Department of History of Art, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Department of Conservation and Science, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2021 Aug 27;16(8):e0255792. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255792. eCollection 2021.
Dating the wood from historical art objects is a crucial step to ascertain their production time, and support or refute attribution to an artist or a workshop. Dendrochronology is commonly used for this purpose but requires access to the tree-ring pattern in the wood, which can be hindered by preparatory layers, polychromy, wax, or integrated frames. Here we implemented non-invasive dendrochronology based on X-ray computed tomography (CT) to examine a painting on panel attributed to Rubens' studio and its presumed dating around 1636 CE. The CT images achieved a resolution of 37.3 micron and revealed a double panelling, which was concealed by oak strips covering all four edges. The back (visible) board is made of deciduous oak (Quercus subg. Quercus), the most common type of wood used in 17th-century Netherlandish workshops, and was dated terminus post quem after 1557 CE. However, the front (original) board used for the painting has been identified through examination of the wood anatomy as a tropical wood, probably Swietenia sp., a species seldom used in Netherlandish paintings, and remains undated. Its very presence attests the global character of 17th-century trade, and demonstrates the use of exotic species in Flemish studios. The date of the oak board refutes previous results and suggests that this board was trimmed to meet the size of the tropical one, having been glued to it for conservation purposes or with deceiving intentions to pretend that the painting was made on an oak panel. These revelations have opened new lines of art historical inquiry and highlight the potential of X-ray CT as a powerful tool for non-invasive study of historical art objects to retrieve their full history.
对历史艺术文物的木材进行年代测定是确定其制作时间的关键步骤，可以支持或反驳其归因于某位艺术家或工坊。通常使用树木年代学来达到这一目的，但这需要获取木材的年轮模式，而这可能会受到预备层、多色、蜡或集成框架的阻碍。在这里，我们实施了基于 X 射线计算机断层扫描（CT）的非侵入性树木年代学，以检查一幅归因于鲁本斯工作室的画板及其假定的 1636 年左右的创作日期。CT 图像的分辨率达到了 37.3 微米，揭示了一个双重镶板，而这个镶板被覆盖在所有四个边缘的橡木条所隐藏。背面（可见）镶板由落叶橡木（栎属亚属栎属）制成，这是 17 世纪尼德兰工坊最常用的木材类型，其年代测定为后限 1557 年之后。然而，用于绘画的正面（原始）镶板通过木材解剖学的检查被确定为热带木材，可能是 Swietenia sp.，这种木材在尼德兰绘画中很少使用，且仍然没有年代。它的存在证明了 17 世纪贸易的全球性特征，并展示了在佛兰芒工作室中使用外来物种的情况。橡木镶板的年代测定结果推翻了之前的结果，并表明该镶板是为了适应热带镶板的尺寸而修剪的，为了保护目的或出于欺骗意图将其胶合在上面，以假装这幅画是在橡木镶板上创作的。这些发现为艺术史研究开辟了新的途径，并强调了 X 射线 CT 作为一种强大的非侵入性研究历史艺术文物的工具的潜力，以获取其完整的历史。
