Raphaels So John the Baptist PreachingAllan Braham and Martin Wyld

IntroductionAllan Braham

Raphaels painting of S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480 Plate 2 p18) is the only section that isknown to have survived of the predella panel of theNational Gallerys Madonna and Child with the Baptist andS Nicholas of Bari (The Ansidei Madonna) (Nol171Fig1) The altarpiece was painted by the young Raphaelfor the Ansidei family chapel in the church ofS Fiorenzoin Perugia (Figs2 and 3) and bears what clearly appearsto be the date 1505 on the hem of the Madonnas robenear her left hand [1] The predella of the altarpiece wasoriginally decorated with three scenes the Marriage ofthe Virgin in the centre with the Preaching of the Baptistto the left and a Miracle of S Nicholas of Bari to the right

The altarpiece apparently remained intact until themiddle years of the eighteenth century when the interiorof the church was restored Its shallow side chapels twoto each side of the nave were then equipped withelaborate settecento frames rising the full height of therear walls In the Ansidei chapel (Fig3) the second onthe right from the main entrance an opening was left inthe centre of the frame equivalent in size to the mainpanel of Raphaels altarpiece which was eventuallyequipped with a copy of the painting attributed toNicola Monti The modest architecture of the chapelwas probably not otherwise greatly altered at this timeand the main features of its entrance arch are closelyechoed in Raphaels painting (Figs1and 3)

The main panel of the altarpiece and the survivingsection of the predella were apparently acquired in 1764through Gavin Hamilton by Lord Robert Spencer ayounger son of the 3rd Duke of Marlborough then inItaly on the Grand Tour [2] The altarpiece had presum-ably been dismembered before this time as the newframes in S Fiorenzo (Fig3) seem earlier than the 1760sin date but the sale of the painting and the alteration ofthe chapel are likely to have been related events Evenso Raphaels original may have been installed in thenew altar before it was replaced by the copy which thepurchaser of the original was asked to provide [3]

An early print of the predella painting in reverse(FigA) by Antonio Capellan who engraved several ofthe plates for Hamiltons Schola ltalica Picturae (1771)gives an indication of the appearance of the paintingafter its acquisition by Lord Robert Spencer who isrecorded as the owner in the inscription [4] After hisreturn to England the main panel of the altarpiece wasgiven to his brother the 4th Duke of Marlborough andit remained at Blenheim until bought by the NationalGallery in 1885The predella was eventually sold in 1799and later acquired for the Lansdowne collection [5]

Since 1976 it had been on loan to the National Galleryexhibited in the vicinity of The Ansidei Madonna butmuch darkened and discoloured in comparison with themain panel which had been cleaned in 1956 (seebelow)Following tests which confirmed the autograph qualityof the predella and its satisfactory state of preservationthe painting was acquired through private treaty sale in1983 thus permanently reuniting the two survivingparts of the altarpiece [6]

During cleaning the predella was freed from the gessoand paint added at the top of the panel and the bordersat its edges black with traces of decoration in red werefound to be probably not original (see below) In toneand colouring the painting emerged as scarcely lessbril-liant than the main panel of the altarpiece though itappears softer in handling and in its range of colourspartly no doubt because of the scale of the painting andits more complex theme and perhaps also indicating alater completion date at a time when the style of thepainter was at a stage of rapid development

The predella is not in other ways inconsistent aftercleaning with the main panel of the altar Both arcbrightly illuminated from the upper right from thedirection of the window above the main door ofS Fiorenzo (Fig2) which lights the nave of the churchand its chapels The landscapes in the two paintings arcakin and the figure of S John bearing a long crystalcross is related to the two paintings

In the context of the predella panel however wherethe composition as one of three continuous scenes isweighted to the right S John appears as an almostvisionary figure his cloak marking the edge of thepainting and billowing at his back with an almostmedieval weightlessness Infra-red photographs (Fig9)show here and in other parts of thc composition carefulunderdrawing on the gesso

The listeners are weightier than the figure of the saintwith an element of portraiture in the facial and physicaldifferentiation of the crowd and a suggestion even ofcaricature to the left where the impact of the sermonhas not yet fully penetrated The crowd is co-ordinatedby the figure in the foreground seen from the back whowitnesses the whole scene mediating between the spec-tator and the crowd of listeners The genius of Raphaelin the creation of narrative underlined by the use ofportraiture and the manipulation of colour can nowmore easily be appreciated as can the enrichment of histechnique through early contact with the new sophisti-cation of Florentine art

15

Notes and references

1 GOULDc National Gallery CataloRues The Sixteenth-Century Italian Schools (London 1975) pp216-18 andDUSSLERL Raphael A Critical Catalogue (London1971) pp13-14 with further references2 SCHARFG CataloRue Raisonne [ ] of the Pictures inBlenheim Palace (1862) pAO ROWSEAL The LaterChurchill (Harmondsworth 1971) p120ff describes thetour of Lord Robert who seems to have been in Italy in1767rather than 1764when his age was only seventeen3 SCHARFop cit4 Copy in the National Gallery library (BrockendonCollection) Inscribed Raphael SU pinsit AntCapellan Sculpsit Nobilissimo viro Roberto Spencer(Insignis hujus Tabulae Possessori(C Morison LDMorison may well be the Scottish antiquarian who forexample guided Boswell in Rome in 1765 See Boswellon the Grand Tour (1955) p63ff5 Lord Robert Spencer sale Christies 31 May 1799 lot86 Loan Exhibition of the Lansdowne Collection Agnews(1954-55) p29 noA86 The predella panel measures 292cm (11tin) by538cm (21-rl-in)across the top and 528cm (20iin)across the base The painted area is 262cm (10tin) inheight The altarpiece is 1526cm (61in) in width[painted area 1486cm (58~in)] Since the predella ismore than one-third the width of the painted area of thealtarpiece it is probable that the central predella scene(The Marriage of the Virgin) was narrower than thoseto the left and right and perhaps had some relationshipto the shape of the base of the throne

Figure 1 (Right) Raphael Madonna and Child with the Baptistand S Nicholas oiBari ( The Ansidei Madonna) (Noll71)

Figure 4 (Below) Antonio Capellan engraving in reverse ofSJohn the Baptist Preaching

16

Figure 2 Perugiathechurch0pound5 Fiorenza

Figure 3 Perugia5FiorenzatheAnsideichapel

The treatment of the pictureMartin Wyld

The altarpiece of which S John the Baptist Preaching isa predella (Madonna and Child with the Baptist and SNicholas of Bari (The Ansidei Madonna) No117l [1]Figl) was described by Passavant [2] who had seen it in1831 as being in excellent condition and by Waagenfour years later as having turned very dark in the land-scape and canopy Both descriptions were accurate Ofthe nine paintings by Raphael now in the NationalGallery Collection only the Madonna and Child No2069(commonly known as The Madonna of the Tower orThe Mackintosh Madonna) is poorly preserved theremainder which vary in size from 171cm square (AnAllegory No213) to 28m X 165m (Altarpiece TheCrucified Christ with the Virgin Mary Saints and AngelsNo3943) are all in good condition some of themexceptionally so

