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80-510: The Wilton Diptych is painted on two panels of Baltic oak , set in frames of the same material and joined by two hinges so that it may be closed to protect the inner painting. The inner faces of the panels are in excellent condition for their age, though some glazes have been lost, and the outer faces have paint losses from handling. The painting is in tempera , the ground paint being mixed with egg yolk and laid in thin glazes. The background and many details are inlaid with gold leaf and in places

160-513: A Dutch writer on painting techniques, considered oak to be the most useful wooden substrate on which to paint. However, exceptions are seen rather early in the seventeenth century: sometimes walnut, pearwood , cedarwood , or Indian woods were used. Mahogany was already in use by a number of painters during the first decades of the seventeenth century and was used often in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century. Even so, when canvas or copper

240-406: A bishop, the arms of the see are shown in the position of greatest honour, in that case in the dexter half. Of the three tierces, the middle is of greatest honour, the dexter next, and least in honour the sinister tierce. The arms of Lincoln College, Oxford are similar, with the dexter and middle tierces representing the founder Richard Fleming , Bishop of Lincoln, and the sinister tierce carrying

320-430: A collar by Charles in 1393, and wearing one here may indicate a date for the work after Richard's second marriage to the six-year-old Isabella of Valois in 1396. The livery badges worn by both Richard and the angels appear to be made in the fashionable and expensive technique of ronde bosse white enamel on gold; they are comparable to the surviving Dunstable Swan Jewel , probably given by one of Richard's cousins in

400-723: A different punch . In the left inner panel the kneeling King Richard II is presented by Saints John the Baptist , Edward the Confessor and Edmund the Martyr , each holding their attribute . In the right-hand panel the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child in her arms is surrounded by eleven angels, against a golden background and field of delicately coloured flowers. Richard's outer robe is of cloth of gold and red vermilion,

480-461: A grassy meadow with branches of Anne's rosemary, with a gold "sky". On the other is a coat of arms with arms associated with King Edward the Confessor impaled with the arms of the Kings of England. These arms were adopted by Richard in about 1395. The arms of Edward were a later invention, as coats of arms had not been invented in the eleventh century when he lived. The identity of the kneeling king

560-406: A husband and wife in marriage, but impalement is also used to display unions with an ecclesiastical office, academic position, government office, or mystical union. The husband's arms are shown in the dexter half (on the right hand of someone standing behind the shield, to the viewer's left), being the place of honour, with the wife's paternal arms in the sinister half. For this purpose alone

640-513: A possible interpretation of the enigmatic number of angels can be found in the Biblical motif of the second dream of young Joseph (Genesis 37:9) in which the number eleven exceptionally has a positive meaning because it implicates the celestial twelve. The sun, the moon and eleven stars that in Joseph's dream are bowing down to him are completed by Joseph himself, who according to medieval exegesis

720-452: A range of about 20 years), and dendrochronology sequences have been developed for the main source areas of timber for panels. Italian paintings used local or sometimes Dalmatian wood, most often poplar , but including chestnut , walnut , oak and other woods. The Netherlands ran short of local timber early in the 15th century, and most Early Netherlandish masterpieces are Baltic oak , often Polish , cut north of Warsaw and shipped down

800-471: A ruby and a huge diamond. Although thematically linked, the composition of the two pictures is quite different in feeling. The scene of Richard and his patrons is very sedate, but full of rich contrasts in colour and texture. The scene of the Virgin and Child is full of energetic movement created by the angels who encircle the mother and child. The predominant brilliant blue gives a precious quality, symbolising

880-458: A shield tierced per pale, the second (central) part showing his paternal arms of four quarters. The dexter part shows the arms of Walshe ( six mullets 3:2:1 ), representing his first wife Elizabeth the daughter of James Walsh of Alverdiscot in Devon. The sinister part shows the arms of Godolphin ( an eagle displayed double headed between three fleurs-de-lis ), representing his second wife Elizabeth

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960-414: Is a response to the growing recognition that significant collections of paintings on wood panels may be at risk in coming decades due to the waning numbers of conservators and craftspeople with the highly specialized skills required for the conservation of these complex works of art. Artists would typically use wood native to the region. Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), for example, painted on poplar when he

