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Rembrandts impasto

Revealing the recipe used by Rembrandt to achieve one of his most famous techniques

Rembrandt is renowned for his impasto technique: thick paint laid on the canvas to obtain a striking three-dimensional surface structure. In this project, rheology studies – investigating the flow of matter – aim at retrieving the exact formulation used by Rembrandt in his workshop.

About the project

For this project we work together with AkzoNobel, main partner of Operation Night Watch. While the materials of impasto are known, the precise recipe Rembrandt used to create paint allowing very thick application is still a mystery. Recent research has investigated the precise crystalline composition of impasto, providing new hypotheses, but many questions connected with the rheology of the paint remain unanswered. Rheology studies on carefully designed model samples will aim at finally revealing the secret of the master.

Aim of the project

In this project, historical paint formulations will be recreated. Several parameters will be investigated, such as the nature of the organic binder, the size of the pigment particles, or the presence of extenders modifying the paint properties. The rheology of these paints will then be extensively analyzed. The final objective is to retrieve the ‘ideal’ characteristics the paint must have to achieve impasto. This will advance the knowledge of Rembrandt’s materials and techniques.

Staff

Katrien Keune
Head of Science
k.keune@rijksmuseum.nl

Victor Gonzalez
Researcher
v.gonzalez@rijksmuseum.nl

Gerard van Ewijk
AkzoNobel
gerard.vanewijk@akzonobel.com

Petria Noble
Head of Paintings Conservation
p.noble@rijksmuseum.nl

Partners and sponsors

This research is funded by AkzoNobel, main partner of the Rijksmuseum within the Operation Nightwatch project.

A collaboration with the LAMS (Sorbonne University, Paris, France) was initiated to tackle the most fundamental aspects of the lead white pigment rheology.

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