The Amidei Madonna (purchased by the NationalGallery in 1885) was cleaned in 1956 and found to bein excellent condition Some minor panel repairs andblister-laying were necessary but no paint had been lostexcept for a few small flakes along old splits in the paneL

SJohn the Baptist Preaching the only surviving part ofthe predella (the other two sceneswere so badly damagedthat they were discarded when the main panel left Italy[1]) was on acquisition so obscured by dirt and varnishthat it was felt to be essential that it be cleaned before thepurchase was announced and the picture put on publicdisplay Fig5 shows the state of the picture on acquisi-tion The bottom edge of the paint was clearly originalending in a slight ridge of gesso on which under thepaint were minute traces of red bole and gold (seePlate3a p18) The unpainted wooden border originallycovered by the frame survived at the bottom exceptwhere a knot in the rather poor quality poplar plank hadfallen out The equivalent border at the top edge hadbeen filled to the level of the original paint surface andre-touched thus adding c15 cm to the height of thepicture The panel (Fig6) had split from the left edgeand had been repaired with butterfly keys but hadotherwise survived well consideri~g the wildness of thegrain and the large number of knots

X-radiographs (Fig7) showed the original edge ofthe paint at the top and a few small damages at the leftand right edges but otherwise revealed no damagemore significant than the two lacunae in the stout figurein the left-hand group The cleaning of the picture wasinitially quite straightforward After the removal of thesurface dirt a thick layer of discoloured varnish whichcovered the whole picture and the addition at the topedge were cleaned away without difficulty The puttyover the unpainted border at the top was insecurelyattached and the re-touching over it which consisted ofsynthetic ultramarine viridian and earth pigments(Plate 3b p18) was easily soluble It was at this stage ofthe cleaning that certain similarities with the cleaning ofthe Ansidei Madonna in 1956 became apparent Firstlythe remains of an orangebrown varnish layer wereengrained in the texture of the sky and some slightstaining of the paint seemed to have resulted A similar

17

Plate 1 Ibphacl SJohnhe Bapist Pcltchillr(NoMHO) during cleaning

Plate 2 Raphael SJollll tIe Bapist Preachillg (No64RO) after cleaning and restoration

Plate 3Raphael S John the BaptistPreaching (No6480)photomicrographs of thetop surface of samplesfrom the edge of thepictureFull caption on facingpage

18a 85x

layer had been found on the throne arch and particularlythe floor of the altarpiece itself Secondly the reason forthe extraordinarily dull appearance of the predella becameclear A brownish black layer had been painted over allthe landscape from the horizon to the bottom of thepicture and over the trees on the left but not those inthe centre or right of the sky The same layer had beenpainted seemingly almost at random over many of thefigures Plate 1 (p1S) shows the whole picture duringcleaning The brown layer can be seen most clearly inthe foreground between the stout standing figure andthe figure to his right it also covers the stout figuresgreen cloak the shadowed part of the green drapery ofthe seated figure in the right foreground the red andgreen sash of the figure with the red hat facing awayfrom the Baptist and other smaller areas of draperyincluding the green peaked hat of the central profiledspectator

Much of the landscape of the (Ansidei Aladonna hadbeen covered with a similar layer which was partiallysoluble and which as with the predella was removedmechanically It is not unusual to find that landscape andfoliage glazed originally with copper resinate havebeen overpainted to imitate a discoloured copper resin-ate layer [3] It is surprising to find that such a layer hasbeen applied over other colours as well for instanceover the red lake glaze on the hat of the figure onhorseback and over the red part of the sash of the centralfigure with the red hat Plate 1 (p1S) shows clearly thetwo distinct layers of varnish over the left part of thesky and also the staining of the sky near the horizonwhich resembled the staining of the architecture in themain altarpiece The filling and repaint over theunpainted border at the top can be seen during theirremoval

The hat of the mounted figure in the left backgroundpresented a minor problem during cleaning It wasbefore cleaning a rather curious shape with an eccentric-ally placed point like a leaning church spire Both themain part of the hat and the point were covered with thebrown repaint though a red lake colour could be seenunderneath In the X-radiograph (Fig) the hills on the

Plate3 Raphael 5John the Baptist Preaching (No6480)

(a) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of originalgreen paint from the bottom edge of the picture showing thebole and gilding of the original frame (now lost) continuingunder the paint layer

(b) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of thebrowned green re-touching on the puttied strip along the topedge of the picture The blue pigment particles are artificialultramarine the green are viridian both of nineteenth-centuryinvention

horizon can be seen to be painted round the main part ofthe hat whereas the pointed crown has the paint of thehills beneath it Cross-section examination of a verysmall sample from the edge of the hat brim showed anoriginal red lake layer slightly overlapping the pale bluepaint of the hills Examination under the low-poweredstereoscopic microscope showed that the pointed part ofthe hat consisted of a brown resinous layer lying in thehollows of the brushstrokes of the hills it was similar tobut older than the overpaint on the landscape

The late-eighteenth-century engraving (Fig A) showswith reasonable accuracy the details of the landscape andthe folds of drapery uncovered during the recent clean-ing The engraving seems to pre-date the overpainting ofthe landscape and drapery which obscured much of thepicture The engraver has added slightly to the top edgeof the composition perhaps to give more room abovethe Baptists head and very slightly to the bottom edgeThe addition to the picture itself at the top edge (Plate 1and 3b p1S Fig5) contained synthetic ultramarine(introduced as a pigment in 1828) and viridian (trans-parent chromium oxide first made in the rnid-nineteenth-century) The same two pigments were used in theoverpaint on the landscape and drapery with the addi-tion of carbon black and earth pigments

The foliage of the trees in the centre and right of thepicture the only parts of the landscape not to have beenoverpainted consists mainly of a copper resinate layernow discoloured directly on top of the sky There isalso discoloured copper resinate in the darkest parts ofthe green drapery and in some of the foreground Thedarks in the drapery have a bright green underpaintunlike the foliage and this helps them retain some oftheir original colour whereas the foliage has for the mostpart discoloured to brown right through its thicknessThe hillocks which form the foreground and middledistance landscape change in colour from yellow throughgreen to light brown The materials and technique varyin different areas Some parts are painted deliberatelybrown or yellowish brown using different shades ofochres in combination with lead white the brighteryellow and green opaque areas for example behind theBaptists legs and cloak are combinations of lead-tinyellow and verdigris Some of the parts which wereintended to be greenest were given a final glaze ofcopper resinate which has become brown so they havecome to resemble the intentionally brown and yellow-brown parts

