Lecture

Robert Wald (Wien)

Caravaggio; Crowning with Thorns.
Condition, Technique, Restoration
(Caravaggios Dornenkrönung. Beobachtungen zur Technik und zur Provenienz)

(~ 36 min.)

Summary:

The Vienna "Crowning with Thorns" by Caravaggio is in an excellent state of preservation.

Firstly the painting has retained its original dimensions (including tacking edges) on all four sides. In addition, the ground/paint film (although showing normal signs of aging – ie. slightly increased transparency, with a moderate network of cracking) is in very stable condition (with excellent adhesion to the canvas support – revealing practically no loss of material. Finally, the surface of the paintfilm still possesses all finishing touches – ie. detail applications and final glazing layers. The painting also appears to be practically free of chromatic alterations (sometimes the result of aggressive cleaning measures but also from excessive light exposure and artist material incompatibility) In all, the painting reflects, to a very high degree, what must have been the original intent of the artist.

Technique:

Canvas - Ground:

The painting support is a medium weight – normal weave- canvas with a thread count of 7 x 7 threads cm2.

X-radiograph examinations of the painting reveal (see fig. 1):

1. The canvas was primed while already stretched (as the members of the frame are visible – caused by absorption differences in the x-ray).

2 At least one application of priming material was applied with a priming knife.(the motions of the knife visible in the X-ray).

3. Both the right and left edges of the (already) primed canvas were, afterwards (by the artist, and before the painting was started)– extended approx. 6.cm (per side). These edges were then primed, although with a thinner application, of a similar priming material. The overlying paint film along the right and left edges is consistent and homogenous with that used in the rest of the painting.

The preparation is a double ground. Both layers consisting of mixtures of brown and red earth pigments in addition to black and various concentrations of lead white. The medium employed is a pre-polymerized drying oil. The initial, lower layer, is somewhat thicker (50 – 100 µm) with an admixture of lead tin yellow. The second application is thinner, however with a higher lead white content (20 – 40µm) and is the only priming layer present on the extended edges ([Keith] 1998).

Incisions - The organization of the composition:

Since the recent cleaning of the work, additional incisions have been found (see fig. 2) (Christiansen 1986) The incisions (applied in the upper ground layer) are concentrated in the upper right quadrant of the painting (which also exhibits the most complicated arrangement of figures) The figure at left, in armor, reveals no indications of incising. In addition the Vienna painting reveals that the artist reinforced the incisions with rather broadly applied dark bands of paint (there are also indications of this in the "Sacrifice of Isaac", Philadelphia Museum of Art) (see. fig. 3). Incisions have been found in numerous (however not all ) paintings by Caravaggio. Although the incisions are clearly present to aid in the positioning of the various figures, (as well as other elements within the composition), it is not clear wether their application was executed freehand or with the aid of certain mechanical transfer processes, ie. cartoons etc. Many of these observations are coupled with the fact that no drawings have been securely ascribed to Caravaggio and that several critics and contemporaries of the artist , including Vincenzo Giustiniani (and later on Bellori) regarded Caravaggio’s practice of "painting" before nature (often interpreted as meaning - without drawings) as one of his foremost qualities. It is important to note that Bellori also had similar praise for another artist, Barocci, where he states "Barocci always worked from "life " ("..sempre a naturale") and then further describes his processes of developing drawings with modeling and finally composing larger cartoons which would later be transferred to the primed surface of the painting support. There are clear indications (in terms of technique) with the Vienna painting which strongly suggest that Caravaggio "painted" this work with actual models present. (x-ray and infra-red imaging reveal the continuation of several passages – the arm and hand of two figures continuing underneath, the latter applied, garments). However other aspects of the work support the notion that the artist must have had some type of design at hand when calculating the positioning and gestures of this multi-figure composition. The following observations have been made concerning the incisions;

1. The incisions are, almost exclusively found in the most complicated area of the composition

2. The incisions are quite cursory, with almost no attempt to correct.
3. The incisions are primarily unbroken, single , calculated motions, and the resultant surface character of the lines must have been practically imperceptible to the unknowing eye in normal viewing conditions.
4. Although certain lengths of the incision could be masked "covered" by subsequent paint applications, there exist in several paintings (i.e. St. John the Baptist, Kansas City, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art) notably long intervals between the accurate placement of incisions, which with only 6 or 7 markings capture the location of numerous anatomical features associated with the figure. These markings accurately establish the construct, which, further translated into paint passages, remained practically free of alterations.
5. Very delicate and sophisticated passages involving foreshortening are also evident (i.e. David and Goliath –Rome, Galleria Borghese) with only minimal use of incisions – all seemingly uncorrected and quite consistent with the overlying paint application.