1040-490: Is certain because he and the angels surrounding the Virgin are wearing badges with Richard's livery , the White Hart , which also appears in the brocade of the left panel and the outside of the diptych. As Richard kneels, the Christ Child reaches towards him in benediction and also reaches towards the pennant held by an angel, and significantly placed between them. This pennant is the symbol of Richard's kingship and of

1120-478: Is explained by the poverty of the country at this time, as well as the lack of Reformation iconoclasm . The 13th and 14th centuries in Italy were a great period of panel painting, mostly altarpieces or other religious works. However, it is estimated that of all the panel paintings produced there, 99.9 percent have been lost. The vast majority of Early Netherlandish paintings are on panel, and these include most of

1200-479: Is possible that Shakespeare had seen the picture, then still in the Royal Collection . Apparently beginning relatively harmlessly in the reign of Richard's grandfather Edward III in a context of tournaments and courtly celebrations, by Richard's reign livery badges had come to be seen as a social menace, and were "one of the most protracted controversies of Richard's reign", as they were used to denote

1280-520: Is possible that the painter was English, but apart from the Westminster portrait of Richard, now unlike the Diptych much overpainted, there are too few comparable works to establish in what style the recorded English painters worked. The artist has been proposed as coming from "every possible nation", but France seems the most likely, with Italy another possibility, and some art historians point to

1360-622: Is pourtraited kneeling in his robes together with his own match and the match of some of his ancestors insculpt thereon in brass " (in Monkleigh Church, Devon). For same-sex married couples, the College of Arms in 2014 decreed that male couples may impale their arms together but that each individual will have distinguished arms and crests of their own (i.e. the arms of a given partner will have his own arms on dexter and his partner's in sinister with his own crest; his partner's will be

1440-443: Is that where a mystical union is believed to exist between the two parties. Such was the case with King Richard II (1377–1399) who had a particular devotion to the saint King Edward the Confessor . Although the saint lived in the pre-heraldic era, his attributed arms were employed by King Richard in impaling his own royal Arms of Plantagenet , as an outward sign of such a mystical quasi -marriage. The Confessor's arms were shown in

1520-455: Is to be taken for a twelfth star. Having in mind the historical evidence of Richard II's personal regal iconography of the anointed king and the documented Biblical allusions, it seems that the motif of youthful Joseph honoured in his dream by the sun, representing the Christ, the moon, representing the Virgin and eleven stars representing his brothers offers a significant parallel to the vision of

1600-522: The House of Lancaster . Richard's badge, but not those of the angels, has pearls tipping the antlers, and may perhaps be based on one of several examples recorded in his treasure roll of 1397, which had pearls and a bed of emeralds for the hind to sit on. A hart badge of Richard's inventoried in the possession of Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy in 1435 was set with 22 pearls, two spinels , two sapphires ,

1680-471: The Romanesque period, and Byzantine icons were imported, there are next to no survivals in an unaltered state. In the 12th century panel painting experienced a revival. Altarpieces seem to have begun to be used during the 11th century, with the possible exception of a few earlier examples. They became more common in the 13th century because of new liturgical practices—the priest and congregation were now on

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1760-557: The Vistula , across the Baltic to the Netherlands. Southern German painters often used pine , and mahogany imported into Europe was used by later painters, including examples by Rembrandt and Goya. In theory, dendro-chronology gives an exact felling date, but in practice allowances have to be made for a seasoning period of several years, and a small panel may be from the centre of the tree, with no way of knowing how many rings outside

1840-566: The dexter position of honour. A rare form of impalement which allows for the juxtaposition of three armorials is tiercing . This is more common in Continental Europe to demonstrate dynastic and territorial relationships. In England it is occasionally used where a man has married twice, with the middle tierce, of greatest honour, showing his own arms. It is also used rarely in England to denote broader relationships, for example in

1920-560: The 19th century, when reliable techniques were developed, many have been transferred to canvas or modern board supports . This can result in damage to the paint layer, as historical transfer techniques were rather brutal. Paintings on wood panel that were expanded, such as Rubens' A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning (which consists of eighteen separate panels, seventeen added as the artist enlarged his composition), often suffer greatly over time. Each warps in its own way, tearing

