Recording colour in late eighteenth century botanical drawings: Sydney Parkinson, Ferdinand Bauer and Thaddäus Haenke

Lack, H. Walter; Ibáñez, Victoria

doi:10.1111/1467-8748.00074

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…1). Lack and others [1][2][3] have argued that it is highly likely that Bauer utilised a painted, numbered colour chart in conjunction with this code, while Mulholland [21,22] has suggested that Bauer may have used the code rather more as a simple mnemonic device without the need for a physical chart.…”

Section: Ferdinand Bauer and The Flora Graecamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in 1999, Lack [1,2] discovered what appears to be an early colour chart made by Ferdinand or his brother Franz Bauer in the archive of the Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid in which the numbered colours matched several early numbered sketches and paintings created by the brothers. The order of numbered colours on this chart however does not correlate to any of Bauer's paintings after 1787, and if painted colour charts ever existed for either the Flora and Fauna Graeca or the Bauer's later work, they have been lost.…”

Section: Ferdinand Bauer and The Flora Graecamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The order of numbered colours on this chart however does not correlate to any of Bauer's paintings after 1787, and if painted colour charts ever existed for either the Flora and Fauna Graeca or the Bauer's later work, they have been lost. 2 The Madrid chart therefore may have simply been an early experiment by the brothers to explore the accurate mixing of colours during their apprenticeship in the 1770s. The astonishing accuracy of Bauer's numerical colour code and his memory for colour is observed in the remarkable fact noted by Lack [1], that all but one of the 966 species Bauer painted for the Flora Graeca are painted with perfectly colour accuracy, and all are identifiable without any doubt (p156).…”

Section: Ferdinand Bauer and The Flora Graecamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The remarkable story of the Flora Graeca, one of the most magnificent printed books of the eighteenth century and the work of its artist, Ferdinand Bauer, has been well documented [1][2][3][4]. However, the methods and materials Bauer utilised in order to reproduce colour with astonishing accuracy in the 966 paintings of plants and 293 paintings of animals he produced for the endeavour during the period 1788-1794 has not been scrutinised.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of non-destructive, in situ methods to identify pigments used in Bauer's watercolour paintings and gain insight into how the artist worked in the field. Part of a larger research project at the Bodleian Library, the study was instrumental in unravelling the artist's colour code and understanding how his palette evolved over time by comparing pigments from 125 paintings from the Flora and Fauna Graeca with those identified in both an early painted colour chart [1, 2,5] and in a number of later paintings [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identifying eighteenth century pigments at the Bodleian library using in situ Raman spectroscopy, XRF and hyperspectral imaging

et al. 2017

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There are multiple challenges in analysing pigments in historic watercolour paintings on paper, and typically noninvasive, in situ methods are required. Recent developments in portable analytical instrumentation have made this more accessible to heritage institutions, but many commercial systems are not optimised for the specific requirements of manuscripts and works on paper. This paper describes the successful use of Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and hyperspectral imaging to identify and map watercolour pigments used by the eighteenth century botanical illustrator, Ferdinand Bauer, and demystify the unusual colour code system found in his sketches. The value, delicate nature and large size of these paintings necessitated the use of using in situ, noncontact methods of analysis. A portable, bespoke Raman spectrometer specifically designed for analysing pigments from works on paper was used together with a bespoke portable Fibre optic reflectance spectrometer, portable X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer and a hyperspectral imaging sensor. The results demonstrate that although there is a significant compromise between achieving good Raman spectroscopic results from artists' pigments and using sufficiently low laser power densities so as not to cause damage to the pigments, good results could be obtained with this portable system, particularly when combined with XRF, fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) and hyperspectral imaging. Eight pigments were identified unequivocally from 125 watercolour paintings analysed, suggesting that Bauer used a more traditional and more limited palette than previously considered, and that his palette changed significantly in his later paintings. Similar pigments identified by the authors on colour chart that was discovered in 1999 in Madrid and attributed to Bauer, add weight to the attribution of this chart to Bauer. The data provides a much deeper insight into Bauer's colour annotations, and how he was able to achieve such an impressive degree of colour fidelity in his work.

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Section: Ferdinand Bauer and The Flora Graecamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ferdinand Bauer and The Flora Graecamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ferdinand Bauer and The Flora Graecamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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