Microscopic paint cross-section showing layered coloured grounds.

The Down to the Ground database

Ground-layer data for 834 Netherlandish paintings

A database of ground-layer information from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Netherlandish paintings, designed to support technical art history, conservation research, and close study of painting practice.

Coloured grounds were introduced to Netherlandish painting in the sixteenth century and became more and more popular through the seventeenth century. They shape painting technique, influence optical and tonal effects, and can help us understand workshop practice, chronology, and artistic mobility.

Search the database How to use the database

Introduction

What this database offers

The Down to the Ground database brings together published research, unpublished institutional documentation, and new technical findings on coloured grounds in Netherlandish paintings. It enables users to search for artists, places of execution, supports, dates, numbers of grounds, and standardised colour categories across a large corpus.

The database is intended both as a practical research tool and as a structured record of how coloured grounds were observed, described, and interpreted in technical art-historical research. Each entry should therefore be read alongside its cited sources and reliability rating.

Colour system

Standardised colour categories for querying the data

The DttG colour checker translates varied free-text descriptions into a consistent set of searchable colour categories. This makes it possible to compare entries produced by different researchers, institutions, and analytical methods without losing sight of the interpretive nature of colour description.

On the homepage, the checker is shown in a compact reference mode. The full documentation explains how these categories relate to original terminology and why they should be understood as standardised research categories rather than exact chromatic descriptions.

View the full colour system documentation

Brown

Grey

Orange

Pink

Red

Yellow

Black

White

Quick start

How to begin using the database

1

Use Tabular data (Simple Search)

The fastest overview of the corpus and linked records, with filtering by artist, date, place of execution, support, and number of grounds in one interface.
2

Use Advanced Search for complex queries

Combine multiple artists, cities, colours, and reliability filters to explore more specific patterns.
3

Browse through linked records

Click titles, artists, places, and museums to move between individual records and connected material.
4

Export results as CSV

Download result sets for further analysis, visualisation, and data interpretation in external tools.

5

Cite both database and sources

When publishing, cite the database together with the original technical studies and institutional documentation behind each entry.
6

Contribute your own records

Use the RKD Studies submission template to propose additions and help expand the database corpus.