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Trying to find info on an old wood panel painting.
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<p>[QUOTE="Bronwen, post: 966520, member: 5833"]So many questions.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I know nothing of the ways of painters before there were art supply stores. Do know you can't paint on new wood & expect it to last. Did painters use wood reclaimed from older furniture?</p><p><br /></p><p>This</p><p><br /></p><p>& the accompanying photo only confused me further about the nature of the surface the painting is on vs. other elements. Is the black on the back paint? Some other substance adhering to the back? I'm confused by the rough looking texture of the back combined with the smoother surface of the painting & the lighter color around one edge in the photo blooey just reposted.</p><p><br /></p><p>In some photos of the seal there are dots of red at high points. Is that the underlying color of the material used, now darkened to the color of lead? Lighting artifact? Is seal entirely above the surface or is some of it recessed down into the wood? My guess is that it is 'sulphur wax', used for gem impressions such as in <a href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/36253/oak-cabinet-containing-sixty-drawers-of-gem-impressions-in-red-sulphur-wax-by-james-tassie-2/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://art.thewalters.org/detail/36253/oak-cabinet-containing-sixty-drawers-of-gem-impressions-in-red-sulphur-wax-by-james-tassie-2/" rel="nofollow">this collection</a>, 'sulphur wax (colored red with lead)'. This substance gets quite hard, not like beeswax or parafin.</p><p><br /></p><p>The imagery of the painting is curious & I have not begun trying to find it. For all you other sleuths, [USER=8184]@Jivvy[/USER] is correct that it feels like it should be related to Bacchus & his 'revel rout', but there are points that also make it different. Nude females dancing with abandon are consistent with a bacchanale, as is the presence of a goat or two. What is not usual is the cast off clothing of the women in the foreground, which indicates they are ordinary rustic women, not nymphs or full-time maenads. I would like to be able to see the men better, but think they are just 2 goat herds. Is the one on the right playing a musical instrument of the lyre type? And is the one on the left looking out at the viewer, not enjoying the show? </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]204548[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Are there similar clusters in the background? Does everyone back there appear to be fully clothed?</p><p><br /></p><p>That could be a wine jug on the ground next to the lady's hat. It's the only thing in the scene, as far as I can see, relating to grapes, vineyards, wine or intoxication; no one carries a thyrsus or any other of the accoutrements associated with Dionysian celebrations.</p><p><br /></p><p>My impression is that, while the idea of country folk who live closely with their flocks being less inhibited & getting up to who knows what out there at night on those isolated hills ties in with the woodland scenes of Pan, satyrs, nymphs & fauns in the train of Dionysys/Bacchus, this is not meant to be a scene from mythology.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Bronwen, post: 966520, member: 5833"]So many questions. I know nothing of the ways of painters before there were art supply stores. Do know you can't paint on new wood & expect it to last. Did painters use wood reclaimed from older furniture? This & the accompanying photo only confused me further about the nature of the surface the painting is on vs. other elements. Is the black on the back paint? Some other substance adhering to the back? I'm confused by the rough looking texture of the back combined with the smoother surface of the painting & the lighter color around one edge in the photo blooey just reposted. In some photos of the seal there are dots of red at high points. Is that the underlying color of the material used, now darkened to the color of lead? Lighting artifact? Is seal entirely above the surface or is some of it recessed down into the wood? My guess is that it is 'sulphur wax', used for gem impressions such as in [URL='https://art.thewalters.org/detail/36253/oak-cabinet-containing-sixty-drawers-of-gem-impressions-in-red-sulphur-wax-by-james-tassie-2/']this collection[/URL], 'sulphur wax (colored red with lead)'. This substance gets quite hard, not like beeswax or parafin. The imagery of the painting is curious & I have not begun trying to find it. For all you other sleuths, [USER=8184]@Jivvy[/USER] is correct that it feels like it should be related to Bacchus & his 'revel rout', but there are points that also make it different. Nude females dancing with abandon are consistent with a bacchanale, as is the presence of a goat or two. What is not usual is the cast off clothing of the women in the foreground, which indicates they are ordinary rustic women, not nymphs or full-time maenads. I would like to be able to see the men better, but think they are just 2 goat herds. Is the one on the right playing a musical instrument of the lyre type? And is the one on the left looking out at the viewer, not enjoying the show? [ATTACH=full]204548[/ATTACH] Are there similar clusters in the background? Does everyone back there appear to be fully clothed? That could be a wine jug on the ground next to the lady's hat. It's the only thing in the scene, as far as I can see, relating to grapes, vineyards, wine or intoxication; no one carries a thyrsus or any other of the accoutrements associated with Dionysian celebrations. My impression is that, while the idea of country folk who live closely with their flocks being less inhibited & getting up to who knows what out there at night on those isolated hills ties in with the woodland scenes of Pan, satyrs, nymphs & fauns in the train of Dionysys/Bacchus, this is not meant to be a scene from mythology.[/QUOTE]
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