Abstract ‘The production ofa painting in ear- ly nineteenth-century France fol- lowed a clearly defined sequence of steps. After drawings had been made, the composition was outlined on the prepared canvas and the modeling Was indicated, ofen with a reddish- brown “sauce” Local color, light, and shade were lad in; this sketch was elaborated using a fall ringe of tones laid out individually on the ébauche (palete). The final stage of painting refined this process further. This is demonstrated in Paul Delaroche’ The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833). A pupil of Watelet and Gros, Delaroche received much popular acclaim during the 1830s, and a number of eminent painters passed through his studio, Thus he occupies 2 central postion in the history of academic painting, 166 Paul Delaroche: A Case Study of Academic Painting Jo Kirby* and Ashok Roy Scientific Department, National Gallery ‘Trafalgar Square London WC2N SDN United Kingdom Introduction ‘The July Monarchy of Louis Philippe, who came to the throne in 1830, was a period of technological advance and increasing industrialization, marked by the rise of a wealthy and influential middle class. It was distinguished by its adherence to the philosophy of eclecticism, not only in politics, but also in the realm of the arts. Official art followed a middle course between the two dominant trends, Classicism and Romanticism, showing the careful compo- sition, drawing, and modeling of the former and an interest in the subject ‘matter and emotional content of the latter. The painting of the juste miliew could justly be described as the art of the bourgeoisie. Paul Delaroche, who rose to prominence at this time, was one of its most popular and successful exponents (1, 2). Born in 1797, the son of an art dealer, Delaroche (christened Hippolyte) entered the studio of Antoine-Jean Gros, disciple of David, after early train ing with the landscape painter Louis-Etienne Watelet and with Constant Desbordes. The recipient of many honors, royal patronage, and several official commissions, Delaroche achieved early Salon success. In 1833, he inherited Gros’s studio and became a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (3, 4,5, 6). His atelier was perhaps the busiest and most effective of the period; his pupils included Géréme, Daubigny, Millet, Monticelli, and Thomas Couture, himself the master of Edouard Manet (7). ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey Delaroche’s The Execution of Laty Jane Grey, finished in 1833, achieved con- siderable success at the Salon exhibition of 1834. The subject, drawn from English Tudor history and depicted with ostensible accuracy, appealed to pop- ular taste. The scene depicted—the moment immediately before the behead- ing—was that of the greatest dramatic tension; it also touched the sensibilities of the public without disgusting them. As Etienne-Jean Délécluze wrote, “The spectator can contemplate the axe . . . without horror” (8) (Plate 33). ‘The blindfolded Lady Jane fumbles for the block; a figure who is probably intended to be Sir John Brydges, the Lieutenant of the Tower of London, gently guides her hand. On the left, a despairing lady-in-waiting turns her face towards the massive column; the other lady-in-waiting, her mistress’ discarded dress across her lap, has fainted. The impassive executioner stands on the right. Delaroche’s historical sources for the painting included the Mar- tyrologue des Protestans of 1588, quoted in the Salon catalogue (9). There were ‘a number of other publications, as well as the works of other painters, upon which he could have drawn, including Hans Holbein the Younger’s painting of Anne of Cleves, which was at the Louvre (10, 11). Delaroche undertook exhaustive research before any painting project (12). Adored by the crowds, the painting was praised and condemned in almost equal measure by the critics. The criticism that Delaroche’s treatment was theatrical rather than dramatic, voiced by Gustave Planche among others, is interesting as it may reflect an aspect of the artists practice: Delaroche used small model rooms, within which he arranged wax figures to assist in the composition of his paintings (13, 14). According to Edward Armitage, a for- * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio PracticeFigure 1. The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, afer cleaning and bf restoration, mer student, the use of similar “boxes” to study the fall of light upon small draped models was not uncommon (15). It is fair comment that the scene depicted takes place uncomfortably close to the picture plane within a stage like space. ‘The 1834 Salon catalogue states that the painting was owned by Prince An- atole Demidoff, who paid 8,000 francs for it. It remained in private ownership until it was bequeathed to the National Gallery by the second Lord Chey- lesmore in 1902 (16). In 1928 it suffered flood damage while at the Tate Gallery and was later described as destroyed (17). In 1973 it returned to the National Gallery, where examination showed that the condition of the paint: ing was not as bad as had been feared, consisting principally of tears in the canvas (the largest tear through the executioner’ feet) and associated paint losses. Figure 1 shows the picture before restoration after it had been repaired, double lined with wax resin, and cleaned (1974-1975). Evidently its construc tion must have been relatively sound, and this was confirmed by its recent technical examination (18). ‘Method and materials of painting ‘The highly finished Salon painting or Academic picture was the result of a well-established procedure; the artist would make preliminary studies, an ¢s- quisse (a sketch of the intended composition), and detailed drawings before transferring the design to canvas and beginning to paint (19, 20, 21,22). These Kirby and Roy 167168 Figure 2. Paul Delaoche, Seady for The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, ca. 1833. Watercolor and body color over pen, with varnish, 18.4 X 14.3 cm.Universty of Mancheter, Whitworth Art Galery. steps may be observed in The Execution of Lady Jane Grey and other works by Paul Delaroche. It must be remembered that the artist may have been assisted by students at certain stages in the production of a painting of this size, even though there is no obvious indication of this here (23). ‘Compositional sketches for several of Delaroche’s paintings survive; Joan of Arc in Prison (London, Wallace Collection), for example, was painted as the sketch for Joan of Arc... Interrogated in Prison by the Cardinal of Winchester (1824, Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts) (24, 25). Most are smaller than the final versions and all are more freely painted. Delaroche felt strongly that a preliminary sketch embodied the artists imaginative process and inspiration (26). The only known compositional study for The Execution of Lady Jane Grey is a small watercolor in the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (Fig. 2). Here, Delaroche sets the figures within a Romanesque interior and only the executioner, who stands in profile holding a sword, is significantly different from the large final version (27). Many minor alterations can be attributed to scaling up and improving the composition: modifying the background arcade and staircase, for example, and simplifying the costumes. The striking trans- formation is in the color, which is so resonant and warm in the finished version in contrast to the cooler and less coherent tonalities of the watercolor. In the sketch, the executioner is dressed in dull green and red; the attendant facing the column is portrayed in deep blue, rather than rich dark purple. In the sketch, light plays evenly across the room; in the painting, it is more concentrated on the figures, although the pattern of light fall is similar. The squat, oddly appealing figures of the tiny watercolor have been transformed into an elegant, theatrical “tableau.” ‘The next step was to make drawings for the composition’s elements. Much importance was traditionally attached to drawing, and Delaroche produced hundreds of drawings during his career (28). Several must have been made for The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. Two studies for it on paper certainly survive, one in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the other in the British Mu- seum in London (Fig. 3) (29). The Louvre sheet shows the figure of the executioner on the left, squared up for transfer: It is very close to that in the Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio PracticeFigue 3. The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. Pentil draving forthe central group, 18 X 16.5 ‘em London, British Museum (formerly National Galery, London). finished painting. The two other figures on the sheet are studies for Lady [Jane's