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10/2/2013

The Agony in the Garden

Prado Museum, Madrid

The presence of four holes for hinges on the lateral edges of the frame suggests that this painting may originally have been the central panel of a small triptych that would have had the coat-of-arms of the Duke of Orléans (and possibly that of his wife, Valentina Visconti) on the lateral panels. However, at the present time this suggestion cannot be proved.

The panel’s small size indicates that it may have been intended for a private devotional space rather than a public one such as a church or cathedral, perhaps for the chapel of one of the Duke’s residences. The fact that Louis d’Orléans is not accompanied by his wife or children, as would be expected if this were a single panel, must be for a particular reason. The subject of The Agony in the Garden and the inclusion of the opening words of the Psalm Miserere mei on the scroll that Louis holds are to be found in works of art with a funerary context. Such a context would explain why Louis is depicted without his wife or children. If this were the case, the panel would not have been commissioned by the Duke but by his wife or eldest son Charles d’Orléans. They commissioned the Duke’s tomb after he was murdered on the orders of John the Fearless in November 1407 and also retained in their service the artists who had worked for Louis.

The panel was left at the Museum in February 2011 for study and possible acquisition. After it entered the Museum technical analyses were carried out in the form of ultraviolet photography in the Museum’s Photographic Laboratory, X-radiography and Infra-red reflectography in its Technical Documentation Department, and tests on the pigments and support in the Analysis Laboratory. Working with the Museum’s technical staff, Pilar Silva Maroto, Head of the Department of Spanish Painting (1100-1500) and Flemish and Northern Schools Painting (1400-1600) undertook the art-historical and documentary study on the painting.

The results of the technical analyses were surprising. While it was evident with the naked eye that the panel had a thick area of overpainting covering its lower left side, there was nothing visible to indicate what was beneath it. X-radiography and Infra-red reflectography revealed that the artist who painted the panel had in fact included the figure of a richly dressed, kneeling male donor wearing clothes in fashion around 1400, his head bare and holding a scroll with the opening words of the Psalm Miserere mei […]. He is protected by Saint Agnes, who can be identified by the lamb at her feet.

Dendrochonology confirmed that the Baltic oak panel was from the correct period and that the work could have been painted from 1382 onwards although the style of the donor’s clothes indicates a date of around 1400 onwards. X-radiography showed the structure of the panel and also the fact that the lateral elements of the frame (which is the original one) are an integral part of the panel, while the horizontal elements were attached to it with round pegs.

Pigment analysis indicated that the original paint and later overpainting were separated by an isolating layer of varnish that made it possible to safely remove the overpainting. Once this was established it was decided to remove the overpainting, as this was the only way to gain complete knowledge of the work’s state of preservation and to assess it correctly. This was carried out by María Antonia López de Asiaín in the Prado’s Restoration Studio in January 2012.

The first step was to remove the varnish, which was a natural resin one and could therefore be taken off with a light dissolvent. The next step was to remove the overpainting. This consisted of two layers, of which the upper one had pigments that were only used from the 19th century onwards. While the layers of overpainting were easy to distinguish and were separated from the original paint by the isolating layer, the original paint was very fragile and dissolvents could not be used. For this reason and given the small size of the painting, it was decided to remove the paint manually using a scalpel and the help of a stereoscopic microscope. Using the highest possible magnification made it possible at all times for the restorer to identify pigment that was not part of the original work, which is painted in egg tempera.

After this overpainting was removed, Saint Agnes and the donor reappeared in remarkably good condition. The bright colours of their clothes suggested that the other figures of Christ and the Apostles might also have been retouched (which proved to be the case) as they had a thicker texture, darker and more opaque colour range than the original tempera seen on the donor and saint. With the assistance of the Museum’s Laboratory, which analysed micro-samples of the green of Saint John’s mantle, it was confirmed that these figures had two pictorial layers separated by a layer of varnish, in other words, the overpaint on the surface and the original paint underneath it. These areas of overpainting were also removed in the same way as those on the donor and saint, by hand with a scalpel and the assistance of a microscope.

Once cleaning was complete, the restorer proceeded to replace any losses to the paint surface, which were small in size and few in number given that this panel is in exceptionally good condition. This was done with watercolour and the help of a microscope in order not to cover any of the original paint. With the aim of preserving the panel’s lively colours it was decided to use a natural dammar varnish applied in a very thin layer. At the end of the restoration process it was evident that the painting had recovered its original quality, the liveliness of its bright colours and the relationship between the different pictorial planes as they recede into depth.

Communications Department
International Media Relations
+ 34 91 330 29 60
press@museodelprado.es

Prado Museum
Calle Ruiz de Alarcon, 23 - Madrid
Opening hours
Monday to Saturday from 10am to 8pm. Sunday and holidays from 10am to 7pm
Ticket price
General: 12 €
General + Guide: 22 €
Reduced: 6 €
Free
Tourist group: 10 € / person (only through CAV)
Cultural group: 6 €
Educational group: 0 €

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