Paint and Its Surface
Peter Paul Rubens
Samson and Delilah
about 1609–10
Oil on oak, 185 × 205 cm. The National Gallery, London
Over the white chalk ground, Rubens brushed a streaky yellow-brown layer, and he let it show.
- In the folds of Delilah's white sleeve he left the layer bare as a warm half-shadow.
- The layer is an earth color like umber, with a little lead white, in oil.
- A 1983 National Gallery study by Joyce Plesters traced the layers, down to the six oak planks.
Concepts
Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (PD-Art)