Timber trade in 17th-century Europe : different wood sources for artworks of Flemish painters
(2024) In Scientific Reports 14(1).- Abstract
The former Spanish Netherlands experienced a period of social, cultural and economic prosperity in the seventeenth century, with Antwerp as its most important commercial and artistic centre. The era’s vibrant art scene, once pivotal culturally, economically, and diplomatically, now offers invaluable insights for scientific studies on art, trade, and craftsmanship. In a study on 294 panel paintings by or related to two famous Flemish artists, Jacques Jordaens (1593–1678) and Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), we applied classical art historical techniques, archival research, dendrochronology, and the study of panel maker’s and guild marks on the painting’s reverse to gain insights into the precise time of tree felling, the geographical... (More)
The former Spanish Netherlands experienced a period of social, cultural and economic prosperity in the seventeenth century, with Antwerp as its most important commercial and artistic centre. The era’s vibrant art scene, once pivotal culturally, economically, and diplomatically, now offers invaluable insights for scientific studies on art, trade, and craftsmanship. In a study on 294 panel paintings by or related to two famous Flemish artists, Jacques Jordaens (1593–1678) and Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), we applied classical art historical techniques, archival research, dendrochronology, and the study of panel maker’s and guild marks on the painting’s reverse to gain insights into the precise time of tree felling, the geographical provenance of the wood, and the panel makers patronised by the painters. The majority of the paintings (~ 80%), which were subjected to a dendrochronological analysis, could be dated and the results accorded well with the concomitant art historical assessment on authorship. Besides an active and well-known Baltic timber trade which provided over 71% of all the planks examined, straight-grained oak trees were also sourced from western Central Europe (20%). Interestingly, planks from the Baltic and the Ardennes region (France/Belgium) were used together in three different paintings, likely cut apart from larger panels. Employing a multidisciplinary approach to a comprehensive painting collection by individual painters provides not only a new tool to determine a painting’s date and authorship but also allows for a better understanding of the contemporary timber trade and associated craftsmanship.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Anthony Van Dyck, Art history, Dendroprovenance, Jacques Jordaens, Panel makers, Quercusspp
- in
- Scientific Reports
- volume
- 14
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 18216
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:39107393
- scopus:85200498499
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-024-68641-y
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 6fce325d-7827-4d8c-a1a4-0e8198edbb08
- date added to LUP
- 2024-08-30 12:49:30
- date last changed
- 2024-08-31 03:00:12
@article{6fce325d-7827-4d8c-a1a4-0e8198edbb08,
abstract = {{<p>The former Spanish Netherlands experienced a period of social, cultural and economic prosperity in the seventeenth century, with Antwerp as its most important commercial and artistic centre. The era’s vibrant art scene, once pivotal culturally, economically, and diplomatically, now offers invaluable insights for scientific studies on art, trade, and craftsmanship. In a study on 294 panel paintings by or related to two famous Flemish artists, Jacques Jordaens (1593–1678) and Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), we applied classical art historical techniques, archival research, dendrochronology, and the study of panel maker’s and guild marks on the painting’s reverse to gain insights into the precise time of tree felling, the geographical provenance of the wood, and the panel makers patronised by the painters. The majority of the paintings (~ 80%), which were subjected to a dendrochronological analysis, could be dated and the results accorded well with the concomitant art historical assessment on authorship. Besides an active and well-known Baltic timber trade which provided over 71% of all the planks examined, straight-grained oak trees were also sourced from western Central Europe (20%). Interestingly, planks from the Baltic and the Ardennes region (France/Belgium) were used together in three different paintings, likely cut apart from larger panels. Employing a multidisciplinary approach to a comprehensive painting collection by individual painters provides not only a new tool to determine a painting’s date and authorship but also allows for a better understanding of the contemporary timber trade and associated craftsmanship.</p>}},
author = {{Seim, Andrea and Edvardsson, Johannes and Daly, Aoife and Fraiture, Pascale and Tyers, Ian and Tegel, Willy and Pukienė, Rūtilė and Wazny, Tomasz and de Celis, Maite Jover and Auwera, Joost Vander and Davies, Justin}},
issn = {{2045-2322}},
keywords = {{Anthony Van Dyck; Art history; Dendroprovenance; Jacques Jordaens; Panel makers; Quercusspp}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Scientific Reports}},
title = {{Timber trade in 17th-century Europe : different wood sources for artworks of Flemish painters}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68641-y}},
doi = {{10.1038/s41598-024-68641-y}},
volume = {{14}},
year = {{2024}},
}