Historically Accurate Reconstructions of Artists’ Oil Painting Materials

Abstract

This paper describes a four-year project (2002 to 2006) funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research entitled Historically Accurate Oil Painting Reconstruction Techniques (HART) and hosted by the Netherlands Institute of Cultural Heritage (ICN). The aim was to make oil paint and ground reconstructions with as much accuracy as feasible in order to explore historical recipes and workshop practices. Recipe databases were created to ensure representative recipes were used, and the value of sourcing historically appropriate materials was explored. Such ‘historically accurate’ reconstructions of artists materials serve as reference sets for the visual interpretation of painted surfaces, as well as for chemical and instrumental analyses.