Examination of two altarpiece wings from the 15th century: the Mother of God and St. John the Evangelist

ENThis paper presents an examination of the painting techniques of two altarpiece wings by a 15th century anonymous French (?) artist (wood, oil paint, gilding, 1210x370x20-23 mm). One of the paintings represents the Mother of God, another - St. John the Evangelist. These two images make a pair - they are the composition in the centre of which must have been the Crucifixion. Methods such as x-ray radiography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (CCMS), microchemical tests and histochemical analysis were used. It was established that the panels of the paintings are of cedar wood; the ground of both paintings is a mixture of gypsum and anhydrite and the binder is animal glue; the pigments are cinnabar, glazing organic red paint, lead-tin yellow, ochres of various colours, white lead, blue and green copper pigments - azurite, malachite, copper resinate. The obtained results also were subsequently compared to published data on painting techniques and the range of paints used in Europe in 15th and 16th century.