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| Hendrik Goltzius Baptism of Christ 1608 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Hendrik Goltzius Fall of Man 1608 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
"You might think that with something as well-known as oil painting, the techniques would all be written down, so that anyone could study them and try to paint like Titian or Rembrandt. But oil-painting methods have always been semi-secret, like alchemical recipes. . . . In the late nineteenth century there were scholars in Germany and France who were especially well-informed and methodical in their attempts to recapture the forgotton methods. . . . Max Doerner, one of the most careful students of Old Master technique, reports that his students made perfect replicas of a painting by El Greco following these eleven steps:
(1) Begin with a uniform white.
(2) Then add a 'luminous brown imprimatura' with no white in it. The imprimatura may be a glaze, thinned with mastic, or egg tempera, which must then be varnished so it can support layers of oil paint.
(3) On top of that, make the drawing, either in tempera or directly on the imprimatura in white chalk.
(4) Paint white into the existing dark, using a white tempera composed of egg yolk, white lead, and oil. Begin with the sharpest highlights and spread out, scumbling, in 'semi-opaque layers' into all the light areas, creating passages where the dark imprimatura shows through . . . At this point, the picture as a whole should be much lighter than the original.
(5) Give the entire painting a 'light intermediate varnish' and then
(6) Set the local colors with large brushes, making sure they are all lighter than the original.
(7) 'Easily and deftly' draw contours into them, and 'refine' them with loose reflected lights.
(8) If the colors become as dark as the original, they are finished; but in general maintain lighter tones than the original painting.
(9) Next deepen the shadows, and
(10) Let the painting dry. Finish with an overall glaze.
(11) Over the glaze, paint in the 'strong accents' of light and dark."
– from What Painting Is by James Elkins (Routledge, 1999)
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| Dirck Hals Family Concert 1623 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Adam Willaerts Stormy Sea 1626 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Willem Cornelisz Duyster Tric-Trac Players ca. 1630 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Pieter Claesz Still-life with clay pipes 1636 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Simon de Vlieger Calm Sea ca. 1645-50 oil on panel Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Hendrick van Vliet Portrait of a girl holding a fan 1645 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Gerard Houckgeest Interior of a Church 1648 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Hendrick Pot Painter in his Studio ca. 1650 oil on panel Gemeentemuseum, The Hague |
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| Jacob van Ruisdael Herd at the edge of a forest 1650 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Frans van Mieris Lady at morning toilet 1659-60 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Gerrit Dou Soldier-bather ca. 1660-65 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Gerrit Dou Woman-bather ca. 1660-65 oil on panel Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |