Conservar Património (2026)

28/05/2025

In issue 49:
The incarnation of carnation: a reconstruction of late Gothic flesh tones using the example of a Mary (1510) by the workshop of Ivo Strigel
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp36236

By Tiziana Maria Thenen, Karolina Soppa, Stefan Zumbühl & Harald Theiss

Abstract
It has been suggested that the prestigious carnations adorning late Gothic sculptures were crafted by the workshops' masters themselves. In fact, they are a complex structure of skillfully constructed and aligned layers. The Bern University of the Arts (HKB) in Switzerland utilized the example of a Mary (1510, Centrepiece of the retable of Grono, Rhaetian Museum Chur) by the established workshop of Ivo Strigel (1486–1514) to elucidate the distinctive characteristics of a late gothic carnation. For the firsttime, the HKB not only displays various binding media and pigments found in each individual layer, but also illustrates the stratigraphy and binder systems that can vary depending on the facial area. To gain a full understanding of the analytical results,colour reconstructions were used to assess the effect of different concentrations of protein (egg yolk) dispersed in linseed oil on the properties of drying, flowability, and surface gloss of the respective colour media.

28/05/2025

In issue 49:
A hidden splendor: the color of medieval cloisters in the 12th and 13th century Catalonia
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp35689

By Laia Cutrina Gallart

Abstract
The identification of polychromy in medieval imagery during restoration campaigns has significantly advanced the iconographic and formal interpretation of monumental sculpture. This integration of image and color provides a fresh perspective, offering deeper insights into how the Church explicitly conveyed its dogma. Consequently, the polychrome image emerges as a pivotal medium of expression for 12th and 13thcentury society. The limited availability of case studies on monumental sculptural color presents a major challenge in contemporary medieval art research. Within this context, Catalonia stands out as a remarkable example on the Iberian Peninsula, owing tothe chromatic remnants preserved in various sculptural and architectural ecclesiastical elements. This study focuses on Catalan medieval cloisters, proposing novel approaches to understanding the role of polychromy in its environment, and the interplay between sculpture and liturgical practices. It proposes that color was not merely aesthetic but served a wide array of symbolic meanings and functional contexts.

28/05/2025

In issue 49:
New findings on the original surface finish of a wooden sculpture by Tilman Riemenschneider
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp35742

By Wibke Ottweiler

Abstract
The Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg (GNM) owns a total of eight sculptures from the workshop of Tilman Riemenschneider. The depiction of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, created around 1510, is considered his own work and most probably comes from the central shrine of an altarpiece. The preserved layers of paint can be attributed to two different phases of polychromy. The technological and stylistic characteristics of the oldest polychromy point to its creation in the 17th century. Underneath, there are remnants of a reddish coating on the smoothed wood. Material analyses (SEM/EDX, FT-IR, Raman-spectroscopy, HPLC-PDA-HRMS, LC-MS/MS) identified a thin, sparsely pigmented protein coating directly on the wooden surface without any dirt or dust in between. This glaze seems to be the original finish that protected, refined and slightly coloured the raw limewood. The findings provide a contribution to the understanding of the type of monochrome sculptures, in particular from the workshop of Tilman Riemenschneider.

28/05/2025

In issue 49:
Colour in Iberian Iron Age architectural sculpture: the case of Cerro de la Merced
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp37759

By Fernando Quesada Sanz, Jesús Robles Moreno, Enrique Parra Crego & María Isabel Sánchez Marqués

Abstract
Recently, analytical research has confirmed the use of pigments in Iberian Iron Age freestanding sculpture. However, hard evidence of polychromy on the many preserved remains of architectural sculpture is still scarce. We focus on the case of a large block decorated with reliefs, probably dated to the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 4th century BCE, recently found at Cerro de la Merced (Cabra, Córdoba). Employing optical and electron microscopy analyses, FTIR spectroscopy, and GC-MS, it has been possible to confirm the existence of traces of red and white colour covering the entire surface, analyse the composition of the pigments employed, and to reconstruct the colour patterns of the different elements of the relief. Our aim is to deepen our understanding of the use of colour in Iberian architecture and to shed light on the colours employed, the techniques used to apply them and their arrangement patterns.

