St Jerome

- the panel consists of two vertically aligned boards (16.5 and 10.8 cm)

- the quality of the wood is good with no visible knots

- the joins were not visibly reinforced

- the panel was thinned and cradled, despite this however a bevel, 1.2 cm in width, has been preserved along the top and bottom edges.

- white ground

- the barbe has been preserved along all four sides and exhibits a varied clearance from the edge (top left 6, right 8 mm; bottom left 6.5, left 5 mm; top left 4, bottom 6 mm; top right 3, bottom at the edge of the panel). The barbe is higher than the smoothed ground.

- incised lines: very clear and running parallel to the barbe, particularly at the right and along the bottom edges; slightly further in on the right

- black boarder: the bare wooden edge and the barbe were at least in part originally painted black (visible at the bottom left and top right). There is more black paint on the barbe than on the bare wood. At the bottom edge of the painting the black boarder on the barbe is visible as a strip.

- pink imprimatura (admixture of orange-red and white pigments)

- dark underdrawing executed with a brush

During the painting process metal leaf (optically silver and gold) attached itself to the wet paint along the bottom edge. At the bottom right metal leaf lies on top of the yellowish green grass and has been covered by the subsequent layer of green glaze. Similarly on the red hat metal leaf on the red paint is partially covered by the details. It is possible that the painting was completed after it was framed.

- rebate frame with a sill, not original

[Unpublished examination report, G. Heydenreich 1996]

DESCRIPTION (evaluation of a detail)

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush

Typ/Duktus:

- economic and freehand underdrawing; the carefully drawn outlines suggest the use of a template

- thin lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version (evaluatio based on detail); the lines delineate the main contours, describe the essential details within the forms and define the facial features; no representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviations:

- minor adjustments were made during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2016]

• good condition

• the paint layers exhibit a number of very small losses along the edges of the cracquelée

• there does not appear to have been any extensive intervention