The black borders at the two sides of the panel andthe traces of red decoration on them (Fig9) are old butprobably not original The incised lines which indicatethe edge of the composition at each side can be seen onthe X-radiograph (Fig) and closely correspond to theblack border In the top right corner copper resinatefoliage covered by the black border has remained brightgreen giving some indication of the original colour ofthe trees

Because of the good state of preservation there wasquite little scope for paint sampling with the exceptionof the small sections taken to identify the pigments ofthe overpaint and a few selected very small samples toinvestigate the technique [4] The wood of the panel wasidentified microscopically from a transverse thin section

19

20

21

Figure 8 (Above) Raphael S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480) after cleaning and restoration

Figure 9 (Left) Infra-red detail of the Baptist after cleaningand before restoration The traces of red decoration on theblack border (probably not original) can be SCcll

as poplar (Populus sp) The medium was identified asegg tempera except for a sample of the original greenglaze which was walnut oil with a trace of pine resin

The treatment of the picture was comparativelysimple once the pigments in the brown overpaint hadbeen identified The butterfly keys (Fig6) were removedfrom the back of the panel and the split re-glued Theoverpaint was removed mechanically under low magni-fication The filling at the top edge was removed withoutdifficulty and the original gesso ended in a ridge with asat the bottom edge minute traces of red bole and goldleafunder the paint Clearly these ridges had immediatelyadjoined the original gilded frame and this proved thatthe engraver had added to the composition (FigA) at topand bottom before a restorer had extended the picture

Notes and references

1 See GOULD c National Gallery Catalogues TheSixteenth-Century ltalian Schools (London 1975)2 PASSAVANT M Tour oj a German Artist in England(London 1836)3 WYLD M Roy A and SMITHA Gerard DavidsThe Virgin and Child with Saints and a DonorNational Gallery Technical Bulletin 3 (1978)pp51-654 A brief description of the materials and technique ofthe painting will be published in the Proceedings oj thePrinceton Raphael Symposium 1983in a contribution byJoyce Plesters Technical Examination of Some Paintingsby Raphael in the National Gallery London

23

Notes and references

1 GOULDc National Gallery CataloRues The Sixteenth-Century Italian Schools (London 1975) pp216-18 andDUSSLERL Raphael A Critical Catalogue (London1971) pp13-14 with further references2 SCHARFG CataloRue Raisonne [ ] of the Pictures inBlenheim Palace (1862) pAO ROWSEAL The LaterChurchill (Harmondsworth 1971) p120ff describes thetour of Lord Robert who seems to have been in Italy in1767rather than 1764when his age was only seventeen3 SCHARFop cit4 Copy in the National Gallery library (BrockendonCollection) Inscribed Raphael SU pinsit AntCapellan Sculpsit Nobilissimo viro Roberto Spencer(Insignis hujus Tabulae Possessori(C Morison LDMorison may well be the Scottish antiquarian who forexample guided Boswell in Rome in 1765 See Boswellon the Grand Tour (1955) p63ff5 Lord Robert Spencer sale Christies 31 May 1799 lot86 Loan Exhibition of the Lansdowne Collection Agnews(1954-55) p29 noA86 The predella panel measures 292cm (11tin) by538cm (21-rl-in)across the top and 528cm (20iin)across the base The painted area is 262cm (10tin) inheight The altarpiece is 1526cm (61in) in width[painted area 1486cm (58~in)] Since the predella ismore than one-third the width of the painted area of thealtarpiece it is probable that the central predella scene(The Marriage of the Virgin) was narrower than thoseto the left and right and perhaps had some relationshipto the shape of the base of the throne

Figure 1 (Right) Raphael Madonna and Child with the Baptistand S Nicholas oiBari ( The Ansidei Madonna) (Noll71)

Figure 4 (Below) Antonio Capellan engraving in reverse ofSJohn the Baptist Preaching

16

Figure 2 Perugiathechurch0pound5 Fiorenza

Figure 3 Perugia5FiorenzatheAnsideichapel

The treatment of the pictureMartin Wyld

The altarpiece of which S John the Baptist Preaching isa predella (Madonna and Child with the Baptist and SNicholas of Bari (The Ansidei Madonna) No117l [1]Figl) was described by Passavant [2] who had seen it in1831 as being in excellent condition and by Waagenfour years later as having turned very dark in the land-scape and canopy Both descriptions were accurate Ofthe nine paintings by Raphael now in the NationalGallery Collection only the Madonna and Child No2069(commonly known as The Madonna of the Tower orThe Mackintosh Madonna) is poorly preserved theremainder which vary in size from 171cm square (AnAllegory No213) to 28m X 165m (Altarpiece TheCrucified Christ with the Virgin Mary Saints and AngelsNo3943) are all in good condition some of themexceptionally so

The Amidei Madonna (purchased by the NationalGallery in 1885) was cleaned in 1956 and found to bein excellent condition Some minor panel repairs andblister-laying were necessary but no paint had been lostexcept for a few small flakes along old splits in the paneL

SJohn the Baptist Preaching the only surviving part ofthe predella (the other two sceneswere so badly damagedthat they were discarded when the main panel left Italy[1]) was on acquisition so obscured by dirt and varnishthat it was felt to be essential that it be cleaned before thepurchase was announced and the picture put on publicdisplay Fig5 shows the state of the picture on acquisi-tion The bottom edge of the paint was clearly originalending in a slight ridge of gesso on which under thepaint were minute traces of red bole and gold (seePlate3a p18) The unpainted wooden border originallycovered by the frame survived at the bottom exceptwhere a knot in the rather poor quality poplar plank hadfallen out The equivalent border at the top edge hadbeen filled to the level of the original paint surface andre-touched thus adding c15 cm to the height of thepicture The panel (Fig6) had split from the left edgeand had been repaired with butterfly keys but hadotherwise survived well consideri~g the wildness of thegrain and the large number of knots

X-radiographs (Fig7) showed the original edge ofthe paint at the top and a few small damages at the leftand right edges but otherwise revealed no damagemore significant than the two lacunae in the stout figurein the left-hand group The cleaning of the picture wasinitially quite straightforward After the removal of thesurface dirt a thick layer of discoloured varnish whichcovered the whole picture and the addition at the topedge were cleaned away without difficulty The puttyover the unpainted border at the top was insecurelyattached and the re-touching over it which consisted ofsynthetic ultramarine viridian and earth pigments(Plate 3b p18) was easily soluble It was at this stage ofthe cleaning that certain similarities with the cleaning ofthe Ansidei Madonna in 1956 became apparent Firstlythe remains of an orangebrown varnish layer wereengrained in the texture of the sky and some slightstaining of the paint seemed to have resulted A similar

