Botticelli – Stratigraphy

Botticelli, incoronazione della Vergine

Sandro Botticelli Coronation of the Virgin

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Support
in poplar wood (canvas paintings, such as the “Birth of Venus”, are still an exception)

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Animal glue

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Preparation
two different layers of gypsum and glue with the addition of oil, the first thicker and more porous, the second more compact, made of finer material and rich in binder

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Drawing
made by charcoal pencil with which he set the composition and identified the shapes

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Priming
color based on pigment, egg and oil whose purpose was to create a colored base in relation to the final chromatic effect (black under the vegetation, light yellow under the green coats, orange under the red clothes, white under the complexions

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Definitive drawing
done by brush with diluted black color, on the trace left by the linear charcoal drawing

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Paint layer
of varying thickness, with sometimes coarsely and sometimes finely ground pigments, the binder used is an egg and oil emulsion (tempera grassa)

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Glazes
thin brushstrokes of pure color mixed in oil and resin

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Outlines
a thin dark line, continuous and uniform traces over the contours, some touches of white mark the highlights

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Varnish
egg white; after whipping the egg whites, the liquid that slowly settles at the bottom is used

Sandro Botticelli (Pseudonym of Sandro Filipepi), Florence 1445-1510 –  Incoronazione della Vergine 1488-1490 – Tempera grassa on panel, 378×258 cm –  Uffizi Gallery, Florence