Basic HTML Version
38
BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
18th annual edition
The outer borders and other architectural
elements of the design were then copied and
painted onto the recently limewashed walls.
Within these areas the surviving figurative
scenes were transferred as ‘cartoons’ (the
outline designs, illustrated on the previous
page top right, and subsequently painted-in.
Many of the original wall paintings had
been set out using rough, incised sketches made
in the fresh limewash using a blunt point. This
initial sketching is clearly seen in some of the
surviving original fragments of wall painting,
and the soft edges of the incised lines show that
the limewash was still wet and plastic at the
time. (With a dry limewash layer, the incised
lines would have jagged, broken edges.) The
paintings were then executed quickly with
free-flowing outline sketches, blocking in of
the main colours and final outlines added last.
The techniques employed to reconstruct
the murals were almost identical to the original
techniques, the main exception being that the
designs were first copied as outline cartoons,
the images then being transferred to the
wall by ‘pouncing’. Pouncing is a traditional
technique, which can be identified on many
Renaissance wall paintings. Here, the main
outlines of the design, the cartoon, are pricked
through using a needle or small spiked
wheel to create a line of holes and a small
cloth bag containing fine powder pigment
is patted over it to transfer dots of pigment,
and thereby the image, through the holes.
The result, in this case, was a transferred
cartoon image made up of a series of small red
ochre dots. The unbound powder pigment was
then overpainted, and mixed in, with the thin
preliminary ochre outlines, sometimes referred
to as sinopia. This term refers to the red oxide
colour used for cartoons and under-drawing in
fresco and secco painting and was described in
the 15th century by Cennino Cennini in Il Livro
del Arte as ‘a natural colour known as sinoper, or
porphyry, [which] is red…’. Once the preliminary
sketches had been finalised, areas of flat or
background colours were blocked in. Details
and other colours were added layer by layer
until the whole image was complete. It could
then be given a final outline where necessary.
Completing the missing areas
Initially only the fragmentary ‘islands’ of
surviving colour were painted. These were
then used as the basis for reconstructing the
missing areas. In some cases the subject matter
was clear, even though relatively little of the
original remained. One of the best examples
of this was the giant figure of St Christopher.
Of the original, little more remained than
the head of the saint turned to his right and
facing towards a much smaller haloed figure,
perched high on his shoulder. In the background
was a small figure holding a lantern and a
rosary, standing in an architectural setting.
Combined with the traditional location
opposite the south door, these clues provided
clear evidence that the scene depicted
St Christopher, the patron saint of travellers.
Having determined the style of the original
artist, it was possible to look for other examples
to provide source material on which to base
a reconstruction of the missing areas. The
main form for the figure of St Christopher was
taken from a fine example at Llantwit Major,
Glamorgan while other elements were copied
from a very fine survival of the saint at Llanynys,
Denbighshire. The latter provided good source
material for common decorative details often
found in murals that depict the St Christopher
story – in this case, the fantastic fish swimming
around the saint’s massive legs and for details
within the landscape such as the windmill.
In some instances the subject matter of
the original wall paintings could clearly be
made out, even though the majority of the
detail was missing. Such was the case with
the Royal Arms on the south wall of the nave.
Here, the quartered arms survived, surrounded
by a garter and one of the two supporters (in
this case, a dragon), but much of the heraldic
detail and other information was missing.
Fortunately, a late-medieval example of heraldic
wall painting discovered some years ago at
Cullacott farmhouse, Werrington in Cornwall,
provided a good source of comparable material
because of the close stylistic similarities.
There are important differences between
wall paintings and other art forms, such as
carved stone and wood, manuscript paintings
and tapestries, and while some of these
may provide good examples depicting the
desired iconography from the right period,
the stylistic variations can cause problems.
Using the Cullacott Arms as the basis for this
reconstruction, it was possible to overcome
these problems and paint convincing
lions passant and fleur de lys on the shield
surrounded by the motto honi soit qui mal
y pense (often translated as: ‘evil be to him
who evil thinks’). The Cullacott examples
also provided missing details on the dragon
supporter, which in turn informed the
reconstruction of the lion on the opposite side.
The successful completion of the wall
painting scheme not only required detailed
investigation of the likely iconography, but also
the sourcing of good comparative material.
A wide range of source material had to be
collected, analysed and digested in order to
ensure that the new images contained details
that are both iconographically and stylistically
correct. More important, however, was the
ability of the modern painters to obtain the
right ‘feel’ when executing the reconstruction
wall paintings, something that requires an
insight into the world of the original artist.
Typically, conservation work focuses
on the preservation of murals in situ. The
opportunity to reconstruct a series of medieval
wall paintings was presented at St Teilo’s
by the highly unusual circumstance of the
building’s relocation to the museum.
The reconstructed interior provides a
unique opportunity to experience the rich
iconography and colour of pre-Reformation
churches. The discovery of the rare 16th century
scheme of murals highlights the fact that
schemes like these survive to varying degrees
in churches throughout the British Isles hidden
beneath layers of limewash. The reconstructed
wall paintings at St Teilo’s illustrate the
importance of these schemes and the need to
consider carefully the effects of routine repairs,
decoration (especially paint stripping) and the
installation of services through old plasterwork.
Tom Organ
ACR is a freelance wall paintings
conservator and conservation consultant. Since
1992 he has run The Wall Paintings Workshop, an
independent team of consultants and conservators
specialising in the treatment of painted and
applied decoration on plaster, stone, wood and
canvas, as well as mosaics. The team has worked
extensively with English Heritage, the National
Trust, cathedrals, churches, museums and other
historic buildings throughout the UK and abroad.
Painting-in the figure of the crucified Christ in
The Trinity
The reconstruction of the giant figure of St Christopher
carrying the infant Christ
View of the east end of the nave