Stage 1 (Celje)

Interactive drawing

Technical analysis

Pigments: white lime, yellow earth, red earth, cinnabar, green earth, malachite (?), azurite, lead white or minium, organic black

Analytical techniques: OM, XRF, XRD

The plaster is made of lime and sand, as confirmed by the sample cross-sections (Figs 1–2). The aggregate contains crushed sand, mainly consisting of fine multicoloured grains interspersed with some larger translucent grains (Fig. 2). According to the XRD analyses, the plaster contains a large quantity of quartz and somewhat less calcite (i.e. the binder). Dolomite, which could originate from the lime or the aggregate, is also present. The analyses have also detected feldspars with potassium and plagioclase in the plaster. The presence of clinochlore indicates the presence of chloride salts in the wall.

Although the mural is damaged, several colours like white, pink, red, brown, grey-blue, and black have survived. These are made with natural inorganic pigments. The cross-section of the sample taken from Christ’s hair also reveals a yellow colour that was used as the base for the hair, over which dark strands were painted with a layer of brown (Fig. 3). The XRF analysis identified yellow ochre (high iron content) and umber (manganese, iron). The red colour, sampled to the right of Christ’s head (Fig. 1), is a mixture of red earth, cinnabar (mercury), some copper pigment (azurite or malachite; copper), and lead white or minium (lead). The grey background was originally blue, painted with azurite over a light grey underpainting (veneda) according to the Northern European tradition of underpainting this semi-precious blue pigment. The XRF analysis confirms the presence of copper, the characteristic element of this blue pigment. The latter, applied al secco on top of the veneda, has mostly fallen off, so it is not visible in the sample’s cross-section under the microscope. The grey underpainting is a mixture of white lime (calcium), red earth (iron), a little cinnabar (mercury), and organic black. A bit of lead pigment (probably lead white) was also added, which may be present in both the underpainting and the blue colour (this could not be determined with the XRF analysis). The binder is lime (calcium) from the plaster and lime water or milk, which was probably used to impregnate the pigments before application, while some organic binder must have been used for the al secco parts.

The painting technique is a combination of al fresco and al secco painting. All the base colour surfaces were applied al fresco, while the top layers were largely added al secco. The cross-sections show a blurred line (Fig. 2–3), typical of painting on fresh plaster, and a clear line between the plaster and the colour layer (Fig. 2) or between the colour layers (Fig. 3), characteristic of application on dry plaster. A combination of thin (Figs. 1, 3) and thick paint layers (Fig. 2) can also be discerned.

The painter used deep and wide incisions for Christ’s halo, designed as a quatrefoil within a circle, while the head was not incised. The quatrefoil was decorated with parallel ray-shaped pouncings perpendicular to the head. The halo was additionally accentuated with a broad black contour, which, however, does not strictly follow the incised circle. The underdrawing was made using a dark red colour, visible on Christ’s right shoulder and right arm. While completing the works, the painter covered the underdrawing with a black contour, still preserved in some parts of the mural. There are no underpaintings, while the local tones are restricted to the background, draperies, and carnation as the bases on which the painter subsequently applied the modelling. Much of the colour modelling has been lost. Christ’s head is elongated, characterised by a high forehead, a long, straight nose, and an elongated cheek. The eye is wide open, with a notable, almost straight lower line and a strongly sloping upper eyelid, further emphasised by a line above it, while a slightly semicircular eyebrow arches over both. Between the eyebrow and the eyelid, ochre shading has been preserved (Fig. 4a), reminiscent of the shading of the eyelids of some of the figures in the succursal church of St Nicholas in Žužemberk (Fig. 4b), such as the depiction of St Nicholas on the interior triumphal arch wall and some of the figures in the scene of Christ’s miraculous walk on the Lake of Gennesaret with St Nicholas on the exterior wall. For the eye and the eyebrow, the painter used a dark brown colour, like the one found in hair modelling. The hair falls over the ears towards the shoulders and is designed with light- and dark-brown strands and a black outer contour. The dark strands were painted over a bright background, as seen in the cross-section of the sample taken from the hair (Fig. 3). The brown colour was also used to paint the hand with long fingers ending in semicircular nails. The colour modelling of the draperies can no longer be discerned, mainly because of the brown colour applied over the mural and because much of it has probably fallen away. The painter combined broad and thin brushes, which is particularly evident on Christ’s head. For the background and the bordure, the master only used broad brushes. Ochre circular decorations made with a stencil have been preserved on the left-hand bordure.

Gallery

Virtual 360° view

Celje, Cathedral of St Daniel, Stage 1 (Celje), 2024 (last updated 24. 10. 2024). Corpus picturarum muralium medii aevi, https://corpuspicturarum.zrc-sazu.si/en/poslikava/phase-1-celje/ (2. 9. 2026).

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