What is it about?
Chapter 6 in the volume, "Sacred Medieval Objects and Their Afterlives in Scandinavia", builds on Chapter 5 through archival and material investigations of the sculptural group, Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child (c. 1500). The authors focus on the notes of the museum restorer, Louis Smestad (1900–1980), and recent analytical imaging and surface studies. Both can offer a clearer understanding of how the original polychromy might have looked, how the object has been damaged and the impact of Smestad’s treatment. The authors interpret data from portable spectroscopies (XRF, Raman and DRIFT) in tandem with insights offered by macro-imaging and X-radiography.
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Photo by Chelms Varthoumlien on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This work is a foundation for an eventual reconstruction of the gilded and painted surfaces, and its internal mechanisms. As the only known surviving medieval example of a Saint Anne group in northern Europe that was designed to weep simulated tears, understanding both its original appearance and original functions are crucial for unravelling its meaning. What made this object a target for partial mutilation, how targeted damages were repaired to make the object whole again, and how it has been repaired more recently shape current perceptions for museum audiences, who are faced with a dull, inanimate object that has lost most of what made it so special.
Perspectives
This work represents the joint efforts of conservators and analytical chemists, whose distinct perspectives were essential for understanding profoundly damaged surfaces, the nature of the original gilding, and the distribution of colour.
Professor Noëlle Streeton
University of Oslo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Revealing Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child: Decoding Damage Via Non-Invasive Scientific Investigations, December 2024, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004712034_007.
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