17

Plate 1 Ibphacl SJohnhe Bapist Pcltchillr(NoMHO) during cleaning

Plate 2 Raphael SJollll tIe Bapist Preachillg (No64RO) after cleaning and restoration

Plate 3Raphael S John the BaptistPreaching (No6480)photomicrographs of thetop surface of samplesfrom the edge of thepictureFull caption on facingpage

18a 85x

layer had been found on the throne arch and particularlythe floor of the altarpiece itself Secondly the reason forthe extraordinarily dull appearance of the predella becameclear A brownish black layer had been painted over allthe landscape from the horizon to the bottom of thepicture and over the trees on the left but not those inthe centre or right of the sky The same layer had beenpainted seemingly almost at random over many of thefigures Plate 1 (p1S) shows the whole picture duringcleaning The brown layer can be seen most clearly inthe foreground between the stout standing figure andthe figure to his right it also covers the stout figuresgreen cloak the shadowed part of the green drapery ofthe seated figure in the right foreground the red andgreen sash of the figure with the red hat facing awayfrom the Baptist and other smaller areas of draperyincluding the green peaked hat of the central profiledspectator

Much of the landscape of the (Ansidei Aladonna hadbeen covered with a similar layer which was partiallysoluble and which as with the predella was removedmechanically It is not unusual to find that landscape andfoliage glazed originally with copper resinate havebeen overpainted to imitate a discoloured copper resin-ate layer [3] It is surprising to find that such a layer hasbeen applied over other colours as well for instanceover the red lake glaze on the hat of the figure onhorseback and over the red part of the sash of the centralfigure with the red hat Plate 1 (p1S) shows clearly thetwo distinct layers of varnish over the left part of thesky and also the staining of the sky near the horizonwhich resembled the staining of the architecture in themain altarpiece The filling and repaint over theunpainted border at the top can be seen during theirremoval

The hat of the mounted figure in the left backgroundpresented a minor problem during cleaning It wasbefore cleaning a rather curious shape with an eccentric-ally placed point like a leaning church spire Both themain part of the hat and the point were covered with thebrown repaint though a red lake colour could be seenunderneath In the X-radiograph (Fig) the hills on the

Plate3 Raphael 5John the Baptist Preaching (No6480)

(a) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of originalgreen paint from the bottom edge of the picture showing thebole and gilding of the original frame (now lost) continuingunder the paint layer

(b) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of thebrowned green re-touching on the puttied strip along the topedge of the picture The blue pigment particles are artificialultramarine the green are viridian both of nineteenth-centuryinvention

horizon can be seen to be painted round the main part ofthe hat whereas the pointed crown has the paint of thehills beneath it Cross-section examination of a verysmall sample from the edge of the hat brim showed anoriginal red lake layer slightly overlapping the pale bluepaint of the hills Examination under the low-poweredstereoscopic microscope showed that the pointed part ofthe hat consisted of a brown resinous layer lying in thehollows of the brushstrokes of the hills it was similar tobut older than the overpaint on the landscape

The late-eighteenth-century engraving (Fig A) showswith reasonable accuracy the details of the landscape andthe folds of drapery uncovered during the recent clean-ing The engraving seems to pre-date the overpainting ofthe landscape and drapery which obscured much of thepicture The engraver has added slightly to the top edgeof the composition perhaps to give more room abovethe Baptists head and very slightly to the bottom edgeThe addition to the picture itself at the top edge (Plate 1and 3b p1S Fig5) contained synthetic ultramarine(introduced as a pigment in 1828) and viridian (trans-parent chromium oxide first made in the rnid-nineteenth-century) The same two pigments were used in theoverpaint on the landscape and drapery with the addi-tion of carbon black and earth pigments

The foliage of the trees in the centre and right of thepicture the only parts of the landscape not to have beenoverpainted consists mainly of a copper resinate layernow discoloured directly on top of the sky There isalso discoloured copper resinate in the darkest parts ofthe green drapery and in some of the foreground Thedarks in the drapery have a bright green underpaintunlike the foliage and this helps them retain some oftheir original colour whereas the foliage has for the mostpart discoloured to brown right through its thicknessThe hillocks which form the foreground and middledistance landscape change in colour from yellow throughgreen to light brown The materials and technique varyin different areas Some parts are painted deliberatelybrown or yellowish brown using different shades ofochres in combination with lead white the brighteryellow and green opaque areas for example behind theBaptists legs and cloak are combinations of lead-tinyellow and verdigris Some of the parts which wereintended to be greenest were given a final glaze ofcopper resinate which has become brown so they havecome to resemble the intentionally brown and yellow-brown parts

The black borders at the two sides of the panel andthe traces of red decoration on them (Fig9) are old butprobably not original The incised lines which indicatethe edge of the composition at each side can be seen onthe X-radiograph (Fig) and closely correspond to theblack border In the top right corner copper resinatefoliage covered by the black border has remained brightgreen giving some indication of the original colour ofthe trees

Because of the good state of preservation there wasquite little scope for paint sampling with the exceptionof the small sections taken to identify the pigments ofthe overpaint and a few selected very small samples toinvestigate the technique [4] The wood of the panel wasidentified microscopically from a transverse thin section

19

20

21

Figure 8 (Above) Raphael S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480) after cleaning and restoration

Figure 9 (Left) Infra-red detail of the Baptist after cleaningand before restoration The traces of red decoration on theblack border (probably not original) can be SCcll

as poplar (Populus sp) The medium was identified asegg tempera except for a sample of the original greenglaze which was walnut oil with a trace of pine resin

The treatment of the picture was comparativelysimple once the pigments in the brown overpaint hadbeen identified The butterfly keys (Fig6) were removedfrom the back of the panel and the split re-glued Theoverpaint was removed mechanically under low magni-fication The filling at the top edge was removed withoutdifficulty and the original gesso ended in a ridge with asat the bottom edge minute traces of red bole and goldleafunder the paint Clearly these ridges had immediatelyadjoined the original gilded frame and this proved thatthe engraver had added to the composition (FigA) at topand bottom before a restorer had extended the picture

Notes and references

1 See GOULD c National Gallery Catalogues TheSixteenth-Century ltalian Schools (London 1975)2 PASSAVANT M Tour oj a German Artist in England(London 1836)3 WYLD M Roy A and SMITHA Gerard DavidsThe Virgin and Child with Saints and a DonorNational Gallery Technical Bulletin 3 (1978)pp51-654 A brief description of the materials and technique ofthe painting will be published in the Proceedings oj thePrinceton Raphael Symposium 1983in a contribution byJoyce Plesters Technical Examination of Some Paintingsby Raphael in the National Gallery London

