Cupid complaining to Venus

The current support is Masonite, which has been veneered and cradled to look like an old panel. The pattern of paint loss visible in a photograph taken after cleaning but before restoration in 1963 suggests that the original support was a panel with vertical grain, and with a vertical join just to the right of Venus’s body, extending through her raised arm and her leg; there was also a split or join to the left of Venus’s head, in the tree.

The ground is calcium carbonate (chalk) bound with animal glue. A fine canvas is present beneath the ground but this has been identified as cotton and was presumably added as part of the transfer process.[1] Paint samples taken in 1963 showed that there is a lead white priming on top of the ground.

[1] Scientific report by Joyce Plesters, June 1963, in Conservation dossier

Nothing that could definitely be identified as black underdrawing could be found with infrared reflectography. Examination of the surface with a microscope, however, revealed lines of red pigment below the uppermost layers of paint. These red lines appear to be performing the role of underdrawing and must lie over the priming. It has not been possible to identify the red material used, but it appears to be in a liquid medium. The lines can only be seen where the paint over them is pale in colour and thinly applied. They have been found in the hat, along several contours of the figures and in the landscape.

Linseed oil was identified by GC analysis of three samples: mid-blue paint from the sky, green from a leaf on the tree and creamy white paint from the clouds. There was no indication of heat-prepolymerisation of the medium.

The blue sky is painted in two layers of azurite mixed with a little lead white, the blue pigment being more finely ground in the lower layer. Cross-sections show that in some places the leaves of the apple tree have a black underpaint; they are modelled with an opaque yellow-green paint consisting of lead-tin yellow and verdigris in the lighter areas, and a darker green of verdigris alone in the shadows. The apples are painted with a mixture of lead white with some red lake and vermilion, glazed with red lake in the rosiest parts; the yellow highlights are of lead-tin yellow. The apples have reserves but many of the leaves are painted over the sky. A cross-section of paint from an apple showed a very thin scattering of carbon black particles over the lead white priming and under the layer of pink: on the painting, under magnification, this can be seen to be a very thin black underpainting, as though a very little paint has been dragged over the surface. There are numerous small pentimenti with the black underpainting for leaves or parts of leaves being painted out with blue sky paint. Similar thin layers of black are present under the small mountain and the grass in the middle distance.

[Susan Foister, ‘Lucas Cranach the Elder, Cupid complaining to Venus' published online 2015, from 'The German Paintings before 1800', London: forthcoming.

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/lucas-cranach-the-elder-cupid-complaining-to-venus]

DESCRIPTION

An underdrawing is not readily visible.Some red linesare visible under the stereomicroscope and may indicate the use of red chalk or a similar red medium for the initial design.

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

Media analysis:

Linseed oil medium was identified by GC analysis in all three samples; mid-blue paint from the left-hand edge, green paint of leaves and cream-white paint from clouds

Mid-blue paint, LH edge, towards top.

GC analysis would seem to indicate that the paint binder within this sample is composed of linseed oil. There was no suggestion that the oil had been pre-polymerised. No resin was found, within the limits of GC analysis.

[A/P 1.0; P/S 1.9; A/Sub 7.9]

Green paint of leaves, upper LH edge.

Although there was the possibility that this area might contain a browned copper resinate, this seems unlikely as GC analysis gave an indication of the use of linseed oil alone.

[A/P 1.8; P/S 1.9; A/Sub 7.9]

Cream-white paint from clouds in sky, RH edge

Linseed oil was detected as binder by GC analysis. It dad not appear to have undergone heat pre-polymerisation and no addition of natural resin was apparent.

[A/P 1.5; P/S 1.7; A/Sub 7.5]

[National Gallery archive, 2016]

Samples taken and examined by Joyce Plesters June 1963. See full report by Joyce Plesters and her drawings of the cross-sections.

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_NGL_6344

Cross-section number:

Paint description: pinkish yellow

Sample location: apple

Sample number: 7

Examination methods: microscopy

Observations:

[National Gallery archive, 2016]

Samples taken and examined by Joyce Plesters June 1963. See full report by Joyce Plesters and her drawings of the cross-sections.

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_NGL_6344

Cross-section number:

Paint description: blue of landscape

Sample location: top right, near top most dappled leaf, right-hand corner.

Sample number: 6

Examination methods: microscopy

Observations:

[National Gallery archive, 2016]

Samples taken and examined by Joyce Plesters June 1963. See full report by Joyce Plesters and her drawings of the cross-sections.

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_NGL_6344

Cross-section number:

Paint description: blackish-green of landscape

Sample location: left-hand side, from slight dent in surface, above stag's antlers.

Sample number: 5

Examination methods: microscopy

Observations:

Comments:

cross-section no longer extant

[National Gallery archive, 2016]

Samples taken and examined by Joyce Plesters June 1963. See full report by Joyce Plesters and her drawings of the cross-sections.

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_NGL_6344

Cross-section number:

Paint description: black of leaves

Sample location: top left-hand corner.

Sample number: 4

Examination methods: no cross-section made of sample

Observations:

[National Gallery archive, 2016]

Samples taken and examined by Joyce Plesters June 1963. See full report by Joyce Plesters and her drawings of the cross-sections.

CDA ID/Inventory Number: UK_NGL_6344

Cross-section number:

Paint description: brown leaf

Sample location: top right-hand corner, from edge of long streak of damage.

Sample number: 3

Examination methods: microscopy

Observations:

[National Gallery archive, 2016]

The paint is in good condition: there are some losses of paint in vertical lines extending inwards from the top and bottom edges, and slightly broader areas of damage around Venus's right ankle and in patches along a vertical line above this, behind her body, across her left arm and above her hat.

The current support is Masonite, which has been veneered and cradled to look like an old panel. [There appears to have been] a split or join to the left of Venus's head, in the tree.

[Susan Foister, 'Lucas Cranach the Elder, Cupid complaining to Venus' published online 2015, from 'The German Paintings before 1800', London: forthcoming.

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/lucas-cranach-the-elder-cupid-complaining-to-venus]

Varnish and old retouching were removed with a mixture of Methylated Spirit and White Spirit.

Below the newer layers of varnish a layer of older varnish of a golden brown colour was found, mainly in the darker areas of the picture. It was only slightly soluble in the cleaning mixture, whereas the original paint underneath was found to be quite susceptible, and consequently it was not possible to remove it entirely

Retouchings with egg tempera (in the larger losses) glazed with MS2A resin medium; small losses were retouched entirely with the MS2A medium; the only reconstruction of the design was in the right heel of Venus; picture was varnished with MS2A resin containing a small percentage of Stand Oil.

[National Gallery archive, 2013]

Technical treatment by Thorp Brothers, New York, including complete transferring, mounting on masonite, veneering of back and its cradling, on commission of E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York[1]

[1] Letter from Abris Silberman to Michael Levey, dated 24 May 1963, in Conservation dossier.

[National Gallery archive 2013]