Marcello Bacciarelli (1731–1818)
Portrait of Ludwika Zamoyska, née Poniatowska, 1780–1790 Gift of Julia Branicka, née Potocka, from Sucha, 1910 Having been crowned king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski paid attention to the portraying of the members of his family. Marcello Bacciarelli painted most of these works. The portrait of Ludwika Zamoyska, née Poniatowska, (1728–1804) depicts the king’s sister, the daughter of Stanisław Poniatowski, the voivode (governor) of the Masovia region, the castellan of Krakow, and Konstancja, née Czartoryska. In 1746, Ludwika married Jan Jakub Zamoyski, the voivode of the Podole region. Bacciarelli, the king’s favourite painter and the most distinguished portraitist working in Poland at the time, portrayed Ludwika Zamoyska in winter attire. The painting has the characteristic qualities of the painter’s works from the 1780s: it is painted smoothly, lightly, sketchily in some areas. It is marked by harmonious colours, dominated by one tone, namely olive green. exposition: The Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice, The Cloth Hall, 1, Main Market Square source: http://www.imnk.pl/gallerybox.php?dir=SU121&lang=EN |
The reconstruction of a lost painting by Hans Süss von Kulmbach, The Conversion of the empress Faustina on the basis of archival sources and recognition of the master’s workshop.
The painting the Conversion of the empress Faustina is the fifth in the cycle the Life of Saint Catharine; it was part of the altar ordered by Jan Boner and executed in the years 1515–1516 by Hans Süss from Kulmbach. The painter practiced in the workshop of Jacopo de Barbari. Due to connections with the workshop of Michael Wolgemut, he had become acquainted with Albrecht Dürer and collaborated with him throughout almost his entire life. Süss from Kulmbach was active in Nuremberg but also in Poland. The panels executed for the Cracovian St. Mary’s basilica are recognized as one of the most precious artefacts in all Polish art collections. During the war the paintings were plundered by the Germans, and while six of them have been restituted, two remain lost.
The reconstruction was based on black and white photographs taken in 1940, historic treatises, dissertations, numerous experiments with painting tools and materials, while the ongoing restoration of other panels from the cycle offered insight into Süss technique.
The panel, measuring 120 x 64 cm was made of four butt joined lime boards. The panel’s verso was tooled with compass planes. Tows, arranged in three parallel rows were ironed into the panel’s front, according to contemporary technology. In the next stage a chalk-glue ground was apllied. A print in the scale of 1:1 was made from an archive photo and was used as a base for a series of developed concepts for the composition outlines, and this, again, was supplemented by an analysis of infrared photos of Hans Süss paintings and his sketches. As the outlines were traced onto the ground it was sealed and, when dry, covered with a coat of imprimatura using a bristled brush according to a map of the brushwork that had been made on the basis of the abovementioned photo. The painting was carried out with egg tempera mixed with beer and finished with oil-resin glazes. The colours were based on the analogies available and scarce descriptions found in the 19th century sources. Oil mordant gliding with gold leaves was made according to German recipes of the time.
The reconstruction was based on black and white photographs taken in 1940, historic treatises, dissertations, numerous experiments with painting tools and materials, while the ongoing restoration of other panels from the cycle offered insight into Süss technique.
The panel, measuring 120 x 64 cm was made of four butt joined lime boards. The panel’s verso was tooled with compass planes. Tows, arranged in three parallel rows were ironed into the panel’s front, according to contemporary technology. In the next stage a chalk-glue ground was apllied. A print in the scale of 1:1 was made from an archive photo and was used as a base for a series of developed concepts for the composition outlines, and this, again, was supplemented by an analysis of infrared photos of Hans Süss paintings and his sketches. As the outlines were traced onto the ground it was sealed and, when dry, covered with a coat of imprimatura using a bristled brush according to a map of the brushwork that had been made on the basis of the abovementioned photo. The painting was carried out with egg tempera mixed with beer and finished with oil-resin glazes. The colours were based on the analogies available and scarce descriptions found in the 19th century sources. Oil mordant gliding with gold leaves was made according to German recipes of the time.