The Structural Conservation of Panel Paintings

it is evident that the overall climatic conditions are often shrouded by local

or regional influences, thus impeding the use of such general chronologies

for dating particular objects.

The successful dating of beech wood widens the scope of tree

ring dating in its application to wooden art objects and, at the same time,

demonstrates the possibility that the use ofdendrochronology may be

extended to other diffuse-porous woods used for panels and carvings.

Investigations into dendrochronological dating of poplar and linden wood

are currently under way. Absolute dating of poplar is not yet possible

because of the insufficient number ofgrowth rings; in a fewcases,

D A  P P 51

Luca s Cra nach th e Eld er

C.E.

Be ech

130 0 13 50 1400 1450 1500 1550 16 00

DukeJohann Ernst — B II 55 I

Duke Johann ErnstII

Lucreti a— B 1832

The Three El ectors(rig ht) — HHK 606 I

Phill ippMelancht on —B 61 9

MartinLuther — DO N 727

The Il l-Matc hedLovers— B 1606

The Three El ecto rs(l eft )

The Three El ecto rsII 1529

1529

1528

1529

1531

1531

1531

Figure 13
Dendrochronological analyses of beech panels
ofLucas Cranach the Elder (all panels are
made from the same tree). (B 5 Staatliche
Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Gemäldegalerie; DON 5 Coll. Fürstenberg,
Donaueschingen; HHK 5 Hamburger
Kunsthalle, Hamburg.)

Hu nga ria n Ma ste r

C. E.

1496

Spruc e

14 00 1450 1500 155 0

Sain t Mary in th e Temple

BU N 53 .383 I

Sain t Mary and Po pl e II

Saint Ma ry in th e Temp le II

Sain t Mary andPope

BU N 53.384 I

Same tree

14 84

Figure 14
Dendrochronological analyses of spruce
panels ofa Hungarian master. (BUN 5
Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest.)