ladies-in-waiting; neither has been squared up. That for the standing figure has been used with little modification. The other figure in the Louvre drawing appears to kneel and pray facing the central group; this composition ‘was not used in the final painting, in which the slumped position of the attendant is very much as it is in the watercolor study—to greater dramatic ‘effect. The British Museum drawing shows Lady Jane and Sir John Brydges; it has been used with little modification. There are small differences in details of costume between the drawings used and the finished painting. Apart from his use of draped figures in room sets, discussed above, the artist ‘was in the habit of making wax or plaster models of elements of the com- position when he felt there was a problem to be solved; a plaster model was made of the two princes, for example, in The Children of Edward IV (1830, Musée du Louvre) (30). This appears not to have been necessary for the Lady Jane Grey. ‘The chosen drawn versions of the figures would then have been transferred to the prepared canvas. The canvas for a painting of this size would have been. stretched to order, apparently from a single piece of medium-weight linen; the largest stock canvas was a toile de 120 (about 1.3 X 1.9 m) (31). The roll of canvas used was already primed with a ground of lead white in linseed oil. Over this first priming, Delaroche then had a second ground—also of lead white, but this time bound in walnut oil—applied to the stretched canvas. Delaroche seems to have transferred designs for the single figures or groups individually, infrared reflectography has revealed “squaring-up” lines under the paint of Lady Jane’s dress, her seated attendant, and in the area of the Kirby and Roy 169170 Figure 4 Infrared refleogram fom Lady Jane Grey's skin in The Execution of Lady Jane Grey block, but the scale of these various grids suggests that there is no single system of squaring across the entire picture surface. The infrared images show many changes in the underdrawing; lines drawn across Lady Jane's wrists suggest that her dress was to be long-sleeved, as in the watercolor sketch (Fig. 4). At the drawing stage, Delaroche also indicated such features as shadows in drapery folds, as seen in the standing woman's dress In many unfinished French paintings of this period it can be seen that the underdrawing has been strengthened with a translucent brownish wash, some- times known as “sauce” (32, 33). In this case, no such material could be detected with certainty in any of the cross sections examined, and only the charcoal drawing was found; possibly a grayish wash, for example, was applied in the shadows of folds. Subsequently the figures and background were laid in using brownish or grayish shades of paint, composed of lead white combined with a variety of tinting pigments (Cassel earth, ochres, and other natural earth pigments, as well as small quantities of cobalt blue, a red lake pigment and black). The tonality of this underpaint bears some relation to the color of the paint that ‘was to be applied on top, thus the background and black garments are un- derpainted in shades of gray, while the underpaint of the flesh varies from a warm beige for the executioner to a grayish white for Lady Jane. The un- derpaint also indicates light and shade, by varying the proportion of ochres, black, and cobalt blue in the mixture, the color of the underpaint of Lady Jane's dress is changed from a pale beige in areas of highlight to a dark brown in the deepest shadow. Occasionally, the underpaint is similar in color to the intended local color; for the cushion it is a translucent green consisting of black, verdigris, Prussian blue, yellow ochre, and pethaps a yellow lake. At this point the painting would have had an appearance not unlike a grisaille version of the final composition, an element of Delaroche’s practice men- tioned by Delaborde (34). Infrared reflectography has revealed many pent ‘enti, however, bearing out comments by students that Delaroche frequently reworked passages during painting (35). The executioner appears originally to have had a sash around his waist, for example, and the position of the pike behind the balustrade and the angle of the banisters have been altered. The underpaint for the executioner’s tights is mauve-gray (composed of lead Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio PracticeFigure 5. Detail of Lady