King Henry II

The panel appears stable. There is wood loss at the upper-left corner and the right side has been weakened by woodworm damage. Some of the filling down the panel join is a little uneven. Several areas of restoration have darkened; these include restoration on a diagonal scratch in the centre right and some parts of the background at the top and on the left. The varnish is even and semi-glossy.

Number of boards: 2

Panel Orientation: Vertical

Number of boards: 2

Last date of tree ring: 1585

Observations

For analysis the boards were labelled A and B from the left (from the front). Both boards retain sapwood at their outermost edges and the presence of sapwood means that a felling date range can be applied to the panel. The sequence of tree rings obtained from the two boards did not cross-match, but the sequence on board A matched very strongly with board A on the portrait of William I (NPG 4980(1)), which indicates that they derive from the same tree. The date of the last measured ring on board A of the Henry II panel is 1585. Adding the minimum and maximum expected number of sapwood rings suggests that the two board A's were felled between 1592 and 1608, and that the tree for board B was felled between 1592 and 1602. The two linked panels are narrower than the others in the set.

The panel join and wood grain can be seen in x-ray (see x-ray mosaic 01). The brushwork is clearly visible, particularly the paint applied wet-in-wet in the fur. It is clear where the paint for each area is painted to the edge of the reserves and the hair was evidently applied before the background.

Black underdrawing can be seen in the face, and fur using infrared reflectography (see DIRR01). The features, the beard, moustache and the gold collar are defined with strong outlines, often with a second line reinforcing the marks. The line of the chin, the lines in the cheeks, temples and the hair were applied more freely and fine hatched lines were applied for the shadows in the fur.

Paint samples were taken for analysis in April 2011.

The panel is prepared with a chalk ground. There may be a warm grey priming but this was not obvious in the paint samples.

Paint
Red robe
Sample 1: Cross-section shows a chalk ground with three layers over it. There is a dark red underlayer, or possibly priming, which contains fine black and red and occasional large particles of white. A bright layer of opaque red containing good quality vermilion, lies over this layer. There are traces of a possible glaze on top.

Letter C
Sample 2: Dispersion contains classic lead-tin yellow with some kind of silicaceous filler and a little white; this is possibly lead white, but rod shaped.

Background
Sample 3: Cross-section shows a chalk ground with two layers above it. There is a little red lead in the ground which might indicate traces of the priming. Over the ground lies a thin layer, which is possibly the priming layer. This contains earth pigments, creating a warm grey. The layer above this is restoration.

Gold collar
Sample 4: Dispersion contains gold leaf and red and yellow earth pigments, which are probably part of the underlying mordant for the gold. There is also a trace of red lead that appears to be in the mixed brown used for the decoration on the collar.

Painting style and method
Dendrochronology has linked this painting with the portrait of William I (NPG 4980(1)) from the same set, and stylistically they are very similar. However, although the painting method is very similar, the handling is softer and less crisp, with more blending. Detail on the gilding is defined with brown lines in a similar manner.

Preparation layers
The panel was prepared with a chalk ground. The colour of the priming may vary in different areas: dark red was visible beneath the cloak and a grey was found in a sample taken from the background. The underdrawing was carried out in a carbon containing medium.

Paint
Flesh
Although this painting is linked to the painting of William I (NPG 4980 (1)) both stylistically and through the wood used for the panels, the brushwork in the flesh is handled more softly, with more blending. The underlayer was broadly applied with the modelling applied over it. This modelling was applied less crisply than in the painting of William I. The paint mixture contains white lead, vermilion and red lake; the vermilion particles are relatively large compared with the painting of William I.

Eyes
There is some slight wet-in wet blending in the lower edge of the eyelid, which might indicate eyelashes. This does not compare with the treatment of the lashes in the portrait of William I (see micro 01 and micro 02).

Beard, eyebrows and hair
The paint mixture for the brown underlayer was clearly medium-rich and has a fine drying craquelure that has exposed the white priming. Detail on the hair was applied over the underlayer. The details on the beard were painted relatively thinly with soft blending. The modelling for the flesh was applied before the final hairs on the beard and hair (see micro 05).

Costume and crown
The gilding was applied over a warm light brown mordant, applied before the flesh paint (see micro 06). A thin grey layer was applied over the priming before the white ermine was applied. The paint for the red robe was applied before the white fur. The red paint is medium-rich and there is a fine drying craquelure and consists of good quality vermilion with a thin red glaze applied over it. The brushstrokes were brought up to the edge of the reserve, where the priming and the grey underlayer for the ermine can be seen. The black detail of hairs in the fur was applied last, painted wet-in-wet with a fine brush (see micro 07). Fine white hairs were applied to the edge of the ermine to overlap the red costume. The details on the gilding are drawn in paint with brown lines.

Background and inscription
The first layer for the background was applied at an early stage. The final layer for the background was applied thinly with a broad brush at the end of the painting process, leaving a strong streaky texture in the paint surface. The paint mixture appears to be a reasonably dark brown containing earth pigments, opaque red and black, but the surface is grey where there seems to be some deterioration. Abrasion has exposed the dark brown beneath the grey on the surface. The inscription was applied last, painted with a mixture containing lead-tin yellow and some orange particles (see micro 04). The style of the inscription is close to that seen in the portrait of William I (NPG 4980 (1)).

Order of construction
- Ground
- Priming
- Underdrawing
- Underlayer for flesh and hair
- Underlayer for ermine and background
- Mordant for gilding
- Gilding
- Flesh modelling
- Beard, eyebrows, hair
- Red costume
- White ermine applied
- Brown detail and jewels on gilding
- Final layer of background
- Inscription

Pigments
Lead white, black, vermilion, red lake, red lead, lead-tin yellow, earth pigments

A thin opaque varnish layer is visible in ultra violet light, and restoration at the top edge appears dark (see UV 01). There are a few other scattered areas of restoration.

Frame date: Late 20th century.