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Conserving the Past for the Future
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A Conservation Tour
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Christ and the Virgin in the House at Nazareth: How a Painting's Appearance Changes Over Time
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| Franciso de Zurbarán (Spanish, 1598-1664) Christ and the Virgin in the House at Nazareth, about 1635-40 Oil on canvas, 165 x 218.2 cm Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1960.117 |
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Brushwork
Zurbarán painted much of Christ and the Virgin in the House at Nazareth with a fluid paste paint with enough body to retain the texture of the brushstrokes. In general the paint appears deliberately applied, and long single strokes following the drapery contours are visible. Zurbarán's regular brushwork is animated by a few passages in which wet colors were blended together with a series of short, vigorous strokes, as in some of the drapery highlights. Opaque, semi-opaque, and transparent paints were used in a variety of ways throughout the painting, both in single layers, as in the foreground tone, and sometimes in more complex layer structures, such as the drapery and flesh tones. In some areas of the painting, the artist blocked in lighter colors to create different effects on the final surface.
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Page 6 of 11 | On the next page: The Painting Sequence