'Samson and Delilah': Rubens and the Art and Craft of Painting on Panel

Joyce Plesters
Technical Bulletin Volume 7, 1983

Abstract

Rubens's Samson and Delilah is examined in detail with reference to Sir Theodore Turquet de Mayerne's notebook on 17th century Flemish and Dutch painters. The examination includes the wood panel support, the chalk ground, the absence of the preliminary drawing on the primed chalk ground, the pigments, and the paint medium. The painting procedure and the paint layer structure are determined through X-radiography and microscopic analyses of paint samples. The literature and studies of Rubens's paintings provide no concrete evidence whether or not he ever varnished his paintings.

Keywords

panel paintings, Peter Paul Rubens, technical analysis

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To cite this article we suggest using

Plesters, J. '"Samson and Delilah": Rubens and the Art and Craft of Painting on Panel'. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 7, pp 30–49.
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/plesters1983

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