From death to the Virgin birth: Multi-analytical investigation of a suspected 16th century painting

A painting depicting St John the Baptist prior to his brutal execution, until recently, was held in storage at the Bowes Museum in the North of England, UK. Owing to weakened joins in the wood panel the painting was marked for art conservation treatments, examination and analysis. However, other than the fact that the records show it purchased in Italy in the late nineteenth century by museum founders John and Joséphine Bowes, little else is known of the work. Through a combination of chemical testing and technical art history, further knowledge of the painting has been established. Preparation of cross sections of paint was carried out, as well as chemical testing involving pyrolysis gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (py-GCMS) and attenuated total reflectance – Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), lead white, chalk and linseed oil as binder were identified. The presence of an aged natural resin on the surface of the painting, presence of a thick gesso ground layer, as well as examination of the wood panel construction provided insight into the techniques used in the artwork and that they are comparable with late Medieval to early Renaissance period methods. During examination of the cross-section images, it was noted that there was a second preparatory ground layer in the central part of the sequence; this feature prompted further multi-spectral photography and analysis. X-radiography a commonly used technique for painting analysis surprisingly revealed an entirely different image depicting a nativity scene which had been previously completely concealed by the painting of St John we see today. Although an unexpected discovery still presents some unanswered questions such as who the original artist was and why was the panel so radically reworked. This investigation began with the depiction of the imminent death of the St John the Baptist and ended with the virgin birth. This analytical methodology was applied in technical art history but may also have applications in forensic investigations of suspected fraudulent works of art.