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Preparation
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Vermeer did not paint the "Girl
with a Red Hat" on canvas. He instead, utilized a small oak panel (unique among
Vermeer's works) which had already been painted upon. In the x-ray of the painting (left)
we perceive a bust-length portrait of a man in the style of Carl Fabritius, a fellow Delft
artist. His wide-brimmed black hat is easily discerned. We do not know exactly why
he utilized such a support. In the inventory taken at the artist's death
there were no less than eight prepared canvasses in his studio. |
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Through recent
studies it seems that Vermeer painted directly upon the old panel turning it
upside-down. He then partially obscured the distracting white collar of the man with some
brownish paint. This is the only documented case of such a practice. He normally primed
his canvas with a mixture of animal skin glue, chalk, and a small quantity of raw umber, a brown earth pigment.
He applied the priming with a pallete knife or a brush. Priming protects the underlying
raw canvas and creates a smooth neutral surface which is hard but not brittle, it is ideal
for the subsequent oil painting. Vermeer then used the finest sable brush and either umber
or lead white to outline the principle contours of his composition. It would appear
similar the illustration to the left. In a good reproduction of Vermeer's Art of Painting we can see that
the painter, who is at the first stages of painting a portrait of a young girl, has
already drawn the sleeves of his model in this fashion. 1 2 3 4 5 |
