Adam and Eve

- maple

- the panel is composed of six vertical members

[C. Campbell, Exhib. Cat. London 2007, 65]

- it has a rebate along the edges

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 29]

- there is a priming barb present and there are incised lines along the barb

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 29]

‘Drawing with a pointed brush and black pigment in a liquid medium on the ground, Cranach fixed the outlines of figures and animals of the Courtauld painting with only a few strokes. For example, Eve’s head was initially positioned slightly further to the right. Occasionally it seems that shadows were indicated with washes of diluted ink or paint. The infra-red reflectogram reveals that the back of the sheep was modelled with shades of grey before being covered with the flesh paint of Adam’s right leg.’

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 29, 30]

‘In the Courtauld ‘Adam and Eve’ panel, as in many others, we find several traces of paint on the bare wood outside the barb. This suggests that the panel and the frame were separated again after priming. The presence and appearance of the paint suggest in fact the use of a temporary frame, and this hypothesis is further supported by incisions in the ground along the barb and by black painted borders.’

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 29]

‘The essential pigments in the flesh paints are lead white, vermilion, vegetable-derived carbon black, iron oxide and brown organic colorant. Cool lights or half shadows occasionally contain azurite (significant amounts of calcium salts have been found in almost all flesh paints examined to date.) Cranach differentiated the bodies and faces within his paintings by varying pigment combinations, layer sequences and brushwork. Each form was built individually in several layers, evident in alternating and overlapping layers of paint. In some sections the background covers flesh tints, while in others the flesh paint encroaches on the background. This confirms Cranach’s tendency to develop each painting as a whole, often switching from one detail to another, but not completing individual parts one after another. For example, in leaving reserves for the foliage of a tree (verdigris, carbon black) when applying paint for the sky (lead white, azurite, lead-tin yellow), he calculated not only the final visual result but also the potential savings of time and pigment. Early works commonly left eyes omitted until after the flesh was modelled, at which point eyeballs were added in stereotypical fashion with lead white and blue pigment. When creating reflected light in the pupils, Cranach relied not only on observations from nature, but also on common formulae. There is no other explanation for the light in Eve’s eyes in the Courtauld painting, which is divided into four and thus reflects the mullion and transom of a window, although the figures are depicted in a landscape. A similar formula was used in several earlier and later works.’

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 30]

- Standard format ‘E’ according to Heydenreich

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 45]

‘[...] here most of the animals have been painted on a white ground and laid out before the green meadow was painted. Only the stork, the horse and a grey heron have been painted upon the green ground, presumably to fill up empty space.’

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 213, 293]

- it has a rebate along the edges

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 29]

- there is a priming barb present and there are incised lines along the barb

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 29]

‘Drawing with a pointed brush and black pigment in a liquid medium on the ground, Cranach fixed the outlines of figures and animals of the Courtauld painting with only a few strokes. For example, Eve’s head was initially positioned slightly further to the right. Occasionally it seems that shadows were indicated with washes of diluted ink or paint. The infra-red reflectogram reveals that the back of the sheep was modelled with shades of grey before being covered with the flesh paint of Adam’s right leg.’

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 29, 30]

‘In the Courtauld ‘Adam and Eve’ panel, as in many others, we find several traces of paint on the bare wood outside the barb. This suggests that the panel and the frame were separated again after priming. The presence and appearance of the paint suggest in fact the use of a temporary frame, and this hypothesis is further supported by incisions in the ground along the barb and by black painted borders.’

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 29]

‘The essential pigments in the flesh paints are lead white, vermilion, vegetable-derived carbon black, iron oxide and brown organic colorant. Cool lights or half shadows occasionally contain azurite (significant amounts of calcium salts have been found in almost all flesh paints examined to date.) Cranach differentiated the bodies and faces within his paintings by varying pigment combinations, layer sequences and brushwork. Each form was built individually in several layers, evident in alternating and overlapping layers of paint. In some sections the background covers flesh tints, while in others the flesh paint encroaches on the background. This confirms Cranach’s tendency to develop each painting as a whole, often switching from one detail to another, but not completing individual parts one after another. For example, in leaving reserves for the foliage of a tree (verdigris, carbon black) when applying paint for the sky (lead white, azurite, lead-tin yellow), he calculated not only the final visual result but also the potential savings of time and pigment. Early works commonly left eyes omitted until after the flesh was modelled, at which point eyeballs were added in stereotypical fashion with lead white and blue pigment. When creating reflected light in the pupils, Cranach relied not only on observations from nature, but also on common formulae. There is no other explanation for the light in Eve’s eyes in the Courtauld painting, which is divided into four and thus reflects the mullion and transom of a window, although the figures are depicted in a landscape. A similar formula was used in several earlier and later works.’

[Heydenreich 2007 C, 30]

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_CIA_P-1947-LF-77

Cross-section number: 2012

Paint description:

Sample location:

Examination methods: microscopy, SEM-EDX, UV-light

Observations:

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_CIA_P-1947-LF-77

Cross-section number: 2174

Paint description:

Sample location:

Examination methods: microscopy, SEM-EDX

Observations:

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_CIA_P-1947-LF-77

Cross-section number: 2009

Paint description: flesh paint

Sample location: Eve's flesh from knee

Examination methods: microscopy, SEM-EDX

Observations:

1. pale layer of flesh paint (EDX: Pb, Ca, Hg, Si lead white, vermilion, calcium salts, carbon black)

0. white layer > ground

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_CIA_P-1947-LF-77

Cross-section number: 2011

Paint description: dark flesh paint

Sample location: Adam's arm

Examination methods: microscopy, SEM-EDX

Observations:

• thinned when the panel was cradled, probably in the early twentieth century (since removed: see conservation treatment)

• apart from paint losses along the cracks and panel joins, the paint surface is in good condition

[Exhib. Cat. London 2007, 65]

• in the 1980s the cradle, which was forcing the panel to warp and crack was removed. It was placed in a panel tray which would allow the wood to move if necessary

[Exhib. Cat. London 2007, 65]