Retabel of St Sebastian from the Markgrafpieske church: St Leonhard, St Nicolaus [recto], St Andrew, St George [verso] (left wing)

DESCRIPTION [recto]

Tools/Materials:

- fluid, black medium; brush

Type/Ductus:

- freehand schematic underdrawing (where visible)

- thin lines

Function:

- binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and indicate the essential features; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- almost no alterations made during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder

Comments:

- possibly with reference to a pre-existing design

DESCRIPTION [verso]

- as above

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich cda 2014]

- the panel is limewood and consists of a single heartwood board with raised annual rings; it is only slightly warped

- the side of the panel has been trimmed

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1980 B, No. 10]

- the ground is c. 0.5 mm thick and consists of a glutinous binding medium and chalk; it has been sanded smooth and an undefined thin isolating layer was applied

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1980 B, No. 10]

- in some places an underdrawing is visible to the naked eye

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1980 B, No. 10]

- the paint layers were built up employing varying techniques: in part a flat glaze application and impasto details in low relief; parallel use of oily and waterbased binding media

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1980 B, No. 10]

- new frame after an original Cranach profile (the former frame from the second half of the 19th century was removed)

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1980 B, No. 10]

• only slightly warped

• the original width of the panel was probably altered when it was last framed, the wings no longer cover the central panel when closed

• the rebate that was inserted in the original frame has been removed

• the painted edge has been planed down by some millimetres

• no evidence of woodworm

• extensive flaking of the paint layers on the inner side

• paint loss includes the ground layer

• retouches and overpaint extend beyond the damaged areas; completely overpainted: the sky and the grey ground

• the colour of the sky has been altered from an originally pale pink (still visible under the frame rebate) to a light yellowish-green tone

• the varnish layer is a uniformly thin, bright application, which has yellowed

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1980 B, No. 10]

• no atempt was made to return the panel to plane as it is painted on both sides

• lime wood additions were attached to the vertical sides of the panel to restore the original width

• consolidation of loose paint and ground

• varnished thinned to create a uniform appearance

• retouches and overpaint removed; fills reduced to the actual size of the losses or completely redone; for this purpose remains of the original ground were employed

• retouching in watercolours, reconstruction achieve with oil glazes over the retouches in the sky

• a final varnish of dammar with a wax content was applied

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1980 B, No. 10]

• paint layers consolidated with PVAc dispersion; varnish removed with ethanol in oil of terpentine, which also removed retouching and overpaint

• old fills were reduced to the actual size of the loss and replaced with new ones

• reintegration of small losses with watercolour, and in part oil/resin glazes

• provisional dammar varnish applied

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1980 B, No. 10]