Documents from two paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington available on The Rembrandt Database
18 August 2014
The National Gallery of Art in Washington presents the art historical information and technical documentation from the paintings “The Apostle Paul” and “Self-portrait” in The Rembrandt Database. The two paintings have been studied with normal light, X-ray radiography, infrared reflectography, ultraviolet photography and under a stereomicroscope. In the (recent) past Melanie Gifford (Research Conservator for Painting Technology in the Scientific Research Department of the NGA) took several samples of the paintings and examined the cross sections. The documents pertaining these studies can now be viewed on the database.
Both paintings are part of NGA Online Editions, the digital version of Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.’s Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The catalogue had its first life as a traditional hardcover book in 1995. In the years that followed, the collection of Dutch paintings expanded through important acquisitions; new research was conducted on many of the paintings; still others underwent conservation treatment. By the time the book went out of print in 2004, Wheelock and his colleagues in the Gallery’s publishing office were already thinking about new, 21st-century ways of updating, enhancing, and presenting this ever-broadening collection to scholars and the public alike. After receiving the grant in 2009, a team of curators, editors, technical leads, web producers, conservators, photographers, and archivists further developed these ideas into a catalogue that would be fully embedded in the Gallery’s website and, at the same time, serve as a platform for an entire online series devoted to the permanent collection. On April 24th 2014, the National Gallery of Art debuted an innovative digital initiative with the launch of Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.’s Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. This first release in NGA Online Editions is part of an ongoing effort to digitize and provide open access to the Gallery’s permanent collection catalogs and will eventually document more than 5,000 paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. Users will be able to access the web-based, interactive book.
Many thanks to Melanie Gifford and Douglas Lachance (Technician, Painting Conservation NGA), who provided us the technical information and documentation.