By Benson Daniel
Visitors to Nostell in West Yorkshire are being given an unusual opportunity to watch experts investigate a centuries old painting of Sir Thomas More and his family as part of a pioneering public conservation project.
The large portrait, measuring about 2.5 metres by 3.4 metres, is being examined by specialists from the National Trust and the Hamilton Kerr Institute at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.
The project, which began on Thursday, is the first time macro X ray fluorescence scanning has been carried out in front of the public in the United Kingdom. The technology allows researchers to examine the materials and pigments used in a painting without damaging the artwork.
The painting is particularly important because it is considered the most faithful surviving life size copy of an original portrait of the More family painted by Hans Holbein the Younger. Holbein’s original was destroyed in a fire in 1752, leaving the Nostell version as an important source for understanding what the lost masterpiece looked like.
The work depicts three generations of the More family inside their Chelsea home, surrounded by books, musical instruments and pets. Its detailed composition also contains symbols associated with the family’s intellectual, religious and personal life.
Researchers hope the examination will answer longstanding questions about the painting, including when it was produced, how closely it follows Holbein’s lost original and whether sections of the work were altered or restored over the centuries.
One of the biggest mysteries concerns the identity of the artist who produced the Nostell version. The painting has previously been associated with Rowland Lockey, an English artist active during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, but the attribution remains uncertain.
Scientists will use macro X ray fluorescence imaging to map the chemical elements present in different pigments. They will also employ infrared reflectography, which can reveal drawings and alterations beneath the visible paint surface.
Such techniques could expose details that cannot be seen with the naked eye, including an underdrawing, changes made during the painting process and later additions or restoration work.
The investigation is being carried out in a temporary studio inside Nostell, allowing visitors to observe conservation scientists at work rather than simply seeing the finished results in a gallery.
The National Trust said the approach was intended to give the public a better understanding of the science normally carried out behind closed doors and to show how modern technology is helping researchers study historic works of art.
The examination is expected to continue through September, with the macro X ray fluorescence work taking place over several days before the infrared investigation begins. Researchers are expected to return to the findings early next year as the results are interpreted.
The portrait has been associated with Nostell for almost 300 years and was once difficult to display because of its extraordinary size. It reportedly remained in its packing case for much of the 18th century because it was too large to move through the building’s doors.
Its examination now offers visitors a chance to see a different side of art history, as scientists attempt to look beneath the visible surface and establish more about how one of the National Trust’s most significant Tudor era portraits was created.
For the researchers, the ultimate prize may be a clearer understanding of the relationship between the Nostell painting and Holbein’s lost original, while the public gets to witness the investigation as it unfolds.
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