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CHRONOLOGY OF RESEARCH |
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3 December 1981 |
The collector, George Lester Winward (b.1934-d.1997), acquires the Tondo from the Executors of Mrs Violet Hope Fairbairn Wynne-Eyton at a country house sale at Leeswood Hall, Mold, Flintshire, North Wales, conducted by fine art Auctioneers, Henry Spencer & Sons of Retford, Nottingham. Lot 249 "After Raphael. TheMadonna and Child. Tondo. Oil on canvas. 95 cm diameter". |
| 1983 |
Publication of the important and seminal book Raphael by Roger Jones and Nicholas Penny, Yale University Press. Page 128, describing the Sistine Madonna, contains the following statement:
"….and it is significant that a circle drawn around the Madonna's veil and the Christ-child would enclose an admirably designed tondo…". It is this published reference, predictive to the collector and his advisers, which is the foundation for inspiring the ensuing 25 years’ academic research of the Tondo. |
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1987-1991 |
Four years of full-time research of the Tondo is undertaken by art correspondent (ex The Guardian) Murdoch Lothian, as a case study for a PhD, awarded by Liverpool University in 1992. Thesis is entitled: 'The Methods Employed to Provenance and to Attribute Putative works by Raphael'. The conclusion of his case study is that "....The Tondo pre-dates The Sistine Madonna. It is, as yet, not possible to state definitively that Raphael, or his studio, or some unrecognised hand, painted The Tondo but it seems likely, on the evidence of the painting as artefact, that The Tondo and The Sistine Madonna were painted by the same person(s), and that The Tondo was the exemplar". Read Complete Summary of Case Study |
February 1997 |
Following the death of the collector, the de Brécy Trust, set up by the collector under charitable directives, continues the research of the Tondo. |
January to May 2000 |
The Tondo receives conservation (some paint consolidation and cleaning) at the National Conservation Centre (part of National Museums Liverpool) from leading UK conservator Harriet Owen Hughes, who describes the Tondo as a "possible Raphael" |
August to October 2000 |
A facsimile of the Tondo is on permanent exhibition at the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. |
May to September 2001 |
The facsimile is on permanent exhibition at the central London Churches of St Mary Moorfields, St Giles Cripplegate and St James's Piccadilly. |
1 November 2002 |
A study session of leading art historians takes place in the presence of the painting at the Society of Antiquaries of London, Burlington House, under the aegis of Mrs MaryAnne Stevens, former Collections Secretary and Senior Curator now Director of Academic Affairs at the Royal Academy of Arts and Professor Francis Ames-Lewis, Raphael scholar and former Professor of Renaissance Art at Birkbeck College, University of London. The study session is convened to consider the likely age of the Tondo. A recommendation is made for further technical research. |
February 2003 |
The identification in the painting of the medieval blue dye Turnsole (folium), or similar indicator dye, by Mr Henry Bland B.Sc., C.Chem., FRSC, Consulting Forensic Scientist and honorary adviser to the de Brécy Trust, is confirmed from the Laboratory for Materials and Techniques, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels. It is the first record of the dye's use in a painting, as distinct from manuscript illumination |
September 2004 |
Laser Raman spectroscopic analysis of paint samples from the Tondo is undertaken by Professor Howell Edwards, professor of Molecular Spectrocopy at the University of Bradford, UK. Professor Edwards is an international expert in the identification of materials in art and archaeology by Raman spectroscopy (820 papers published in the scientific literature as at November 2007). The analysis establishes that the yellow (lead) pigment massicot has been used in the painting, a pigment not used after c.1700 when Naples Yellow superseded it in the palette. The analysis also identifies a starch-based glue as the probable medium, typical of Renaissance practice. |
October 2004 to January 2005 |
Exhibition 'Raphael: From Urbino to Rome' is held at the National Gallery, London. As a supplement to the exhibition and catalogue, the National Gallery publishes Technical Bulletin [Volume 25, 2004], giving the results of technical investigation of 7 of the Gallery's early works by Raphael. Three key characteristics are:
i) "The foregrounds, backgrounds and sky paints were laid in with broadly horizontal strokes, often leaving a brushmarked, slightly textured surface" (p.10)
ii) "translucency does appear to be a feature of Raphael's paint" (p.13)
iii)"alabaster appearance of the flesh tones" (p.13)
All three features are characteristic of the Tondo. |
3 November 2004 |
Letter from the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, confirming Christ Church Picture Gallery's Raphael/ Italian Renaissance experts' opinion of the Tondo, having reviewed the research: "We appreciate that there is a possibility of the tondo being the work of Raphael…". |
1-30 June 2005 |
Tondo is on permanent display at the Society of Antiquaries of London, Burlington House, to invited national and international Raphael and Italian Renaissance scholars, alongside a full-scale colour photograph of the equivalent detail of the Sistine Madonna for comparison. Discussion is launched among art historians as to the true relationship of the Tondo to the Sistine Madonna. |
5 February 2007 |
Publication of the findings of Professor Howell Edwards' Raman spectroscopy analysis and his conclusion that the painting is from the Renaissance period in an original paper in the international scientific Journal Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry. The resultant interest in the Tondo is global, with articles published in papers and journals in numerous countries, particularly Germany and the USA. |
30 August 2007 |
Correspondence with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council confirmsthat for exhibition of the Tondo to take place in Manhattan, NY, a temporary export licencewould be required, should the Trust decide to accept such an invitation in due course. |
5 March 2008 |
Professor Howell Edwards and Timothy Benoy BA (Oxon), honorary secretary and trustee of the de Brécy Trust, are invited to give a joint presentation about the history of the research of the painting and the Raman spectroscopy analysis establishing its Renaissance date, at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, with the painting being on view to the audience. |
April 2008 |
Stan Parchin, Renaissance expert and senior New York art correspondent, delivers a lecture in Manhattan entitled From Mesopotamia to Mona Lisa, on the subject of science in the service of art history, using the Tondo research as illustration. |
May 2008 |
Professor Howell Edwards is invited to lecture in Sydney, Aus., to Museum and Art professionals on the subject of Raman spectroscopy. He is specifically requested by the Australian conveners of the conference to refer to his analysis work on the Tondo. |
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