Teknisk undersökning av stafflimåleri – Med fokus på två dörröverstycken från Röhsska museet

Abstract

This bachelor thesis is a study in the analysis of paintings with focus on the technical exami-nation within the framework of ATSR. ATSR is a methodology based on an interdisciplinary study with the aim of putting the object in its context. The study is based on questions concerning which information the object can give, how we access this information and how it can be put in a larger context. My thesis contains three major parts. First a short overview of methods of analysis used in this form of investigation is presented. This is followed by two case studies which exemplify the technical investigation. Finally a more detailed analysis has been carried out on two painted overdoors/supraportes from the Röhsska Museet in Gothenburg. These overdoors/supraportes are each other’s counterparts but contain odd differences which separate them. Based on these observations a hypothesis is formulated that one of the paintings was produced at a later date with different materials. The validity of the hypothesis has been tested through a comparative analysis, in-cluding visual inspection, UV and IR and furthermore paint research in microscope and SEM-EDX. The findings are put in relation to information from literature on historical materials and art history. The study results prove the hypothesis wrong. The visual inspection and the paint research suggest that the paintings were executed side by side. Some of the differences can be explained by extensive restorations with different materials while others have been impossible to understand as the overdoors/supraportes in past history has been taken out of context as part of a decorative program. The study illustrates different methods of analysis, how information can be interpreted and put in relation to other sources.