Naslov
The wooden sculpture of St Anthony the Abbot, Sibenik, Croatia: New insight after the conservation treatment

Autori
Ivana Nina Unković

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u zbornicima skupova, cjeloviti rad (in extenso), znanstveni

Izvornik
Conservation and Eastern Mediterranean, Contributions to the Istanbul Congress, 20-24 September 2010 The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works / Christina Rozeik, Ashok Roy and David Saunders - London : Delhi : The Inernational Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 2010, 274-274

ISBN
0-9548169-3-5

Skup
Conservation and Eastern Mediterranean

Mjesto i datum
Istanbul, Turska, 20.09.2010. - 24.09.2010

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
conservation; polychromed sculpture; Sibenik

Sažetak
The wooden polychrome sculpture of St Anthony the Abbot from the abandoned church of St Dominic in Sibenik is a remarkable example of late-Gothic wooden sculpture from the Adriatic area, dating to the beginning of the sixteenth century. The sculpture was known locally as St Nicholas, but during the most recent restoration treatment a blue letter T (Greek tau) was discovered on Saint’s left shoulder, identifying the subject as St Anthony the Abbot. The sculpture consists of several wooden segments and was probably a part of a polyptych whose other parts have not been preserved. The head is carved and painted with great attention to detail and quality (confirmed by original pigment and binder analysis). The sculpture had lost nearly one third of its original mass due to extensive woodworm infestation, while the remaining part was spongy and crumbling. Losses had been restored with several layers of overpaint: the sculpture’s face contained two overlayers, the beard contained three layers and the mitre and clothing contained two layers. The second overlayer was applied directly onto the first overlayer without a gesso ground. The first overlayer in the face area was thick, with a substantial oil component. The original paint layer is equally thin, containing a binder that has been shown using thin layer chromatography (TLC) to correspond to wax. Analysis of the original facial flesh tones and varnish was carried out in more detail after the restoration. Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) analysis of the flesh tones revealed the presence of sinopia (Fe2O3) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3), possibly indicating that the red paint called cinabrese was used. TLC analysis of the varnish demonstrated the presence of egg albumin, thus indicating a meticulous coating method. Ethical principles were fully honored during the decision whether to remove the overlayers, following thorough research into the matter. The uppermost brown layer was removed from the sculpture’s body, revealing the first overlayer, which was considered to be historically and technically acceptable. Two overlayers were removed from the face, thus revealing the original paint layer. The conservation–restoration was undertaken in 2006–2007 in the Croatian Conservation Institute (Hrvatski restauratorski zavod ; HRZ) Split branch.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest umjetnosti, Znanost o umjetnosti

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