28/05/2025

In issue 49:
A study of the polychromy of Campana's panels
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp36608

By Ombretta Tarquini, Elena Gabriella Lorenzetti, Lucilla Pronti & Anna Candida Felici

Abstract
The study focuses on the colour of architectural earthenwares known as Campana slabs, which often show polychromy remains. We have analysed several fragments of simas, crowning and revetment panels found between 2001 and 2013 on the northeast slopes of the Palatine Hill (Sapienza Universitàdi Roma), in the excavation pit of the Arch of Constantine and in the House of Augustus. In this work, we have reported the results obtained on 21 samples by means of Optical Microscopy (OM), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and Raman Spectroscopy. The analytical approach used has enabled to understand the palette and techniques used by ancient artists.

28/05/2025

In issue 49:
Pigments from Pasargadae and Persepolis in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY): recent scientific investigations on four paper squeezes
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp35708

By Atefeh Shekofteh, Alexander Nagel & Omid Oudbashi

Abstract
Paper squeezes from architectural features and fragments from Pasargadae and Persepolis in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York City were examined using microscopic investigation, imaging techniques, and chemical and molecular analyses. The study focused on pigments from (1) an anthropomorphic ear from a relief fragment in Palace P, (2) a fragment of a rosette from the crown of a Lamassu from Gate R (“Gate House”), both in Pasargadae; (3) a stone axe from a delegation depicted on the north façade of the Apadana, and (4) a stone block with a Hebrew inscription from one of the standing door or window jambs of the Tachara at Persepolis. Analyses confirmed red pigments identified in previous studies and revealed new evidence of lazurite as a blue pigment and magnetite as black. The findings can help us construct further aspects of specific ancient polychromatic contexts at Pasargadae and Persepolis.

27/05/2025

In issue 49:

Light, surfaces and materials: sculpting the imperceptible
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp36432

By Camille Ambrosino, Federica Carta

Abstract
Polychromy of Medieval and Early Renaissance sculpture can be painted, but also obtained with inlaid and using different materials. This paper focus on polymaterial sculpture and glazed terracotta sculpture in Tuscany, and the interplay between materials and lights –natural or artificial. Sculptors, indeed, used different materials and their surfaces –matte, glossy or shiny –in order to reinforce and convey the political or theological message to the beholder. They also adapted the device for the domestic setting, the interior of the ecclesiastical buildings or the façades of churches and civic buildings. Luca della Robbia’s implementation of glazed terracotta technique, in the 1430s, considerably changed the relationship between sculpture, material, and light.

27/05/2025

In issue 49:

Beyond art technical sources: understanding colour production in Andalusi texts
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp36258

By Ana Miranda & Isabel Pombo Cardoso

Abstract
The study of colour production in al-Andalus has been mostly directed towards art technical documentary sources, such as al-Qalalūsī’s Tuḥaf al-Ḫawāṣ(The Treasures of the Select), the 13thcentury Andalusi instructional book. The focus of the said research falls on the ingredients and procedures to create colour. However, the technical-centred approach tends to overlook social, economic, and cultural aspects of colour-making, such as the social perception towards dyers, prices, colour etiquette, besides the context under which such manuals were written. Other types of texts –such as geographical, normative, technical, and epistolary –can help to fulfil such gaps, by providing information regarding the production, commerce, transportation, symbolism, and further uses of raw materials used in colour production, such as alum, cinnabar, and indigo. A multifaceted approach which combines the analysis of different types of coeval sources, primarily Andalusi, can contribute for a more comprehensive insight on colour production in al-Andalus.

