Technical analysis

Pigments: yellow earth, red earth, cinnabar, lead white or minium, organic black

Analytical techniques: OM, XRD, XRF

As we can see in the damaged areas with a lower layer of a coarser arriccio and an upper layer consisting of a finer intonaco, the mural was painted on at least two layers of plaster. The separation between the two is not always clear. The XRD analysis of the crushed plaster has revealed a high quartz and low calcite content, while feldspars, illite/muscovite, pyrite, and dolomite are also present. The latter can be both in the binder and the aggregate. The plaster is thus dominated by the aggregate, with modest binder content, which is why it is rather brittle. The samples’ cross-sections also show densely distributed angular and varicoloured grains in a small amount of lime (Figs. 7–8). There are many translucent angular grains, probably quartz, while the angular shape of the grains also suggests the use of crushed sand. In all three samples, another layer can be found between the plaster and the colour layer. It has been impossible to determine whether this is limewash or a very thin plaster made of lime and crushed marble or calcite/dolomite. In one of the samples, the layer in question is more like an extremely thin plaster (Fig. 7), which is unusual and has only been detected in the mural on the chancel side of the triumphal arch wall in the succursal church of the Virgin Mary on Kamen in Vuzenica. The specificity of this element could suggest that the same workshop worked at both locations, but unfortunately, we do not have enough samples to confirm this assumption. Due to the fragmentary preservation of the mural, which is largely covered by a more recent painting, we do not know whether the plaster was applied according to the system of giornate.

Samples could only be taken from the decorative curtain painted below, where yellow, red, and black colours were used. XRF analyses have identified yellow ochre (iron), red earth (iron), and cinnabar (mercury), while the black is probably of organic origin and cannot be determined using this technique. Lead is also present in all the samples, meaning that the painter’s palette included at least one lead pigment, but we cannot determine which one. It could also be lead white or even minium. All the pigments were applied to a fresh base of plaster or limewash, so the main binder is lime. An organic binder such as casein, animal glue, or egg yolk could also have been used for the final details.

The mural was painted using a combination of the al fresco and lime techniques. The al fresco technique is suggested by the excellent durability of the colour layers on the preserved fragments, while the lime technique is indicated by the limewash (or thin plaster) revealed by the samples taken from the lower part of the painting. Most of the final contours and the additional colour modelling have fallen away, so the painting was completed using the al secco technique.

Only a few fragments of the mural are still visible, so it is almost impossible to discern the painting process. Broad red colour strokes, clearly outlining the underdrawing (Fig. 9a), are visible on the lower part of the decorative curtain. On the fragment of the two heads in the upper band, the red underdrawing cannot be confirmed with complete certainty, but it seems to appear from under the headdress of the upper figure (Fig. 9b). No incisions are visible: perhaps very thin ones were used for the halos, but were then covered with paint. The preserved fragments also do not suggest any pouncings. Both partially preserved heads feature large eyes under semicircular eyebrows. The lower eyelid is slightly semicircular, while the upper eyelid is higher and adapted to the round shape of the iris. The painter also used a long stroke to draw the inner line of the upper eyelid. The inner eyebrow of the face depicted in three-quarter profile continues into a long, straight nose, whose tip is not visible, while the nostrils round off nicely towards the root. The basic colour of the carnation is pink. Only a little bit of shading in a slightly darker pink colour has been preserved under the eyebrow and along the nose. The final contour was made using a warm reddish-brown colour.

Gallery

Virtual 360° view

Ormož, Parish church of St Jacob, Stage 2 (Ormož), 2024 (last updated 29. 8. 2024). Corpus picturarum muralium medii aevi, https://corpuspicturarum.zrc-sazu.si/en/poslikava/phase-2-ormoz/ (21. 9. 2026).

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