Support
softwood
The panel was cradled and trimmed during a previous intervention and therefore it was not possible to draw inferences about the construction of the panel from marks from a saw or a plane.
surface: smooth
cradle: five vertical oak wood battens, 2.5 cm in width and five moveable horizontal members, 1.3 cm in width, also oak wood
reverse: stained (oak wood)
[Angelica Hoffmeister-zur Nedden, Conservation Report 2009, Documentation file]
'The present size of the Melanchthon panel is at least 8 cm smaller in height and 2 cm in width from the Standardformat B. Although the Cranach workshop did employ individual formats there is evidence, that this painting might have been originally designed for a larger format.' [Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009, No. 18]
Ground and Imprimatura
- thick, dark brown size on the wooden support
- chalk/glue ground with no additional material
- large loss in the ground layer in the lower section of the face and in the right hand sectionof the neck and collar, top and bottom right corners and the centre of the right edge at the height of the signature
- fills
[Angelica Hoffmeister-zur Nedden, Conservation Report 2009, Documentation file]
'A white ground was applied to the wooden support in a number of layers: the ground was applied in the background earlier, imparing the outlines of Melanchthon, as if the figure was held in reserve employing some sort of a stencil during further application. The painted version adhers strictly to this demarcation for the clothing, but less allowance is made in the head and the execution is accoringly freer.'
[Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009, No. 18]
Underdrawing
'the (rather bad) infrared reflectogram revealed an underdrawing executed with a drawing implement (chalk), and reinforced with a brush'
[Angelica Hoffmeister-zur Nedden, Conservation Report 2009, Documentation file]
Underdrawing with short, slightly curved strokes in dark grey on the white ground. It was not strictly adhered to during the painting process. Despite the increased transparency of the paint layers due to ageing the underdrawing seems to have been intentionally incorporated in the final painted version.
[Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009, No. 18]
Paint Layers and Gilding
'The paint, which was probably tempera, was applied in thin layers over the ground and underdrawing and finely drawn details with a brush set certain accents. Soft transitions and colour gradients alternate with areas, in which the paint has been thickly applied with bold brushstrokes.'
'The background consists of two layers, the lower thinner and streaked, the upper more opaque. The flesh paint consists of numerous layers, first dark pink, then a lighter pink, above that the details.'
'The paint of the background was applied after the portrait was completed, in this overpainted area there are visible brushstrokes'
'Very delicate impasto application of single hairs from the beard and head on the flesh paint
Black robe relatively thin single black layer with indicated folds, here there are also traces of impasto brushwork along the border with the white collar '
[Angelica Hoffmeister-zur Nedden, Conservation Report 2009, documentation file]
Application tool: brush
Assumed binding medium: Tempera
Original coatings: discoloured remnants in the background
Numerous small losses
Numerous retouches
Distinct cracquelée in the background running diagonally across the panel from the top left to the bottom right [Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009, No. 18]
Framing
- modern 1930s frame
[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]
