Stage 1 (Zabočevo near Borovnica)

Corpus » Succursal church of St John the Baptist

Interactive drawing

Art-historical analysis

On the northern exterior wall of the nave, deteriorated fragments of St Christopher and another saint under an arcade are visible. The entire width of St Christopher has been preserved from about the knees up to the height of his forehead. He is positioned strictly frontally, holding the Child in his right hand and a staff in his left. He is dressed in a luxuriously creased yellowish undergarment, shaded with red and belted with a white sash. Over this garment, he is wearing a brownish-red coat with an ermine lining and a collar painted in light bluish-grey. His face is defined by almond-shaped eyes without pupils, strong cheekbones, a small mouth, and a short beard. Long, curly yellowish hair falls on his shoulders, and he has a brownish-red halo around his head. The Child or the Boy sits in the saint’s right hand, turning towards him and raising his right hand in blessing. He is dressed in a long, bright garment. To the right of St Christopher, a figure of another saint has been partially preserved under a bright trefoil arcade on a yellow column. The head, the upper left part of the saint’s body, and his right arm have been almost entirely preserved. The saint’s head, surrounded by a dark halo with a thin white outline, is basically just a scaled-down version of St Christopher’s head, distinguished only by a long pointed beard and a much more deteriorated face. The saint is wearing a cloak with dark reddish horizontal stripes. His right arm is raised in front of his chest, while his extended index finger points upwards to the right.

A few details that are almost indistinguishable today can only be recognised in the photographs from the time of the uncovering.[1] It is noticeable that the staff St Christopher holds in his left hand is, in fact, a highly stylised tree with a crown and leaves, while his halo is shaped like a rosette. In the photographs, the toes of Jesus’ left foot are also visible. In the case of the saint, the face with high-quality modelling and a smaller oculus in the corner of the arcade are more discernible.

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[1] Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, photo collection: n17403p, n17404p, n17405p, n17982p, n17983p, n17984p, n17985p, n17986p, n17987p.

At the point of the restoration, the surviving fragments of the mural were deteriorated but mostly still sufficiently visible. Particularly the lighter parts (faces, bright garments) have almost completely faded.

The mural painting is of relatively high quality. Today, that is best demonstrated by St Christopher’s left hand with its precisely outlined fingers and the correct shape of the folded knuckles. The figures exhibit all the characteristics of the High Gothic linear style with elegant drawing and sophisticated modelling, still visible in the older photographs,[1] almond-shaped eyes, and, especially in the case of St Christopher’s garment, noticeable geometrisation, which is believed to be characteristic of the later stage of this style.[2]

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[1] Informacijsko-dokumentacijski center za dediščino Ministrstva za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Ljubljana, photo collection: n17403p, n17404p, n17405p, n17982p, n17983p, n17984p, n17985p, n17986p, n17987p.
[2] ZIMMERMANN 1996, p. 168.

Based on the stylistic characteristics, Robert Peskar, Tanja Zimmermann, and Janez Höfler date the mural to the middle of the 14th century (around 1340–1350 or the second quarter of the century).[1]

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[1] PESKAR 1996, p. 310; ZIMMERMANN 1996, p. 168; HÖFLER 2001, p. 225.

An unknown, perhaps local painter.

St Christopher is easily recognisable by his supernatural size, additionally emphasised by the contrast with the saint under the arcade, the facial type, the stylised tree, and the figure of Jesus in the form of a boy. The identity of the saint under the arcade is unclear: the long-haired and bearded head surrounded with a halo, the garment with horizontal coloured stripes, and the pointing left hand are not particularly telling without further context. Nevertheless, the figure may well represent the church’s patron, St John the Baptist, as Robert Peskar and Janez Höfler suggested.[1]

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[1] PESKAR 1991, p. 83; HÖFLER 2001, p. 225.

Technical analysis

Pigments: white lime, yellow ochre (goethite), red earth (haematite), azurite, minium, lead white and/or massicot

Analytical techniques: OM, Raman, XRF

Judging from the damage to the surface, it is apparent that the mural was painted on two layers of plaster: the rougher lower layer (arriccio) and the slightly smoother upper layer (intonaco). Characteristically of exterior plasters, the latter is still relatively coarse and contains somewhat larger grains of sand (Fig. 1). However, we do not know whether the lower plaster layer is older and the painter only applied the top plaster layer or whether he actually applied both. In both cases, the plaster consists of lime and sand, while the XRF analyses have not yet been carried out. A white layer – probably limewash (Fig. 1, No. 3) – is visible over the entire mural. The painter used it to either freshen the plaster, which may have been drying too quickly, or he may have just wanted to depict the scenes against a bright background. The sample cross-sections do not reveal the composition of the plaster. Mostly, it is only possible to see a thin white layer that probably coincides with the visible layer of limewash (Figs. 2–3), or perhaps the colour layers have fallen off the base and only the white layer remained on the sample (Fig. 4). In some samples, there is a green layer between the plaster and the colour layer that indicates some biological activity, probably algae.

