Throughout the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, scientists and conservators at a select number of cultural institutions worked towards developing a more accurate understanding of the techniques and materials used by Old Master painters. Some of the first pioneers in this area include A.P. Laurie based in Edinburgh, Max Doerner and Alexander Eibner at the Deorner Institut in Munich, Rutherford Gettens together with George Stout and David Thompson at Harvard University’s Fogg Art Museum, Paul Coremans at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels, and Joyce Plesters at the National Gallery in London. Early accounts describe spot or “wiping” tests, heating/burning tests, and microchemical tests performed on samples or on the actual artworks themselves. In addition, this period witnessed a marked improvement on the methods used to both extract and preserve paint samples, ultimately culminating in procedures used to prepare intact cross-sectional samples, methods that are still used to this day by the conservation community. This talk will outline the evolution of these tests and how they were very much influenced by international collaborations and current art historical debates; nearly all of these early initiatives were driven by two primary questions: 1) how did the transition from egg to oil manifest during the early Italian Renaissance and 2) what was the chosen medium of Jan van Eyck and his workshop? Based on the outcome of these early tests, scientists and conservators were able to draw certain conclusions and theories, many of which will be discussed during this paper.
