Raphael, The Madonna of the Pinks

This pigment analysis is based on the work of the scientists at the National Gallery London (1). The results of the investigation have been published in references (1) and (2) and all the microscopic images of cross-sections, the infrared and x-ray images are included on the website of the Raphael Research Project of the National Gallery London (3).

1 Blue sky: natural ultramarine mixed with white.
2 Pale green landscape: lead-tin yellow, malachite, and verdigris.

3 Yellow bench: lead-tin yellow.
4 Madonna’s yellow drapery: lead-tin yellow.
5 Blue drapery: natural ultramarine mixed with white and painted over an underlayer of azurite.

6 Madonna’s yellow sleeve: lead-tin yellow.
7 Mauve-grey dress: azurite mixed with red lake, white and a little black in varying proportions.
8 Madonna’s dark grey belt, the tie on her sleeve, and the deep shadows of her sleeve: powdered metallic bismuth mixed with several other pigments (2).

9 Green curtain on the left: first painted in mauve colour consisting of red lake and azurite. Later overpainted by Raphael himself with verdigris mixed with lead-tin yellow.

10 Yellow haloes of the Madonna and Child: powdered metallic gold pigment (shell gold).
11 Flesh paint: lead white and vermilion.

References

(1) Roy, A., Spring, M., Plazzotta, C. ‘Raphael’s Early Work in the National Gallery: Paintings before Rome‘. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 25, pp 4–35. Available as pdf.

(2) Marika Spring, Raphael’s Materials: Some New Discoveries and their Context within Early Sixteenth-Century Painting, Eu-ARTECH Raphael Workshop, National Gallery London, 2004. Available as pdf.

(1) Roy, A., Spring, M., Plazzotta, C. ‘Raphael’s Early Work in the National Gallery: Paintings before Rome‘. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 25, pp 4–35. Available as pdf.

(2) Marika Spring, Raphael’s Materials: Some New Discoveries and their Context within Early Sixteenth-Century Painting, Eu-ARTECH Raphael Workshop, National Gallery London, 2004. Available as pdf.

(3) N. Penny, ‘Raphael’s “Madonna dei garofani” Rediscovered’, ‘The Burlington Magazine’ 134, no. 1067, Feb. 1992, pp. 67–81.

(4) Hugo Chapman, Tom Henry and Carol Plazzotta, Raphael – from Urbino to Rome, exhibition catalog, National Gallery London, 2004. Available as pdf.

(5) N. Penny, ‘Raphael’s “Madonna dei garofani” Rediscovered’, ‘The Burlington Magazine’ 134, no. 1067, Feb. 1992, pp. 67–81.

(6) A. Roy, ‘The Re-emergence of Raphael’s “Madonna of the Pinks”’, ‘Raphael’s Painting Technique: Working Practices Before Rome’ (Proceedings of the Eu-ARTECH workshop), eds A. Roy and M. Spring, Florence 2007, pp. 87–92.

 Studying Raphael, Raphael Research Resource, National Gallery London.