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The restoring of the paintings of Master Theodoricus
took place systematically according to the individual
walls. The opportunity occurred to compare the state of
all the accessible panels after the removal of more recent
operations, i. e. darkened retouchings, overpainting and
filling, and thus to gain an idea of the thus uncovered
original preserved painting with the aid of documentary
photographs laid out in the pattern in which the individual
paintings are placed on the walls of the Chapel.
The panels showed various degrees of damage of different
kinds. Apart from mechanically removed backgrounds, cut
away round the outlines of the figures of the inidividual
saints in roughly half the panels restored so far, our
attention was drawn by the destruction of the original
layer of colour on the panels on that part of the West
wall directly adjoining the main wall. After the removal
of later overpaintings a number of small light defects
appeared, mainly circular in shape, caused by the falling
away of the paint down to the chalk ground. This damage
proceeds from the bottom left-hand side of the wall and
scatters equally upwards and sideways. Most damage was
suffered by the panel with StJames the Younger, it the
centre of which is a defect caused by mechanical
damage which goes right through the wood of the panel
to the reverse side and measures around 20 cm. The surface
damage to the painting recalls burning or etching away
of the paint layer, which deteriorated and fell away.
This type of destruction spreads across the panel with
St Bartholomew and St Theodore and gradually thins away
into nothing across the panels in higher positions. The
artistic quality of the paintings of this part of the
Chapel is connected with those on the main wall and they
are undoubtedly by the hand of Master Theodoric.
The set of panels on the walls of the West alcove, connected
with the wall described above, is somewhat different in
artistic character. This is a series of saints where
the state of the original painting, after the removal
of of later overpaintings, is surprisingly good. Here
there are only defects caused by the movement of the wooden
support of small amounts of mechanical damage.
The composition of the ground layers in all these paintings
agrees with the paintings on the other walls, including
the type of wood of the panels. Differences occur only
in the building up of layers of colour in the modelling
of the drapery which is far simpler, without the characteristic
layering.
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On Left – St Bartholomew, state after cleaning and filling
On Right – Apostle James the Less, detail
Also noticeable is the different painting
technique of the flesh colours. The question therefore
arises of when and under what circumstances the destruction
on the above-mentioned part of the West wall occured,
what was the cause and why this type of damage does not
occur also on the wall adjoining the West recess.
author
Hana Kohlová, AHVT A 038 (J.D.)

On Left – Apostle James the Less, state after cleaning
and filling
On Right – St Theodore, state after cleaning and filling
Photographs S. Divišová, NG Prague
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