64
- The fifty paintings examined by the authors reveal a clear trend. Paintings
belonging to the Florentine and Sienese schools showed double-structured
grounds of gesso grosso and gesso sottile, identified respectively as anhydrite and
dihydrate. Venetian examples showed a tendency towards single-structured
grounds consisting only of dihydrate, as also observed in Gettens, R. E. and M.
E. Mrose. 1954. Calcium sulphate minerals in the grounds of Italian paintings.
Studies in Conservation (1):174-90. See in particular pages 180-83. The recent
French examination finds that the examined paintings representing schools out
side Tuscany are not numerous enough in their material to conclude anything
general about the treatment of grounds in the rest of Italy. - See note 2.
- The wording of the Codex Laurentianus is quoted from Lindberg, B. 0. 1990.
Feta och magra limmer enligt Cennino Cennini. In Meddelelser om Konservering,
165-87. Lindberg notes that the Codex Riccardianus in this passage has a slightly
different, but not clearer wording than the Laurentianus. Lindberg points to the
fact that the manuscript lacks interior punctuation. - Cennini, 1960. Op. cit., 70.
- Unfortunately, this suggestion by Thompson, which in the author's opinion is
wrong, is apparently reflected in numerous texts on medieval grounds. See, for
instance, Straub, R. E. 19 84. Tafel-und Tiichleinmalerei des Mittelalters. In Re
clams Handbuch der kiinstlerischen Techniken, Vol. I. Stuttgart Philipp Reclam, 156-
- See note 8.
- The various sources on gypsum are obviously not identical in their information
on the relationship between the chemical composition of the gypsum and burn
ing temperatures. Rompps Chemielexicon. 1979. Stuttgart, 575-76. See also, Mora,
L., P. Mora, and P. Philippot. 1984. The Conservation of Wallpaintings. London,
Butterworth, 39-47. Also see The Merck Index, 9th ed. 1976, 1707. - Mora, et aI., op. cit. (note 12),42.
- Lindberg, B. 0. , and B. Skans, in their experiments carried out at Institutionen
fo r Konstvetenskap i Lund, have also observed that gypsum burned at 300 °C
for two hours is still able to react with water. Lindberg, B. 0., and B. Skans. 1990.
Feta och magra limmar enligt Cennino. In Meddelelser om konservering, 184. - See note 12.
- Gettens, R. J. 1954. A visit to an ancient gypsum quarry in Tuscany. Studies in
Conservation (1):4, 190-92. - Gettens and Mrose, 1954. Op. cit., (note 6), 185.
- Theophilus on Divers Arts. 1979. Translated by G. Hawthorne and C. S. Smith.
New York, Dover Reprints, 27. - A History of Technology, Vol. II. 1957. Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 118.
- The Painter's Manual of Dionysius of Fourna. 1978. Translated by P. Hetherington.
London, 6. It appears from the directions in the Athos book, that right from the
mining, it is important to choose the right kind of gypsum: " ... see that you
use only what is white and glistening." - Lindberg, 1990. Op. cit. (note 8), 184.
- See note 6.
- Bomford, D., J. Dunkerton, D. Gordon, A. Roy, and J. Kirby. 1990. Art in the
Making. London, National Gallery. See in particular pages 17-19. - Martin, Sonoda, and Duval, 1992. Op. cit., 86-89, Table 2.
- It must, of course, be below 650 °C, which is the limit beyond which the an
hydrite is no longer able to react with water. - Martin, Sonoda, and Duval, 1992. Op. cit ., 90. See also Dunkerton, J., and A.
Roy. 1986. The Technique and Restoration on Cima's The Incredulity if S. Thom
as. National Gallery Technical Bulletin (10):4-27, especially page 5. See also Dunk
erton, J., A. Roy, and A. Smith, A. 1987. The unmasking of Tura's "allegorical
figure": A painting and its concealed image. National Gallery Technical Bulletin
(11):5-35, especially 19. - If a different crystal structure had existed for the dihydrate it would most likely
have been included in the CSD (Cambridge Structural Database). This is not
the case. - It was quite obvious that not only was the burned gypsum (the anhydrite) much
easier to grind than the raw gypsum, but the anhydrite burned at 700 °C was
much easier to grind than the anhydrite burned at 400 0c. - Cennini, 1960. Op. cit., 73.
- Martin, Sonoda, and Duval, 1992. Op. cit., 90
Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice