worked for him, as seen in some Holbein paintings Eigner treated. In 1865
Eigner restored the so-called Madonna in the Strawberry Field(Kunstmuseum
Solothurn in Switzerland); he planed the back of the panel to 2 mm thick
and mounted it to a wooden reinforcing system, as described above. This
support is still in good condition (Vogelsang 1985:145).
From 1865 to 1867 Eigner restored the Solothurn Madonna from
the same museum (Fig. 19) in his studio in Augsburg; the reinforcing work
was done by his joiner E. Huber (Brachert 1972:8). In documents, Eigner
reports a total transfer of the painting, but he actually left 2–3 mm of the
original support; thus, he performed only a partial transfer. In 1960 the
support was still in good condition (Vogelsang 1985:147). The painting was
treated in 1971–72 at the Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaft in
Zurich by Thomas Brachert (1972:6–21). Eigner’s auxiliary support was
removed, and a new balsa-block reinforcement was applied.
Eigner’s typical reinforcing system can also be found on Hans
Holbein the Younger’s The Last Supperin the Kunstmuseum Basel
(Vogelsang 1985:142). The panel painting Saint Christopher and Saint Peter
(Bernese School, about 1480) in the Kunstmuseum Berne was treated in
Augsburg by the joiner E. Huber after Eigner’s death. Huber continued to
use the same system of reinforcement (Wagner 1977:22, 28).
The archives of the Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaft
contain many reports of plywood as an auxiliary support to reinforce thin,
reduced wooden painting supports. Plywood reverses are often described,
but in most cases, treatment dates are not available. All plywood types,
such as three-, five-, and seven-ply boards, with thicknesses of3–10 mm,
were reported.
In the early twentieth century, reinforcing reduced panel supports
with plywood was highly recommended as a good alternative to cradling.
Victor Bauer-Bolton rejected cradling, arguing that plywood is an
absolutely rigid material that does not respond to climatic changes (Bauer-
Bolton 1933:110–12; Goldkuhle 1932). In the Wolters Report it was noted
that German plywood products were insufficient for reinforcing panelH P P C A, G, S 223Figure 19
Hans Holbein the Younger,Solothurn
Madonna. Side vie w, detail. The German
restorer A. Eigner treated, among many other
masterpieces, a great number of paintings
by Hans Holbein the Younger. Eigner, who
worked in the latter half of the nineteenth
century, was probably the first to use partial-
transfer techniques in panel treatment. In
1866 and 1867, he transferred this painting
onto his auxiliary system, composed ofthe
following: (1) the thinned original support
and paint layer; (2) limewood boards of 8 mm
thickness glued onto the original support fol-
lowing its grain orientation; (3) limewood
boards of 12 mm thickness glued across the
grain of the first layer of limewood; and
(4)limewood boards of 8 mm thickness glued
following the grain of the original support.