Down to the Ground
A Historical, Visual and Scientific Analysis of Coloured Grounds in Netherlandish Paintings, 1550-1650
Down to the Ground writes an interdisciplinary history of coloured grounds that establishes how coloured grounds spread to the Netherlands in the sixteenth century, investigates what scientific insights influenced their introduction, determines how coloured grounds changed painters’ practices, and creates an understanding of the visual qualities of paintings at the time of their making and after centuries of ageing.
Public Lecture by Melanie Gifford on 28 May 2024
On the occasion of an international Down to the Ground expert meeting, Dr. Melanie Gifford - renowned expert on seventeenth-century Dutch painting - will talk about her ongoing research into Dutch seventeenth-century landscape paintings, with emphasis on the role of the colour of the preparatory layer applied below the paint layers.