23

Figure 2 Perugiathechurch0pound5 Fiorenza

Figure 3 Perugia5FiorenzatheAnsideichapel

The treatment of the pictureMartin Wyld

The altarpiece of which S John the Baptist Preaching isa predella (Madonna and Child with the Baptist and SNicholas of Bari (The Ansidei Madonna) No117l [1]Figl) was described by Passavant [2] who had seen it in1831 as being in excellent condition and by Waagenfour years later as having turned very dark in the land-scape and canopy Both descriptions were accurate Ofthe nine paintings by Raphael now in the NationalGallery Collection only the Madonna and Child No2069(commonly known as The Madonna of the Tower orThe Mackintosh Madonna) is poorly preserved theremainder which vary in size from 171cm square (AnAllegory No213) to 28m X 165m (Altarpiece TheCrucified Christ with the Virgin Mary Saints and AngelsNo3943) are all in good condition some of themexceptionally so

The Amidei Madonna (purchased by the NationalGallery in 1885) was cleaned in 1956 and found to bein excellent condition Some minor panel repairs andblister-laying were necessary but no paint had been lostexcept for a few small flakes along old splits in the paneL

SJohn the Baptist Preaching the only surviving part ofthe predella (the other two sceneswere so badly damagedthat they were discarded when the main panel left Italy[1]) was on acquisition so obscured by dirt and varnishthat it was felt to be essential that it be cleaned before thepurchase was announced and the picture put on publicdisplay Fig5 shows the state of the picture on acquisi-tion The bottom edge of the paint was clearly originalending in a slight ridge of gesso on which under thepaint were minute traces of red bole and gold (seePlate3a p18) The unpainted wooden border originallycovered by the frame survived at the bottom exceptwhere a knot in the rather poor quality poplar plank hadfallen out The equivalent border at the top edge hadbeen filled to the level of the original paint surface andre-touched thus adding c15 cm to the height of thepicture The panel (Fig6) had split from the left edgeand had been repaired with butterfly keys but hadotherwise survived well consideri~g the wildness of thegrain and the large number of knots

X-radiographs (Fig7) showed the original edge ofthe paint at the top and a few small damages at the leftand right edges but otherwise revealed no damagemore significant than the two lacunae in the stout figurein the left-hand group The cleaning of the picture wasinitially quite straightforward After the removal of thesurface dirt a thick layer of discoloured varnish whichcovered the whole picture and the addition at the topedge were cleaned away without difficulty The puttyover the unpainted border at the top was insecurelyattached and the re-touching over it which consisted ofsynthetic ultramarine viridian and earth pigments(Plate 3b p18) was easily soluble It was at this stage ofthe cleaning that certain similarities with the cleaning ofthe Ansidei Madonna in 1956 became apparent Firstlythe remains of an orangebrown varnish layer wereengrained in the texture of the sky and some slightstaining of the paint seemed to have resulted A similar

17

Plate 1 Ibphacl SJohnhe Bapist Pcltchillr(NoMHO) during cleaning

Plate 2 Raphael SJollll tIe Bapist Preachillg (No64RO) after cleaning and restoration

Plate 3Raphael S John the BaptistPreaching (No6480)photomicrographs of thetop surface of samplesfrom the edge of thepictureFull caption on facingpage

18a 85x

layer had been found on the throne arch and particularlythe floor of the altarpiece itself Secondly the reason forthe extraordinarily dull appearance of the predella becameclear A brownish black layer had been painted over allthe landscape from the horizon to the bottom of thepicture and over the trees on the left but not those inthe centre or right of the sky The same layer had beenpainted seemingly almost at random over many of thefigures Plate 1 (p1S) shows the whole picture duringcleaning The brown layer can be seen most clearly inthe foreground between the stout standing figure andthe figure to his right it also covers the stout figuresgreen cloak the shadowed part of the green drapery ofthe seated figure in the right foreground the red andgreen sash of the figure with the red hat facing awayfrom the Baptist and other smaller areas of draperyincluding the green peaked hat of the central profiledspectator

Much of the landscape of the (Ansidei Aladonna hadbeen covered with a similar layer which was partiallysoluble and which as with the predella was removedmechanically It is not unusual to find that landscape andfoliage glazed originally with copper resinate havebeen overpainted to imitate a discoloured copper resin-ate layer [3] It is surprising to find that such a layer hasbeen applied over other colours as well for instanceover the red lake glaze on the hat of the figure onhorseback and over the red part of the sash of the centralfigure with the red hat Plate 1 (p1S) shows clearly thetwo distinct layers of varnish over the left part of thesky and also the staining of the sky near the horizonwhich resembled the staining of the architecture in themain altarpiece The filling and repaint over theunpainted border at the top can be seen during theirremoval

The hat of the mounted figure in the left backgroundpresented a minor problem during cleaning It wasbefore cleaning a rather curious shape with an eccentric-ally placed point like a leaning church spire Both themain part of the hat and the point were covered with thebrown repaint though a red lake colour could be seenunderneath In the X-radiograph (Fig) the hills on the

Plate3 Raphael 5John the Baptist Preaching (No6480)

(a) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of originalgreen paint from the bottom edge of the picture showing thebole and gilding of the original frame (now lost) continuingunder the paint layer

(b) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of thebrowned green re-touching on the puttied strip along the topedge of the picture The blue pigment particles are artificialultramarine the green are viridian both of nineteenth-centuryinvention

horizon can be seen to be painted round the main part ofthe hat whereas the pointed crown has the paint of thehills beneath it Cross-section examination of a verysmall sample from the edge of the hat brim showed anoriginal red lake layer slightly overlapping the pale bluepaint of the hills Examination under the low-poweredstereoscopic microscope showed that the pointed part ofthe hat consisted of a brown resinous layer lying in thehollows of the brushstrokes of the hills it was similar tobut older than the overpaint on the landscape

The late-eighteenth-century engraving (Fig A) showswith reasonable accuracy the details of the landscape andthe folds of drapery uncovered during the recent clean-ing The engraving seems to pre-date the overpainting ofthe landscape and drapery which obscured much of thepicture The engraver has added slightly to the top edgeof the composition perhaps to give more room abovethe Baptists head and very slightly to the bottom edgeThe addition to the picture itself at the top edge (Plate 1and 3b p1S Fig5) contained synthetic ultramarine(introduced as a pigment in 1828) and viridian (trans-parent chromium oxide first made in the rnid-nineteenth-century) The same two pigments were used in theoverpaint on the landscape and drapery with the addi-tion of carbon black and earth pigments

