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Pablo Picasso Goat's Skull, Bottle and Candle 1952
Pablo Picasso
Goat's Skull, Bottle and Candle 1952
© Succession Picasso/DACS 2002
Oil on Canvas
892 mm x 1162 mm
Goat's Skull, Bottle and Candle 1952
© Succession Picasso/DACS 2002
Oil on Canvas
892 mm x 1162 mm
Read transcriptGoat's Skull, Candle and Bottle is one of a series of works inspired by the theme of war and in particular the execution of a Greek Communist hero and resistance fighter. It is painted in oil on canvas, in a grisaille palette, worked in Picasso's so-called stained glass manner, whereby every form is enclosed in a dark outline. The simplicity of the tonal range belies Picasso's conscious choice of three different white pigments to achieve the many textural effects deployed within the image.
Annette King is a Modern and Contemporary Paintings Conservator at Tate. She is currently carrying out research into the Picabia works in the Tate collection and contributing to a research project on Tate's Surrealist paintings.
Detail of Candle Stem and Flame
In the stem of the candle and the centre of the flame the flat lead white ground is used by Picasso to create a contrast with the brighter white impasto, providing texture and detail. The stiff impasto is made up of highly pigmented pure lithopone (zinc sulphide with barium sulphate) in oil. The black outlines are painted in bone black with some iron black in oil.
Detail of Upper Jaw of Skull in Raking Light
Looking at the painting lit at an angle from the side reveals the lively texture of the paint and the ways in which Picasso exploits the different qualities of the pigments. It accentuates the difference between the flat lead white ground, the smooth, fluid black and the stiff impasto of the lithopone pigments, which give it a three-dimensional quality.
Whole Painting viewed in Ultra-Violet light
In ultra-violet light the white pigments fluoresce differently. The paint containing lithopone fluoresces bright blue. The zinc/titanium white mixture fluoresces with a pale yellow hue (mostly in the area of the skull). The lead white ground has a warmer yellow tone (in the candle, bottle, chin of the skull and the lower right corner of the painting).