From egg to oil: the early development of oil painting during the Quattrocento
Date
2016
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This dissertation demonstrates that a more accurate assessment of Quattrocento
painting practice can be accomplished only if the original stratigraphy of the paint and
ground layers is preserved during organic analysis. The evolution of oil painting in
Renaissance Italy must now be re-examined due to advancements in the analysis of
binding media and recent improvements in primary source research. Contemporary
conceptions of Western European painting techniques stem from a complex history
associated with conservation science, treatment methodologies, and connoisseurship.
New findings suggest that Italian painters working in and around the Veneto were
likely introduced to the oil technique well before 1400 while analysis and visual
examination of fifteenth-century works from southern Italy also demonstrate an acute
familiarity with the northern medium and aesthetic. The decision to use an egg vs. an
oil binder is inextricably tied to an artist’s technique and arguably as important as the
conscious selection of certain pigments. Such considerations will help to further
elucidate the dissemination of oil painting south of the Alps during the fifteenth
century. ☐ In this dissertation I demonstrate that problematic and even incorrect
assumptions have been made regarding the characterization of binding media in early
Italian paintings. This is shown through the creation of historically representative paint
reconstructions that can help in determining the visual qualities and chemical
components of traditional egg tempera and oil paint as well as the analysis of actual
works of art. In addition, Contamination from restoration materials, the migration of fatty acids, the presence of reactive pigments, and the formation of degradation
products are now known to affect the detection of certain chemical markers that are
key in helping scientists to identify the binders present in a work of art. Newly
recognized inaccuracies relating to early analytical protocols have prompted scientists
to develop more sophisticated methods for distinguishing egg tempera from oil paints,
and earlier technical studies of Quattrocento paintings must now be re-evaluated. A
new discourse is needed to develop a more accurate understanding of Quattrocento
painting techniques, workshop practices, attribution, and the diffusion of artistic
processes throughout Europe.
Description
Keywords
Pure sciences, Communication and the arts, Analysis, Art conservation, Drying oil, Egg tempera, Italian Renaissance, Painting