The foliage of the trees in the centre and right of thepicture the only parts of the landscape not to have beenoverpainted consists mainly of a copper resinate layernow discoloured directly on top of the sky There isalso discoloured copper resinate in the darkest parts ofthe green drapery and in some of the foreground Thedarks in the drapery have a bright green underpaintunlike the foliage and this helps them retain some oftheir original colour whereas the foliage has for the mostpart discoloured to brown right through its thicknessThe hillocks which form the foreground and middledistance landscape change in colour from yellow throughgreen to light brown The materials and technique varyin different areas Some parts are painted deliberatelybrown or yellowish brown using different shades ofochres in combination with lead white the brighteryellow and green opaque areas for example behind theBaptists legs and cloak are combinations of lead-tinyellow and verdigris Some of the parts which wereintended to be greenest were given a final glaze ofcopper resinate which has become brown so they havecome to resemble the intentionally brown and yellow-brown parts

The black borders at the two sides of the panel andthe traces of red decoration on them (Fig9) are old butprobably not original The incised lines which indicatethe edge of the composition at each side can be seen onthe X-radiograph (Fig) and closely correspond to theblack border In the top right corner copper resinatefoliage covered by the black border has remained brightgreen giving some indication of the original colour ofthe trees

Because of the good state of preservation there wasquite little scope for paint sampling with the exceptionof the small sections taken to identify the pigments ofthe overpaint and a few selected very small samples toinvestigate the technique [4] The wood of the panel wasidentified microscopically from a transverse thin section

19

20

21

Figure 8 (Above) Raphael S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480) after cleaning and restoration

Figure 9 (Left) Infra-red detail of the Baptist after cleaningand before restoration The traces of red decoration on theblack border (probably not original) can be SCcll

as poplar (Populus sp) The medium was identified asegg tempera except for a sample of the original greenglaze which was walnut oil with a trace of pine resin

The treatment of the picture was comparativelysimple once the pigments in the brown overpaint hadbeen identified The butterfly keys (Fig6) were removedfrom the back of the panel and the split re-glued Theoverpaint was removed mechanically under low magni-fication The filling at the top edge was removed withoutdifficulty and the original gesso ended in a ridge with asat the bottom edge minute traces of red bole and goldleafunder the paint Clearly these ridges had immediatelyadjoined the original gilded frame and this proved thatthe engraver had added to the composition (FigA) at topand bottom before a restorer had extended the picture

Notes and references

1 See GOULD c National Gallery Catalogues TheSixteenth-Century ltalian Schools (London 1975)2 PASSAVANT M Tour oj a German Artist in England(London 1836)3 WYLD M Roy A and SMITHA Gerard DavidsThe Virgin and Child with Saints and a DonorNational Gallery Technical Bulletin 3 (1978)pp51-654 A brief description of the materials and technique ofthe painting will be published in the Proceedings oj thePrinceton Raphael Symposium 1983in a contribution byJoyce Plesters Technical Examination of Some Paintingsby Raphael in the National Gallery London

23

Plate 1 Ibphacl SJohnhe Bapist Pcltchillr(NoMHO) during cleaning

Plate 2 Raphael SJollll tIe Bapist Preachillg (No64RO) after cleaning and restoration

Plate 3Raphael S John the BaptistPreaching (No6480)photomicrographs of thetop surface of samplesfrom the edge of thepictureFull caption on facingpage

18a 85x

layer had been found on the throne arch and particularlythe floor of the altarpiece itself Secondly the reason forthe extraordinarily dull appearance of the predella becameclear A brownish black layer had been painted over allthe landscape from the horizon to the bottom of thepicture and over the trees on the left but not those inthe centre or right of the sky The same layer had beenpainted seemingly almost at random over many of thefigures Plate 1 (p1S) shows the whole picture duringcleaning The brown layer can be seen most clearly inthe foreground between the stout standing figure andthe figure to his right it also covers the stout figuresgreen cloak the shadowed part of the green drapery ofthe seated figure in the right foreground the red andgreen sash of the figure with the red hat facing awayfrom the Baptist and other smaller areas of draperyincluding the green peaked hat of the central profiledspectator

Much of the landscape of the (Ansidei Aladonna hadbeen covered with a similar layer which was partiallysoluble and which as with the predella was removedmechanically It is not unusual to find that landscape andfoliage glazed originally with copper resinate havebeen overpainted to imitate a discoloured copper resin-ate layer [3] It is surprising to find that such a layer hasbeen applied over other colours as well for instanceover the red lake glaze on the hat of the figure onhorseback and over the red part of the sash of the centralfigure with the red hat Plate 1 (p1S) shows clearly thetwo distinct layers of varnish over the left part of thesky and also the staining of the sky near the horizonwhich resembled the staining of the architecture in themain altarpiece The filling and repaint over theunpainted border at the top can be seen during theirremoval

The hat of the mounted figure in the left backgroundpresented a minor problem during cleaning It wasbefore cleaning a rather curious shape with an eccentric-ally placed point like a leaning church spire Both themain part of the hat and the point were covered with thebrown repaint though a red lake colour could be seenunderneath In the X-radiograph (Fig) the hills on the

Plate3 Raphael 5John the Baptist Preaching (No6480)

(a) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of originalgreen paint from the bottom edge of the picture showing thebole and gilding of the original frame (now lost) continuingunder the paint layer

(b) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of thebrowned green re-touching on the puttied strip along the topedge of the picture The blue pigment particles are artificialultramarine the green are viridian both of nineteenth-centuryinvention

horizon can be seen to be painted round the main part ofthe hat whereas the pointed crown has the paint of thehills beneath it Cross-section examination of a verysmall sample from the edge of the hat brim showed anoriginal red lake layer slightly overlapping the pale bluepaint of the hills Examination under the low-poweredstereoscopic microscope showed that the pointed part ofthe hat consisted of a brown resinous layer lying in thehollows of the brushstrokes of the hills it was similar tobut older than the overpaint on the landscape

The late-eighteenth-century engraving (Fig A) showswith reasonable accuracy the details of the landscape andthe folds of drapery uncovered during the recent clean-ing The engraving seems to pre-date the overpainting ofthe landscape and drapery which obscured much of thepicture The engraver has added slightly to the top edgeof the composition perhaps to give more room abovethe Baptists head and very slightly to the bottom edgeThe addition to the picture itself at the top edge (Plate 1and 3b p1S Fig5) contained synthetic ultramarine(introduced as a pigment in 1828) and viridian (trans-parent chromium oxide first made in the rnid-nineteenth-century) The same two pigments were used in theoverpaint on the landscape and drapery with the addi-tion of carbon black and earth pigments

