Original oder Fälschung?

Ein Blumenstillleben im Fokus von Stilkritik und Kunsttechnologie

Abstract

Original or Fake? A Flower Still Life at the Focal Point on Connoisseurship and Art Technology
On the basis of a flower still life, formely attributed to the Flemisch painter Jan Philips van Thielen (1618–1667), the article discusses the interplay between connoisseurship and art technology. The painting owned by the Germanisches Nationalmuseum was thoroughly investigated at the Institut für Kunsttechnik und Konservierung between 2009 and 2012. Apart from x-ray and UV-light analysis as well as microscopic examination, a weave map of the entire canvas support was identified in collaboration with the Thread Count Automation Project. Additional analysis of the paint materials (SEM-EDS and FT-IR) helped to understand the complex history of the artwork. Based on the stylisistc comparison with works of van Thielen this paper discusses to what extent a damaged painting of this very painter was arranged to a “new” still life; with the help of art technology it can be shown that the artwork is an intricate pasticcio of nearly thirty pieces of canvas.