Jane Grey from The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. white, red lake, and black), similar in color to that used in the watercolor sketch; the presence of a thin layer of black paint above it, darkening or obliterating it, suggests a change of mind. Above it is a much warmer version of the underpaint layer, containing more red lake pigment, followed by the desired red paint (Plate 34a), This grisaille probably represents the ébauche stage of the painting (36). When it was dry, the local color was applied. Bouvier describes the use of a series of premixed, graduated middle tones applied side by side and then blended to give an smooth passage from light to dark across each part of the painting, for both the ébauche and the final paint layers (37). The simplicity and precision of the layer structure and the generally close relationship be- tween the depth of tone in the grisaille and the chiaroscuro of the finished painting, as demonstrated in the painting of Lady Jane's dress, suggests that something approaching this may have been done (Fig. 5). Only one or two quite thin, even layers of paint may be present over the underpaint, with perhaps an additional glaze or highlight Observation of the paint surface, however, and the occasional presence of extremely thin scumbles or glazes of paint (or simply a greater concentration of paint medium) at the top of a paint layer reveal the careful blending of tones. One paint layer frequently appears to have been applied over another while the layer below was still fresh, enabling one mid-tone to be merged into the next. Plate 34b shows a cross section of paint from the shadow of a fold in Lady Jane’s dress. The grayish paint of the shadow, consisting of lead white with a little cobalt blue and Cassel earth, merges with the creamier paint of the layer below so com Kirby and Roy 171172 pletely that it is difficult to distinguish between them. The lowest paint layer (above the grayish wash of the drawing and the white ground) is the dark undermodeling of the ébauche, containing Cassel earth, charcoal, and cobalt blue. This is probably sufficiently dark in color to contribute to the observed chiaroscuro of the dress (a similar mixture is used as a final glaze for the deepest shadows). The creamy mid-tone of the dress consists principally of lead white, with traces of yellow ochre, Cassel earth, and cobalt blue; the proportion of the tinting pigments is altered as one tone blends into the next, however. The blending process is also reflected in the presence of a number of paint layers in subtly different shades of cream in different parts of the dress. Only in the lightest highlights is lead white used almost pure, ground in walnut oil; even here, the presence of a trace of cobalt blue gives it coldness. ‘This general pattern of paint construction is repeated elsewhere in the paint- ing. Passages of paint containing a pigment used more or less unmixed are very rare indeed, but in the red glazes supplying the purplish red of the brocade dress, on the lap of the seated lady-in-waiting in Figure 6c, and the shadows on the executioner’ tights, a crimson lake pigment was used in this ‘way. In both cases, the dyestuff present was that extracted from a cochineal insect, Dactylopius coccus Costa, on a substrate consisting largely of hydrated alumina. The brown paint of the brocade, containing yellow ochre with other iron oxides and black, contained ordinary linseed oil; the red glaze, however, contained heat pre-polymerized linseed oil and a little mastic resin (Plate 34c). ‘This indicates the use of a varnish of the type recommended as a painting ‘medium, perhaps the jellylike vermis des Anglais described by Mérimée as being particularly suitable for glazes because it could be brushed on so easily (38). ‘The presence of a resin-containing medium is also suggested by the whitish fluorescence exhibited by the glaze layer in ultraviolet illumination under the microscope. ‘The paint used for the red of the executioner's tights is perhaps surprisingly complicated, as it contains two red lake pigments mixed with vermilion and lead white (Plate 34a). Examination under the microscope suggests that one is the cochineal lake used in the glaze; the other, less crimson in color, was not present in sufficient quantity for analysis, but its pronounced orange-pink fluorescence in ultraviolet illumination suggests that the dyestuff may have been extracted