THE ALTARPIECE OF THE SALDAÑA CHAPEL

POLYCHROME DECORATION 

Polychrome decoration with a predominance of burnished gilt in architecture and mantles alternating with the matte gilt of hair and beards and the blue azurite backdrops of compartments, vaults and interior linings of garments. The flat, mainly pink, green, red and green colours of garments and objects, the white of headdresses with red and green piping and pale, unevenly-applied matte incarnations complete the whole.

Decorative techniques:

• White brush-tip decoration applied to dark backdrops.
• Inscriptions in black Gothic characters on white background in phylacteries.
• Extremely well-defined depiction of hair on incarnations.
• Red brush-tip decoration in circular patterns on gilt and green floral and plant motifs.
• Different-sized punchwork applied to frame and paintings.

*Not all the polychrome decoration seems original. Successively-applied layers may be observed (e.g. in the incarnation of Saint John) and some flat colours reveal later interventions. A rigorous technical examination would have to be carried out to confirm this first impression.