Izvorni znanstveni članak
The sculpture of the Virgin and Child from Gradišće in the Bosiljevo Parish – the work of an unknown gothic sculptor, the baroque painter Georg Berr and a 20th-century restorer
Ksenija Škarić
orcid.org/0000-0003-4496-6010
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel za drvenu polikromiranu skulpturu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Marijana Galović
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel za drvenu polikromiranu skulpturu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Between 2009 and 2012 the Croatian Conservation Institute carried out the conservation of the Gothic sculpture of the Virgin and Child from the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel on the Gradišće Hill overlooking Bosiljevo. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the statue was considered to be miraculous, it was being decorated and clothed in textile robes and the chapel attracted many pilgrims. In the 18th century the sculpture was placed on a new main altar, painted in 1780 by Georg Berr, a painter from Karlovac. Following a dispute between the parson and the painter, the case ended up in court. The court record kept in the Croatian State Archives is found to be equally interesting to both art-historians and conservation specialists, as it contains numerous details on the altar polychroming techniques and technology as well as the 18th-century practices of renovating old artworks. The polychromy of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Altar is typical of Late Baroque Classicism, with marbleizations of the altar’s architecture and the polished white statues. It was only the older sculpture of the Virgin and Child that was repolychromed in the traditional multicoloured manner to accentuate its distinct status and old age. Additional information on the polychromy were provided by laboratory investigations, revealing that the polished white had been prepared as a distemper with lead white, later polished or coated in oil. The same technology of polished white is found on both the main and the side altars, although we still have no certain knowledge as to whether it was the same painter who polychromed the side altars. The details on the polished white were decorated with brass foils, while the painter used exclusively genuine gold-plate for the old statue of the Virgin. Conservation research of the sculpture of the Virgin and Child has revealed the changes it had undergone, primarily in terms of its multiple repaintings. The Gothic polychromy has not been preserved, but Georg Berr’s 1780 Baroque repolychromy is partially preserved. An unusual silver-plated dress with lazure painted flowers dates from this period. During the first half of the 20th century the sculpture was repainted but the dress was not, presumably as the intervention was carried out on site, with the sculpture clothed in textile robes. It was on this occasion that the moon’s face was painted with eyes, which is a rare case. The sculpture was once again repainted during a 1988 renovation of the church interior. That coating has been removed during the latest conservation works, thus presenting the Baroque paint layer on the dress combined with the layer from the first part of the 20th century on other parts of the sculpture.
Ključne riječi
Bosiljevo; Gradišće; Georg Berr (Peer; Böhr); polished white; polychromy; repolychromy; Gothic sculpture
Hrčak ID:
106457
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.12.2012.
Posjeta: 1.846 *