from madder root, the use of which was being developed in France at the time (39). Curiously, the same lake (mixed with black and cobalt blue) is used rather than the more crimson cochineal lake for the attendant’s purple dress. Even the velvety black of Sir John Brydges’ garment is a mixed color: it contains a subtle combination of black, Prussian blue, red lake, and a translucent yellow pigment (Plate 34d). This combination is similar to Edouard Manet’s tinted darks in Music in the Tuileries Gardens, painted thirty ‘years later (40). Quite marked brushwork is visible in the black garments of Sir John and the executioner; analysis shows that Delaroche used a varnish- type painting medium of similar composition to that used for the red glaze, which retained the texture of the brush strokes. ‘To summarize, Paul Delaroche painted a grisille of his composition and then colored it in; the labor necessary to produce the finished painting was, how- ever, considerable barely revealed on its bland surface. The painter's crafts- manship and understanding of materials cannot be denied; his reliance on lead white and ochres in particular and the absence of bitumen have resulted in a paint film in remarkably good condition, considering the recent history of the painting. The use of a varnish-type paint medium has often proved to bbe a recipe for disaster; in this case the paint shows few of the defects often caused by its use. Delaroche appears to have added only cobalt blue and synthetic ultramarine (and possibly an improved madder lake) to what could be described as a conventional eighteenth-century palette. ‘The production of the Salon painting was not the end of the story. Public awareness of successfll Salon paintings was increased by means of reproduc- tions in the press; several of Delaroche's paintings, including Children of Edward Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio PracticeFigure 6. Paul Delaroce, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, ca. 1834, Canvas, 45.7 % 53.3 ‘om. Copoaton of London, Guildhall rt Gallery. IV, were reproduced by lithography. Artists were also able to keep their works in the public eye by means of high-quality engravings and Delaroche had an arrangement with the print publisher Adolphe Goupil to produce and publish engravings, after his paintings (41). For large paintings, including Lady Jane Grey, The Children of Edward IV, and Joan of Arc, he painted a reduced-scale copy from which the engraving could be made (42). In the case of Lady Jane Grey, it is possible that the painting now in the collection of the Guildhall Art Gallery, Corporation of London, is the reduced-scale copy (Fig. 6) (43). ‘The engraving, by Mercurij, one of several engravers who engraved the pain- ter’s works for Goupil, was begun in 1834, but was only completed in 1857, the painter himself having died the previous year (44). Acknowledgments ‘The authors would like to thank John Leighton, curator of nineteenth-century paint- ings at the National Gallery, for generously sharing the information he has gained during his research with the authors; Rachel Billinge, Leverhulme Research Fellow at the National Gallery, for infrared reflectography carried out on the painting; Ray- ‘mond White for examination of the paint medium by gas chromatography mas spectrometry; Sara Hattrick and the Photographic Department for photography. Notes 1. Boime, A. 1971. The Academy and French Painting in the Nineteenth Century. Lon don: Phaidon, 9-21. 2. Boime, A. 1980. Thomas Couture and the Ecleic Vision. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 3-35, 3. Delaborde, H., and J: Goddé. 1858. Ocwre de Paul Delaroche, reproduit en photo- _graphie par Bingham, accompagné d'une notice sur la vie et les ouvrages de Paul Delaroche ‘par Henri Delaborde, et du catalogue raisonné de Poewre par Jules Goddé. Paris: Goupil. References to the esay are cited as Delaborde, 1858; those to the catalogue as Goddé, 1858. 4, Ziff, N.D.1977. Paul Delaroche: a study in nineteenth-century French history painting. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc. 5. Boime, 1980. Op. cit, 4041, 52-60, 70-75. Kirby and Roy 173174 10. nn 12, 13, 4 16. 17, 19. ). Bouvier, P-L. 1832. Manuel des jeuues artistes et amateurs en peinture. 2nd ed. Paris: 24 22, 23, 25, 26. 27. 29. 30. 31 32. 33, 34, 35. 36. 37. Foissy-Auffére, M.