The Hours of Isabella Stuart
Modelling of draperies
Artists' Techniques
Fabrics are modelled with highlights progressing from white mixed into the base pigment to pure white, and shaded with darker tones of the base pigment or with translucent glazes. Fully blended, directional brush strokes are combined with tiny brush strokes or dots. The resulting effect is most fluid and subtle in the images painted by the Madonna Master.
1
Detail of St John’s face under magnification (20x), taken in raking light. The lighting conditions help appreciate the texture of the painted surface and the thick impasto used for the white highlights on the saint’s forehead and cheek.
2
Detail of St John’s hair under magnification (16x), with underdrawing in brown ink showing through small losses in the paint layers.
3
Detail of St John’s blue mantle under magnification (7.5x). Underdrawing in a dark brown wash is clearly visible through a small loss in the surface layer. It also partially shows through the blue paint, contributing to the modelling of the drapery.
St John (Gospel Sequence of St John)
Accompanied by his symbol, the eagle, St John is writing his Gospel, while the devil creeps beneath and spills his ink. The marginal image, the first in the cycle illustrating the Pilgrimage of Jesus Christ, shows the poet receiving a vision of God. The arms of Isabella Stuart have been added to the border.