Several blackened parts, such as the folds on Christopher’s clothing or the halos, indicate that the painter used lead pigments. This has been confirmed by both XRF and Raman analyses. The former has confirmed a high lead content in the black folds of Christopher’s cloak, while the latter has more precisely identified the lead pigment as minium degraded to plattnerite. Two separate colours – a still bright lower layer and an already darkened upper layer – can be distinguished in the sample taken from a bowl-shaped fold of Christopher’s cloak (Fig. 4). It is not entirely clear whether these are two colour layers, of which only the top one has degraded, or whether the layer containing minium is so thick that only its surface has degraded due to atmospheric influences. The painter’s palette must have also included at least lead white and perhaps yellow massicot, as lead has also been detected in the yellow and green-blue colour layers. For the larger surfaces, the painter used natural inorganic pigments such as white lime (calcite), yellow ochre (iron, goethite), and red earth (iron, haematite). As indicated by the cross-section and the Raman analysis, the green-blue background was painted with a mixture of azurite, malachite, and a little goethite. The malachite may merely be degraded azurite. The relevant cross-section clearly shows the angular grains of the crushed mineral pigment (Fig. 5). In the same sample, the XRF analysis has also revealed a considerable presence of copper, the chemical element characteristic of both pigments, as well as a modest content of some lead pigment, probably lead white. Interestingly, the azurite was applied directly on the limewash without any underpainting, which was otherwise often used to reduce the required amount of this expensive pigment. The relatively high titanium and chromium peaks indicate subsequent retouching with titanium white and chromium green. The painter must have impregnated the natural earth pigments with lime water or lime milk, while the lime from the limewash also served as a binder. Meanwhile, he had to impregnate the lead and copper pigments with some organic binder – possibly egg yolk, animal glue, or casein – to ensure their adherence to the base.

The white layer extending across both preserved scenes suggests the lime technique (Fig. 1). The sample cross-sections also show only a thin layer of white under the colour layers, with the lime only slightly permeating into the colour layer (Figs. 2–3). The lead pigments were applied al secco, which is why they easily peel off the painting base (Fig. 4).

The two scenes are separated by a deep vertical incision. The halos were also incised, though with a thinner and less visible circular line covered with a layer of colour. The lines of the heads may have been incised as well. There are no pouncings. The preparatory drawing was made using a yellow colour that can be seen in several areas (Fig. 6). Over it, the painter drew a warm brown final contour, which has mostly fallen away. The painter used the same yellow underdrawing to shade the upper eyelids on the three round-shaped faces. While the faces of St Christopher and St John the Baptist (?) are depicted en face and with prominent cheekbones, all three feature low foreheads and rounded chins. The nose is long and straight, with a rounded nasal tip and wide nostrils. The eyes are large, almond-shaped, with thin, semi-circular eyebrows set high above them. The intermediate space is shaded with yellow ochre. Barely any hints of the mouth have been preserved. However, the few still discernible traces suggest that it was fleshy, with a heart-shaped upper lip and an indicated lower lip (Fig. 6). The hands are beautifully shaped and not at all too large for the torso, as is often the case in the murals from that period. They feature long and narrow fingers and appear elegant. The modelling has not been preserved, except insofar as it is conveyed by the yellow underdrawing in contrast with the final contour (perhaps there was no modelling at all). The best spot to evaluate the drapery is on the figure of St Christopher. The painter modelled it with broad, decisive, and quick strokes. First, he applied the yellow colour, then the red, and finally the bright red minium, which has eventually darkened (Fig. 4). Originally, the halos could have been yellow: as they are now black, the artist could have painted them with yellow massicot, which was often used as a substitute for gold because of its vivid colour. The massicot has since degraded, and only the white outer line of the circle, drawn to model the halos, has been preserved. The painter conveyed the volume of the bodies by applying a brighter mid-tone and darker colours along the body, which was achieved perfectly, for example on Christopher’s left forearm. He used broad brushes without any fine modelling, which is generally typical of painting on church exteriors.

Gallery

Virtual 360° view

Zabočevo near Borovnica, Succursal church of St John the Baptist, Stage 1 (Zabočevo near Borovnica), 2024 (last updated 7. 1. 2025). Corpus picturarum muralium medii aevi, https://corpuspicturarum.zrc-sazu.si/en/poslikava/phase-1-zabocevo-pri-borovnici/ (10. 7. 2025).

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