The Moravian Museum in Brno
On the Painting Technique of the Danube School

I restored ibis panel (915x690x10 mm), painted on both sides with the picture of Henry and Cunegund on the obverse and the Holy Family of Christ on the reverse, in the years 1987–88. On both sides of the linden-wood panel ivas applied a glue and chalk ground, thicker (because of the gilding) on the obverse side (0.35-0.15 mm) and thinner on the reverse (0.10 mm). The gold foil is applied on a red poliment and goes under the edges of the paint layers to various depths. The black underdrawing, lightly shaded with washed grey, is more prominent on the obverse side, where the painting is carried out with a thinner layer of paint, and maximum use is made of the reflective qualities of the white ground. The medium of the paint has not been investigated, but it is reminiscent of oil tempera which has become translucent in the course of time under the influence of the oil components, hmperor Henry and St. Cunegund. The very gilding of the background of the picture of the face side is a mark of preference and ceremonial concept as compared with the merely coloured painting on the reverse. Apart from the colours used there are also more profound differences between the pictures in the material conposition of the paints used. The obverse picture is remarkable for its transparent brightness, whereas the reverse side gives a subdued and matt impression because its colours contain a clouding material – white. Carnation on the obverse side has a precise and simple sequence of layers. The basis is a black-grey washed drawing, then follows a thin incarnadine layer in a shade of burnt sienna, more concentrated for the man and very light for the woman. On this is applied in soft transitions a light incarnadine, a mixture of white and red clay, and finally the details of the faces and hands are expressed by a brush-written line in dark brown, in places further underlined by darker brown or black. The described method of painting is confirmed by the study of microscopic cross-sections – the thickness of the paint layer is between 0.10 and 0.15 mm.



Panel painted on both sides, Moravian Gallery in Brno, Danube School, c. 1520. Emperor Henry and St Cunegund (obverse).

The Holy Family of Christ (reverse).

The Holy Family. The difference is not only in the admixture of white to almost all the shades of colour; it starts in the non-use of the white reflexive surface of the ground. The chalk white is covered by a yellow priming, on which the underdrawing is carried out. The carnation starts with a basic brownish layer applied over the drawing, which is concealed to a considerable extent. The further stage, the modelling, is created mainly by a mixture of white and natural ochre, modified by the addition of black or red according to the nature of the skin. Hollows, as the third stage of modelling, are created by a darker shade of the initial local skin tone, and then the details of the faces and hands are completed with a dark coloured line. The difference in the construction of the carnation and the technique of the painter in other areas points to the fact that these are works by different painters. In conclusion it must be pointed out that the panel is a fragment of an airar wing, probably its lower part, and that the edges of the panel were cut away in the past.

 author
Jiří Blažej, AHVT B 008 (J. D.)





Details of the same panel – the face of St Cunegund and the figure of the Christchild.