auckland’s st sebastian by guido reni

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This article was downloaded by: [Universita degli Studi di Torino] On: 04 May 2013, At: 01:11 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of the Institute of Conservation Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcon20 Auckland’s St Sebastian by Guido Reni Sarah Hillary & Mary Kisler Published online: 15 Sep 2009. To cite this article: Sarah Hillary & Mary Kisler (2009): Auckland’s St Sebastian by Guido Reni, Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 32:2, 205-218 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19455220903059818 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

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Page 1: Auckland’s               St Sebastian               by Guido Reni

This article was downloaded by: [Universita degli Studi di Torino]On: 04 May 2013, At: 01:11Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: MortimerHouse, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of the Institute of ConservationPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcon20

Auckland’s St Sebastian by Guido ReniSarah Hillary & Mary KislerPublished online: 15 Sep 2009.

To cite this article: Sarah Hillary & Mary Kisler (2009): Auckland’s St Sebastian by Guido Reni, Journal of the Institute ofConservation, 32:2, 205-218

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19455220903059818

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form toanyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contentswill be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug dosesshould be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions,claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Page 2: Auckland’s               St Sebastian               by Guido Reni

Journal of the Institute of ConservationVol. 32, No. 2, September 2009, 205–218

ISSN 1945-5224 print/ISSN 1945-5232 online© 2009 Icon, The Institute of Conservation

DOI: 10.1080/19455220903059818http://www.informaworld.com

Sarah Hillary and Mary Kisler

Auckland’s St Sebastian by Guido Reni

Taylor and FrancisRCON_A_406154.sgm10.1080/19455220903059818Journal of the Institute of Conservation0143-1161 (print)/1366-5901 (online)Original Article2009Taylor & Francis322000000March 2009Ms [email protected] Reni; Bolognese artist; x-radiography; copying; authentication; St Sebastian

IntroductionMany seventeenth-century artists, including the Bolognese artistGuido Reni (1575–1642), produced replicas of their most popularcompositions. Establishing whether a replica is autograph, a copycarried out by studio assistants, or by a hand unrelated to the artistof origin becomes more difficult with the passing of time. In thesecircumstances, the scientific analysis of paintings can be invaluablein support of painting attribution and the search for authenticity.Since 2002 research has been carried out on the version of St Sebas-tian by Reni (167 × 127.6cm, M1882/2/3) held in the collection of theAuckland Art Gallery Toi o T[amacr ] maki (AAG) (Fig. 1). Conservationtreatment has included analysis of materials as an aid to restoration.Research has also been carried out on the provenance, alongsideexamining other examples of Reni’s œuvre, with the intention ofestablishing the place of Auckland’s painting within it.Fig. 1 Guido Reni, St Sebastian, c.1616–1621, 167cm × 127.6cm, Mackelvie Trust Collection, AAG (M1882/2/3).

HistorySt Sebastian was a third-century Christian saint and martyr. Hisinitial miraculous survival after being shot with arrows earned himthe role of patron saint against the plague, along with San Rocco.Paintings of the saint were extremely popular in Italian Renaissanceand Baroque art. Guido Reni’s St Sebastian was acquired by JamesTannock Mackelvie (1824–1885) from the Hamilton Palace Sale,London, in 1882, and gifted shortly afterwards to Auckland, NewZealand, where he had resided between 1865 and 1871.1 Itultimately became part of the large collection now on long-term loanto the AAG by the Mackelvie Trust.

The first identified reference to Auckland’s painting appears in aletter from Sir Horace Walpole to Horace Mann when visiting BritishConsul Joseph Smith’s collection in Venice, which noted its similar-ity to the versions by Reni at Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, andthe Prado, Madrid.2 The painting was among works acquired forGeorge III from Smith’s collection in Venice in 1762. In a Royal inven-tory derived from Smith’s handwritten original, it is listed as Reni,No. 243, ‘The Martyrdom of S. Sebastian, 3/4 length, h. 5.5, w. 4.4’.3The painting passed out of the King’s collection shortly thereafter. Apainting of St Sebastian was sold at the Christie’s sale of 9–11 April,1791 as part of, ‘Property of a Nobleman, Deceased’, which has beenidentified as the sale of the estate of the King’s librarian and agent,Richard Dalton.4 A handwritten note by Royal Librarian Sir HoraceWalpole on the flyleaf of an inventory of the collection at the time ofQueen Anne noted that it was not unusual for monarchs to give

(Received 26 June 2008; Accepted 27 March 2009)

a

1 J.M. Stacpoole, The Mackelvie Collec-tion: A Centenary Exhibition 1885–1985(Auckland: The Mackelvie Trust, Auck-land City Art Gallery and AucklandInstitute and Museum, 1985), 6–7.

2 A. Blunt and E. Croft-Murray, VenetianDrawings of the XVII & XVIII Centuries:In the Collection of Her Majesty the Queenat Windsor Castle (London: PhaidonPress, 1957), 12.

3 L. Cust, ‘Notes on Pictures in theRoyal Collections—XXV: The PaintingsBought for George III in Italy, ConsulSmith, and Antonio Canale—I’, TheBurlington Magazine 23 (1913): 150–62.

4 M. Levey, The Later Italian Pictures inthe Collection of Her Majesty the Queen(Cambridge/New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1991).

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paintings to their staff.5 As Dalton had managed the King’s purchaseof Consul Smith’s collection, it is likely that he acquired the Reni inthis manner. At the 1791 sale the painting was purchased by a MrProvis, before appearing again in an undated inventory believed tolist the works owned by Lord Archibald (1740–1819) in Londonbefore he took the title of the 9th Duke of Hamilton in 1799.6 On view-ing the painting, Spiker, librarian to the King of Prussia, singled outthe painting for praise, stating that it was possibly the original of theversion at Dulwich Picture Gallery (Guido Reni, St Sebastian, n.d.,DPG 268) (Fig. 2).7 In her book on Consul Smith’s collection FrancesVivian also noted that because of its size, the King’s painting,‘…would appear to be the painting acquired by Douglas 10th Dukeof Hamilton in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, andwhich later passed to the Art Gallery in Auckland’.8 At the time, theaforementioned inventory placing the work in Lord Archibald’scollection had not been identified.

