Gerlach Flicke; Henry Strangwish (Strangways)

The paint is generally in good condition, although there are a number of areas of abrasion and loss which have been restored. Further areas of minor loss can be seen around the edges of the panel, particularly along the lower edge. The panel has a very slight convex warp. A number of fine vertical cracks can be seen on the paint surface, particularly in the central area of blue background. In addition, there is a curved crack which runs from the central upper edge above the figure of Flicke, through the hair and round to the upper left edge. This could be an accidental fold in the corner of the paper. None of these cracks relates to the direction of the wood grain. There are no cracks in the back or the sides of the panel. The varnish is thinly applied and does not appear to be discoloured.

Areas of retouching are evident in normal and ultra violet light. There are small areas of restored loss in the face and hair of both figures, as well as in the background and drapery. Further restoration can be seen in areas of damage around the edges of the panel and down the central framing line.

Number of boards: 1

Panel Orientation: Horizontal

Number of boards: 1

Last date of tree ring: n/a

Observations

The panel is too small to date as there are not enough rings present.

Limited information can be gathered from the x-ray as it appears dense and almost entirely white, with only a small amount of wood grain visible. This is due to the substantial amount of lead white in the structure: there is a thick lead white layer present between the oak panel and the paper, and a pink layer above the paper also contains lead white (see Paint sampling).

Underdrawing
Considerable fine underdrawing is visible throughout, including figures, faces and framing elements. In addition, horizontal lines have been drawn to delineate the position of the inscription, although the lettering itself is not underdrawn (see IRR 01).

Preparation layers
The painting is on paper mounted onto wood. The paper is visible in one of the cross-sections taken (sample 1), and can also be seen in small losses around the edges. Underneath the paper is a thick paint layer of white lead and smalt which lies between the wood and the paper. (It is theoretically possible that the panel was reused, but the lead white paint blocks any evidence of this in x-ray.) The cross-section taken from the lower edge of the painting in Strangwish's costume (sample 1) contained all layers of paint, the paper and the white with smalt layer beneath, although the layer beneath the paper is rather disturbed in the sample.

Above the paper, a warm pink priming layer can be seen under the whole painting. This can be seen in various losses along the edge and in other parts of the portraits. The paint mixture consists of lead white with vermilion and traces of yellow ochre. Such pink preparation layers were commonly used for portrait painting and miniatures.

Drawing
Underdrawing is clearly visible throughout, particularly in the figures.

Paint
The order of painting over the pink preparation layer can be deduced to some extent by microscope examination (see Surface examination). The background blue is composed of azurite and lead white. A little dark red has been added to the azurite, perhaps to give it a closer appearance to ultramarine. Azurite can also be seen in the whites of Strangwish's eyes, but not in those of Flicke.

Flesh
A sample of flesh paint was taken from the edge of a small loss in one of Flicke's fingers (sample 4). This showed that it was painted primarily with lead white and vermilion. However, particles of brown, black, ochre, azurite and a touch of lead-based yellow could be seen in the dispersion, most of which were probably from the surrounding paint. Shadows of azurite can be seen, under the microscope, on the fingers.

Costumes
Interestingly, a number of large dark blue particles could be seen in parts of the black costumes, and one of these was sampled and identified as smalt. It is unusual to find the presence of two blues mixed in to black. The purpose of the smalt may have been purely as a drier rather than a colourant. The pigment in the cloak is a carbon black derived from plants. (See samples 3 and 5)

Yellows
Two yellows were used in the painting: a yellow ochre and a lead-tin yellow. Lead-tin yellow has been used for the brighter lines of yellow and the inscription. The yellow line, where sampled over the black cloak, was identified as lead-tin yellow, with a fine line of a translucent substance on top, which is more likely to be varnish than an original glaze.

Painting style and method
Fine underdrawing is visible beneath the paint surface in several areas. The drawn line for the upper edge of Flicke's white collar is above the painted line (it is visible through the flesh paint -see micro 11).

Flicke's beard is painted with a similar technique to that used in the painting of William Paget (NPG 961), using the black paint of the drapery brushed up over the flesh paint (using spiky brushstrokes) to create hairs. Flicke brushed the dark paint over the orange/grey beard colour which was already blocked in. Following the brushing up of the black drapery paint, further opaque highlights were applied to finish the painting of the beard. The brushstrokes in the beard are very fine and fluidly applied.

