The ‘Calvary’ of S. Francisco's church in Leiria: workshop practice in a Portuguese late Gothic wall painting

Abstract

Recent restoration work at the church of the Convent of S. Francisco in Leiria (Portugal) revealed a large Late Gothic Calvary on the back wall of the main chapel. This paper is a first report of the study carried out by an interdisciplinary team, and provides information about the organization and practice of a Portuguese wall-painting workshop in the late fifteenth century. The stratigraphy and composition of the renders are analysed, as well as the different stages of the preparatory drawing, the palette, the binding media and the painting processes, particularly the giornate and the different methods used for the flesh painting. In comparison with known treatises, such as that of Cennino Cennini, the results of the laboratory analyses are surprising, particularly in regard to the binding media used in the secco painting and the gilding.