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 the Virgin’s face under magnification (20x), displaying the beady eyes which characterise the Giac Master’s work. In the original sketch, faintly visible through the paint layers, the position of the proper left eye was slightly shifted towards the bottom right.
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2
Detail of the woman’s face under magnification (32x), displaying the beady eyes which characterise the Giac Master’s work.
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3
Detail of Gabriel’s purplish-blue sleeve under magnification (20x), showing extensive underdrawing visible through the thin paint layers. The drawing contributes to the definition of the sleeve’s folds, as do the short, parallel dark purple brushstrokes painted on the surface.
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4
Detail of Gabriel’s robe under magnification (20x).
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5
Detail of the Virgin’s blue robe under magnification (7.5x). Graded colouring from light to dark blue gives shape to the drapery folds. Underdrawing is visible on the lower right side through a small loss in the paint layer.

Annunciation (Hours of the Virgin, Matins)

The Annunciation, the standard image for the Hours of the Virgin, is set within an elaborate architectural structure and surrounded by a rich pictorial narrative in the border medallions. Starting from the top left and going anticlockwise, they show God the Father sending the dove of the Holy Spirit towards the Virgin, Joachim and Ann making an offering in the hope for a child, their meeting at the Golden Gate, the Virgin’s birth, her Presentation in the Temple, her Marriage to Joseph, and finally, on the top right, the Virgin at her loom.

The rounded faces with beady eyes (hotspots 1 and 2) and the gold clouds drifting across the sky are among the Giac Master’s hallmarks. Also typical of this artist is the extensive underdrawing and frequent changes of mind at the painting stage (hotspots 1, 3 and 5; see also Infrared Layer).

The arms of Isabella Stuart have been added within the initial.

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