-P. 1983. La Jearme d'Arc de Paul Delarche, Salon de 1824: dossier d'une oewre, Rouen: Musée des Beaux-Arts, 82-87. Hauptman, W. 1985, Delaroche’s and Gleyre’s teaching ateliers and their group portraits. Studies in the History of Art (18):79-82, 89-97. Délécluze, E.-J. 1834. Salon de 1834 (2nd article). Joumal des debats, politiques et literaires 5 March 1834, ). Paris Salon de 1834. Explication des ousrages de peinture, sculpture, architectre, gravure ct lithographic des artistes vivans exposés au Musée Royal le 1” mars, 1834. Paris Vinchon. Facsimile edition, 1977. New York and London: Garland Publishing Inc, 52 (no. 503) Ziff, op cit, 126-38. Ganz, P1950. The Paintings of Hans Holiein. London: Phaidon, 251 (no. 107) and plate 148. Mirecourt,E. de, [C-]~B.Jacquot} 1871. Histoire coutemporaine: ports et siliowe cates au XIX' sidde. 119. Delaoche, Decanps. 3rd ed, Pars Librairie des contem- porns, 16-17. Planche, G. 1855. Salon de 1834. In Etudes sur Poe franaise (1831-1852), pein- ‘ue et sculpture. Pats: Michel Lévy Fréres, Vol. 1,244 Boime, 1980. Op. cit, 56. ‘Armitage, E. 1883. Lecures on painting, delivered tothe students ofthe Royal Academy, London: Trilbner & Co., 254-56 Gould, C. 1975, Delaeche and Gautier: Gauter’s views on the “Exeaution of Lady Jane Grey and on ether compositions by Dearehe. Leaflet accompanying the ex- hibition of the restored painting. London: Trustes of the National Gallery, Pub- lications Department Alley, R. 1959. Tate Gallery catalogues. The foreign paintings, dravings and sculpture London: Trustees of the Tate Gallery, 298 Examination of the paint cross sections and pigments was carried out by Ashok Roy using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with en~ cexgy-dispersive X-ray analysis and X-ray diffraction. Identification of the paint ‘media by gas chromatography mass spectrometry was performed by Raymond White. identification of lake pigment dyestull by high performance liquid chro~ ‘matography was carried out by Jo Kirby. The conservation treatment is described in the National Gallery conservation records. Boime, 1971. Op. cit, 22-47. EG. Levrault Paillot de Montabert, JN. 1829. Trité complet de a peinure. Paris: Bossange pire, Vol. 9, 36-65. Arsenne, L.-C. 1833. Mamel du peintre et du sculptew (etc. Paris: Librairie en- cyclopédique de Roret, Vol. 2, 195-413. For example, Goddé states that the ébauche of Staford (1835, location unknown) ‘was painted by Henri Delaborde from Delaroche’s watercolor sketch and a wax model. Goddé, 1858. Op. cit. (note 3), plate 19 and commentary. 1. Ingamells,J. 1986, The Wallace Collection. Catalogue of Picuwes, II, French Nineteewh Cemury. London: Trustees of the Wallace Collection, 114 (ao. P604). Foissy-Aulire, op. cit, 21-23, Boime, 1971. Op. cit, 45, 102-3. Goddé, 1858. Op. cit. (note 3), plate 16 and commentary Ziff, N.D. 1975. Dessins de Paul Delaroche au cabinet des Dessins du musée du Louvre. La Revue du Lowre et des Muses de France, XXV:163-68. A further donation of drawings was made to the Louvre in 1982. Eude pour la “Jane Gray" (scl, 1727RF Pencil and red chalk, 23.1 X 20 em. See Guffey, J, and P. Marcel. 1910. Invemize général des dessins du Musée du Louwre et du Musée de Versailles. Ecole fanaise. Pars: Librairie centrale dart et architecture. Vol. 52-3 (no. 3535). Delaborde and Goddé, op. cit. 15, plate 14 and commentary. Paillot de Montabert, op. cit, vol. 9, 144-47. Bouvier, op.cit., 236-37. Couture, T. 1879, Conenations on Art Methods [Méthode et entretens tele] (French edition, 1867). New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 7 Delaborde, op. cit, 18. Armitage, op. cit, 79. Boime, 1971. Op. cit, 36-41 Bouvier, op. cit, 207-74, Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice38. Mérimée,J-F-L. 1830. De la peinture d Pluie etc. Paris: Mme. Huzard (Facsimile reprint, Puteaux: Erec, 1981), 70-71. 39, Paillot de Montabert, op. cit, 258-71; see also Mérimée, op. cit. 144-65. 40. Bomford, D.,J. Kirby, J. Leighton, and A. Roy. 1990. Art inthe Making: Impres- sionism, London: National Gallery and New Haven: Yale University Press, 117, 119. 41. Mirecourt, op. cit, 24 42, Ingamells, op. cit, 99-100 (no. P276), 103-104 (no. P300) 48. Knight, V. 1986. The Works of Art of the Corporation of London: A Catalogue of Paintings, Watevolows, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture. Cambridge: Woodhead- Faulkner, 72 (no. 1052) 44. Goddé, op. cit. (note 3), plate 16 and commentary. The engraving measured 29 X 36 cm Kirby and Roy 175