The Use of Smalt in Simon Pereyns Panel Paintings: Intentional Use and Color Changes

Abstract

The Flemish painter Simón Pereyns travelled to New Spain in 1566 as a member of the viceroyal court. In two important paintings La Virgen del Perdón (1568) and San Cristóbal (1588) we identified wide use of blue smalt pigment, a potassium glass with cobalt oxide. The color of this material depends on its manufacture process, from pale greyish blue to violet or dark blue. The more blue color the more expensive the pigment. On the 16^th century market the commerce of smalt was divided into many categories based on the material quality. Historical archive documents testify smalt imports from Seville to New Spain in two different qualities: fine and smalt woody ashes. In Pereyns` paintings the smalt was used in specific parts of the composition as the dark sky in landscapes, shadows of draperies and under layers in order to create a color background for the figures. Nowadays, in these areas, the alteration of the paint layer is evident. The blue has been changed into brown color. Optical microscopy (MO), scanning and transmission electron microscopies were performed in order to characterize the particles of smalt. The degradation of potassium glass was verified, as a consequence of aging and degradation process due to environmental conditions. These phenomena are well known and study on European paintings. In this research our aim is to explore the intentional use of smalt on Pereyns’ compositions and how color change as a consequence of microscopic materials instability can influence the contemporary reception of the paintings. Many paintings from New Spain have a dull, dark and limited palette but the original was very different. The remarks about the color of New Spain's paintings should considered the normal aging of the paint components, studied by materials science and art history.