![Quinten Massys - The Virgin and Child with Saints Barbara and Catherine - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Quinten_Massys_-_The_Virgin_and_Child_with_Saints_Barbara_and_Catherine_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Glue-size is a painting technique in which
pigment
A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compou ...
is
bound (
sized) to
cloth
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
(usually
linen) with
hide glue, and typically the unvarnished cloth was then fixed to the frame using the same glue. Glue-size is also known as distemper, though the term "
distemper" is applied variously to different techniques. Glue-size was used because hide glue was a popular binding medium in the 15th century, particularly among artists of the
Early Netherlandish
Early Netherlandish painting, traditionally known as the Flemish Primitives, refers to the work of artists active in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period. It flourished especiall ...
period, who used it as an inexpensive alternative to
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
. Although a large number of works using this medium were produced, few survive today, mainly because of the high perishability of linen cloth and the solubility of hide glue. Well-known and relatively well-preserved – though substantially damaged – the most notable examples include
Quentin Matsys
Quentin Matsys ( nl, Quinten Matsijs) (1466–1530) was a Flemish painter in the Early Netherlandish tradition. He was born in Leuven. There is a tradition alleging that he was trained as an ironsmith before becoming a painter. Matsys was activ ...
' ''
Virgin and Child with Saints Barbara and Catherine
''Virgin and Child with Saints Barbara and Catherine'' is a glue-size on linen painting by Flemish artist Quentin Matsys, probably painted ''c.'' 1515–1525. The Virgin Mary is shown on a throne, holding the Infant Jesus, between Barbara and ...
'' (c. 1515–25) and
Dirk Bouts
Dieric Bouts (born c. 1415 – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlie ...
' ''
Entombment
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
'' (c. 1440–55). In German the technique is known as ''Tüchleinfarben'', meaning “small cloth colours”, or ''Tüchlein'', derived from the German words ''Tüch'' and ''Lein'' ("fabric" and "flax").
Technique
A binding agent for pigment was made by boiling animal skin mixed with other organic tissue and applied to linen, itself prepared with a thin layer of glue. The linen was ground, but sometimes treated, by both the glue and also white chalk, which allowed a surface suitable for underdrawing and a base that would not absorb the final layer's pigment.
The advantage of using glue as a binder is that the colours render as
matte
Matte may refer to:
Art
* paint with a non-glossy finish. See diffuse reflection.
* a framing element surrounding a painting or watercolor within the outer frame
Film
* Matte (filmmaking), filmmaking and video production technology
* Matte p ...
and
opaque
Opacity or opaque may refer to:
* Impediments to (especially, visible) light:
** Opacities, absorption coefficients
** Opacity (optics), property or degree of blocking the transmission of light
* Metaphors derived from literal optics:
** In lingu ...
textures suited to austere or mournful images as opposed to the
translucent
In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions ...
appearance associated with oil. Many reds and blues bound in glue would have appeared with a brilliance and intensity difficult to achieve with oil. Unfortunately the surviving examples have greatly deteriorated over time, having suffered from colour alteration due to exposure to light. Furthermore, the
solubility
In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution.
The extent of the solubil ...
of glue derived from animal products has meant that the accumulated layers of dirt cannot be removed without damaging the linen or dissolving the pigment.
Although it allowed fine linear detail, subtle tonal transition and at times vivid colourisation, by the end of the 15th century the medium, along with
egg tempera
Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...
, had fallen out of favour. Oil painting had become predominant among the artists of the early Northern Renaissance, mainly due to the innovations in oil by
Jan van Eyck[Van Eyck is often mistakenly credited with the invention of oil painting, whereas in fact the tradition in northern Europe goes back to at least the 12th century.] and
Rogier van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...
. It can be viewed as a transitional method between works in tempera or oils on
wooden panels and
oil paintings
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...
on canvas, although tüchlein co-existed with panel painting until both were supplanted by oil-on-canvas by the end of the 16th century. The technique corresponds with the Spanish ''sarga'', where a thin
gesso
Gesso (; "chalk", from the la, gypsum, from el, γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates suc ...
ground was favoured to create a smooth working surface.
Examples
Several examples by mid-16th century Dutch artist
Pieter Bruegel the Elder have survived. Bruegel's ''Adoration of the Magi'' has traces of colour on the back of the canvas, demonstrating that the linen was not prepared with a traditional ground before it was painted; other examples, such as Bouts' ''The Entombment'' were simply
sized with glue to prevent the paint from bleeding through. Other Netherlandish examples from approximately a century earlier include the ''
Virgin and Child with Saints Barbara and Catherine
''Virgin and Child with Saints Barbara and Catherine'' is a glue-size on linen painting by Flemish artist Quentin Matsys, probably painted ''c.'' 1515–1525. The Virgin Mary is shown on a throne, holding the Infant Jesus, between Barbara and ...
