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Colour in Iberian Iron Age architectural sculpture: the case of Cerro de la Merced

Fernando Quesada Sanz — 2025-01-13

Recently, analytical research has confirmed the use of pigments in Iberian Iron Age freestanding sculpture. However, hard evidence of polychromy on the many preserved remains of architectural sculpture is still scarce. We focus on the case of a large block decorated with reliefs, probably dated to the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 4th century BCE, recently found at Cerro de la Merced (Cabra, Córdoba). Employing optical and electron microscopy analyses, FTIR spectroscopy, and GC-MS, it has been possible to confirm the existence of traces of red and white colour covering the entire surface, analyse the composition of the pigments employed, and to reconstruct the colour patterns of the different elements of the relief. Our aim is to deepen our understanding of the use of colour in Iberian architecture and to shed light on the colours employed, the techniques used to apply them and their arrangement patterns.

Visible materials, invisible meanings: colour-based hierarchies in the Middle Ages

Grazia Maria Fachechi — 2024-12-10

The decision that oversaw the choices of pigments used in medieval artworks was based on multiple criteria. Among these was their economic value, often linked to the greater rarity of the raw material from which the pigments were derived, or to the lower availability on the market. Alongside the economic value, there was also the symbolic value attributed to materials and pigments from a symbolism often rooted in references found in the Holy Scriptures, in exegetical, theological, encyclopedic, or other texts. The case studies presented in this paper, based on works created with different media whose pigments underwent specific archaeometric analyses, show that throughout the Middle Ages, sometimes precise hierarchies were employed in the choice of pigments, and the most precious ones were reserved for the most important figures or the most significant details.

Crafting culture in the Adriatic: a case of woodcarvers and painters in Quattrocento Dubrovnik

Matevž Remškar — 2024-09-10

The well-preserved archival documentation in Dubrovnik provides valuable insights into various subjects, including production of art. This study delves into the collaboration between woodcarvers and painters in late medieval Dubrovnik, focusing on the mid-15th century, when artistic production was greatly influenced by the exceptional stability of the commune. Contribution challenges conventional assumptions regarding artist specialization during this era. Contracts from this period often delineated the responsibilities of painters in supervising carpentry work during artwork fabrication, while some documents suggest woodcarvers executed basic painting tasks. Discoveries are consistent with the knowledge of Italian art production, affirmed through meticulous examination of exceptionally well-preserved archival sources.

Beyond art technical sources: understanding colour production in Andalusi texts

Ana Miranda — 2025-01-04

The study of colour production in al-Andalus has been mostly directed towards art technical documentary sources, such as al-Qalalūsī’s Tuḥaf al-Ḫawāṣ (The Treasures of the Select), the 13th century Andalusi instructional book. The focus of the said research falls on the ingredients and procedures to create colour. However, the technical-centred approach tends to overlook social, economic, and cultural aspects of colour-making, such as the social perception towards dyers, prices, colour etiquette, besides the context under which such manuals were written. Other types of texts – such as geographical, normative, technical, and epistolary – can help to fulfil such gaps, by providing information regarding the production, commerce, transportation, symbolism, and further uses of raw materials used in colour production, such as alum, cinnabar, and indigo. A multifaceted approach which combines the analysis of different types of coeval sources, primarily Andalusi, can contribute for a more comprehensive insight on colour production in al-Andalus.

The (after)lives of the pseudo-sumptuous surfaces: the case of the Venetian Gothic and Renaissance wooden sculpture in the Adriatic

Matko Marušić — 2025-01-04

This paper discusses the alterations to the surface of the 15th- and early-16th-century wooden sculpture, mostly executed by Venetian workshops for the clientele of the minor centres of the Adriatic region. It examines the cases of wooden statues that imitated metalwork via their glittering surfaces by considering both the place of such works in their time and their “afterlives”, given that their original appearance was regularly altered in the following centuries. The sparkling effect of the pseudo-sumptuous surfaces was replaced by polychromy covering the draperies in mimetic colours. The instances of the reverse approach are also considered, given that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, several late medieval artworks were repainted to mimic bronze or marble. These converging approaches to the surface of wooden sculpture tackle the issue of taste and the meaning of surface in the reception of sacred art in an extensive time frame.