limewood

Examined on the 22.09.1989

[cda 2014]

Macroscopic and microscopic examination carried out by Dipl. Rest. Undine Köhler

(LEICA MS 5; f=100; magnification on the microscope: 0,6 - 4; magnification: 60 - 400x)

UV examination

Infrared reflectograph (Schmidt 2010)

X-radiograph (Schmidt 2010)

Dendrochronological report (Klein1989):

- wooden panel: (details of the construction)

- the panel consists of one tangentially cut limewood board without knots

- height: 51.3 cm on the right and 50.9 cm on the left side; width: 37.5 cm at the bottom and 37.4 cm at the top; 0.6 cm thick

- Klein counted 81 annual rings along the bottom edge – the grain runs in a horizontal direction

- there is a slight bevel on all four sides on the reverse. At its widest point it measures c. 2.5 cm

- the original surface on the reverse has not been retained

Size:

- a size on the wooden support was neither visible with the naked eye nor under the stereomicroscope, but it may be presumed that one was applied.

Ground:

- there is a white porous layer on the wooden support, presumably a glue-chalk ground

- the presence of a barb indicates that it was applied while the panel was in a frame

Imprimatura:

- above the ground there is a thinner, white layer. It was applied as a glaze so there is no complete absorption visible in the x-radiograph

- in the light areas of the painting (flesh paint, clothing) the lines of the underdrawing are not clearly visible either with the naked eye or in the infrared reflectograph. A black line is visible in the infrared reflectograph in the upper part of the head, along the shoulder and on the right instep. It was probably executed in black paint with a brush and could be undedrawing. In other areas the underdrawing appears to have been covered by the subsequent paint layers and is therefore no longer visible. The fact that single areas of paint rarely overlap and that there are no corrections in the execution suggest that there must have been an underdrawing, which was carried out in a medium that can no longer be detected.

see [.pdf]

- wooden frame with a stepped profile; the inner bar is decorated with beading (three small beads and one long one)

Dimensions of the frame: 61 x 48.3 x 4.8 cm

Inv.-No.: 93.254

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- the design may have been executed with a dilute, fluid medium and a brush

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing

- thin lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define form

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Lucas Cranach the Elder?

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]