5 Inventory OM24 of Queen Anne, StJames’s Palace Library, London.

6 G. Evans, ‘The Hamilton Collectionand the 10th Duke of Hamilton’, Journalof the Scottish Society for Art History 8(2003): 68, n.19.

7 S.H. Spiker, Reise durch England, Walesund Schottland im Jahre (Leipzig: G.J.Göschen, 1818).

8 F. Vivian, Il Console Smith, mercante ecollezionista (Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 1971),79, App. A, n.243.

Fig. 1 Guido Reni, St Sebastian, c.1616–1621, 167cm × 127.6cm, Mackelvie Trust Collection,AAG (M1882/2/3).

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Fig. 2 Guido Reni, St Sebastian, 1630s, 170.1cm × 131.1cm, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London (DPG 268).

Versions of the paintingThere are a number of versions of the painting of St Sebastian, whichat different times have been attributed to Guido Reni, althoughconnoisseurs have not been able to agree on their autograph status.Nor are they all of the same composition, the two versions atPalazzo Rosso, Genova, and the Capitoline, Rome, show a differentmodel of the saint with his hands tied above his head. The work inAuckland is similar to those found at the Musée du Louvre, Paris(Guido Reni, St Sebastian, inv. 532) (Fig. 3); Museo del Prado, Madrid(Guido Reni, St Sebastian, inv. P-211) (Fig. 4); Museo de Arte dePonce, Puerto Rico (attributed to Guido Reni, St Sebastian, 168.2 ×132cm, inv. 61.0172); and Dulwich Picture Gallery, London (Fig. 2).They all show the saint with his hands tied behind his back but withslight variations. When acetates/polyester film sheets with theoutline of the torso of each work are overlaid the outlines are almostidentical, suggesting they have stemmed from the same cartoon,although the canvas measurements differ in each instance, and thenumber of tiny figures in the middle distance on the right-hand sidevary in number from three to four.Fig. 3 Guido Reni, St Sebastian, 1630s, 170cm × 132cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv.532).Fig. 4 Guido Reni, St Sebastian, c.1617–1618, 170cm × 133cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid (inv. P-11).Attention was first focused on Auckland’s St Sebastian when PeterTomory became Director of Auckland City Art Gallery (as it wasthen known) in 1956. He became convinced of its autograph status,commenting on the obvious freshness and originality of the paint-ing, particularly the flesh and the loincloth, whereas he thought thebody of the saint in the Prado version was heavy, and the draperysomewhat mechanical.9 In a letter to Tomory, Reni scholar DenisMahon said that he believed the version at the Louvre to be theprimary work, and that he thought the Prado’s version was also bythe artist, whereas the Dulwich painting was after Reni.10 Mahonhad not personally seen the Prado version, but wrote that he thoughtthe Louvre work to be superior, (although he did not elaborate whyhe drew this conclusion), but added that both he and Otto Kurz had

9 P. Tomory, Old Master Paintings fromthe Private and Public Collections of NewZealand (Auckland: Auckland City ArtGallery, 1959).

10 D. Mahon, scholar and collector,personal communication to PeterTomory, 23 April 1957.

Fig. 2 Guido Reni, St Sebastian, 1630s,170.1cm × 131.1cm, Dulwich PictureGallery, London (DPG 268).

Fig. 3 Guido Reni, St Sebastian, 1630s, 170cm× 132cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. 532).

Fig. 4 Guido Reni, St Sebastian, c.1617–1618,170cm × 133cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid(inv. P-11).

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had some doubts concerning the full autograph status of the latter,which had come into the French Royal Collection between 1670–1680. Moreover, from photographs, Mahon felt that the Aucklandpainting might be superior to the Louvre version. For much of thetwentieth century it was generally believed that there could only beone original work, and that all others were either studio copies, or bya follower of Reni. When another Reni scholar Stephen Pepperconsidered the relative autograph status of the various versions in1984, he judged the Prado version to be the original, and all the otherversions, including the work at Ponce, to be copies.11 At the end of2005, Italian Baroque scholar Professor Richard Spear examinedAuckland’s painting and studied the art historical and scientificresearch that had been carried out at the AAG. Spear later wrote tothe Gallery stating that he was convinced of its autograph quality,particularly praising the handling of the head and fabrics, and plac-ing it in the period between 1616 and 1621, when Reni’s workdemonstrated vigorous brushwork.12

In September 2007, the Dulwich, Prado and Ponce’s versions of StSebastian were part of the exhibition The Agony and the Ecstasy: GuidoReni’s Saint Sebastians at Palazzo Rosso, Genoa. Unfortunately, theLouvre’s version was deemed too fragile to be included. This exhibi-tion travelled to Dulwich at the end of January 2008, where itincluded Auckland’s painting of St Sebastian. This provided a uniqueopportunity to view the different versions together, alongside thetwo smaller compositions from the Capitoline, Rome, and PalazzoRosso, Genoa. It also stimulated further debate about the questionsof authenticity. A study day dedicated to discussing the attributionof the various versions was held at the beginning of the exhibition,attended by Professor Richard Spear, curators from a number ofinstitutions, conservators and dealers. When confronted with the sixpaintings attributed to Reni, Spear decided that he could no longersay with any certainty that Auckland’s work was by Reni, indeed onfirst viewing he was uncertain if any of them were by Reni’s hand,although he reversed his previous belief that Genoa’s painting was acopy while Rome’s was an original.13

There was much debate, some scholars arguing that the clearpentimento in the loincloth of Dulwich’s painting indicated it was theoriginal, while the liveliness of handling in Auckland’s St Sebastianwas also noted. The reason as to why there were so many versions ofSt Sebastian within Reni’s œuvre was also discussed. St Sebastian,being the patron saint against the plague, would have been a popu-lar subject in Italy and particularly Bologna, where there had beenoutbreaks of the disease for several centuries. The town lost 15,000inhabitants between 1630 and 1631. At the end of the study day, theonly clear agreement related to the painting from Ponce. Itshandling is demonstrably different, with opaque paintwork produc-ing flatter forms, and the group decided that it was likely to be aneighteenth-century copy.