The blue background paint was applied in two layers of a mixture of azurite and white with a little red (see Paint sampling). At the edge of Flicke's shoulder on the left side, where the edge of the black drapery has been abraded, a lighter blue can be seen below. This appears to be the same blue mixture as described above, with a little more white added (see micro 11).

The inscription and pale yellow border around the painted framing were carried out in pure lead-tin yellow (see micro 08). The line under the lettering was incised before the underdrawing was applied. In contrast to the smooth, flat application of paint seen elsewhere, the inscription was painted using a drier paint mixture (containing less oil) which gives it a raised texture (see Paint sampling).

Head and flesh
Azurite has been used in Strangwish's eyes. The flesh paint is composed of a mixture of lead white, vermilion, azurite, black, ochre and possibly some red lake. In areas of shadow, there is a higher proportion of black used.

Costume and figure
The black of the costumes contains azurite and red lake, and some particles of smalt (see micro 02) and Paint sampling). Where the left-hand side of the lute meets the adjacent black drapery, a technique of dragging the black paint over the ochre colour has been used (see micro 03). Given the micro scale of the brushwork here, this is only really visible with magnification. However, the technique used here is probably similar to that seen in the painting of Baron Berners (NPG 4953), where shadows in the purple sleeves were created by dragging dark paint over light, using a comb-like tool.

The underdrawing is utilised in the final painting to define the features through the thinly applied upper paint layers. Given that little shadow is created through the use of dark paint in these areas, it is likely that the underdrawing was intended to show through the paint and play a role in the creation of tonal variations in the flesh. This effect is however now exaggerated beyond the original intention of the artist because of the increased transparency of the oil paint film.

Palette
The painted palette held by Flicke has been set with a range of colours suited to portrait painting. Red lake is to the left of the thumb, followed by azurite. A dark brown lies in the lower left-hand corner, and two tones of pink at the lower edge, before ending with white below the thumb.

Order of construction
The paint layers have an orderly application.
- Oak panel.
- Thick layer containing lead white and smalt (see Paint sampling).
- Paper and glue (examination by Alan Derbyshire (V&A) was inconclusive but favours paper rather than parchment as the probable surface support).
- Pink priming (see micro 01 and Paint sampling).
- Lines incised for lettering (see micro 08).
- Underdrawing applied with carbon in liquid medium (see micro 04 and micro 09).
- First layer of blue background paint laid in up to edge of panel. This extends beneath the central column (but not right to the bottom of the column where it is adjacent to black drapery).
- Blue details, such as the gaps between both Flicke and Strangwish's arms.
- Opaque brown earth pigment used for the palette and lute. Details such as the patches of paint and the strings were applied later when the lower layer had dried (see micro 13).
- Hands of both figures (see micro 14 and micro 17).
- The main body of each figure: black/grey drapery was applied directly over the pink priming layer, with lighter details such as the grey texture in Strangwish's drapery added on top. The dark drapery paint extends under the painted frame to the edge of the panel.
- Flicke's white collar. The black detail on the collar was painted on top of the white (see micro 11).
- Further layer of blue background paint.
- Painted framing (see micro 12).
- Flesh paint on the faces, followed by the hair and beard - wet-in-wet (see micro 04 , micro 06, micro 10, micro 16 and micro 18).
- The white ribbon/necktie and button at bottom of Stangwish's jacket, over the black paint.
- Highlights in the flesh paint.
- The inscription and pale yellow border in the painted framing (see micro 08 and micro 12).
- The red border in the painted framing.

Pigments
Lead white, plant black, vermilion, azurite, smalt, red lake, yellow ochre, earth pigments, lead-tin yellow

Other observations
In the lower right-hand corner a red paint layer can be seen above the black drapery paint, and below the upper ochre framing. It is not clear what this area of red relates to and why it was applied.
Under magnification small specks of gold can be seen on the surface of the painting.

Small areas of damage and restoration can be seen throughout. These are most evident in the flesh and background. In ultra violet light, the detail in Strangwish's black tunic is far more evident than in normal light, showing very fine opposing diagonal brushstrokes (see UV 01).

Frame date: 2008