'' by
Quentin Matsys
Quentin Matsys ( nl, Quinten Matsijs) (1466–1530) was a Flemish painter in the Early Netherlandish tradition. He was born in Leuven. There is a tradition alleging that he was trained as an ironsmith before becoming a painter. Matsys was activ ...
c.1515–25, and ''
The Entombment
The burial of Jesus refers to the entombment of the body of Jesus after crucifixion, before the eve of the sabbath described in the New Testament. According to the canonical gospel narratives, he was placed in a tomb by a councillor of the san ...
'' by
Dieric Bouts
Dieric Bouts (born c. 1415 – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlier) ...
c.1440–55 and related works by Bouts including his ''Annunciation'' (now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, California), ''Adoration of the Kings'' (now in a private collection in Germany) and ''Presentation'' (or ''Resurrection''; now in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California) which may have formed part of a single polyptych.
File:Anbetung der Könige (Bruegel, um 1564).jpg, Bruegel, '' The Adoration of the Magi'', c.1564, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
File:El vino de la fiesta de San Martín (Pieter Brueghel el Viejo) (restaurada).jpg, Bruegel: ''The Wine of Saint Martin's Day
''The Wine of Saint Martin's Day'' is the largest painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. It is currently held in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, where it was identified as a Bruegel original in 2010. Like much of Bruegel's work it depicts peasant l ...
'', 1565-1568, Prado
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It migh ...
File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind - WGA3511.jpg, Bruegel, ''The Blind Leading the Blind
"The blind leading the blind" is an idiom and a metaphor in the form of a parallel phrase, it is used to describe a situation where a person who knows nothing is getting advice and help from another person who knows almost nothing.
History
Th ...
'', 1568, Museo di Capodimonte
Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italia ...
, Naples
File:Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. 035.jpg, Bruegel, ''The Misanthrope
''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (french: Le Misanthrope ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris b ...
'', 1568, Museo di Capodimonte
Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italia ...
, Naples
File:Dieric Bouts - The Entombment - WGA02961.jpg, Dieric Bouts
Dieric Bouts (born c. 1415 – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlier) ...
, ''The Entombment
The burial of Jesus refers to the entombment of the body of Jesus after crucifixion, before the eve of the sabbath described in the New Testament. According to the canonical gospel narratives, he was placed in a tomb by a councillor of the san ...
'', probably 1450s, National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, London
File:Bouts Resurrection.jpg, Dieric Bouts
Dieric Bouts (born c. 1415 – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlier) ...
, ''Resurrection'', Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an art museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known as the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum and displays numerous sculptures on its grounds.
Overview
The Norton Sim ...
, Pasadena
Less popular in Germany, the term ''tüchlein'' is used by German
Albrecht Dürer in his travel diary in the Netherlands, when he records selling a "tüchlein" image of the Virgin Mary to an innkeeper for two florins in Antwerp in 1520, and he was used for one of his portraits of
Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself Ele ...
(now in the
Germanisches Nationalmuseum
The Germanisches National Museum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. The Germanisches National ...
, Nuremberg). The surviving works by
Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...
include some tüchlein, some with and some without a prepared ground. The image of
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...
may have been painted in Mexico using a similar technique in the 1550s.
File:Albrecht Dürer 083.jpg, Albrecht Dürer, ''Portrait of the Emperor Maximilian I'', 1519, Germanisches Nationalmuseum
The Germanisches National Museum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. The Germanisches National ...
, Nuremberg
Andrea Mantegna - The Lamentation over the Dead Christ - WGA13981.jpg, Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...
, '' The Lamentation over the Dead Christ'', 1490, Pinacoteca di Brera
The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...
, Milan
File:1531 Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe anagoria.jpg, Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...
, 1531, Mexico
Notes
Sources
*
* {{cite book, last=Jones, first=Susan Frances, title=Van Eyck to Gossaert, publisher=National Gallery, year=2011, isbn=978-1-85709-504-3
*
Dieric Bouts's 'Annunciation'. Materials and Techniques: A Summary, Mark Leonard, Frank Preusser, Andrea Rothe and Michael Schilling, ''The Burlington Magazine'', Vol. 130, No. 1024 (Jul., 1988), pp. 517–522.
The Technique of a 'Tüchlein' by Quinten Massys Ashok Roy, National Gallery Technical Bulletin Volume 12, 1988.
''The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day''. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, IV. Technique and state of conservation Museo del Prado.
The Annunciation J. Paul Getty Museum, California.
Conservation of Easel Paintings edited by Joyce Hill Stoner, Rebecca Rushfield, p. 207–8.
LACMA Unveils Rare, Major Painting ''Los Angeles Times'', March 29, 1991.
Visual arts materials
Paints
Painting techniques