M. Járó - L. Költő szerk.: Archaeometrical research in Hungary (Budapest, 1988)

Analysis - WITTMANN Zsuzsa, BÉLAFI-RÉTI Katalin, DÉCSY Zoltán, ERDŐHALMI-TÖRÖK Klára, KISS—BENDEFY Márta, VASSÁNYI István, VELLEDITS Lajos: Examination of painting materials used by Mihály Munkácsy for his painting "Studio"

kácsy sits in a light grey velvet suit on the corner of a little table covered with a carpet; in his left hand there is his palette, in his right hand there is the brush and he studies with a little dissatisfaction the picture on the easel. He is waiting for the opinion of his wife. She is sitting in front of him and is looking at her husband's work with an art expert's calm and with very great attention. She, too, feels that something is not quite perfect yet but what is it. . .? In the right-hand side background a little fat pug slumbers before the portfolio. But it would not be a complete home of Munkácsy if there is absent from it — if it were not there but only in the mysterious semi-darkness of the background - his sweet dream, the dream he awaited and could imagine with love in his family: a child. She is there behind the easel (she was always there behind the easel of the good master); perhaps she had posed a few minutes earlier." The reproduction (Photo 2 ) from the cited book shows the whole original picture and it shows the details from the darkened parts. Behind the easel on the left side of the picture the little girl sits on a stage of the sort that models are used to sitting on. There is also a chair on this stage and above it an iron cuirass is hanging on the wall. The mentioned stage is to be found in the National Gallery. A ready made grounded support was used by the painter. This seems to be proved because the edge is grounded too. '"Munkácsy covered the canvas with a mixture of thick bitume and ochre and then he worked in it" writes Malonyai [1]. So there are two grounds on the support (Fig. 1). paint layers ground II ground I canvas Fig. 1 Cross-section of the picture entitled "Studio" ^Studio", similarly to the other paintings of Munkácsy completed between 1870— 78, has become darkened. Some parts and the original colours can hardly be seen or cannot be seen at all even in very good light. In many places of the surface, shrinkage can be found. Painters used to favour the asphalt-containing paints because of their warm brown tone. *?But in the second half of the last century this tempting, cheaply harmonizing paint unfortunately had too big role", writes Balló [2].