Shows / Private Old Master
Private Old Master
Private Old Master investigates unresolved questions surrounding historical paintings through technical examination, provenance research, archival evidence and art-historical comparison. The first series, The Painting Beneath the Painting, follows the investigation of a historical Cimon and Pero, also known as Roman Charity. One painting. Many questions. Follow the evidence.
Episodes
- Private Old Master
Episode 10 | Five Compositions
At least five related compositions of Cimon and Pero survive in paintings, drawings and prints. Among them are the version in the Hermitage, dated to around…
- Private Old Master
Episode 9 | The Engraving
A historical engraving by Cornelis van Caukercken preserves another version of the Cimon and Pero composition. The print refers to Gillis van den Bosch, adding…
- Private Old Master
Episode 8 | The Amsterdam Trail
Historical records trace a painting of Cimon and Pero through Amsterdam between 1729 and 1825. Descriptions, sale catalogues and ownership records appear to…
- Private Old Master
Episode 7 | The Amsterdam Version
A related painting of Cimon and Pero is held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and attributed to the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens. Technical research dates its…
- Private Old Master
Episode 6 | Pentimenti
Beneath the visible surface, technical imaging revealed changes made during the painting process. The positions of figures and details were reconsidered as the…
- Private Old Master
Episode 5 | The Materials
Pigments, ground layers and binding media can help establish when and how a painting was made. Technical examinations found a material profile consistent with…
- Private Old Master
Episode 4 | The Date 1604
An inscription on the painting has been interpreted as including “P.P. Rubens” and the date “1604”. But inscriptions must be examined as physical evidence, not…
- Private Old Master
Episode 3 | Number 141
In the 1640 inventory of Peter Paul Rubens’ estate, a painting of Cimon and Pero appears as number 141. But which painting did this entry describe? This…
- Private Old Master
Episode 2 | The Guards Beneath the Surface
Two guards are visible in the painting. But technical imaging suggests that they did not always look the way they do today. In Episode 2 of The Painting…
- Private Old Master
Episode 1 | The Name on the Painting
A name. A date. And a painting that raises more questions than it answers. In Episode 1 of The Painting Beneath the Painting, we begin with the inscription…
- Private Old Master
Official Trailer | The Painting Beneath the Painting
A seventeenth-century painting. A disputed inscription. Two technical investigations. Hidden changes beneath the surface. The Painting Beneath the Painting…