Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Abstract
As part of a five-year systematic survey
of the techniques of English
medieval wall paintings, the highly
important late Romanesque and early
Gothic paintings in the Holy
Sepulchre Chapel in Winchester are
being examined. The use of red lake
in the Romanesque scheme is the
earliest recorded use of this pigment
in English wall painting; the identification
of vivianite, now partially altered
to a yellow form, is the first in
any English medieval wall painting.
All aspects of the technique of both
schemes, including their complex
laying out, pentimenti, pigments,
media, and gilding are discussed in
the context of contemporary European
painting.
Te chniques of the Romanesque and Gothic
Wall Paintings in the Holy Sepulchre Chapel,
Winchester Cathedral
Helen C. Howard
Leverhulme Research Fellow
Conservation of Wall Painting Department
Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House
Strand, London WC2R ORN
United Kingdom
Introduction
The exquisite Romanesque and Gothic paintings in the Holy Sepulchre
Chapel constitute what is arguably the finest medieval painted interior in
England. Dating from circa 1175 and circa 1220, respectively, their iconography
and style have been discussed exhaustively by Park (1). From the technical
point of view, they provide fascinating insight into the execution of two
schemes of exceptionally high quality, separated in date by scarcely forty years,
but painted in very different techniques. Although the technique of the earlier
decoration is rooted in the tradition of painting a fresco, an additional proteinaceous
binding medium and also lead pigments have been identified,
which, together with the sweeping compositional changes made at an advanced
stage of the painting process, suggest that significant portions were
completed a secco. The Gothic painting is perhaps more typical of English
medieval wall painting; though carbonation of lime is still the principal mechanism
of binding, the use of large plaster patches, inclusion of additional
organic binding media, and incorporation of pigments unsuitable for application
in alkaline conditions preclude describing the technique as fresco.
Investigation of the painting technique was undertaken as part of a comprehensive
five-year study, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, of English medieval
wall painting techniques and in conjunction with a conservation campaign
in the chapel undertaken by the Courtauld Institute of Art and sponsored by
the Skaggs Foundation (2) .
The paintings
The most striking area of late twelfth-century painting is on the east wall of
the Chapel, comprising a Deposition in the upper register and, below the
dividing geometric border, an Entombment with the Maries at the Sepulchre and
the Harrowing of Hell. Uncovered when the overlying thirteenth-century
scheme was detached in the 1960s, the painting has escaped the ravages of
multifarious conservation treatments to which it would almost certainly have
been subjected had it been exposed earlier. The surface was severely keyed
in preparation for the thirteenth-century plaster, but despite these numerous
damages the superb quality of the painting is evident (Fig. 1 and Plate 19).
Traces of the Romanesque scheme survive elsewhere, as on the south wall
above the western recess where a Resurrection of the Dead with an angel blowing
the last trumpet is positioned on either side. Originally situated in the
corresponding position above the eastern recess, but now transferred to the
north wall of the chapel, is a striking mitered head and a sinopia for three
scenes set under architectural canopies. To date, this sinopia is a unique find
in the context of English medieval wall painting, and provides important
evidence fo r the technique of the Romanesque scheme.
Extensive remodeling of the chapel in the early thirteenth century, including
the insertion of a rib vault, destroyed large portions of the Romanesque
scheme and necessitated a complete redecoration. The resulting scheme is
also of exceptionally high quality, but has been marred by a series of invasive
conservation treatments. The painting originally decorating the east wall (and
Howard 91