Gerard David, Virgin and Child

The following pigment analysis is based on the work of the scientists at the National Gallery London (1).

1 Green foliage: The lowest layer consists of almost pure azurite, the second layer consists of lead-tin yellow and a small amount of azurite, and the uppermost layer contains azurite with a small admixture of lead-tin yellow.

2 Magdalen’s cloak: reddish-brown ochre and red ochre over a pinkish-mauve glaze.

3 Deep blue brocade: pale mauve glaze comprised of carmine cochineal lake with small amounts of azurite mixed with lead white and overpainted with a fairly thick layer of azurite and carmine lake.
4 Yellow design on the brocade: two thin layers of yellow ochre with highlights in lead-tin yellow.

5 Red dress of St Catherine: carmine cochineal.
6 Flesh colour: lead white with small amounts of vermilion.

7 Light blue sky: azurite mixed with lead white.

8 Virgin’s dark blue robe: a lower layer of azurite overpainted with a glaze of natural ultramarine. The expensive ultramarine was used very sparingly as a glaze for the robe, all other blue parts of the painting contain the considerably cheaper azurite.

References

(1) Wyld, M., Roy, A., Smith, A. ‘Gerard David’s “The Virgin and Child with Saints and a Donor”‘. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 3, pp 51–65. Available as pdf.

(1) Wyld, M., Roy, A., Smith, A. ‘Gerard David’s “The Virgin and Child with Saints and a Donor”‘. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 3, pp 51–65. Available as pdf.

(2) Maryan Wynn Ainsworth, Gerard David: Purity of Vision in an Age of Transition, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.). Available as pdf.

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