Virgin in a Mountain Landscape

English summary of the original German text:

- single board, vertically aligned (35.6 x 27.2 cm), appears to be hardwood.

- the panel has a white ground

- the barbe created during the ground application has been preserved on all four sides: c. 8-9 mm from the top, 5-6 mm at the right, unten c. 8-9 mm from the bottom and overlapping the panel edge on the left. This barbe indicates that the panel was in a frame during the application of the ground.

The infrared reflectogram reveals lines that were executed with a black liquid medium and a pointed brush. Contours and some detail were defined with simple or partly overlapping lines of different widths. Forms such as hands, arms, feet and faces were then modified during the painting process, and occasionally their position was shifted slightly.

The following elements were detected using XRF and the following pigments were determined based on their optical characteristics:

Yellow: Pb, Sn, Cu, Fe, Mn

Pb/ Sn: lead-tin yellow; Cu: green pigment containing copper (?); Fe/ Mn: ochre/ earth pigment (?)

Flesh paint: Pb, Ca, Hg, Fe, (Cu)

Pb: lead white; Ca/ Sr: chalk/ gypsum (?); Hg: vermilion; Fe: ochre/ iron oxide (?)

Green: Pb, Cu, Sn, Zn, Ca, Sr, (Fe)

Pb: lead white; Cu: green pigment, containing copper (?); Ca/ Sr: chalk/ gypsum (?); Pb/ Sn: Lead tin yellow; Zn: siccative ? Zinc white (retouching)?

Blue: Cu, Pb, Ca, Fe, Sr, (Zn), (Hg)

Cu: azurite; Pb: lead white; Ca/ Sr: chalk/ gypsum (?); Fe: ochre/ iron oxide (?)

Red: Ca, Hg, Pb, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sr

Ca/ Sr: chalk/ gypsum (?); Hg: vermilion; Pb: lead white; Fe: ochre/ iron oxide (?); Cu: green pigment, containing copper or azurite (?); Zn: siccative, zinc white (?); Pb/ Sn: lead-tin yellow (?)

The following pigments were identified in the paint layer: lead white, lead-tin yellow, vermilion, azurite, iron oxide and a green pigment containing copper.

The paint was applied in several layers, opaque to translucent, using brushes. the flesh paint was executed with a pale admixture (containing lead white, vermilion and iron oxide) and the shadows were created by adding black (carbon black?) and brown pigments. Subsequently, volume and highlights were emphasised with lighter mixtures and shadows were graded with grey-brown paint. The different amounts of lead white are defined by a virtual relief in the X-radiograph. The red robe was painted using vermilion. The pleats (lead white) and folds are modelled using a red lake glaze. The blue coat (azurite) and the green lining (copper green) were applied over a grey underpaint.

The blue sky (lead white, azurite) was initially laid in with fine gradations of grey paint. Then blue paint was applied using both brushstrokes and by dabbing. The horizon is made brighter with the addition of lead-tin yellow (lead-tin yellow).

The green landscape in the middle ground is laid in partly in grey and partly in black, and the foliage is modelled in opaque and translucent layers using various green to yellowish admixtures. In the background the mountain landscape, the architectural features and several figures are drawn in great detail with a pointed brush. The artist used shell gold for both the haloes and the borders of the robes.

There is a wavy black line that resembles the serpent insignia on the rock above Mary's left shoulder. Under the microscope, only a more recent application of black paint imitating the insignia can be identified. No traces of a date or an original signature are visible.

The original frame has not survived.

[unpublished examination report Heydenreich, Gras, 02.11.2024] (abridged and translated from German, cda 2024)

English summary of the original German text:

The painting has undergone conservation treatment and is in a stable condition.

Support:

• the original panel is stable, it has recently been thinned to c.1 mm on the reverse, glued onto a new support (7mm thick) and cradled

• a wooden batten c. 8 mm wide has been glued to the left edge.

• on all four sides the panel has been trimmed slightly without reducing the original size of the image.

Paint Layers

• the x-radiograph, the infrared reflectogram and UV fluorescence image reveal considerable damage, which was reintegrated during a treatment campaign.

In both faces, but also in the robes, there are large areas of loss. The UV photograph shows several phases of treatment. An assessment of the original quality of the painting is compromised by these interventions.

[unpublished examination report Heydenreich, Gras, 02.11.2024] (abridged and translated from German, cda 2024)

A fake insignia on the rocks at the top right was removed during a conservation treatment.

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, no. 104]