Rubens's 'Peace and War'

Ashok Roy
Technical Bulletin Volume 20, 1999

Abstract

The support was constructed from seven pieces of canvas joined together. The technical evidence presented here from X-radiography and cross-sections suggests that the central portion of the subject was worked on a stretched canvas, and taken to a fair degree of completion, before the additional pieces were added then primed to allow the composition to be greatly extended by Rubens. The difference in priming color on the added strips now has a greater optical effect than when the painting was completed.

Keywords 

cross-sections, oil paintings, Peter Paul Rubens, radiography, supports (artists' materials)

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To cite this article we suggest using

Roy, A. 'Rubens's "Peace and War"'. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 20, pp 89–95.
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/roy1999b