Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Marta Melchiorre gives a talk entitled “When The Red Boy was wearing yellow clothes: new insights into Lawrence’s painting materials and the genesis of a British art masterpiece”. This talk was presented on 15 October 2024.
The Portrait of Charles William Lambton (‘The Red Boy’), painted in 1825 by Sir Thomas Lawrence, is one of the most loved images of British art. It was recently acquired by the National Gallery, where it underwent conservation treatment and thorough technical investigation. The analytical work revealed the unexpected presence of a chrome yellow-based paint layer underneath the boy’s iconic red clothes. This not only provided evidence to back up historical accounts recording how Lawrence had initially depicted the boy wearing yellow clothes, but also initiated new research into Lawrence’s painting materials. Chrome yellow was introduced between 1804 and 1809, but more widely used from the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Lawrence was interested in new pigments, but cautious about their stability and had a collaboration with George Field to examine and test them. Field’s journal books note indeed the analysis of two yellow samples received from Lawrence which both proved to be chrome yellow. Lawrence’s collaboration with Field is of particular interest also considering the array of lake pigments identified in this work.
Marta Melchiorre gives a talk entitled “When The Red Boy was wearing yellow clothes: new insights into Lawrence’s painting materials and the genesis of a British art masterpiece”. This talk was presented on 15 October 2024.
The Portrait of Charles William Lambton (‘The Red Boy’), painted in 1825 by Sir Thomas Lawrence, is one of the most loved images of British art. It was recently acquired by the National Gallery, where it underwent conservation treatment and thorough technical investigation. The analytical work revealed the unexpected presence of a chrome yellow-based paint layer underneath the boy’s iconic red clothes. This not only provided evidence to back up historical accounts recording how Lawrence had initially depicted the boy wearing yellow clothes, but also initiated new research into Lawrence’s painting materials. Chrome yellow was introduced between 1804 and 1809, but more widely used from the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Lawrence was interested in new pigments, but cautious about their stability and had a collaboration with George Field to examine and test them. Field’s journal books note indeed the analysis of two yellow samples received from Lawrence which both proved to be chrome yellow. Lawrence’s collaboration with Field is of particular interest also considering the array of lake pigments identified in this work.
