Subproject 1: The spread of coloured grounds to the Netherlands

This subproject investigates the mechanisms and routes of knowledge transmission, by gathering existing and new technical data from paintings with coloured grounds and identifying artistic networks (local influences, social/artistic circles, international movements of artists and their works, transfer of artistic concepts, spread and translation of art technological texts). By using a large data set, hitherto unknown patterns and clusters will be recognised, providing new insights into knowledge transmission and allowing an evaluation of local and artistic variations. Contemporary Early Modern science on colour and optics in Italy and the Netherlands will be studied to establish its role in the implementation of coloured grounds and its contribution to changing artistic practice.

Subproject 2: The role of ground colour within the painting process and its influence on appearance

Ground colour cannot be understood in isolation, without considering the painting as a whole in its historical and technical context. This subproject performs in-depth investigations of actual paintings to understand how artists exploited the physical and visual properties of coloured grounds. Both the role of the ground colour in the final appearance of paintings, and its role during the painting process are examined. Study of contemporary recipe manuals and step-by-step reconstructions of paintings will help develop an understanding of this process. These insights will be connected to stylistic and socio-economic factors identified in subproject 1. Finally, the question of how the intended appearance of paintings with coloured ground layers differs from their current appearance will be investigated.

Subproject 3: The optics of coloured grounds, development of depth-resolved hyperspectral imaging (DRSI)

Analytical techniques in heritage science help (technical) art historians and conservators in understanding the composition and degradation of materials in artworks. Down to the Ground tackles new challenges for analytical instrumentation development. The partial transparency of the paint layers results in spectral contributions by different layers to the overall visual appearance. The investigation of this phenomenon, requires depth-resolved spectral imaging measurements to fully understand the physics of the optical effects. The objective of this subproject is to model and develop novel depth-resolved spectral imaging (DRSI) instrumentation that helps investigate the optical properties of grounds and their optical interaction with other paint layers. This interaction is crucial in our analysis of artist’s methods and for the evaluation of optical effects and material degradation.