Technical Description

Diana and her Companions

The support is a plain-weave linen with a thread count of 14.3 x 10 per cm ². The tacking edges have been largely removed.  Cusping is resent on three side, but not on the edge, which has been cut down. The support has a glue/ paste lining. An off-white ground, which includes chalk, lead white, umber, and a little charcoal black, extends from the edges of the original canvas on all sides.  Over the whole painting, except possibly in the sky, extends a thin, transparent reddish brown layer, which employed in most half-tones and shadows.

The composition was first outlined with dark brown brushwork, some of which is visible as pentimenti in the skirt and foot of the woman washing Diana's foot. All the shadows were first blocked in with a dark paint that is especially evident in the flesh tones of Diana and her seated companions. Smalt is present in all the pale flesh tones, mixtures containing white, and the foliage. Vermeer used the handle of the brush to scratch hairs on the dog's ear.

The paint surface is abraded. vertical lines of paint loss are evident to the left of center. Weave emphasis and squashed cupping has resulted from the lining process.