-Andalus

27/05/2025

In issue 49:

The interventions on the medieval polychromy of the tomb monument of Isabel of Aragon: the historical sources
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp35846

By Giulia Rossi Vairo

Abstract
Over the centuries, the stone monument of Isabel of Aragon Queen Consort of Portugal (c. 1270-1336), a masterpiece of Portuguese Gothic sculpture from the first half of the 14thcentury, has been the subject of different types of interventions. They were intended to preserve the integrity and decorum of the sarcophagus which had held the “holy body”, found intact inside the sepulchre, of the queen proclaimed blessed in 1516 and saint in 1625. Through the study of the historical sources (literary and iconographic), it was possible to propose a reconstruction of the sequence and the chronology of various actions, which focused mainly on the pictorial surface rather than on the structure of the tomb; to identify the areas of intervention; to reflect on their motivations, modalities and techniques; and to advance hypotheses about a new reading of the iconography of the queen’s effigy and the permanence of the medieval polychromy.

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&restorationHistory

27/05/2025

In issue 49:

(In)tangiblearchaeology of colours: permanent marks on anthropomorphic haniwaand tattooing in Kofun-period Japan
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp36234

By Elisabetta Colla

Abstract
The aim of this paper is to understand the meaning and function of reddish pigments present on the surface of anthropomorphic haniwaof the Kofun period. In Japan, the practice of tattooing (irezumi), whose symbolic meaning has changed over time, can be traced back to the Jōmon period. Tattooing is generally considered an intangible cultural heritage (ICH): the transience of human bodies significantly contributes to the archaeological impermanence ofthis practice except in the case of artificial intervention or natural accidental preservation. The presence of reddish decorative motives on both the face and the body of haniwaraises many questions triggering diverse interpretative scenarios. Haniwaare terracotta figures, placed outside the mounded tombs as an integral part of the funerary rituals and religious practices of protohistoric Japan, and in this sense, they are considered valuable objects not only for reconstructing the burial rituals, but also for Kofun society.

27/05/2025

In issue 49:

Different stones: the weight of colour in ancient near Eastern glyptic
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp35693

By Alessandro Di Ludovico & Sergio Camiz

Abstract
The cylinder seals of ancient Western Asia are a category of artefacts with a wide range of characteristics and implications. Their use was both administrative and bureaucratic, but they were ornamental and apotropaic objects too, thus acquiring diverse symbolic and cultural values. Moreover, they were mostly experienced by their owners and users by being kept in close contact with their bodies. This means that the physical characteristics of the seals (colour, conductivity, weight, etc.) probably had some importance for the ancient societies using them. Thanks to widespread and precise digital technologies, the recording of the data of seals has grown significantly in recent years. In this preliminary work, primary and secondary visual data and the metadata thus obtained have been collected, and statistical analyses have been carried out with the objective of testing the possibility of mapping the general colour trends of ancient Near Eastern glyptics.

27/05/2025

In issue 49:

Pastiglia relief and sgraffito: a study of the polychromy on a late Medieval English alabaster altarpiece
https://doi.org/10.14568/cp36147

By Christina Spaarschuh & Elena Platania

Abstract
English late medieval alabaster altarpieces and fragments of such, are preserved in many countries in Europe. Scientific examination of the polychromy on alabaster carvings has provided new information about materials and painting techniques employed. The elaborately polychromed wooden frameworks of this type of altarpieces remain unstudied sofar. Only a few original frameworks are preserved intact, amongst these one belonging to the Passion altarpiece from the convent of Reynistaður, now kept at the National Museum of Iceland. The article presents the results of the examination and analysis executed on selected features of the polychromy on this altarpiece. A sgraffito décor mimicking chain mail on the alabasters is shed light on, as well as sgraffito and pastiglia décor on the framework. Light microscopy, XRF and analysis of cross sections with SEM-EDS, Micro Raman and ATR-FTIR provide insight into the production of this group of works and the employed pigments and binders.

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