The Hours of Isabella Stuart

Underdrawing

Artists' Techniques

The extensive underdrawing in brown ink which is revealed in the majority of the illuminations, both through thinly laid colours or paint losses and in the near-infrared images, is crucial in distinguishing between the three main artists. 

A substantial amount of underdrawing and frequent changes of mind at the painting stage are typical of the Giac Master and the two assistants who painted large miniatures.

The Rohan Master’s work is characterised by elaborate drawing of an idiosyncratic nature. Strings of curly loops resembling doodles and brushed over with a grey ink wash cascade down fabric folds or congregate into pools of drapery.

The Madonna Master instead painted both of his miniatures freehand: neither shows any underdrawing.

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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.
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2
Detail of St John’s hair under magnification (16x), with underdrawing in brown ink showing through small losses in the paint layers.
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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.

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