Discovering Patterns in Girolamo Troppa's Ground

As so little is known of the Italian baroque painter Girolamo Troppa, especially his painting technique and materials, this paper provides a thorough investigation into his use of grounds. The Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, holds a collection of eight paintings by Troppa, lending room for comparisons. All the paintings have been subject to both in-depth material analysis and overall technical investigations. The results show a clear pattern in the artist’s use of double grounds, comprising the same build-up and raw materials, as well as a recurring and continuous use of exposed ground as a middle tone. A consideration of the 17th-century Roman art market provides an understanding of Troppa’s practice. He was an artist with a large output, working on commissions both from wealthy patrons and churches, as well as producing a large number of genre paintings to be sold by the art dealer Pellegrino Peri. Comparisons with two other paintings signed/attributed by/to Troppa (belonging to the Nationalmuseum of Sweden and the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Bracciano), have made it possible to increase the number of case studies, which supports the presence of patterns in his technique. These patterns might be used as a marker for Troppa’s specific workshop.