The foliage of the trees in the centre and right of thepicture the only parts of the landscape not to have beenoverpainted consists mainly of a copper resinate layernow discoloured directly on top of the sky There isalso discoloured copper resinate in the darkest parts ofthe green drapery and in some of the foreground Thedarks in the drapery have a bright green underpaintunlike the foliage and this helps them retain some oftheir original colour whereas the foliage has for the mostpart discoloured to brown right through its thicknessThe hillocks which form the foreground and middledistance landscape change in colour from yellow throughgreen to light brown The materials and technique varyin different areas Some parts are painted deliberatelybrown or yellowish brown using different shades ofochres in combination with lead white the brighteryellow and green opaque areas for example behind theBaptists legs and cloak are combinations of lead-tinyellow and verdigris Some of the parts which wereintended to be greenest were given a final glaze ofcopper resinate which has become brown so they havecome to resemble the intentionally brown and yellow-brown parts

The black borders at the two sides of the panel andthe traces of red decoration on them (Fig9) are old butprobably not original The incised lines which indicatethe edge of the composition at each side can be seen onthe X-radiograph (Fig) and closely correspond to theblack border In the top right corner copper resinatefoliage covered by the black border has remained brightgreen giving some indication of the original colour ofthe trees

Because of the good state of preservation there wasquite little scope for paint sampling with the exceptionof the small sections taken to identify the pigments ofthe overpaint and a few selected very small samples toinvestigate the technique [4] The wood of the panel wasidentified microscopically from a transverse thin section

19

20

21

Figure 8 (Above) Raphael S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480) after cleaning and restoration

Figure 9 (Left) Infra-red detail of the Baptist after cleaningand before restoration The traces of red decoration on theblack border (probably not original) can be SCcll

as poplar (Populus sp) The medium was identified asegg tempera except for a sample of the original greenglaze which was walnut oil with a trace of pine resin

The treatment of the picture was comparativelysimple once the pigments in the brown overpaint hadbeen identified The butterfly keys (Fig6) were removedfrom the back of the panel and the split re-glued Theoverpaint was removed mechanically under low magni-fication The filling at the top edge was removed withoutdifficulty and the original gesso ended in a ridge with asat the bottom edge minute traces of red bole and goldleafunder the paint Clearly these ridges had immediatelyadjoined the original gilded frame and this proved thatthe engraver had added to the composition (FigA) at topand bottom before a restorer had extended the picture

Notes and references

1 See GOULD c National Gallery Catalogues TheSixteenth-Century ltalian Schools (London 1975)2 PASSAVANT M Tour oj a German Artist in England(London 1836)3 WYLD M Roy A and SMITHA Gerard DavidsThe Virgin and Child with Saints and a DonorNational Gallery Technical Bulletin 3 (1978)pp51-654 A brief description of the materials and technique ofthe painting will be published in the Proceedings oj thePrinceton Raphael Symposium 1983in a contribution byJoyce Plesters Technical Examination of Some Paintingsby Raphael in the National Gallery London

23

layer had been found on the throne arch and particularlythe floor of the altarpiece itself Secondly the reason forthe extraordinarily dull appearance of the predella becameclear A brownish black layer had been painted over allthe landscape from the horizon to the bottom of thepicture and over the trees on the left but not those inthe centre or right of the sky The same layer had beenpainted seemingly almost at random over many of thefigures Plate 1 (p1S) shows the whole picture duringcleaning The brown layer can be seen most clearly inthe foreground between the stout standing figure andthe figure to his right it also covers the stout figuresgreen cloak the shadowed part of the green drapery ofthe seated figure in the right foreground the red andgreen sash of the figure with the red hat facing awayfrom the Baptist and other smaller areas of draperyincluding the green peaked hat of the central profiledspectator

Much of the landscape of the (Ansidei Aladonna hadbeen covered with a similar layer which was partiallysoluble and which as with the predella was removedmechanically It is not unusual to find that landscape andfoliage glazed originally with copper resinate havebeen overpainted to imitate a discoloured copper resin-ate layer [3] It is surprising to find that such a layer hasbeen applied over other colours as well for instanceover the red lake glaze on the hat of the figure onhorseback and over the red part of the sash of the centralfigure with the red hat Plate 1 (p1S) shows clearly thetwo distinct layers of varnish over the left part of thesky and also the staining of the sky near the horizonwhich resembled the staining of the architecture in themain altarpiece The filling and repaint over theunpainted border at the top can be seen during theirremoval

The hat of the mounted figure in the left backgroundpresented a minor problem during cleaning It wasbefore cleaning a rather curious shape with an eccentric-ally placed point like a leaning church spire Both themain part of the hat and the point were covered with thebrown repaint though a red lake colour could be seenunderneath In the X-radiograph (Fig) the hills on the

Plate3 Raphael 5John the Baptist Preaching (No6480)

(a) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of originalgreen paint from the bottom edge of the picture showing thebole and gilding of the original frame (now lost) continuingunder the paint layer

(b) Photomicrograph of the top surface of a sample of thebrowned green re-touching on the puttied strip along the topedge of the picture The blue pigment particles are artificialultramarine the green are viridian both of nineteenth-centuryinvention

horizon can be seen to be painted round the main part ofthe hat whereas the pointed crown has the paint of thehills beneath it Cross-section examination of a verysmall sample from the edge of the hat brim showed anoriginal red lake layer slightly overlapping the pale bluepaint of the hills Examination under the low-poweredstereoscopic microscope showed that the pointed part ofthe hat consisted of a brown resinous layer lying in thehollows of the brushstrokes of the hills it was similar tobut older than the overpaint on the landscape

The late-eighteenth-century engraving (Fig A) showswith reasonable accuracy the details of the landscape andthe folds of drapery uncovered during the recent clean-ing The engraving seems to pre-date the overpainting ofthe landscape and drapery which obscured much of thepicture The engraver has added slightly to the top edgeof the composition perhaps to give more room abovethe Baptists head and very slightly to the bottom edgeThe addition to the picture itself at the top edge (Plate 1and 3b p1S Fig5) contained synthetic ultramarine(introduced as a pigment in 1828) and viridian (trans-parent chromium oxide first made in the rnid-nineteenth-century) The same two pigments were used in theoverpaint on the landscape and drapery with the addi-tion of carbon black and earth pigments

The foliage of the trees in the centre and right of thepicture the only parts of the landscape not to have beenoverpainted consists mainly of a copper resinate layernow discoloured directly on top of the sky There isalso discoloured copper resinate in the darkest parts ofthe green drapery and in some of the foreground Thedarks in the drapery have a bright green underpaintunlike the foliage and this helps them retain some oftheir original colour whereas the foliage has for the mostpart discoloured to brown right through its thicknessThe hillocks which form the foreground and middledistance landscape change in colour from yellow throughgreen to light brown The materials and technique varyin different areas Some parts are painted deliberatelybrown or yellowish brown using different shades ofochres in combination with lead white the brighteryellow and green opaque areas for example behind theBaptists legs and cloak are combinations of lead-tinyellow and verdigris Some of the parts which wereintended to be greenest were given a final glaze ofcopper resinate which has become brown so they havecome to resemble the intentionally brown and yellow-brown parts