These observations, in addition to the fact that 1) Caravaggio must have had first hand knowledge of fresco transferring techniques (a very similar method of transposing images from 1:1 cartoons to the fresh, plastered, painting surface) from his time as assistant to Cavaliere d’Arpino, in the late 1590’s and 2) That the artist reproduced several of his own paintings, almost certainly with the aid of tracing, strongly suggest that Caravaggio could have been organizing his compositions with such mechanical aids before the actual painting process began (Bauer-Colton [2000]). In my opinion it seems most likely that the artist was preparing life-size cartoons (probably from numerous pieces of paper) and instead of transferring the outlines through pouncing or with chalk covered interleaves (as was accepted studio practice in Rome, with many artists at this time) was slicing (carefully and selectively) directly through the drawings, into the newly re-primed surface. This cutting of the cartoon could be connected to the observation that the incisions practically never cross over one another. This type of working process would not be contradictory to contemporary observations that the artist "painted" from life, which would have followed directly after the composition was established, however places into question – at what phase in the artistic process should "working" or "painting" from nature be defined. In addition it is important to note that the description of Caravaggio as an "Alla Prima" painter is, in the general sense of the definition, false. Although certain passages in paintings from the 16^th and 17^th centuries clearly demonstrate a direct/spontaneous application of paint (i e. with Tintoretto, El Greco, Rubens, Velazquez or Giordano oil-sketches) the term "Alla Prima" is best suited to describe the uninterupted painting methods of later mid-19^th century painters. Even in comparison with his contemporaries, Caravaggio’s customary approach in the execution of his paintings was quite methodical and focused. The quality and character of his brushwork suggests, rather, a slower and more concentrated approach in working than one might expect.

Restoration:

It seems almost certain that the Vienna painting was restored in Rome before its transfer to Vienna in 1816. Documents confirm the treatment of Albani’s, Christ and the Samaritan (see above) bought at the same time as the Caravaggio, by the restorer Pietro Palmaroli in 1809 ca. There is no reference that the Caravaggio was treated by this restorer. However the materials and techniques used for the treatment (glue/paste lining – possibly weighted with heated sand, as well as bent wire used to attach the lined painting to a new stretcher) are consistent with those used in 18^th/19^th cent Italy (and never found in Vienna, as far as we know). Evidently the paint surface was at this time only superficially treated (probably only with a new varnish and localized retouchings around the edges). On the reverse of the lining canvas (center–top) is a hand written notation in black paint "no 15". The origin and purpose of this number is unclear.

The current restoration involved the reinforcement of the edges of the painting, which had been weakened from moderate insect damage (no longer active). Small inserts of canvas were installed to larger losses, and the edges prepared with a fine linen "strip lining" to facilitate proper remounting onto a new wooden stretcher.

The latter applied varnish layers had since degraded and were lightly reduced as to leave an even, thin film of older varnish on the paintings surface. Small areas of damage were filled with a chalk/glue mixture and retouched using gouache and resin-based paints. Intermediary and final spray varnishes of mastic resin were applied., and the surface modified by hand with brushes.

The painting has been installed into a Spanish Baroque frame with foliate cartouches, parcel gilt with black panels, ca. 1630.

Bibliografia:

Bauer-colton [20009]
Bauer L, Colton S., "Tracing in some work by Caravaggio" in The Burlington Magazine, July, 2000. Pp. 434-436.

Christiansen [1986]
Christiansen K., ‘Caravaggio and "L’esempio davanti del naturale"’ in Art Bulletin, 68, 1986, pp. 421-445.

Keith [1998]
Keith L., "Three Paintings by Caravaggio", in National Gallery Technical Bulletin, 19, 1998, pp. 37-51.

Schneider [1987]
Schneider Th. M, "La ‘maniera’ e il processo pittorico del Caravaggio" in (M. Calvesi a cura di), L’ultimo Caravaggio e la cultura artistica a Napoli in Sicilia e a Malta, Palermo, 1987, pp. 117-138.

Robert Wald