Lettering (painting)

Paintings occasionally have more or less extensive lettering on the front and / or back.

Paintings may have different labels bear: Signatures , monograms , annual figures (dating), ages of the subjects, even explanatory inscriptions , gallery endorsements and, under the layer of paint, work instructions of the artist for its employees.

Lettering can be found not only on or under the paint layer, but also on the back of the painting or on the decorative frame . You can also find printed or handwritten inscriptions on pieces of paper or parchment glued to the front of the painting, but mostly on the back or on the stretcher / stretcher (sticker).

There are also printed or handwritten labels glued to the back of the painting or to the stretcher frame (sticker).

Labeling can provide information about the artist, the time when a painting was created, the type and content of the depiction, the name and life of the person depicted and the place of origin.

With the exception of the work instructions under the painting layer, which can only come from the artist or designer of the painting, and the gallery notes, which were always added later, all other forms of lettering can come from the artist or a later, often forgery, hand, which in detail can be checked with the methods of painting examination, in particular the macro examination and the methods of graphology .

With the help of the X-rays, inscriptions lying under a painting can be made visible.

With the help of the X-rays, inscriptions lying under a painting can be made visible.

literature

• Theodor von Frimmel: Painting studies . Leipzig 1920.
• Knut Nicolaus: DuMont's image lexicon of painting identification . DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-7701-1243-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Theodor von Frimmel: Painting studies . Leipzig 1920.