Painting structure1 CanvasAuckland Art Gallery’s St Sebastian is painted on a linen twill-weavecanvas (Fig. 5).14 The diagonal arrangement of warp and weft

11 S. Pepper, Guido Reni (Oxford:Phaidon Press, 1984).

12 R. Spear, personal communication toMary Kisler, 22 December 2005.

13 R. Spear, personal communication toMary Kisler, February 2008.

14 The canvas has a thread count of 19warps by 11 wefts per cm2. Twills aredefined by the interlacing of warpthreads over the weft, and the AucklandSt Sebastian canvas has two warps andone weft or a 2/1 twill.

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threads makes twill more resilient than plain weave and is particu-larly suitable for working in larger formats. Even so, its use was notwidespread in the seventeenth century, although both Reni andGiovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino (1591–1666) used itfrequently. In the Louvre collection, six out of nine paintings oncanvas by Reni and five out of nine by Guercino are painted ontwill.15 The Auckland canvas is made up of two pieces, its seam nowvisible to the naked eye as a result of past treatments. Piecingtogether canvas sections for painting was common practice at thetime as the standard widths were limited, for example, the bracciamercantile in seventeenth-century Rome measured about 21.2cm.16

The two pieces of the Auckland St. Sebastan had been joined prior tothe execution of the painting as x-radiographs show that the paint-work continues without hesitation from one side to the other (Fig. 6)as does the cusping or patterns of distortion in the canvas weave.These would have developed when the support was restrained,usually with cords, inside the opening of a strainer prior to sizingand priming, causing scallops or cusps to form which were ‘fixed’into the textile. Cusping was only found on the top and bottomedges which may indicate that the support had been cut from awider piece. If any secondary cusping formed when the canvas wasre-stretched for painting, it had been lost when the tacking edgeswere removed for lining in the nineteenth century. There is noevidence that Auckland’s canvas has been trimmed, as the paint-work finishes before the edges on all four sides.Fig. 5 Twill canvas, detail, St Sebastian, AAG (M1882/2/3).Fig. 6 Canvas seam, detail, St Sebastian, AAG (M1882/2/3), x-radiograph.

2 Ground layerReni’s studios were of unprecedented size, with no fewer than 80assistants in his workshop in Bologna.17 It was common for artistassistants to prepare the canvases, and their work is described indetail in the seventeeth century manuscript written by Gian BattistaVolpato in Bassano.18 Because of the number of commissions Reniwas required to complete, he had his promising student, GiovanniAndrea Sirani (1610–1670) rough out his paintings on the basis of hisdrawings and carry out the preliminary work.19 Auckland’s canvasreceived a generous application of animal glue size followed by a

15 E. Ravaud and B. Chantelard, ‘LesSupports Ultisés par Poussin à Traversl’Étude des Radiographies du Labora-toire de Recherché des Musées deFrance: Analyse et Étude Comparative’,Technè 1 (1994): 23–34.

16 J. Kirby, ‘The Painter’s Trade in theSeventeenth Century: Theory and Prac-tice’, National Gallery Technical Bulletin 20(1999): 5–49.

17 R. Spear, The ‘Divine’ Guido: Religion,Sex, Money and Art in the World of GuidoReni (New Haven and London: YaleUniversity Press, 1997), 225.

18 M.P. Merrifield, Original Treatises onthe Arts of Painting, vol. 2 (London:Dover Publications, 1967 ed.), 406–755.

19 C. Malvasia, The Life of Guido Reni,trans. and intro. C. Enggass and R.Enggass (University Park and London:Pennsylvania State University Press,1980).

Fig. 5 Twill canvas, detail, St Sebastian, AAG (M1882/2/3). Fig. 6 Canvas seam, detail, St Sebastian, AAG (M1882/2/3), x-radio-graph.

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single red-brown ground (Fig. 7). While many of Reni’s grounds aredouble, which was more common in Italy, the artist may have beeninfluenced by his time in Rome between 1601 and 1613, where prep-arations were often single-layered, and reddish or brownish incolour.20 Reni also used a single ground for Christ Giving the Keys toSt Peter (1620–1625, Louvre) and The Abduction of Helen (c.1628Louvre). The former was a brown layer with coarsely ground leadwhite, sienna and small quantities of black, and the latter a lightbrown preparation of lead white coloured with iron oxidepigments.21Fig. 7 Cross-section taken from the sky of St Sebastian, AAG (M1882/2/3), showing a transparent blue layer applied over a more opaque grey-blue layer of ultramarine, lead white, and scattered black and red particles on a coloured ground.In the Auckland St Sebastian the chalk ground is approximatelytwice as thick as the paint layer. It is composed of large pale creamparticles and denser areas of brick red, orange and black,surrounded by granular brown, black and white particles floatingin a clear medium. The refractive index of chalk is very low and soit is almost completely transparent when associated with oil,making the surrounding colours more intense.22 Chalk mixed withearth pigments, charcoal black and driers such a lead white wasfrequently used as a ground layer at the time, and is similar to thecomposition of the lower ground in Reni’s David Holding Goliath’sHead (c.1604–1606, Louvre).23 The use of a coloured ground forcedpainters to work away from shadow towards light, encouraging abuild-up of opaque highlights. The resultant contrast between darkand light was very dramatic, drawing attention to the centralfigures.

3 PaintAuckland’s St Sebastian depicts a virile, lean body with considerableshadow on the right-hand side, creating a contrast with the taut yetvulnerable abdomen. In periods spent in Rome between 1601 and1613 Reni made frequent studies of the antique, the form for St

20 E. Martin, A. Jarry, M. Jeanne, C.Mancuso and N. Volle, ‘Les Muses deBaglione: Restauration et ContexteTechnique’, Technè 17 (2003): 28–36;Kirby, ‘The Painter’s Trade’, 28.

21 E. Martin, ‘Grounds on canvas 1600–1640 in various European artisticcentres’, in Preparation for Painting: TheArtist’s Choice and its Consequences, eds.J.H. Townsend, T. Doherty, G. Heyden-reich and J. Ridge (London: ArchetypePublications, 2008), 59–67; Martin et al.,‘Les Muses de Baglione’, 28–36.

22 Elemental analysis by CatherineHobbis, University of Auckland, using aPhilips XL30 S-FEG and EDAX PhoenixEDS. The chalk appears to be composedof gypsum or calcium sulphate, which istypical of Italian grounds rather than thecalcium carbonate more commonly usedin Northern Europe.

23 H. Glanville, ‘Varnish, Grounds,Viewing Distance, and Lighting: SomeNotes on 17th-century Italian PaintingTechnique’, in Historical Painting Tech-niques, Materials, and Studio Practice eds.A. Walert, E. Hermens and N. Peek (LosAngeles: The Getty Conservation Insti-tute, 1995), 12–19 ; Martin et al., ‘LesMuses’, 28–36.

Fig. 7 Cross-section taken from the sky of St Sebastian, AAG (M1882/2/3), showing a transpar-ent blue layer applied over a more opaque grey-blue layer of ultramarine, lead white, andscattered black and red particles on a coloured ground.

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Sebastian being derived from the Belvedere Torso, a fragment of anude male signed by the Athenian sculptor Apollonius, which hadbeen excavated in the Campo de’ Fiori in the early sixteenth century.Reni has retained the athleticism of the sculptured figure whilerendering the flesh palpable. During the 1620s, his treatment of themale body gradually changed, with less emphasis on anatomicalstructure. This is reflected in differing degrees in the modelling ofthe saint in the other versions, even though the outline of the torsosare virtually identical.

In describing the artist’s technique, Reni’s biographer, Carlo CesareMalvasia, made special note of Reni’s ‘masterful strokes, full of athousand subtleties’, not ‘left smooth and unified like those of otherartists…’.24 This kind of treatment is evident in the brushwork on theraised thigh in both Auckland and Dulwich’s paintings, which havebeen rapidly worked up so that evenly placed parallel brushstrokesare visible to the naked eye (Fig. 8). Similar parallel brush marks areclearly definable on the legs of the executioner on the right in a muchearlier painting, Crucifixion of St Peter 1604–1605 (Pinacoteca, Vatican)as well as in the figures lying on the ground on the right of Samson

24 Malvasia, The Life, 134.

Fig. 8 Detail showing brushwork, St Sebastian, AAG (M1882/2/3).

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Victorious (c.1616–1617, Galleria Nazionale, Bologna), works whichmark the period when Reni’s handling was at its most robust.Fig. 8 Detail showing brushwork, St Sebastian, AAG (M1882/2/3).The highlights in the shoulder of Auckland’s work are particularlypainterly. The Dulwich and Prado versions demonstrate a similarhandling, whereas on the Louvre version they are not as apparent.There are similarities in the handling evident in Reni’s figure ofHippomenes in Atalanta and Hippomenes (1617–1618, Prado, Madrid)while the maturity of the body in the AAG version matches that ofSamson in Samson Victorious (1618–1619, Pinacoteca Nazionale,Bologna). At the study day, concern was expressed about theabsence of the saint’s right eye. However, when later viewed byconservators Sarah Hillary and Sophie Plender in raking light, tracesof the eye were clearly visible. It is also visible in enlargements of thex-ray. Of further concern was the unfinished appearance of the handtied behind the back of Auckland’s saint, which has a clear outlineand is painted in a reddish-brown tone. By comparison, the hand inDulwich’s painting is clearly outlined directly onto the reddish-brown ground.25 When some members of the study group visitedthe National Gallery, London, the following day, conservator LarryKeith pointed out that leaving subsidiary parts of the paintinguncompleted is a characteristic of a number of Reni paintings,including the peripheral figures in Adoration of the Shepherds (c.1640),which was examined in the Gallery’s conservation laboratory. Hetheorised that Reni understood the inherent theatricality of largealtarpieces which had to be viewed from a distance, so that the mostconcentrated brushwork occurred in the central figures of the scene,the peripheral figures serving merely as staffage. A similar treat-ment was also clearly visible in the hand of one of the men inSusanna and the Elders (1620–1625, National Gallery, London). Whilethe tiny figures in the pictures of St Sebastian are also painted with afew rapid brushstrokes, they again serve as compositional devices inthe distant landscape, the viewer’s attention drawn instead to theglowing flesh tones of the saint. The Counter-Reformation empha-sised the need for art to foster faith by assisting the viewer not onlyto identify with a particular scene and its doctrinal basis, but also tofeel emotionally and physically the suffering of Christ and hisfollowers. While a greater stress was placed on the Passion, thesuffering of the saints for their faith became a constant theme in art,and treatises were written to guide artists in their endeavours.26

Samples were taken from the shadows and highlights ofAuckland’s St Sebastian and the paint medium analysed by Gaschromatography-mass spectometry (GCMS) and Fourier transforminfra-red spectroscopy (FTIR). Heat-bodied linseed oil was identi-fied. This medium had also been found in two other paintings byReni in the collection of the National Gallery, London: Christ Embrac-ing St John the Baptist (c.1640) and St Mary Magdalene (c.1634–1635).27

Heat-bodied linseed oil, usually used to facilitate drying, may havebeen added to the lead white highlights of the shoulder of the AAGSt Sebastian in order to obtain an impasto, lead white being moregenerally ground in nut oil to reduce the effects of discolourationand because there was no need to speed its drying because of itssiccative properties.28 However, the slow drying black pigment inthe upper left background foliage of the Auckland painting, which

25 Examination of the painting at theDulwich Picture Gallery by SarahHillary, Sophie Plender and XavierSalomon, 31 March 2008.

26 G. Paleotti, Discorso Intorno alleImmagini Sacre e Profane (Bologna, 1582),in Tratti d’arte del Cinquecento, fraManierismo e Controriforma, II, ed. P.Barocchi (Bari: Laterza, 1960–1962),117–509.

27 C. Higgitt, ‘Analysis of PaintMedium: Guido Reni St Sebastian’(report, London: National GalleryScientific Department, 2002).

28 Merrifield, Original Treatises, 406–755.

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was identified as containing heat-bodied linseed oil, would havebenefited from a faster drying medium. Recent analysis of anotherof Reni’s works in the National Gallery collection has shown that itwas not unusual for him to use heat-bodied linseed oil to facilitatedrying in the background of his work.29

4 PigmentsUltramarine blue in combination with lead white is not only presentin abundance in the sky of the Auckland St Sebastian, but also scatteredin the shadows of the figure.30 In comparison, azurite was used in thesky of the Dulwich St Sebastian, a blue pigment of a greener hue, whichwas increasingly rare but not as expensive as ultramarine.31 Naturalultramarine was made from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli,imported from Afghanistan. Several grades of pigment wereproduced ranging from a top quality blue to a grey pigment called‘ultramarine ashes’. Richard Symonds recorded that the best ultrama-rine cost seventy times the poorest grade in Rome in the 1650s, andas the ultramarine in the St Sebastian cross-sections has a good colour,it would appear to be of reasonable quality.32 As ultramarine was themost expensive pigment in the seventeenth century it was less likelyto be used for a studio copy. In the sky of Auckland’s St Sebastian atransparent blue layer of varying thicknesses was applied over a moreopaque grey-blue layer of ultramarine, lead white, and scattered blackand red particles. This creates a deep blue, which compares dramat-ically with the dark and foreboding skies in the Dulwich painting—the result of coarsely ground azurite mixed with only a little lead whiteover an orange-brown ground.33 This darkness is also apparent in thePrado and the Louvre versions, whereas the sky in the painting inPonce appears greyish in comparison. All the versions have highlightsonly on the distant horizon and tops of the clouds.

The rich blue sky in the Auckland painting provides a mid-tonebetween the figure and dark foliage and serves to bring out thecolours, particularly the red highlights in the face. Stephen Pepperdescribes the use of warm tints as typical of Reni, for example, ‘…theslight reddening of the cheeks…’ in the painting of Christ at the Column(1604, Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut).34 The basic flesh tone ordead colour is a pale warm yellow and the highlights contain a greaterproportion of lead white.35 As a contrast, the cool tonality of the fleshin the Dulwich St Sebastian is the consequence of a green earth under-layer.36 Scattered through both layers in the Auckland painting arereds (vermilion, red lead, red lake, and red oxide), brown iron oxide,terre verte, yellow lake, ultramarine and charcoal black. There is agreater amount of red on the face, and more green, blue and black inthe shadows. This is now more apparent, because any evidence ofglazes in this area has been removed by past cleanings and the surfaceis quite abraded. This range of pigments are typical of the seven-teenth-century palette, for example, Roman artist Giovanni AngeloCanini used similar combinations of lead white, vermilion, ochres andred lakes for lighter flesh tones, as well as green earth, charcoal blackand ultramarine ashes for shade tints.37 Malvasia wrote that Reni,‘…used certain greys and blues mixed with half-tones and blendedinto the flesh tones…’ and apart from the reddish highlights, coldrather than warm flesh tones are characteristic of his practice.38

29 Heat-bodied linseed oil has beenidentified in the ultramarine blue of thesky area only of Adoration of the Shep-herds; walnut oil was identified as beingused for other areas of the canvas.Helen Howard, Scientific Department,National Gallery London, personalcommunication, to Sarah Hillary, May2008.

30 The ultramarine was identified withmicro reflectance spectrometry usingvisible light by John Seakins, Universityof Auckland, and results confirmed byAshok Roy, National Gallery, London.Ultramarine has also been found in thesky and drapery of the Adoration of theShepherds, Helen Howard, personalcommunication to Sarah Hillary, May2008.

31 S. Plender, ‘Cat. 4. Condition andTechnical Analysis’, in The Agony andEcstasy–Guido Reni’s St Sebastian, eds. P.Boccardo and X. Salomon (Milan:Silvana Editoriale, 2007), 106–07.

32 M. Beal, A Study of Richard Symonds:His Italian Notebooks and their Relevance toSeventeenth-century Painting Techniques,(New York: Garland, 1984).

33 Plender, ‘Condition’, 106–7.

34 S. Pepper, ‘Caravaggio and GuidoReni: Contrasts in Attitudes’, ArtQuarterly 34 (1971): 327.

35 Elemental analysis by CatherineHobbis, University of Auckland, using aPhilips XL30 S-FEG and EDAX PhoenixEDS.

36 Plender, ‘Condition’, 106–07.

37 Beal, A Study, 104 (green earth andultramarine), 113–14 (vermilion, leadwhite, yellow ochre and red lakes), 136(black).

