Chapter Ten. The Panel Painting as a Choice for Family Commemoration The Case of Fifteenth-Century Patrons on Cyprus

AbstractThis essay shows how scholarship on fifteenth-century Flemish panel painting became intertwined with efforts at national identity-building in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Europe. Paintings such as Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece were not only dispersed across regional and national boundaries, but were intellectually appropriated for competing national programs. The paintings consequently became a site of conflict between the Latin and Germanic traditions. These conflicts are clearly visible through the shifting terminology of this art, variously claimed as “Flemish” and “Netherlandish.” Such nationalist discourses shaped future scholarship on Flemish painting and contributed to its perceived inferiority vis-à-vis the Southern artistic tradition.

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Bild, Ding, Material: Nimben und Goldgründe italienischer Tafelmalerei in transkultureller Perspektive

Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte ◽

10.1515/zkg-2016-0037 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 79 (4) ◽

pp. 508-541

Author(s):

Vera-Simone Schulz

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Fifteenth Century ◽

Case Studies ◽

Art History ◽

Special Focus ◽

Local Production ◽

Panel Painting ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact

Abstract With a special focus on processes of artistic transfer between the Apennine peninsula and other regions in the Mediterranean and beyond, this paper sheds new light on haloes and gold grounds in thirteenthto fifteenth-century Italian painting. By means of case studies, it analyzes both (1) the role of haloes and gold grounds within the specific logic of the images, and (2) the impact of imported artifacts (their techniques, decoration, and materiality) on Italian panel painting as well as the complex interplays between imports and local production. Elucidating the intersections, frictions, and fields of tension between visual and material culture, this paper contributes to discussions on transmedial and transmaterial dynamics, transcultural art history, and the multireferentiality of gold.

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The “oro di metà” Gilding in the Fifteenth-Century: A Multi-Analytical Investigation

Heritage ◽

10.3390/heritage2020076 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 1166-1175 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Iacopo Osticioli ◽

Laura Capozzoli ◽

Barbara Salvadori ◽

Martina Banchelli ◽

Alessandro Lavacchi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fifteenth Century ◽

Scientific Evidence ◽

Analytical Investigation ◽

Spectroscopic Techniques ◽

Wood Panel ◽

Panel Painting ◽

Polarised Light ◽

Low Probability ◽

First Time ◽

Different Thickness

Few and fragmentary is the information regarding the “oro di metà” (halfway gold) gilding due to the low probability of finding it in paintings as well as its short durability because of tarnishing. However, the very rare, excellent state of conservation of the gilding found in the fifteenth-century wood panel painting of the Master of St. Ivo studied in this work along with a multi-analytical approach allowed shedding light on the structure, the composition and the conservation state of this type of gilding. An Ultra-High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscope (UHR-SEM) along with Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analysis and polarised light Optical Microscopy (OM) were employed in order to image and analyse a cross-section of a sample taken from the wood panel painting. Results highlighted a divided structure of the gilding which is constituted by two separated layers of gold and silver with different thickness. This is the first time that scientific evidence on this issue is provided. Moreover, considerations on the tarnishing process of the gilding were made. Finally, complementary vibrational spectroscopic techniques such as micro-Raman and micro-ATR-FTIR were employed in order to identify the molecular composition of the “bole” (gilding preparation layer) and the ground layers.

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