Mural cycles in the churches of Plešivec, Čhyžné, and Štitnik from around 1400 were studied from the material and technical point of view. Stylistically, they show a mixture of Northern and Southern ...European stylistic currents, which were characteristic for the time around 1400 in East Central Europe. After a precise study in situ, an analysis of extracted samples was conducted by OM, SEM-EDX, and XRD. The plasters used for these murals were all made of lime and sand with different impurities; importantly, they different among each other in terms of their quality and stability. The pigments that were used in these murals were natural and organic: lime white, yellow and red earths, malachite, and azurite were identified, and some pigment degradations were also pointed out. The principal technique is a fresco, but all murals were finished a secco in different proportions, using an organic binder. Painting procedures and modelling were also studied, revealing a strong difference among all three cycles. The painting technique does not always correspond to the style.
Several medieval mural cycles in Austria were studied from the material and technical point of view, aiming to confirm (or reject) the art-historical hypothesis of their stylistic and workshop ...connection. These paintings can be found in the churches of Rust (“Fischerkirche”), Marz (Virgin’s Coronation parish church), Kobenz (St. Ruprecht parish church), Ofenbach (St. Veid parish church), and St. Johann am Steinfelde (St. John parish church). They were carried out around 1400 in the International Gothic style. Their workshop connections based on the style are doubtful, therefore, a material and technical study was carried out. Results showed different plaster composition, similar pigment palette, and diverse painting procedures. The murals in Marz, St. Johann, and the older register in Rust reveal important similarities such as plaster composition, predominant a fresco painting technique, the use of natural inorganic pigments, as well as many aspects of the painting procedure and modeling. On the contrary, those in Kobenz, Ofenbach, and the younger register in Rust differ considerably. The second group reveals lower quality in plaster composition, larger a secco parts, addition of synthetic pigments (Kobenz), and a rougher color modeling, indicating less skilled artists. The lower quality also results in a worse conservation state of these murals. The obtained results confirm the same workshop, but different artists in the first group, while in the second group no clear workshop/artist connection could be established.
The paintings of “St. George” Metropolitan Church from Suceava, painted both indoors and outdoors in 1534, have been studied only partially so far. By the present study, we aim to provide an ...iconographic consideration of the paintings within the vaulting system of the nave. Special attention has been paid to the representations of prophets and apostles, inside the tambour of the spire, which display several important peculiarities. In the upper part, there are represented twelve minor prophets and three great prophets, also accompanied by the Prophets Elijah and David. What is astonishing is the fact that the fourth great prophet, Jeremiah, is missing; instead of him, even more surprisingly, Naboth the Israelite is represented – the single image of this character within the class of prophets during the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine epoch. In the case of this unexpected insertion, we have attempted to draw several interpretation tracks, connected with the historical realities of the time. The lower part also contains an uncommon mixture, including eight figures of apostles and prophets each, as well as a little habitual practice of endowing the apostles with texts written on rotuli. The study refers to the repertory of the inscriptions from the rotuli of the prophets and apostles, which are analysed from the perspective of the practices in this field from the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art, as well as in the context of their liturgical implications. Moreover, the author presented the inscriptions on the rotuli of prophets from the Dodecaorton (The Great Feasts) from the soffit of the oblique arches, also trying to establish a relationship between the prophetical areas of “St. George” Church from Suceava and their evolutions in the Moldavian art from the 15th-16th centuries.
The purpose of the present study was analysis of plasters used as supports for mural paintings carried out by what was known as 'Older Villach's workshop' and its followers, active in the first half ...of the fifteenth century in Carinthia (Southern Austria) and Slovenia. The composition of plasters, the number of layers, the application of giornatas and a possible use of lime-wash was of interest, as was the comparison of results obtained, in order to establish a possible technical characterization and connection among the selected wall cycles that show an important stylistic relationship. Small samples were analysed by OM, SEM-EDX and XRD. The results revealed significant differences in the composition of plasters that can roughly divide the murals into two groups. The first group, starting with works by 'Older Villach's workshop' and its founder Frederic of Villach, is characterized by plasters made of lime and sand, while the second, starting with Frederic's son, Johannes of Ljubljana, shows a composition of lime and crushed marble or lime-rock. Intonaco was applied everywhere by the system of giornatas, while lime-wash was rarely used. The analyses also made it possible to confirm/reject authorship hypotheses previously suggested by art historians.
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