The black borders at the two sides of the panel andthe traces of red decoration on them (Fig9) are old butprobably not original The incised lines which indicatethe edge of the composition at each side can be seen onthe X-radiograph (Fig) and closely correspond to theblack border In the top right corner copper resinatefoliage covered by the black border has remained brightgreen giving some indication of the original colour ofthe trees

Because of the good state of preservation there wasquite little scope for paint sampling with the exceptionof the small sections taken to identify the pigments ofthe overpaint and a few selected very small samples toinvestigate the technique [4] The wood of the panel wasidentified microscopically from a transverse thin section

19

20

21

Figure 8 (Above) Raphael S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480) after cleaning and restoration

Figure 9 (Left) Infra-red detail of the Baptist after cleaningand before restoration The traces of red decoration on theblack border (probably not original) can be SCcll

as poplar (Populus sp) The medium was identified asegg tempera except for a sample of the original greenglaze which was walnut oil with a trace of pine resin

The treatment of the picture was comparativelysimple once the pigments in the brown overpaint hadbeen identified The butterfly keys (Fig6) were removedfrom the back of the panel and the split re-glued Theoverpaint was removed mechanically under low magni-fication The filling at the top edge was removed withoutdifficulty and the original gesso ended in a ridge with asat the bottom edge minute traces of red bole and goldleafunder the paint Clearly these ridges had immediatelyadjoined the original gilded frame and this proved thatthe engraver had added to the composition (FigA) at topand bottom before a restorer had extended the picture

Notes and references

1 See GOULD c National Gallery Catalogues TheSixteenth-Century ltalian Schools (London 1975)2 PASSAVANT M Tour oj a German Artist in England(London 1836)3 WYLD M Roy A and SMITHA Gerard DavidsThe Virgin and Child with Saints and a DonorNational Gallery Technical Bulletin 3 (1978)pp51-654 A brief description of the materials and technique ofthe painting will be published in the Proceedings oj thePrinceton Raphael Symposium 1983in a contribution byJoyce Plesters Technical Examination of Some Paintingsby Raphael in the National Gallery London

23

20

21

Figure 8 (Above) Raphael S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480) after cleaning and restoration

Figure 9 (Left) Infra-red detail of the Baptist after cleaningand before restoration The traces of red decoration on theblack border (probably not original) can be SCcll

as poplar (Populus sp) The medium was identified asegg tempera except for a sample of the original greenglaze which was walnut oil with a trace of pine resin

The treatment of the picture was comparativelysimple once the pigments in the brown overpaint hadbeen identified The butterfly keys (Fig6) were removedfrom the back of the panel and the split re-glued Theoverpaint was removed mechanically under low magni-fication The filling at the top edge was removed withoutdifficulty and the original gesso ended in a ridge with asat the bottom edge minute traces of red bole and goldleafunder the paint Clearly these ridges had immediatelyadjoined the original gilded frame and this proved thatthe engraver had added to the composition (FigA) at topand bottom before a restorer had extended the picture

Notes and references

1 See GOULD c National Gallery Catalogues TheSixteenth-Century ltalian Schools (London 1975)2 PASSAVANT M Tour oj a German Artist in England(London 1836)3 WYLD M Roy A and SMITHA Gerard DavidsThe Virgin and Child with Saints and a DonorNational Gallery Technical Bulletin 3 (1978)pp51-654 A brief description of the materials and technique ofthe painting will be published in the Proceedings oj thePrinceton Raphael Symposium 1983in a contribution byJoyce Plesters Technical Examination of Some Paintingsby Raphael in the National Gallery London

23

21

Figure 8 (Above) Raphael S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480) after cleaning and restoration

Figure 9 (Left) Infra-red detail of the Baptist after cleaningand before restoration The traces of red decoration on theblack border (probably not original) can be SCcll

as poplar (Populus sp) The medium was identified asegg tempera except for a sample of the original greenglaze which was walnut oil with a trace of pine resin

The treatment of the picture was comparativelysimple once the pigments in the brown overpaint hadbeen identified The butterfly keys (Fig6) were removedfrom the back of the panel and the split re-glued Theoverpaint was removed mechanically under low magni-fication The filling at the top edge was removed withoutdifficulty and the original gesso ended in a ridge with asat the bottom edge minute traces of red bole and goldleafunder the paint Clearly these ridges had immediatelyadjoined the original gilded frame and this proved thatthe engraver had added to the composition (FigA) at topand bottom before a restorer had extended the picture

Notes and references

1 See GOULD c National Gallery Catalogues TheSixteenth-Century ltalian Schools (London 1975)2 PASSAVANT M Tour oj a German Artist in England(London 1836)3 WYLD M Roy A and SMITHA Gerard DavidsThe Virgin and Child with Saints and a DonorNational Gallery Technical Bulletin 3 (1978)pp51-654 A brief description of the materials and technique ofthe painting will be published in the Proceedings oj thePrinceton Raphael Symposium 1983in a contribution byJoyce Plesters Technical Examination of Some Paintingsby Raphael in the National Gallery London

23

Figure 8 (Above) Raphael S John the Baptist Preaching(No6480) after cleaning and restoration

Figure 9 (Left) Infra-red detail of the Baptist after cleaningand before restoration The traces of red decoration on theblack border (probably not original) can be SCcll

as poplar (Populus sp) The medium was identified asegg tempera except for a sample of the original greenglaze which was walnut oil with a trace of pine resin

The treatment of the picture was comparativelysimple once the pigments in the brown overpaint hadbeen identified The butterfly keys (Fig6) were removedfrom the back of the panel and the split re-glued Theoverpaint was removed mechanically under low magni-fication The filling at the top edge was removed withoutdifficulty and the original gesso ended in a ridge with asat the bottom edge minute traces of red bole and goldleafunder the paint Clearly these ridges had immediatelyadjoined the original gilded frame and this proved thatthe engraver had added to the composition (FigA) at topand bottom before a restorer had extended the picture

Notes and references

1 See GOULD c National Gallery Catalogues TheSixteenth-Century ltalian Schools (London 1975)2 PASSAVANT M Tour oj a German Artist in England(London 1836)3 WYLD M Roy A and SMITHA Gerard DavidsThe Virgin and Child with Saints and a DonorNational Gallery Technical Bulletin 3 (1978)pp51-654 A brief description of the materials and technique ofthe painting will be published in the Proceedings oj thePrinceton Raphael Symposium 1983in a contribution byJoyce Plesters Technical Examination of Some Paintingsby Raphael in the National Gallery London

23