Simone Martini – Cross section

Supporto
in legno, generalmente pioppo, ottenuto incollando verticalmente varie assi fra loro
Nodo
riempito con colla e segatura
Colla
doppio strato di colla forte ottenuta con “mozzature di carte pecorine” (C. Cennini, Il libro dell’arte, Cap. CXIII) ovvero colla di pergamena
Impannatura
tela, generalmente di lino, intera o a strisce, impregnata di colla e applicata al supporto con lo scopo di assorbire parzialmente i movimenti del legno dovuti a variazioni termoigrometriche
Gesso grosso
tre, quattro strati di alabastro gessoso e colla animale applicati con una stecca (C. Cennini, Il libro dell’arte, Cap. CXV)
Gesso sottile
gesso finemente macinato con colla animale applicato in otto strati successivi incrociando le pennellate.
Incisione
dei contorni eseguita per individuare le zone da dorare e quelle da dipingere
Bolo
quattro strati successivi di bolo armeno mescolato con un legante acquoso a base di chiara d’uovo e in seguito lucidato. Conferisce all’oro una tonalità calda
Chiara d’uovo
diluita in acqua
Oro
in foglia, lamine sottilissime applicate sul bolo bagnato e successivamente lucidate ovvero brunite
Punzonatura
intervento decorativo consistente nell’imprimere piccoli motivi ripetuti utilizzando una serie di punzoni
Disegno
a carboncino (carbone di salice) ripassato con inchiostro di carbone o nerofumo
Terra verde
colore di fondo per la stesura dei carnati
Verdaccio
colore costituito da una miscela di ocra, nero, bianco e cinabrese con il quale veniva ripassato il disegno oscurato dalla stesura di terra verde
Strato pittorico
stesure di colori temperati con rosso d’uovo, applicati per accostamento e fusione, dagli scuri ai chiari
Strato pittorico
stesure di colori temperati con rosso d’uovo, applicati per accostamento e fusione, dagli scuri ai chiari
Mordente
miscela di olio cotto, biacca e verderame applicato a pennello nelle zone in cui si deve fare aderire l’oro (doratura a missione)
Oro
in foglia, lamine sottilissime applicate sul mordente
Vernice
chiara d’uovo, dopo aver montato a neve gli albumi viene utilizzato il liquido che lentamente si deposita
Simone Martini, (Siena, 1284 – Avignone, 1344) – Madonna col Bambino – 1305-1310 ca – Egg tempera painting on wood 74,3×56,3 cm. – Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
Egg Tempera Painting (Video)
Simone Martini – Painting technique

Tempera a uovo – Particolare del tratteggio
Thirteenth and fourteenth century paintings show a significant continuity in the techniques and materials used: wood support, gesso and animal glue ground preparation, tempera and gilding can be observed over a long period.
The primary source of information about the techniques used during this period is Il Libro dell’Arte by Cennino Cennini, a painter in the tradition of Giotto. In this text, one can readily see the advances that the thirteenth century made over earlier centuries, when colour was applied by uniformly filling in with fields of colour in a substantially graphic manner. We will follow Cennini’s text and attempt to demonstrate some of the choices that the painters of the time would have made in working on wood panel. Particular attention will be given to the methods used in the transfer of the drawing and in the gilding.
Cennini teaches his reader how to choose the wood, join the panels together, cover over the joins with strips of linen cloth (impannatura) and how to prepare the panel for painting by creating a ground layer made up of seven or eight coats of gesso and glue, which then must be brought to the whiteness and smoothness of ivory (ground preparation). Great importance is given to the preparatory drawing, executed with charcoal and reinforced with ink.
Another system used during this period, and especially widespread in the early Renaissance, is pouncing. This technique consists of using a drawing paper whose outlines are pricked with an awl, in such a way that the design or drawing may be transferred to the prepared panel by passing coloured powder such as carbon black through the holes.
Once the figure was complete and its forms had been shaded with a light watercolour wash, the outlines were incised with a sharp stylus in order to identify the areas to be painted and those that were to be gilded.
In the latter, gold foil (a very thin leaf made by the gold beater) was applied over a ground of red bole (Armenian bole) and then polished or burnished with and animal tooth (burnisher).
At this point, the colouring in of the wood panel was started, and as Cennini advises, preferably beginning with the robes of the figures and the architectural elements; that is with the background elements. The colours were prepared in small vessels in gradations going from dark to light. They were bound with egg yolk and applied to the surface of the panel using small brushstrokes which fused together to create a chiaroscuro. “…start to apply the dark colour, shaping up the folds…And in the usual way take the middle colour and lay in the backs and the reliefs of the dark folds. Then take the light colour, and lay in the reliefs and the backs of the light part of the figure. And in this way go back once again to the first dark folds of the figure with the dark colour. And carry on as you began, with these colours, over and over again, first one and then the other.”
On the gilt surface the various decorative elements were executed (haloes and background). A series of punches was used to press small motifs into the gilt surface, and which were repeated according to a precise design.
The rendering of flesh tones required a semi-transparent, dull green background made with terre-vert and white lead through which the underlying chiaroscuro drawing could still be seen.
Once the drawing had been reinforced with this green verdaccio, a reddish-pink tone (vermilion and white lead) was applied to the cheeks and the lips. Flesh tones were created by first hatching (tratteggio) from the light tones toward the dark, and then blending the various shades, always taking care to allow “the green, which lies under the flesh colours, always show through a little”.
Manfredi Faldi – Claudio Paolini
Dipinto realizzato da Ulrika Alton
Estratto da: Artis (Art and Restoration Techniques Interactive Studio), Direzione scientifica: Manfredi Faldi, Claudio Paolini. Cd Rom realizzato da un gruppo di istituti di restauro europei, con il determinante contributo della Commissione Europea nell’ambito del programma d’azione INFO2000.
Quest’opera è distribuita con Licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione – Non commerciale – Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 Internazionale.
ARTEnet nasce nell’aprile del 2000 per condividere esperienze e conoscenze nel campo delle Tecniche artistiche, del Restauro e della Diagnostica applicata al settore dei dipinti; ha ideato e promuove una metodologia didattica innovativa che integra studi e ricerche nelle tre differenti discipline.