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On the upper half of the southern part of the triumphal arch wall in the nave, an unidentified, poorly preserved holy bishop can be seen, of which only the colour surfaces are still recognisable. He is painted frontally, his head covered by a low bishop’s mitre, tilted towards the viewer’s left.[1] An irregularly shaped red surface, recognisable as a halo, surrounds the head. In his left hand, the bishop holds a staff that rests on his shoulder, while his right arm is bent at the elbow with the lower part of the arm raised. The fingers of the saint’s left hand are best preserved and still feature recognisable nails and knuckles, while his right hand is in a much worse condition, making it impossible to determine whether he is holding an object. The figure is wrapped in an overgarment and an ochre-coloured robe reaching to the floor. An outline of a small unidentified object can be seen on the lower part of the saint’s robe. The saint’s image is framed by several monochrome bands and a thicker bordure, consisting of a blue background and alternating green and white squares that meet at the corners.[2] The described bordure also surrounded the top of the older mural layer, as indicated by a small uncovered part of the upper edge.
A smaller, frontally painted figure is above the saint’s right shoulder. In its current state, its still distinguishable facial features include the right eye and a small, somewhat damaged mouth with accentuated lips. Judging from the preserved parts of the mural, it also appears that the figure had medium-length golden-brown hair. Only the left half of the body has been preserved, showing that it was dressed in a belted red-coloured garment.
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The mural is extremely poorly preserved. The image of the bishop is only recognisable from the colour surfaces, while the mural above the triumphal arch has been almost completely destroyed, except for a small fragment. At the junction of the triumphal arch with the southern wall, the remains of the former bordure are visible below the saintly figure.
Unknown.
The older mural layer on the triumphal arch has not been the subject of any detailed iconographic research in the relevant literature. The first attempt at identifying the portrayed holy bishop was made by Ivan Komelj, who wrote that it might be a depiction of St Jacob, the church’s patron saint.[1] Meanwhile, Janez Höfler identified the fragmentarily preserved smaller figure next to the holy bishop as Abel from the sacrifice of Cain and Abel motif.[2]
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Pigments: white lime (calcite), yellow earth (goethite), red earth (haematite), green earth, carbon black
Analytical techniques: OM, Raman
The plaster is very brittle, dry, and crumbles easily. The cross-sections of the samples indicate that it consists of lime and a lot of sand of different granulations and various colours, from yellow and red to brown and black (figs. 1–2). The lime content was clearly insufficient to bind the aggregate well, resulting in brittle plaster. No giornate are distinguishable, not even between the two figures (the Holy Bishop and the frontal figure next to the arch – Abel?). The cross-sections also reveal at least one layer of limewash between the plaster and the colour layer. Where there are several layers of limewash, they also appear between the colour layers. Raman spectroscopy identified these layers as calcite, i.e. limewash.
Based on the cross-sections and Raman spectroscopy, we can identify yellow and red earth (fig. 3) – i.e. goethite and haematite – and green earth (fig. 2). Judging from the shape of the particles and the chemical analysis, the black pigment is carbon black. The sample of the blue colour does not indicate any blue pigment: it may have fallen off, or it could be a cheap optical version of blue colour achieved with grey (fig. 1). Two layers of grey – a mixture of white lime and carbon black – are visible, but there is no red that is normally added to make this type of mixed blue. The binder is lime from the limewash, and the pigments were certainly also impregnated with lime water or lime milk.
The mural was painted in the lime technique, causing the colour layers to peel away from the plaster along with the limewash. The painter applied the colour layers on fresh limewash layers. In places, two thin layers of limewash can also be distinguished, for example under the green colour (fig. 3). Elsewhere, individual limewash layers were used for each of the successive colour modelling layers, for example on the Bishop’s hand (figs. 3–4). The cross-sections do not indicate that the plaster was already completely dry before the first coat of limewash was applied, as no clear boundary between the two can be seen.
There are no incisions or pouncings, nor is there any evidence of an underdrawing anywhere. It may have been drawn in yellow on the first limewash layer. The sample taken at the junction of the two fingers of the bishop’s hand clearly reveals two yellow colour layers: the lower one could be underdrawing, while the upper one could have been used as the base colour of the hand (fig. 3). The broad strokes of the semi-dry brush are evident on the Holy Bishop’s yellow tunic, where we can also see the bright vertical lines of white glaze, approximately half a centimetre thick, used to highlight the tops of the folds. The final modelling of the faces is no longer preserved, but we can still see the pink colour of the carnation, achieved by first applying a bright base colour and then adding darker pink shading over it. The Bishop’s facial features are no longer preserved. However, the features of the smaller figure to the left of him are outlined in a broad brown contour. We can still make out the slightly semicircular eyebrows and large almond-shaped eyes with pupils painted in the same brown colour. The mouth is also outlined with the same strong contour. We can no longer see the entire shape, but it is possible to infer full heart-shaped lips. The hands with parallel fingers are clumsy, modelled on a basic yellowish carnation with darker shades between the fingers and a thick, red final contour (fig. 4).
Potoče, Succursal church of St Jacob, Stage 1 (Potoče), 2024 (last updated 18. 10. 2024). Corpus picturarum muralium medii aevi, https://corpuspicturarum.zrc-sazu.si/en/poslikava/phase-1-church-of-st-jacob-potoce/ (8. 9. 2026).
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