Fig.1
Sir Anthony Van Dyck 1599–1641
Portrait of Mary Hill, Lady Killigrew 1738
Oil paint on canvas
T07956
Fig.2
Cross-section through the brown background at the right edge, photographed at x320 magnification. From the bottom upwards: chalky ground; opaque pale grey ground; brown paint of background
Fig.3
The same cross-section as in fig.2, photographed at x320 magnification in ultraviolet light
Fig.4
Cross-section through green foliage at the top left corner, photographed at x320 magnification. From the bottom upwards: chalky ground; opaque pale grey ground; green paint of foliage
Fig.5
The same cross-section as in fig.4, photographed at x320 magnification in ultraviolet light.
Fig.6
Infrared reflectogram of Portrait of Mary Hill, Lady Killigrew 1738
This painting is in oil paint on canvas measuring 1065 x 833 mm (fig.1). The linen canvas is plain woven. The canvas has a double ground, the first application being a thin coat of chalky paint, followed by a substantial layer of opaque pale grey paint, composed of lead white, chalk, black and earth pigments bound together in oil (figs.2–5).1
The portrait was first sketched in with thin brown paint (fig.6). The sky and background were done mainly in one application, wet-in-wet. The greens of the foliage were mixed from: azurite, black, smalt, yellow lake, blue verditer, and lead white. The principal pigment in the orange coloured drapery is realgar.
January 2023