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Master of Saint Veronica (artist) German, active c. 1395/1420 The Crucifixion, c. 1400/1410 tempera on panel Overall (design area): 40.7 x 25.2 cm (16 x 9 15/16 in.) support: 46.2 x 31.1 cm (18 3/16 x 12 1/4 in.) framed: 58.1 x 43.8 x 4.4 cm (22 7/8 x 17 1/4 x 1 3/4 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1961.9.29 |
Object 2 of 8
Conservation Notes
The picture and its engaged frame are composed of a single piece of vertically grained wood; the frame is 2.3 cm thick, and the design area is approximately 1.3 cm thick. Dendrochronological examination by Peter Klein suggests a felling date of 1398 +6/-4. Gold leaf over red bole covers both the frame and the background. Delicate punch work is used throughout the areas of gold leaf; small dots and circles decorate the frame, while the clouds, the angels' wings, and the outlines of the chalices are created out of tiny dots. Larger punched dots were used to create the halos and the lettering within them. Fine, shallow incised contours outline the figures. There is some overlapping of the major figures and the gold leaf, visible at the top of the Virgin's head, in the monk's left eye, and in areas of loss. The angels and Longinus' spear are painted over the gold. Examination with infrared reflectography reveals a small amount of underdrawing in the torso of Christ.The panel is in good condition. The right half of the face of the bottom edge was damaged and has been reconstructed and regilded. In some areas of paint there is moderate abrasion, and tiny flake losses exist in paint over gold leaf. Damage and regilding in the halos greatly reduce the legibility of the inscriptions. A small amount of regilding occurs above the monk's head and above John's halo.
The reverse of the panel is covered with a layer of white ground, which is in turn covered with a thin, red, bolelike paint; both are possibly original.
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