Study the painting beneath McMaster’s Van Gogh, the underdrawing of the Circle of Gossart, the retouching in the Van der Neer and much more!

As a complement to McMaster Museum of Art’s touring exhibition, The Unvarnished Truth: Exploring the Material History of Paintings, the Museum now proudly invites you to explore the extensive complementary website:

theunvarnishedtruth.mcmaster.ca

In addition to scholarly essays, catalogue entries, and texts outlining the different scientific methods employed, the site offers an exciting interactive visual tool. Now everyone can view the nine historical paintings in extraordinary detail through high resolution images of each layer including: Visible light, X-radiography, infrared reflectography and ultraviolet light.

Essays include:

• The Art of Connoisseurship by Stephanie S. Dickey
• Conservation Science and Paintings by Alison Murray
• Conservation and Condition Issues by Gianfranco Pocobene
• Histories of Selected Artists’ Pigments by Brandi Lee MacDonald
• The Analysis of Inorganic Pigments Using Spectrometric Techniques by Brandi Lee MacDonald
• The Technical Art Historian’s Methods of Investigation: Some Tools and Practices by Nenagh Hathaway
• Imaging Using X-rays and Neutrons by Fiona McNeill
• Limits of the Eye and the Engine of Curiosity by Ihor Holubizky

Disciplines in Motion: The Changing Roles of Museum Curators, Art Conservators, and Conservation Scientists by Ron Spronk

A printed publication is forthcoming.

The Unvarnished Truth website was designed by New Motto Inc. in Hamilton. The Unvarnished Truth Project and website was made possible through the generous support of the McMaster University Office of Research, the Museums Assistance Program, Canadian Heritage, the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Hamilton.