X-rays reveal how Paulus Potter stretched and enlarged his monumental

X-radiographic analysis of six large paintings by Dutch animal artist Paulus Potter (1625–54) shows how he prepared, stretched, and sometimes expanded his canvases. The study, published in npj Heritage Science, used digitized X-radiographs processed with computer-assisted canvas analysis to generate thread density and thread angle maps. The researchers found two support approaches across Potter’s career. Works from his early period near The Hague (about 1647–1651) show features linking preparation to his studio practice, including evidence the canvas was enlarged during the painting process rather than planned from the outset. After he moved to Amsterdam in 1652, Potter switched to exceptionally wide pre-primed canvases.