Restoration of a Sixteenth-Century ‘Virgin and Child’

Abstract

This Virgin and Child on a crescent moon comes from Jupille, near Liege, and is housed in the Museum of Religious and Mosan Art in Liege. Made of poly chromed walnut, it is Mosan art dating from the beginning of the sixteenth century. Dimensions: 133 x 43 x 33cm. Besides having been overpainted many times, it underwent significant alterations during the seventeenth century: textile fabric added to hide a recarving of the wood, and an almost total repaint. Thus we were faced with a sculpture with two distinct historical aspects: the original and the baroque. We shall deal later with the dilemma of having to choose one or the other. The wood was in good condition in spite of being attacked by xylophagous insects before the seventeenth century. As the back of the sculpture had not been hollowed out it had split almost from top to bottom even before being painted for the first time. In the seventeenth century it was recarved around the bust and the lower part of the dress. The original feet and base have disappeared; the original crescent was cut off and re-used. The original polychromy is of fine quality but unfortunately incomplete. The pale flesh-tones and the applique relief brocades on the Virgin's dress are fragmentary. The hair (gold leaf on goldsize) and the inside of the mantle (azurite) are worn but there are not many lacunae. The outside of the mantle (polished gold leaf on orange bolus) is intact. The Child's dress (floral motifs, mat gold on red ground and covered with a red glaze) is fairly well preserved. The crescent (polished silver leaf) is worn. The seventeenth-century restoration may have been due to an attack by xylophagous insects and deep splits in the wood. The bust and the lower part of the robe were recarved, dressed with a coarse linen cloth coated with a white preparation, and covered with the baroque pictorial layer. A Saint John at the Cross, which has accompanied the Virgin since the seventeenth century, also underwent significant alterations in colour and form at the same time. The seventeenth-century polychromy is the fourth overpaint out of the six that have been identified. It is worn in some places. The Virgin's black hair is intact, as well as the flesh tones. The fabric-covered bust and the IQwer part of the dress are painted