Hieronymus Bosch, Saint Christopher
ca 1490-1500Paintings sorted by Historical period | Painter | Subject matter | Pigments used
Overview
Hieronymus Bosch, Saint Christopher: The giant Saint Christopher is carrying the Christ child over a river and with him, he carries all the sins of this world.
The painting was thoroughly investigated by The Bosch Research and Conservation Project. The results of this investigation were published in a magnificent book referenced below. An extensive interactive online feature at the website of the project complements the book and shows all the images from the book in high resolution.
The pigment analysis reveals a limited palette consisting of the cheaper pigments employed in the Renaissance period, such as azurite, lead-tin yellow, vermilion, red lake, and ochres.
Medium: Oil
Support: Oak
Size: width = 71,5 cm, height = 113 cm
Art period: Renaissance
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Accession number: 13.26
Painting at the website of the BOSCH PROJECT
Biblical Story
The full story of Saint Christopher can be found at Catholic Online. Here are two quotes from their text:
“Saint Christopher is one of the most popular, yet most enigmatic Catholic figures. He is considered a saint, although he is not in the official canon of the saints. He is listed as a martyr, possibly named Reprobus, who died under the Roman Emperor Decius, in 251 AD.”
…
“One day, a child approached St. Christopher by the river and asked to be helped across. St. Christopher obliged. However, as he entered midstream, the river rose and the child’s weight grew and became extremely heavy. It was only by great exertion that St. Christopher safely delivered the child to the other side.
When St. Christopher asked the child why he was so heavy, the child explained that He was the Christ and when St. Christopher carried Him, he also carried the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. The child then vanished.”
The name Christopher is derived from the name of Christ and the Greek word pherein meaning to bear. He later became the Patron saint of all travelers.
Pigments
Pigment Analysis
This pigment analysis is based on the work of the scientists at The Bosch Research and Conservation Project (1). The scientists employed x-ray radiography (XRR), infrared photography (IRP) and infrared reflectography (IRR) to gain insights into the inner layers of the painting and to identify the pigments.
1 Saint Christopher’s and Christ’s skin colour: underpaint of yellow ochre and flesh paint made of lead white and other pigments. The saint’s face contains darker pigments.
2 Red robe of Christ: undermodelling of black and blue pigments overpainted with a red lake.
3 Saint Christopher’s red robe: undermodelling of lead white overpainted with red lake.
4 River: azurite.
5 Green landscape: probably malachite over a yellow ochre underpainting.
6 Blue landscape: azurite.
7 Sky: azurite and lead white.
8 Water in the foreground: lead white mixed with azurite and glazed with green glaze.
References
(2) Luuk Hoogstede, Ron Spronk, Matthijs Ilsink, Robert G. Erdmann, Jos Koldeweij, Rik Klein Gotink, Hieronymus Bosch, Painter and Draughtsman: Technical Studies, Yale University Press, 2016, pp. 130 – 137.
Pigments Used in This Painting
Resources
See the collection of online and offline resources such as books, articles, videos, and websites on Hieronymus Bosch in the section ‘Resources on Painters‘
PowerPoint Presentations
Painter in Context: Hieronymus Bosch
A richly illustrated presentation on the painting technique and pigments employed by Hieronymus Bosch specially crafted for Art Education. (Number of Slides = 20)
- Each presentation starts with the basic resources on the painter such as his biography, main catalogs of his paintings, and a bibliography.
- Next, you find slides describing the painting technique of the artist and the pigments he usually employed in his work.
- The majority of the slides show examples of paintings containing the specific pigments.
Slides showing the basic resources on the life and works of the Northern Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch.
The painting technique and all pigments employed by Bosch are shown in the next slides.
The majority of the slides show important examples of paintings where Bosch employed specific pigments. The slides are organized according to the color of the pigments.
Videos
Video: 'The Restoration of ‘Saint Christopher’ by ArtTube
Publications and Websites
Publications
(1) Matthijs Ilsink, Jos Koldeweij, Hieronymus Bosch: Painter and Draughtsman – Catalogue raisonné, Yale University Press, New Haven and London; 2016. pp 180-187.
This book is also available online in pdf format in two parts: part I and part II.
(2) Luuk Hoogstede, Ron Spronk, Matthijs Ilsink, Robert G. Erdmann, Jos Koldeweij, Rik Klein Gotink, Hieronymus Bosch, Painter and Draughtsman: Technical Studies, Yale University Press, 2016, pp. 130 – 137.
Websites
Website of the Bosch Project
Website of the Bosch Research and Conservation Project