2000-474: The 5th or 6th centuries, and are the oldest panel paintings which seem to be of the highest contemporary quality. Encaustic and tempera are the two techniques used in antiquity. Encaustic largely ceased to be used after the early Byzantine icons. Although there seem from literary references to have been some panel paintings produced in Western Europe through the centuries between Late Antiquity and

2080-542: The Baptist, was never a king, and the Baptist takes the most paternal role in the scene), Edward III doubled with the Confessor, and Edward III's father Edward II doubled with Edmund the Martyr (like Edmund, Edward II was a murdered king; Richard revered Edward, and tried to have him canonised in 1395). The Virgin Mary is considered to represent Richard's mother, Joan of Kent, and the infant Jesus to be Edward of Angoulême , Richard's older brother who died in childhood. The date of

2160-608: The Christ or the Virgin, with the saints appropriate to the dedication of the church, and the local town or diocese, or to the donor. Donor portraits including members of the donor's family are also often shown, usually kneeling to the side. They were for some time a cheaper alternative to the far more prestigious equivalents in metalwork, decorated with gems, enamels , and perhaps ivory figures, most of which have long been broken up for their valuable materials. Painted panels for altars are most numerous in Spain, especially Catalonia , which

2240-506: The Elder (1472–1553). Cranach often used beech wood—an unusual choice. In Northern Europe, poplar is very rarely found, but walnut and chestnut are not uncommon. In the northeast and south, coniferous trees such as spruce , and various types of fir , and pine have been used. Fir wood is shown to have been used in the Upper and Middle Rhine, Augsburg , Nuremberg , and Saxony . Pinewood

2320-521: The Infant Jesus, in her sinister arm a sceptre, all or), ensigned with a mitre proper; (3) quarterly, first and fourth argent, a chevron between three bugle-horns stringed sable; second and third argent, a chevron between three crosses crosslet sable (for Sutton). The arms of Sir Arthur Northcote, 2nd Baronet (1628–1688), sculpted on his ledger stone in King's Nympton Church, Devon, England, show

2400-568: The Kingdom of England as a whole. It bears the Cross of St George , the symbol of England, and surmounting the staff is an orb on which is a tiny map of England, or Ireland, where Richard was campaigning in 1394–95. The probable sense is that the pennant has just been presented by Richard. The liveried angels, iconographically very unusual, are a strangely precise anticipation of the lines from Shakespeare's Richard II of two hundred years later: It

2480-576: The Martyr, who stands to the left, holds the arrow which killed him in 869, while Edward the Confessor, at the centre, holds the ring he gave to a pilgrim who transpired to be the disguised John the Evangelist . John the Baptist (right) holds his symbol, the Lamb of God . The scene makes reference to King Richard's birth on 6 January, the feast of Epiphany , when Christ was adored by three kings, often depicted in similar compositions to this. At this date

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2560-458: The Parliament of 1384, and in 1388 they made the startling request that "all liveries called badges [ signes ], as well of our lord the king as of other lords ... shall be abolished", because "those who wear them are flown with such insolent arrogance that they do not shrink from practising with reckless effrontery various kinds of extortion in the surrounding countryside ... and it is certainly

2640-577: The Romans . The painting was drawn and issued as a print by Wenceslaus Hollar in 1639, with a dedication to King Charles I . It was documented in 1649 in an inventory of the art collection of King Charles I who had been given it by Sir James Palmer , a Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber . It passed to the Earls of Pembroke who kept it at Wilton House , from which it takes its name, until it

2720-480: The Wilton Diptych has been the subject of considerable controversy among art historians. The National Gallery follow a broad current consensus in dating the painting to the last five years of Richard's reign, but dates between 1377 and about 1413 have been proposed. Richard was born in 1367, and the portrait seems to be of a younger man than the twenty-eight-year-old he was in 1395. It has been suggested that

2800-536: The arms of Thomas Rotherham , a major donor who is considered as co-founder of the current college. At Corpus Christi College, Oxford the dexter tierce shows a pelican vulning herself representing the Body of Christ (Latin: Corpus Christi ), which was adopted by the founder Richard Foxe as his coat of arms; the middle tierce shows the arms of the See of Winchester, reflecting Foxe's position as Bishop of Winchester , while

