Abstract
The initial steps that Johannes Vermeer took to create Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665) are, partially or completely, hidden beneath the painted surface. Vermeer’s painting technique involved applying underlayers that vary in colour and thickness, on top of which he applied the upper paint layer(s). To investigate the painting’s genesis, the Girl was examined using non-invasive scientific imaging as part of the project The Girl in the Spotlight (2018). This was complemented by the re-examination of existing paint cross-sections using microscopic analytical techniques, including focused ion beam-scanning transmission electron microscopy (FIB-STEM). The weave of the canvas, visible in the X-radiograph, was examined using a new computer-assisted thread-level canvas analysis algorithm to measure the thread spacing and thread angles. The canvas was primed with a warm light grey ground, although probably not by Vermeer himself. The tinted ground provided neutral base tone upon which he began to lay in areas of light and shade in his composition, and some outlines around the figure. Multispectral infrared reflectography( MS-IRR) images in four spectral bands spanning the spectral range from 900 to 2500 nm were collected of the painting at high spatial resolution (50 µm/pixel). Visible 3D digital microscopy visualised the underlayers where Vermeer left them visible around the perimeter of the figure as a contour, and where the upper paint layers are thin. These infrared reflectograms and visible micrographs identified three distinct preparatory phases of Girl with a Pearl Earring: the ground, fine black outlines, and underlayers. Some pentimenti were also detected, including a change in the position of her ear. The combination of examination methods showed that the materials beneath the surface played an important role in establishing the three-dimensional space, fall of light, and the eventual colour in different areas of the painting.
Highlights
Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665), from the collection of the Mauritshuis, the Hague, is so iconic that the public may not recognise it as a low relief three-dimensional object
Canvas weave The support of Girl with a Pearl Earring is a dense medium-weight canvas with a plain weave, which is visible on an X-radiograph (Fig. 1)
The thread spacing maps show how the density of the threads varies across the canvas; when the number of threads per centimetre varies from the average, it is assigned a specific colour, creating a kind of ‘barcode’ for the painting (Fig. 2a, b)
Summary
Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665), from the collection of the Mauritshuis, the Hague, is so iconic that the public may not recognise it as a low relief three-dimensional object. Three of the research questions posed during the project were related to the layers beneath the surface: (1) What steps did Vermeer take to create the painting, including his choice of canvas and ground? To answer the second question, the painting was examined using several non-invasive imaging techniques to provide information about the painted underlayers These methods included high spatial resolution multispectral infrared reflectography (MS-IRR: 900–2500 nm) and high-resolution visible 3D (Z-stack) microscopy. IRR is known to be useful at visualising painted underlayers and underdrawing that contain infrared-absorbing materials, such as carbon black or umber Recent advances in both camera technology and the collection of IRR images in narrow spectral regions has been shown to better visualise painted layers below the surface when compared to IRR images collected in comparatively broader spectral regions [3]. Since the 1980 IRR investigation—done with a vidicon by van Asperen de Boer and Wheelock [4]—found evidence for dark underlayers in passages of the painting, there was interest to further investigate the underlayers with new high-resolution infrared reflectography
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