Description
Dendrochronology, a Discipline in Flux.Historians of Netherlandish Art have used findings from dendrochronology for well over half a century. By determining the felling date of the tree from which the wood for a painting or sculpture was made, the earliest possible date for the creation of the object can be established. Over the years, art historians have used this terminus post quem routinely in matters of attribution for example, and the identification of the wood species can be highly important in the study of provenance. But dendrochronology is a complex, interdisciplinary science, and its theoretical foundations and applied techniques are not always fully understood.
This session aims to highlight recent developments within the discipline, and its implications for art history. The sharing of data between dendrochronologists, including the actual measurements of tree ring sequences, is now more widely accepted, for example, which is illustrated by the new Dendro4Art website hosted and developed by the RKD and CATS (https://dendro4art.org/). This will allow for much more efficient datamining in the future, and for increased reliabilities of the data. Moreover, it appears that too much time has been allowed for correction for the period between the felling of the tree and the usage of its wood, i.e. for transportation, seasoning, panel production and artistic creation. Information from cultural historical studies (written sources, inscriptions, and the like) often indicate that trees were usually used relatively quickly after felling. Semi-products made of fresh logs in the Baltic countries could be ready for transportation from the forest down the river to the nearest Baltic harbor. There the timber was re-loaded from raft to ship, and transported to the West. Therefore, timber from trees felled in winter could be found as wainscot and planks at the lumber-yards in the Low Countries just after a few months.
This session will consist of presentations by dendrochronologists Aoife Daly and Ian Tyers, followed by a panel discussion with art historians about the increased reliability of the outcomes of dendrochronological examinations of art works.
| Period | 2 Jun 2022 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | NetherlandsShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
Keywords
- dendrokronologi
- kunsthistorie
- teknisk kunsthistorie