THE ÁLVAREZ COLLECTION
Old Master Prints
Technical Research Archive of Old Master Prints
The present impressions are not examined in isolation. Their material structure, plate state, and morphological correspondence demonstrate that they belong to the same physical lineage as the impressions used in the major 19th-century facsimile campaigns (including those of Amand-Durand and Seymour Haden). Those campaigns did not reproduce inventions or secondary copies, but existing intaglio impressions. The objects documented here are historical impressions. They are the very impressions that served as models for those 19th-century reproductions, or sister impressions printed from the same engraved copper plates. This conclusion is based entirely on physical and material evidence, not on historical narratives or stylistic interpretations.
This site presents a curated series of Print Verification Records (PVRs) dedicated to Old Master prints by major European masters of the 16th and 17th centuries.
The archive includes works by artists such as Rembrandt, Wenceslaus Hollar, Albrecht Dürer, Jacopo de' Barbari, Claude Lorrain, Paulus Potter, Barthel Beham , and others.
Each PVR is a complete technical dossier documenting a single impression through:
• High-resolution macro photography
• Transmitted-light paper and watermark analysis
• Forensic microscopy of ink-to-paper interaction and burr morphology.
• Raking-light relief documentation
• Structural overlay comparison between plate states
• Transmitted-light paper and watermark analysis
• Forensic microscopy of ink-to-paper interaction and burr morphology.
• Raking-light relief documentation
• Structural overlay comparison between plate states
The objective is to provide a data-driven framework in which material evidence is visible, verifiable, and comparable, in support of scholarly evaluation and potential acquisition..
Artist
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669)
Methodology
Comparative overlays, microscopy, and paper analysis
The Álvarez Project implements a multi-layered diagnostic protocol to establish the authenticity and specific condition of 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-century prints. Our methodology goes beyond traditional expert analysis, integrating forensic imaging with comparative art history analysis
Forensic Microscopy (1000x): We use high-resolution digital microscopy to analyze the ink's "topography." By examining the V-shaped grooves of the burin and measuring the residual relief (depth of the engraving), we can differentiate between an original print and later, lower-quality ones.
Materials Analysis and Ultraviolet (UV) Light: Each work is subjected to 365 nm UV light to analyze the chemical integrity of the handmade rag paper and the oxidation levels of the linseed oil-based inks. This process identifies historical "chemical traces" and rules out modern restorations or paper washings.
Metric chronology (watermark and chain lines): We document the physical structure of the paper support, measuring the watermark line intervals (e.g., 25 mm, 29.4 mm) and the density of the chain lines to ensure the support is chronologically consistent with the artist's period.
Comparative institutional overlays: Using AI-assisted alignment, we perform comparative overlays with digitized reference prints from major institutions (British Museum, Met, and Rijksmuseum). This allows us to identify specific markers of the "plate's life": the evolution of a stroke, the appearance of a scratch, or the deliberate reworking of the copper plate.
Every claim regarding a specific "condition" is based on reproducible physical evidence. Full technical reports, high-resolution micrographs, and grazing light studies are available for scholarly review.
Contact The Álvarez Collection
The Álvarez Collection focuses on Old Master prints, with special emphasis on early and technically significant
impressions. If you are a curator, scholar, conservator, dealer or collector and wish to discuss a specific work,
request high-resolution images or explore research collaboration, you are welcome to get in touch.
We can provide technical dossiers, macro-imaging, overlay material and paper analyses on request for
institutions and researchers working on catalogue raisonnés, exhibitions or collection studies.
Direct contact
For enquiries, image permissions or collaboration proposals:
Email
susana123.sd@gmail.com
fineartoldmasters9919@gmail.com
susana@alvarezart.info
Phone
+1 786 554 2925
+1 305 690 2148