Representation versus Reality: Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts’s Depiction and Use of Colored Grounds

The Flemish artist Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts (late 1620s–ca. 1675) is known for his trompe l’oeil paintings depicting the easels, tools, and materials of an artist’s studio. In this essay, Gijsbrechts’s representations of ground layers and canvas preparations depicted in paintings produced during his four-year stay as a court painter in Denmark are compared to his actual working practice through visual and scientific analysis. Fifteen paintings by Gijsbrechts in the collection of SMK – National Gallery of Denmark were analyzed using visual examination, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDXS) analysis. The study revealed that although Gijsbrechts often depicts dark red ground layers in his works, he typically painted on double grounds, consisting of a lower red ground layer followed by a second, lighter brown or gray layer. The results are set against works by other artists and their depictions of painters’ studios.