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pletely that it is difficult to distinguish between them. The lowest paint layer

(above the grayish wash of the drawing and the white ground) is the dark

undermodeling of the ebauche, containing Cassel earth, charcoal, and cobalt

blue. This is probably sufficiently dark in color to contribute to the observed

chiaroscuro of the dress (a similar mixture is used as a final glaze fo r the

deepest shadows). The creamy mid-tone of the dress consists principally of

lead white, with traces of yellow ochre, Cassel earth, and cobalt blue; the

proportion of the tinting pigments is altered as one tone blends into the next,

however. The blending process is also reflected in the presence of a number

of paint layers in subtly different shades of cream in different parts of the

dress. Only in the lightest highlights is lead white used almost pure, ground

in walnut oil; even here, the presence of a trace of cobalt blue gives it coldness.

This general pattern of paint construction is repeated elsewhere in the paint­

ing. Passages of paint containing a pigment used more or less unmixed are

very rare indeed, but in the red glazes supplying the purplish red of the

brocade dress, on the lap of the seated lady-in-waiting in Figure 6c, and the

shadows on the executioner's tights, a crimson lake pigment was used in this

way. In both cases, the dyestuff present was that extracted from a cochineal

insect, Dactylopius coccus Costa, on a substrate consisting largely of hydrated

alumina. The brown paint of the brocade, containing yellow ochre with other

iron oxides and black, contained ordinary linseed oil; the red glaze, however,

contained heat pre-polymerized linseed oil and a little mastic resin (Plate 34c).

This indicates the use of a varnish of the type recommended as a painting

medium, perhaps the jellylike vernis des Anglais described by Merimee as being

particularly suitable fo r glazes because it could be brushed on so easily (38).

The presence of a resin-containing medium is also suggested by the whitish

fluorescence exhibited by the glaze layer in ultraviolet illumination under the

mIcroscope.

The paint used fo r the red of the executioner's tights is perhaps surprisingly

complicated, as it contains two red lake pigments mixed with vermilion and

lead white (Plate 34a). Examination under the microscope suggests that one

is the cochineal lake used in the glaze; the other, less crimson in color, was

not present in sufficient quantity fo r analysis, but its pronounced orange-pink

fluorescence in ultraviolet illumination suggests that the dyestuff may have

been extracted from madder root, the use of which was being developed in

France at the time (39). Curiously, the same lake (mixed with black and cobalt

blue) is used rather than the more crimson cochineal lake fo r the attendant's

purple dress. Even the velvety black of Sir John Brydges' garment is a mixed

color: it contains a subtle combination of black, Prussian blue, red lake, and

a translucent yellow pigment (Plate 34d). This combination is similar to

Edouard Manet's tinted darks in Music in the Tuileries Gardens, painted thirty

years later (40). Quite marked brushwork is visible in the black garments of

Sir John and the executioner; analysis shows that Delaroche used a varnish­

type painting medium of similar composition to that used fo r the red glaze,

which retained the texture of the brush strokes.

To summarize, Paul Delaroche painted a grisaille of his composition and then

colored it in; the labor necessary to produce the finished painting was, how­

ever, considerable barely revealed on its bland surface. The painter's crafts­

manship and understanding of materials cannot be denied; his reliance on

lead white and ochres in particular and the absence of bitumen have resulted

in a paint film in remarkably good condition, considering the recent history

of the painting. The use of a varnish-type paint medium has often proved to

be a recipe fo r disaster; in this case the paint shows few of the defects often

caused by its use. Delaroche appears to have added only cobalt blue and

synthetic ultramarine (and possibly an improved madder lake) to what could

be described as a conventional eighteenth-century palette.

The production of the Salon painting was not the end of the story. Public

awareness of successful Salon paintings was increased by means of reproduc­

tions in the press; several of Delaroche's paintings, including Children of Edward

Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice