Painting works by Anton Möller on the background of Gdańsk’s painting workshop of the last quarter of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century

Abstract

This works presents the research on painting technology and techniques of selected panel paintings by Anton Möller (1563/5-1611) and the paintings attributed to his workshop and circle of his artistic influences such as Isaac van den Blocke (before 1589-after 1924) and Hermann Han (1580-1627/8). Gdańsk’s painting of the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries was a combination of technology and techniques derived from local traditions influenced by northern trends: German and Dutch, as well as their assimilated Italian art. The results of performed analysis revealed that the works Painting works by Anton Möller... BOŻENA SZMELTER-FAUSEK, JUSTYNA OLSZEWSKA-ŚWIETLIK * This article was based on interdisciplinary research carried out as part of research projects of Ministry of Science and Higher Education No. N 10503731/3704 (cat. no. of paintings 1–4, 17), National Science Center NN105430940 (cat. no. 1–4, 17), MNiSzW No. NN 204370340 (cat. no. 5–10, 12, 14–16, 18–23). 134 BOŻENA SZMELTER-FAUSEK, JUSTYNA OLSZEWSKA-ŚWIETLIK by Anton Möller had a great influence on the development of the painting workshop in Pomerania. The white ground and grey imprimatura and colorful ground characteristic for the Gdańsk artist were identified, among others, in the Gronau epitaph and works by Hermann Han and Isaac van den Blocke. Artists working in this area could be influenced by the painting school of Anton Möller, and they could draw technical achievements directly from the Netherlands. The dominant pigments in Möller’s painting palette are lead white, lead-tin yellow, red and yellow iron pigments of natural origin, cinnabar, minium, organic red pigment, smalt, natural azurite, iron umber, charcoal. Anton Möller and Isaac van den Blocke as the only Gdańsk artists used natural ultramarine in their paintings. Anton Möller’s work distinguishes the use of bright colors similar to Italian and Flemish paintings. The artist in some way experimented with color. He used various colors of mortar, imprimatura, and underpainting to achieve the desired effect, including a white imprimatura for illuminating the surface of the painting or a pink gound layer for painting the sky. The composition of the painting was underpainted with brown paint that gave a warm tint. When painting garments, especially red, he used strong contrasts of shimmer, where the vivid red was assembled with a plane painted red with the addition of a large amount of lead white. These treatments were supposed to give the impression of luminosity, which brings even closer the way of color compositions with Italian painting. Anton Möller applied the principles of technology and painting techniques typical of the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries in European art and belongs to a group of outstanding artists active in Gdańsk. Abstrakt Anton Möller na tle gdańskiego warsztatu malarskiego ostatniej ćwierci XVI i pierwszej połowy XVII w. Praca przedstawia badania techniki i technologii wybranych obrazów sztalugowych Antona Möllera (1563/5–1611) i obrazów przypisanych do jego warsztatu i kręgu jego oddziaływania artystycznego, jak dzieła Isaaca van den Blocke (przed 1589–po 1924) i Hermanna Hana (1580–1627/8). Gdańskie malarstwo przełomu XVI i XVII w. było połączeniem technologii i techniki wywodzącej się z tradycji lokalnej pozostającej pod dużym wpływem trendów północnych: niemieckich i niderlandzkich, oraz asymilowanych przez nich osiągnięć włoskiej sztuki malarskiej. Przeprowadzone badania gdańskiego malarstwa ostatniej ćwierci XVI i pierwszej połowy XVII w. wykazały, że twórczość Antona Möllera miała duży wpływ na kształtowanie się warsztatu malarskiego na terenie Pomorza. Białą zaprawę i szarą imprimaturę oraz barwne zaprawy charakterystyczne dla gdańskiego artysty zidentyfikowano między innymi w epitafium Gronau i obrazach Hermanna Hana oraz Isaaca van den Blocke. Artyści działający na tym terenie mogli być zarówno pod wpływem gdańskiej szkoły malarstwa, Antona Möllera, jak i mogli czerpać techniczne osiągnięcia bezpośrednio z Niderlandów. Dominujące pigmenty w palecie malarskiej Möllera to biel ołowiowa, żółcień cynowo-ołowiowa, żółte i czerwone pigmenty żelazowe pochodzenia naturalnego, 135 PAINTING WORKS BY ANTON MÖLLER... cynober, minia, czerwony pigment organiczny karmin, smalta, azuryt naturalny, umbra żelazowa, czerń roślinna. Anton Möller i Isaac van den Blocke jako jedyni artyści gdańscy zastosowali w swoich obrazach ultramarynę naturalną. Twórczość Antona Möllera wyróżnia zastosowanie jasnej kolorystyki zbliżonej do malarstwa włoskiego i flamandzkiego. Artysta w pewien sposób eksperymentował z kolorem. Wykorzystywał różne kolory zaprawy, imprimatury i podmalowania do osiągnięcia zamierzonych efektów, między innymi białą imprimaturę do rozświetlenia powierzchni obrazu, czy różową zaprawę do namalowania nieba. Kompozycję obrazu podmalowywał brązową farbą, o ciepłym odcieniu, która nadawała ciepły koloryt. Malując szaty, szczególnie czerwone, stosował silne kontrasty światłocieniowe, gdzie żywą czerwień zestawiał z płaszczyzną namalowaną przy użyciu czerwieni z dodatkiem dużej ilości bieli ołowiowej. Zabiegi te miały wywołać wrażenie świetlistości, co jeszcze bardziej zbliża sposób kompozycji barwnych z malarstwem włoskim. Antona Möller stosował zasady technologii i techniki malarskiej typowej dla przełomu XVI i XVII w. w sztuce europejskiej i należy do grona wybitnych artystów działających w Gdańsku. Anton Möller was born in 1563/1565 in Königsberg and he died in 1611 in Gdańsk. He is one of the leading artists of Pomerania region of the end of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century. He mainly painted works presenting biblical and allegorical scenes on the background of the buildings of Gdańsk. His paintings were primarily intended for exhibiting in public buildings as well as in churches. As a painter, he ran a painting workshop that was significant in Pomerania and which contributed to the formation of one of the most important artistic centres in Gdańsk. Other artists who also had a significant influence on the artistic formation of painting workshops in Pomerania were: a Dutch Hermann Han (1580–1626/1627), born in Gdańsk, who, apart from Gdańsk, also maintained a workshop in Chojnice, as well as two artists from the Netherlands: Hans Vredemann de Vries (1527–1604) – an architect, interior decorator and a painter and Isaac van den Blocke (before 1589–after 1624), a painter and a member of the Flemish family from Mechelen. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries the Gdańsk painting was a combination of techniques derived from the local tradition, which were strongly influenced by northern trends in paintings: German and Dutch, and the assimilated achievements of Italian painting1. 1 Willi Drost, Danziger Malerei vom Mittelalter zum Ende des Barock. Ein Beitrag zur Begründung der Strukturforschung in der Kunstgeschichte (Berlin, Leipzig: Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 1938), 117–121; Jacek Tylicki, “Sztuka Prus Królewskich. Malarstwo i rysunek”, in Prusy Królewskie. Społeczeństwo, kultura, gospodarka 1454–1772, ed. Edmund Kizik (Gdańsk: Muzeum Narodowe w Gdańsku, 2012), 309–370, fig. 1–35. 136 BOŻENA SZMELTER-FAUSEK, JUSTYNA OLSZEWSKA-ŚWIETLIK Twenty three paintings were selected to determine the essential features of the Gdańsk painting workshop: five paintings by Anton Möller (cat. no. 5, 10, 12, 14, 15), two assigned to his circle of artistic influence (cat. no. 11, 17), one by Isaac van den Blocke (cat. no. 13), seven by Hermann Han (cat. no. 16, 18–23), four paintings with allegorical scenes attributed to Han’s workshop (cat. no. 6–9) and four paintings from epitaphs from the St. Mary’s Church in Gdańsk (cat. no. 1–4). The selection of works was determined by the choice of representative works but also by their availability and the consent of individual institutions. The most significant works were chosen, allowing for a thorough and precise characterization of painting technology and techniques. The list of works and examination results are included in tables 1. and 2. The order of works in the table was done according to the date of completion. Table 1. contains the types of materials used and the technique concerning such issues as the type of support, ground layer, drawing, isolation layer, imprimatura and underpainting layers. Table 2. contains the results of examination of pigments and gilding in the analysed paintings2. 2 The traditional and modern non-invasive and microinvasive methods, physical, chemical and instrumental analysis were used to study the technology and techniques of Gdańsk’s paintings. Most of the preliminary tests, including sampling and analysis of the state of preservation in the light of the VIS, infrared IR and UV were carried out by the authors of the article, specialized tests: in colour infrared (false colour IR technique), XRF X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy – dr hab. Jarosław Rogóż, prof. NCU, Adam Cupa, Department of Painting Technology and Techniques of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń; portable XRF research – dr Mirosław Sawczak, Institute of Fluid-flow Machinery Polish Academy of Sciences in Gdańsk; SEM-EDS analyses – prof. dr hab. eng. Maciej Pawlikowski, Department of Mineralogy, Petrography and Geochemistry of the University of Science and Technology in Kraków; M. Wróbel, Laboratory of Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis, Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw; Grzegorz Trykowski, Grażyna Szczepańska, Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń; x-ray examinations – Roman Stasiuk and Piotr Zambrzycki, Documents Laboratory, Department of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw; stratigraphy studies of samples, layering, chronology and preliminary estimation of the composition of pigments, dyes and binders were made by means of comparative analysis using standard VIS microscopy and UV fluor