Portrait of Martin Luther

The painting was examined in visible light, in raking light, in UV-light, under the stereomicroscope (40x) and using infrared reflectography.

- plain weave canvas, 8x8 threads/cm²

- relatively thick threads, tightly woven

- there appear to be two layers of ground, a white and a reddish brown pigmented application

- occasional thin lines are visible in the infrared reflectogram: the outlines of the face and details like the lips nose and eyes

Pigments suspended in an oil-based medium, opaque in character. Applied with brushes of varying width, the light coloured paint was viscose and has dried clearly showing the brushwork, the darker paint less so and has dried with a rather smooth surface. The paint was applied in numerous layers, blocking in the basic forms with dead colouring: the background was painted a mid-greenish blue tone, the robe in black and the flesh paint in a midtone. The robe was modulated with a lighter admixture of paint. The shadows in the face were added in brown and red, the eyes were outlined with thin brown lines, the facial features were painted with lighter and darker admixtures of the basic flesh tone, the irises were painted dark brown, the pupils in black and the highlights in orange and yellow, the upper eyelids are reddish brown and the lower eyelids were added using the flesh paint, the eyeballs were painted white with the small addition of some black. Finally, the contours of the sitter were defined using the same blue paint as for the background, areas of which were then reworked with stippling. In the infrared reflectogram the application of the flesh paint is very distinctive and is rather thick in comparison to works from the Cranach workshop, exhibiting very distinctive brushwork.

There is probably no original coating.

- probably 20th century in the style of an italian renaissance frame: a plaited central band (painted with ocher and flanked by two bands of gilded egg and dart motif

- square wooden panels are attached to the corners; these are decorated with round metal ornaments fixed with nails

[Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg, revised 2022]

• stable condition, numerous conservation treatments

Support:

Annotation on an old index card: 'Öl auf Leinwand auf Holz aufgezogen.' (oil on canvas, laminated on wood) - a later marouflage, the painting was originally stretched on a strainer - the tacking margin has been preserved along the bottom edge.

The wooden board was probably removed in the 1970s and the painting was then lined with a rep weave canvas (thread count 12:10 cm²), the adhesive appears to be paste, the canvas was then attached to a stretcher, the original tacking margins are cropped on all sides and the canvas ends about 0.2 cm before the turnover edge of the lining canvas. At the bottom the paint extends to the cut edge, whereas the other sides are framed by a strip of c. 0.5 mm revealing the upper red ground layer.

Ground/ Paint layers:

The layers show good adhesion; large areas of crushed paint caused by pressure during the lining process, the weave texture is clearly visible on the surface. The surface recalls that of a counterproof print possibly due to the softening of the paint during the lining. Numerous losses, particularly in the background and the gown, have been filled and retouched.

Coating:

The last coating was a dammar varnish, it has sunk in areas of retouching, uneven surface gloss.

[Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg, revised 2022]

Frame: mitred joins at the bottom left and top right reglued, additional battens were added to the reverse, the rebate was cushioned with felt, reframed, a hardboard backing was attached to the reverse

Painting: retouching renewed with watercolours, application of dammar varnish