38 Malvasia, The Life, 136.

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CopyingThe fact that the outline of the figures in the Auckland, Dulwich,Louvre and Prado versions are so similar would appear to confirmthat copying has occurred. When transparencies of the fourversions are overlaid, there is little difference in the figures (Fig. 9).However, if the upper torso and head are aligned, the raised thighof the Louvre version is slightly out of alignment, as is part of theloincloth and the horizon line, whereas if the overlay is movedslightly, the leg and loincloth come into line. In addition, thegroup of Roman guards in the lower right of all the versionsdiscussed are very alike in handling and appearance although theyvary in number. Four figures can be clearly seen in the Aucklandand Dulwich paintings, whereas the Louvre and Prado have onlythree.Fig. 9 Overlaid outlines of four versions of St Sebastian: AAG (M1882/2/3), Dulwich Picture Gallery (DPG 268), Musée du Louvre (inv.532), and Museo del Prado (inv. P-11).Artists often made preliminary paintings, or abbozzi, to show topotential clients. From preparatory sketches of important elementsof a composition, the artist might also make up a sketch of thewhole design using chiarascuro to indicate shadows, which couldthen be squared up and copied to the canvas. A graticola could beused, which was a frame divided into squares by intersectingwhite threads covered with chalk, gesso or lead white.39 However,a life-size image or cartoon might also be made to transfer theoutline to fresco or canvas. The outline of the cartoon was perfo-rated with holes, and a pigment such as charcoal was pouncedthrough these onto the surface to be painted. Alternatively, theoutline was traced over, or around, with a stylus (particularly suit-able for imprinting an image in soft plaster). A cartoon was alsothe term used to describe a tracing on oiled paper of an existingpainting. This was transferred to the primed support by pouncingor stylus.40

‘The tracing of finished paintings must have been of routine and evenindispensable service to those artists whose livelihoods depended asmuch on commerce in uncommissioned pictures as on steady patron-age. A tracing taken from a successful composition kept in the studiocould be reapplied whenever it was required …’.41

An original painting of a popular subject might be copied eitherby the artist or his assistants, and these cartoons could be storedaway until required. However, this method of replicating could alsointroduce slight changes in parts of the composition. The similari-ties but slight shifts between the other versions of St Sebastian andthat of the Louvre’s suggests that if a cartoon was used, it may havebeen in more than one piece by the time that work was commenced.It is also possible that the cartoon was of the figure only, rather thanthe entire composition, which would explain the differences in thecanvas sizes. Christiansen and Mann noted similarities in auto-graph replicas made by Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639), which isevident in the outlines of the figures of Danae (Private Collection,and Cleveland Museum of Art) and also those of Judith and herMaidservant (Vatican Collection, and Wadsworth Athenaeum andMuseum of Art, Hartford).42 These differences, therefore, do notrule out the paintings of St Sebastian being all or mostly by Reni’sown hand.

39 Beal, A Study, 201.

40 L.F. Bauer, ‘A Letter by Barocci andthe Tracing of Finished Paintings’, TheBurlington Magazine 130 (1986): 355–57.

41 Bauer, ‘A Letter’, 357.

42 K. Christiansen and J.W. Mann,Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi (NewYork: Metropolitan Museum of Art;New Haven & Yale University Press,c.2001), 22–26.

Fig. 9 Overlaid outlines of four versionsof St Sebastian: AAG (M1882/2/3), Dul-wich Picture Gallery (DPG 268), Muséedu Louvre (inv.532), and Museo delPrado (inv. P-11).

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X-ray examinationDuring Tomory’s time at the AAG, infrared-reflectography hadbeen carried out on a small section of the Auckland St Sebastian, andit was believed that a pentimento was found revealing that the posi-tion of the arrow had been moved.43 This was not apparent when thepainting was examined by infrared in 2003 by the authors. In x-radiography and cross-section analysis, the final positioning of thearrow appears to have occurred after the basic flesh tones or deadcolour, but before the denser and lighter flesh highlights wereapplied. However, a pentimento can be seen as a visible line varyingin density outside the final outline of the raised thigh.

Although the x-radiographs of the Auckland painting appearmore clearly defined than that of the Dulwich or the Louvreversions, x-ray images of artist copies can vary quite considerably.44

The x-ray of the Auckland St Sebastian shows that the figure alsoappears more densely painted than the others, which may indicatethat new compositional elements were being explored but couldalso be partly due to the quality of the x-ray itself.45 The resultsobtained from the Auckland image indicated that lead white hadbeen generously applied to the figure, the pigment preventing thepenetration of x-rays due to its high molecular weight. Interest-ingly, Malvasia specifically referred to what he described as Reni’simmoderate use of white lead, compared to the, ‘good masters ofthe past’.46

While the face of the St Sebastian in x-radiograph is that of a matureman in pain, in the finished work, the artist has altered the expressionto depict a moment of ecstasy; the features have softened and the faceappears younger (Fig. 10). This change is not visible in the x-rays ofthe Dulwich, Prado and Louvre paintings, which are much morelike the visible image of Auckland’s painting rather than the x-ray(Fig. 11). If Auckland’s painting were merely a copy by a differentartist one would expect to see an x-ray that was similar to the otherfinished paintings, whereas the intense expression might indicate anartist who is developing an idea for the first time. In effect, the x-rayimage reveals a response to the Counter-Reformation call for an empa-thy with the saint’s suffering, whereas the finished work answers theequally strong drive to depict ecstasy as the reward for faith.Fig. 10 Detail of face, St Sebastian AAG (M1882/2/3), x-radiograph.Fig. 11 Details of face, on left: St Sebastian Dulwich Picture Gallery (DPG 268); on right: St Sebastian Musée du Louvre (inv.532), x-radiograph.A white outline around the left side of the face and neck of theLouvre x-radiograph supports the suggestion that it has been copiedfrom a cartoon.47 Furthermore, certain segments of the saint’s limbsare not visible, including the upper half of the right arm, elbow,forearm and thigh, his left hand and the right outline of the torso.Nor is the left leg visible, whereas the lower parts of the left thighand knee have a clearly visible lead white contour.48 This reinforcesthe thesis that the Louvre work was finished by another hand.49

Louvre Radiologist, Elisabeth Ravaud also notes that in the x-radio-graph the halo in the Louvre painting appears dense on the wholesurface, whereas to the naked eye only the circumference is visible,which may indicate that it was altered at a later date.50 A halo is alsopresent in the Prado and Dulwich paintings, but not included in theAuckland painting.

