Outer Right Wing of an Altarpiece with the St Elizabeth’s Day Flood, 18-19 November 1421, with the Broken Dike at Wieldrecht

Technical notes

The original support, which has been sawn through crosswise, consists of four vertically grained oak planks (29, 24.5, 29.4 and 27.5 cm). It has been planed down to approx. 0.1-0.2 cm and transferred to a new panel, which is covered by a zinc plate. The white ground must have been applied in the frame. There are unpainted edges approx. 0.5-1 cm wide and remains of a barbe on all sides (painted surface: 126 x 109 cm). The underdrawing was made with a brush. It is a line drawing only, and some of the lines are remarkably thick. There is no hatching. The underdrawing was made rapidly, but not all the forms were prepared. There are considerable departures from the underdrawing in the painted landscape. The positions of towns and clumps of trees were often altered, and the shapes of church towers were changed. It can clearly be seen in the foreground that the figures and animals were only added later, for they were not prepared in the underdrawing and the landscape runs beneath them. The breached dike at top right was originally planned differently, being underdrawn further to the right. The paint layers were applied rather thickly. Most of the figures were not reserved, but were painted on top of the underlying paint layers. The rather rough painting technique can be described as primitive.