Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

sheltered eye on the southernmost carved head in the porch at Salisbury,
remarkably similar in style to that fo und on one of the polychromed heads
on the cloister bosses.
No metal leaf was found on the facade at Exeter, although the fabric accounts
list the purchase at Christmas 1341 of " gold, silver, and various colors for
painting the image of the blessed Peter" high up in the gable of the west
front (14). Instead there were several occurrences of orpiment where gold
might have been expected, such as on crowns and hats; presumably this was
used elsewhere for reasons of economy.
A reference to "the painting of the bishop in the gable," makes it clear that
the final costly colors and foils were applied in situ (15). As for primings and
earlier preparations, these may have been carried out in the shelter of the
workshop, as was the case with the interior bosses in the crossing, where red
lead priming can be seen disappearing into the masonry joints under the
medieval mortar (16). However, recent developments have shown that the
quire bosses must have been totally painted in situ (17). Both practices, therefore,
were possible and were operating at Exeter. Workshop practice at Salisbury
is yet to be explored, though the presence of dirt beneath the lowest
paint layer on the cloister samples suggests that they were left unpainted for
some time.
Conclusion
While it is too soon to draw conclusions about surviving external color at
Salisbury, the discovery of its very existence is important, placed in the context
of a tradition that was soon to disappear from English ecclesiastical buildings,
although it lingered a little longer in a secular context (18). The search for
further evidence of polychromy will continue at Salisbury, along with a more
detailed study of identified paint traces.
It is hoped that evidence of polychromy from Exeter, and now Salisbury,
however fragmentary, can be seen as part of a European Gothic tradition. It
would be interesting to see if a more detailed study reveals any differences in
style to distinguish English architectural polychromy from that of its European
counterparts.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the deans and chapters of Salisbury and Exeter Cathedrals for
supporting this research, and all individuals nam.ed in the notes. Recent media analysis
for Salisbury Cathedral was carried out by N. Khandekar of the Hamilton Kerr
Institute. The research is being carried out with the technical support of the Earth
Resources Centre, Exeter University.
Notes
1. Sinclair, E. 1991. The west front polychromy. In Medieval Art and Architecture at
Exeter Cathedral. Ed. F. Kelly. British Archaeological Association, 116-33.
2. Sinclair, E. 1992. Exeter Cathedral: Exterior polychromy. In The Conservator as
Art Historian. Ed. A. Hulbert, et al. London: United Kingdom Institute for Conservation,
7-14.
3. The author, a practicing conservator, carried out this research, with invaluable
help and tuition from Drs. Ashok Roy and Raymond White of The National
Gallery, Josephine Darrah of the Victoria & Albert Museum, Peter Mactaggart,
and Anna Hulbert. However, access to sophisticated analytical equipment and
techniques was limited, and most results are based on the study of cross sections
and dispersions.
4. Conservation work on Wells Cathedral west front, carried out from 1974-1 986,
uncovered extensive evidence of polychromy that will be reported on in Sampson,
J. Wells Cathedral: West front archaeology and conservation. Forthcoming.
5. Rossi-Manaresi, R. 1987. Considerazioni tecniche sulla scultura monumentale
policromata, romanica e gotica. Bollettino d' Arte (41): 173-86.
6. Brodrick, A. 1993. Painting techniques of early medieval sculpture. In Romanesque
Stone Sculpture from Medieval England. 18-27.
Sinclair 109