2880-403: The arms of three Oxford colleges. In the arms of Brasenose College, Oxford the dexter tierce shows the personal arms of one founder William Smyth , while the middle tierce of greatest honour shows the arms of the See of Lincoln, to show his position as Bishop of Lincoln ; the sinister tierce shows the personal arms of the other founder Sir Richard Sutton . As with the simple impaled arms of

2960-439: The beginning of the 15th century, oil painting was developed. This was more tolerant, and allowed the exceptional detail of Early Netherlandish art. This used a very painstaking multi-layered technique, where the painting, or a particular part of it, had to be left for a couple of days for one layer to dry before the next was applied. Wood panels, especially if kept with too little humidity, often warp and crack with age, and from

3040-408: The boldness inspired by these badges that makes them unafraid to do these things". Richard offered to give up his own badges, to the delight of the House of Commons of England , but the House of Lords refused to give up theirs, and the matter was put off. In 1390 it was ordered that no one below the rank of banneret should issue badges, and no one below the rank of esquire wear them. The issue

3120-608: The bulk of surviving panel painting from the Imperial Roman period – about 900 face or bust portraits survive. The Severan Tondo , also from Roman Egypt (about 200 AD), is one of the handful of non-funerary Graeco-Roman specimens to survive. Wood has always been the normal support for the Icons of Byzantine art and the later Orthodox traditions, the earliest of which (all in Saint Catherine's Monastery ) date from

3200-581: The centre of her husband's arms, denoting that the husband is a pretender to the paternal arms of his wife, and that they will devolve upon the couple's heir (s) as quarterings . When a husband has been married more than once, the sinister half of femme is split per fess , that is to say horizontally in half, with the paternal arms of the first wife shown in chief and those of the second wife in base . The sinister side may thus be divided more than twice in similar fashion where required. The use of impaled arms serves to identify with precision which member of

3280-428: The circumstances of his deposition, who would have commissioned such a work in the next reign is unclear. The number of angels (eleven) is unusual and has still not been satisfactorily explained. It is in contradiction with the iconography of the heavenly court of the Virgin, because in medieval iconography the number eleven has extremely negative symbolism. Considering the Biblical exegesis and medieval number symbolism,

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3360-637: The closest resemblances to his style come in some illuminated manuscripts from the 1410s. At this period it was common in Northern Europe for panel paintings, still made in very small numbers, to be made by artists with a background in illumination. The date of the painting, at a time when the International Gothic style was at its most similar in several courts in Europe, makes identifying the nationality of its painter more difficult. It

3440-507: The earliest portraits , such as those by Jan van Eyck , and some other secular scenes. However, one of the earliest surviving oils on canvas is a French Madonna with angels of about 1410 in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin , which is very early indeed for oil painting also. In these works the frame and panel are sometimes a single piece of wood, as with Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?) by van Eyck ( National Gallery, London ), where

3520-463: The eleven angels each represent a year of his age at the start of his actual reign, which began in 1377, when he gave eleven of the coins called angels to "Our Lady of the Pew" at Westminster Abbey . The painting would then have been made more than fifteen years later to commemorate the moment. Alternatively the painting might represent Richard's reception into heaven after his death in 1400, though given

3600-572: The end it took a determined campaign by Henry VII to largely stamp out the use of livery badges by others than the king, and reduce them to things normally worn only by household servants. All three saints who present the kneeling Richard to the Virgin and Child are believed to have been venerated by the king, as each has his own chapel in Westminster Abbey . Each saint holds the symbolic attribute by which they are recognised in art. Edmund

3680-584: The end of the 16th century, used by many artists including Adam Elsheimer . Many Dutch painters of the Golden Age used panel for their small works, including Rembrandt on occasion. By the 18th century it had become unusual to paint on panel, except for small works to be inset into furniture, and the like. But, for example, The National Gallery in London has two Goya portraits on panel. Many other painting traditions also painted, and still paint, on wood, but

3760-460: The fabric decorated with his personal device of the white harts and sprigs of rosemary , the emblem of his wife Anne of Bohemia , who died in 1394. Around his neck is a gold collar with broomscods, seed-pods of Cytisus scoparius , the common broom, which is the planta genista that gave Richard's Plantagenet dynasty its name. They were also the emblem of Charles VI of France , whose daughter he married in 1396. Richard had been given such

3840-637: The feast of the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist was celebrated on the same day and the figure of John in his usual hermit's dress, carrying a lamb, recalls the shepherds, whose visit after the birth of Christ was often combined in the same scene as the visit of the Magi or three kings. That two of the presenting saints are kings may also evoke a contemporary story that Richard's birth in Bordeaux in France

3920-477: The first half of the 16th century, a change led by Mantegna and the artists of Venice (which made the finest canvas at this point, for sails). In the Netherlands the change took about a century longer, and panel paintings remained common, especially in Northern Europe, even after the cheaper and more portable canvas had become the main support medium. The young Rubens and many other painters preferred it for

4000-618: The frame was also painted, including an inscription done illusionistically to resemble carving. By the 15th century with the increased wealth of Europe, and later the appearance of humanism, and a changing attitude about the function of art and patronage, panel painting went in new directions. Secular art opened the way to the creation of chests, painted beds, birth trays and other furniture. Many such works are now detached and hung framed on walls in museums. Many double-sided wings of altarpieces (see picture at top) have also been sawn into two one-sided panels. Canvas took over from panel in Italy by

4080-443: The greater precision that could be achieved with a totally solid support, and many of his most important works also used it, even for paintings over four metres long in one dimension. His panels are of notoriously complicated construction, containing as many as seventeen pieces of wood ( Het Steen , National Gallery, London ). For smaller cabinet paintings , copper sheets (often old printmaking plates) were another rival support, from

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4160-544: The heavenly court with Jesus Christ, the Virgin and eleven angelic courtiers appearing in front of the eyes of King Richard II. The painting is indicative of both Richard's belief in his divine right to rule and his genuine Christian devotion. It also importantly symbolises (in the form of the Pennant), Richard II giving his kingdom into the hands of the Holy Virgin, thereby continuing a long tradition by which England

4240-401: The heavenly nature of this apparition. The flowery ground also symbolises the gardens of Paradise . The strong tonal contrast of the angels' wings throw the figures into relief against the background. When closed, the diptych reveals on one side a white hart or stag, Richard's emblem "gorged" with a golden coronet around its throat and a golden chain, "lodged" (the heraldic term for sitting) on

4320-448: The impaled arms of a husband and wife" is "a match", and this word was used frequently by, amongst others, Tristram Risdon (d.1640) in his manorial history Survey of Devon . For example: "The north aisle of Swimbridge Church was built by Sir John Mules of Ernsborough, as the inscription in a window, and a proof there once fairly printed and guilded, with the arms and matches of that family, make evident" . Also: "( William Hankford )

4400-445: The interiors of public buildings with very large and complicated subjects containing numerous figures at least half life-size, and including battle scenes. We can only attempt to imagine what these looked like from some detailed literary descriptions and vase-paintings that appear to echo their compositions. The first century BC to third century AD Fayum mummy portraits , preserved in the exceptionally dry conditions of Egypt , provide

4480-440: The male line of a family is represented, if the identity of his wife is known, for example from a pedigree. Frequently impaled arms appear sculpted on ancient buildings, thus allowing architectural historians to identify the builder. Impaled arms also appear frequently on monuments in parish churches, and again facilitate identification of the person for whom erected. A convenient and descriptive term for "a heraldic escutcheon showing

4560-551: The more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not painting directly onto a wall ( fresco ) or on vellum (used for miniatures in illuminated manuscripts ). Wood panels were also used for mounting vellum paintings. Panel painting is very old; it was a very prestigious medium in Greece and Rome, but only very few examples of ancient panel paintings have survived. A series of 6th century BC painted tablets from Pitsa ( Greece ) represent

4640-430: The oldest surviving Greek panel paintings. Most classical Greek paintings that were famous in their day seem to have been of a size comparable to smaller modern works – perhaps up to a half-length portrait size. However, for a generation in the second quarter of the fifth-century BC there was a movement, called the "new painting" and led by Polygnotus , for very large painted friezes , apparently painted on wood, decorating

4720-687: The opposite). Slightly different rules apply to female couples and heraldic heiresses. In ecclesiastical heraldry , a bishop 's familial arms are impaled with those of his diocese or see , with the dexter position of greater honour being occupied by the arms of the see, and the incumbent's arms in sinister. Heads of educational establishments, for example of Oxbridge colleges , many of whom were historically former clergymen , traditionally impaled their personal and college arms, during their term of office . Likewise, this privilege extends to senior civic office holders, for example Mayors , Masters of Livery Companies , etc . A rare use of impalement

4800-427: The outer hart panel is now much darker than when painted. Although the figures of the two inner scenes face each other, and interact by gaze and gesture, they are set in different backgrounds. The human figures are on bare rocky ground, with a forest behind, and a gold leaf "sky" decorated with a pattern made by a metal punch. The heavenly figures stand in a flowery meadow, behind which is a gold background patterned by

4880-444: The overall piece apart at the seams. Wood panel is now rather more useful to art historians than canvas, and in recent decades there has been great progress in extracting this information. Many fakes have been discovered and mistaken datings corrected. Specialists can identify the tree species used, which varied according to the area where the painting was made. Carbon-dating techniques can give an approximate date-range (typically to

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4960-415: The panel has been tooled beneath the gilding to enhance the decorative quality. In the panel with the Virgin and Christ Child , the garments are universally blue, the pigment coming from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli . Richard's robe uses vermilion , another expensive pigment. Some colours have faded; the roses in the angels' hair would originally have been a much deeper pink, and the green grass of

5040-583: The panel there were. So dendro-chronological conclusions tend to be expressed as a "terminus post quem" or an earliest possible date, with a tentative estimate of an actual date, that may be twenty or more years later. The so-called Panel Paintings Initiative is a multi-year project in collaboration between the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation , and the J. Paul Getty Museum . The Panel Paintings Initiative

5120-662: The possibility of a Bohemian artist, perhaps brought to England by Richard II's first wife, Anne of Bohemia . The exquisite quality of the painting is thought by most art historians to indicate that the artist was probably from northern France. It shows similarities to the manuscript painting of Pol de Limbourg , but like the other surviving portrait of Richard, in Westminster Abbey, is also closely related in themes to paintings made in Prague for Anne's father Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and her brother Wenceslas, King of

5200-494: The same side of the altar, leaving the space behind the altar free for the display of a holy image—and thus altar decorations were in demand. The habit of placing decorated reliquaries of saints on or behind the altar, as well as the tradition of decorating the front of the altar with sculptures or textiles, preceded the first altarpieces. The earliest forms of panel painting were dossals (altar backs), altar fronts and crucifixes . All were painted with religious images, commonly

5280-426: The seventeenth century about four thousand full-grown oak trees were needed to build a medium-sized merchant ship; thus, imported wood was necessary. Oak coming from Königsberg as well as Gdańsk is often found among works by Flemish and Dutch artists from the 15th through the 17th centuries; the origin can be established by the patterns of growth rings . In the last decade of the seventeenth century, Wilhelmus Beurs ,

5360-426: The sinister tierce shows the personal arms of the co-founder Hugh Oldham . The arms of Brasenose College, Oxford are: Tierced in pale: (1) Argent, a chevron sable between three roses gules seeded or, barbed vert (for Smyth); (2) or, an escutcheon of the arms of the See of Lincoln (gules, two lions of England in pale or, on a chief azure Our Lady crowned seated on a tombstone issuant from the chief, in her dexter arm

5440-405: The small private armies of retainers kept by lords, largely for the purpose of enforcing their lord's will on the less powerful in his area. Though they were surely a symptom rather than a cause of both local baronial bullying and the disputes between the king and his uncles and other lords, Parliament repeatedly tried to curb the use of livery badges. The issuing of badges by lords was attacked in

5520-494: The term is usually only used to refer to the Western tradition described above. The technique is known to us through Cennino Cennini 's "The Craftsman's Handbook" ( Il libro dell' arte ) published in 1390, and other sources. It changed little over the centuries. It was a laborious and painstaking process: Once the panel construction was complete, the design was laid out, usually in charcoal. The usual ancient painting technique

5600-478: The three saints, and it has been suggested they represent not just Saints Edmund, Edward the Confessor, and John the Baptist, but also either Edward III (Richard's immediate predecessor) with his sons Edward the Black Prince (Richard's father) and John of Gaunt (Richard's uncle, and a powerful figure during Richard's youth); or, alternatively, the Black Prince doubled with the Baptist (the Black Prince, like John

5680-401: The two halves of the impaled shield are called baron and femme , from ancient Norman-French usage. Impalement is not used when the wife is an heraldic heiress , that is to say when she has no brothers to carry on bearing her father's arms (or, if her brothers have died, they have left no legitimate descendants) in which case her paternal arms are displayed on an escutcheon of pretence in

5760-548: Was encaustic , used at Al-Fayum and in the earliest surviving Byzantine icons, which are at the Saint Catherine's Monastery. This uses heated wax as the medium for the pigments. This was replaced before the end of first millennium by tempera , which uses an egg-yolk medium. Using small brushes dipped in a mixture of pigment and egg-yolk, the paint was applied in very small, almost transparent, brushstrokes. Thin layers of paint would be used to create volumetric forms. By

5840-502: Was apparently quiet for a few years, but from 1397 Richard issued increasingly large numbers of badges to retainers who misbehaved (his "Cheshire archers" being especially notorious), and in the Parliament of 1399, after his deposition, several of his leading supporters were forbidden from issuing "badges of signes" again, and a statute was passed allowing only the king (now Henry IV) to issue badges, and only to those ranking as esquires and above, who were only to wear them in his presence. In

5920-411: Was attended by the Kings of Castile , Navarre , and Portugal. John the Baptist was Richard's patron saint , and Saint Edward and Saint Edmund had both been English kings. Richard had a special devotion to Edmund, who with St George is one of the patron saints of England. The diptych also serves as a family portrait of Richard's family and immediate antecedents. There is a strong resemblance between

6000-532: Was bought by the National Gallery in 1929. That it remained intact is remarkable because little religious pictorial art survived the Puritan iconoclasm that followed the execution of Charles I . Panel painting#Conservation and scientific analysis A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood , either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became

6080-745: Was in Venice and on oak when in the Netherlands and southern Germany. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) used oak for his paintings in France; Hans Baldung Grien (1484/85–1545) and Hans Holbein (1497/98–1543) used oak while working in southern Germany and England. In the Middle Ages, spruce and lime were used in the Upper Rhine and often in Bavaria. Outside of the Rhineland, softwood (such as pinewood)

6160-422: Was known as " Our Lady's Dowry " and was thought to be specially under her protection. Another painting, now lost, showed Richard and Anne offering the Virgin an orb representing England, with the inscription "This is your dowry, O Holy Virgin, wherefore, O Mary, may you rule over it". The artist, sometimes referred to as the "Wilton Master", has never been identified, or associated with other panel paintings, and

6240-527: Was mainly used. Of a group of twenty Norwegian altar frontals from the Gothic period (1250–1350) fourteen were made of fir, two of oak, and four of pine (Kaland 1982). Large altars made in Denmark during the fifteenth century used oak for the figures as well as for the painted wings. Lime was popular with Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538), Baldung Grien , Christoph Amberger (d. 1562), Dürer, and Lucas Cranach

6320-411: Was not used, the main oeuvre of the northern school was painted on oak panels. Impalement (heraldry) Impalement is a heraldic practice in which two coats of arms are combined in one shield to denote a union. The impaled shield is bisected in pale , that is by a vertical line, with each half of the shield displaying one coat of arms. Most often the practice is used to denote the union of

6400-684: Was used mainly in Tirol and beech wood only in Saxony . However, in general, oak was the most common substrate used for panel making in the Low Countries , northern Germany, and the Rhineland around Cologne . In France, until the seventeenth century, most panels were made from oak, although a few made of walnut and poplar have been found. The oak favored as a support by the painters of the northern school was, however, not always of local origin. In

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