Considerable retouching has been carried out in the Prado andLouvre works. The upper line of the loin cloth in the former was

43 Tomory, Old Master Paintings, 15.

44 For example, in an x-radiograph, theearlier version of Caravaggio’s BoyBitten by a Lizard (c.1594) appears to bemore densely painted as the artistattempted to resolve the image for thefirst time. L. Keith, ‘Three Paintings byCaravaggio’, National Gallery TechnicalBulletin 19 (1998), 37–51.

45 GE Proteus XRA using an Agfa ADCsolo digital system at Auckland Radiog-raphy. It is not known what techniqueswere used for the x-rays of otherversions or when they were taken. All,except the x-rays of the Louvre paint-ing, are published in Boccardo andSalomon, The Agony, 99; 107; 113; 121.

46 Malvasia, The Life, 137.

47 E. Ravaud, Scientist, Laboratoire deRecherché des Musées de France, Paris,meeting with Mary Kisler, 6 September2004.

48 E. Ravaud, ‘L’Étude Demandée auLaboratoire de Recherché des Muséesde France’ (report, Paris: Musée duLouvre, 1995).

49 S. Loire, École Italienne, XVII Siècle, 1.Bologna (Paris: Musée du Louvre,Départment des Peintures, 1996).

50 Ravaud to Kisler, 2004.

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raised and over-painted at a later date, creating a more modesteffect, although the new position is different from the pentimenti inthe Dulwich painting. The Louvre St Sebastian shows the saint’shead against a group of darkly painted, fleshy leaves, but when thex-radiograph is examined the tree is similar in form to the finishedpaintings in Auckland, Dulwich and the Prado.

DrawingIn 1614, Reni was contracted to paint the Chapel of the Most HolySacrament in the Cathedral of Ravenna, although his assistantscarried out much of the work.51 Among the items in the Weld-BlundellDrawings Collection, acquired by the Walker Art Museum, Liver-pool, in 1995, is a drawing by Reni, Head and Shoulders of a Youth Look-ing up to the Left.52 It is a study for the head of the Archangel Gabriel,seated to the left of the Archangel Michael in the Ravenna frescoes.When compared with Auckland’s St Sebastian it seems likely that thesame model was used. The handling of the hair is identical, with eachindividual lock accentuated, although Auckland’s head is less di sottoin su and the lips are less plump. (The treatment of the hair in the otherthree versions is harder to define against the darkened background.)A resemblance can be seen to the figure of St Proculus on the right ofthe Pietà dei Mendicanti (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna), which wascompleted at the end of 1616. The face appears again as Aeneas in TheAbduction of Helen (1627–1629, Musée du Louvre, Paris), although asan older man. Malvasia describes Reni’s preference for using familiarmodels, including two porters from the market in Bologna; so the ideathat a face would appear over a considerable number of years,although showing the passing of time, is not fanciful.53 There is

51 J. Bentini, ‘Guido Reni: Due Cartoniper il Duomo di Ravenna’, in Studidi Storia dell’Arte in Onore di DenisMahon, eds. M.G. Bernardini, S. DanesiSquarzina and C. Strinati (Milano:Electa, 2000), 185–93.

52 http://www.liverpoolmuse-ums.org.uk/walker/collections/paper-Works/Guido-Reni.asp (accessed 20June 2008).

53 Malvasia, The Life, 135.

Fig. 10 Detail of face, St Sebastian AAG (M1882/2/3), x-radiograph.

Fig. 11 Details of face, on left: St Sebastian Dulwich Picture Gallery(DPG 268); on right: St Sebastian Musée du Louvre (inv.532), x-radiograph.

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another element that links the Liverpool drawing and Auckland’spainting. Although the face is beautifully treated in the drawing,when examined closely the saint’s left ear lies at an awkward angleto the head and seems to be tilted too far back, whereas normally theear would be parallel to the line of the face. A similar disjunction canbe seen in the Auckland painting, although there is a curl whichcovers the upper part of the ear. It is more apparent in the x-ray of thepainting, as more of the outer lobe is visible.

ConclusionWhen all the available art historical and scientific evidence is consid-ered, the similarities in four out of the five versions discussed arearresting. However, the study day at the Dulwich Picture Gallery,demonstrated how difficult the process of attribution is. The vitalityof Auckland’s figure stood out when it was displayed alongside theother versions, although this difference in handling was seen as aproblem by some. While Curator Xanthe Brooke from the WalkerArt Museum concurred that their drawing appeared to be of thesame model, others disagreed. Certainly, the results of the technicalexamination of the Auckland St Sebastian are consistent not just withseventeenth-century painting techniques, but specifically of what isknown of Guido Reni’s practice. The differences between the paint-ings could be explained by Auckland’s being painted at an earlierperiod, sometime between 1616 and 1621, after he had returned toBologna for good from Rome. It appears that a direct comparisonwith works securely dated to that time would be necessary to deter-mine the autograph nature of the painting.

AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to thank: Xanthe Brooke, (Curator, Walker ArtMuseum, Liverpool); Ian Dejardin (Director, Dulwich PictureGallery); Séverine Derry-Laborie (Registrar, Musée du Louvre);Emanuela Fiori (Conservator, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna);Catherine Hammond and Caroline McBride (Research Librarians,Auckland Art Gallery Toi o T[amacr ] maki); Mark Heathcote (Photogra-pher, Tate Britain); Rica Jones (Painting Conservator, Tate Britain);Larry Keith (Painting Conservator, National Gallery, London);Stéphane Loire (Curator, Musée du Louvre); John McIver (Photog-rapher, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o T[amacr ] maki); Jan Paget (AucklandRadiography); Sophia Plender (Private Conservator, London); Eliz-abeth Ravaud (Scientist, Laboratoire de Recherché des Musées deFrance); Natalie van Renen; Cornelia Rol (Conservator, AucklandArt Gallery Toi o T[amacr ] maki); Ashok Roy and Catherine Higgit(Conservation Scientists, National Gallery, London); XavierSalomon (Curator, Dulwich Picture Gallery); Richard E. Spear(Emeritus Professor of Art, Washington); and Maartje Stols-Witlox(University of Amsterdam).

AbstractA collaborative study presents new information contributing toexisting knowledge about the seventeenth-century Bolognese artistGuido Reni and his work. The oil painting St Sebastian by Guido Reni

has been in the collection of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o T makisince 1882. The results of the study are compared with other worksby the artist, where possible, as there is little published about GuidoReni’s technique. Technical details, observations on stylistic featuresand related art historical information are included. Particular atten-tion is given to the brushwork, the results of x-radiography andReni’s practise of making copies of successful works. The difficultiesof attribution are highlighted.

Résumé«Le Saint Sébastien de Guido Reni à Auckland»Une étude réalisée en collaboration présente de nouvelles informa-tions qui contribuent aux actuelles connaissances sur l’artistebolonais du XVIIè siècle Guido Reni et son œuvre. La peinture àl’huile Saint Sébastien de Guido Reni est entrée dans les collectionsde la Galerie d’art d’Auckland Toi o T[amacr ] maki en 1882. Comme ilexiste peu de publications sur la technique de Guido Reni, lesrésultats de l’étude sont comparés, dans la mesure du possible,avec d’autres œuvres de l’artiste. Cela inclue les détails techniques,les observations sur les caractéristiques stylistiques et les informa-tions liées à l’histoire de l’art. Une attention particulière estaccordée à la touche du pinceau, aux résultats de la radiographie-Xet à la pratique de Reni de faire des copies de ses œuvres à succès.Les difficultés d’attribution sont mises en lumière.

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Zusammenfassung

“Aucklands St. Sebastian von Guido Reni”Diese in Zusammenarbeit entstandene Studie liefert neue Informa-tionen, die einen wertvollen Beitrag zu den bisherigen Erkenntnis-sen über den im 17. Jahrhundert tätigen Künstler Guido Reni ausBologna und sein Werk leistet. Das Ölgemälde St. Sebastian vonGuido Reni befindet sich seit 1882 in der Sammlung der AucklandArt Gallery Toi o T[amacr ] maki. Die Ergebnisse der Studie werden,soweit möglich, mit weiteren Werken des Künstlers verglichen, dabisher wenig Information über die Arbeitsmethoden Renisveröffentlicht worden ist. Technische Einzelheiten, Beobachtungenzu stilistischen Merkmalen und relevante kunsthistorische Infor-mationen sind in der Studie mit inbegriffen. Besondere Aufmerk-samkeit wird hierbei sowohl der Pinselführung und denErgebnissen der Röntgenphotographie, als auch Renis Ange-wohnheit, Kopien erfolgreicher Werke anzufertigen, gegeben. Diedaraus entstehenden Schwierigkeiten in der Zuschreibung derWerke werden hervorgehoben.

Resumen“St Sebastián de Auckland de Guido Reni”Este estudio de colaboración presenta nueva información quecontribuye al conocimiento existente sobre el artista boloñés delsiglo XVII Guido Reni y sobre su trabajo. La pintura al óleo deGuido Reni, St Sebastián, pertenece a la colección de la AucklandArt gallery Toi o T[amacr ] maki desde 1882. Cuando es posible, losresultados de este estudio se comparan con otras obras del artista,

ya que hay muy poca información publicada sobre la técnica deGuido Reni. Se incluyen también detalles técnicos, observacionessobre las características estilísticas e información de historia delarte relacionada con la obra. Se le da atención particular al trabajode pincel, los resultados de las radiografías X, y la práctica de Renide efectuar copias de sus trabajos con éxito. Son también destaca-das las dificultades de atribución de autor.

BiographiesSarah Hillary is the Principal Conservator at the Auckland ArtGallery Toi o T[amacr ] maki. She graduated with a Masters in AppliedScience in the Conservation of Paintings from the University ofCanberra in 1983. Her first degree was a Bachelor in Art Historyfrom the University of Auckland. As a paintings conservator, Sarahhas published work on the materials and techniques of NewZealand artists, Colin McCahon, Rita Angus and FrancesHodgkins, as well as a technical examination of Still on Top by nine-teenth-century French artist, James Tissot.

Mary Kisler is Mackelvie Curator of International Art at AucklandArt Gallery Toi o T[amacr ] maki. She graduated with an MA First ClassHonours in Italian and Art History from the University of Auck-land in 1992, teaching there part time before joining the Gallery in1998. Publications include ‘Guido Reni—St Sebastian’, in The Agonyand the Ecstasy—Guido Reni’s St Sebastians (2007) and ‘AgostinoCarracci or Lavinia Fontana? The Attribution of Portrait of a Ladywith a Dog’, The Journal of New Zealand Art History, (2007).

Contact addressAuckland Art Gallery Toi o T[amacr ] makiPO Box 5449Wellesley StreetAuckland 1141New Zealand

Sarah HillaryEmail: [email protected]

Mary KislerEmail: [email protected]

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