Revealing Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child: Decoding Damage Via Non-Invasive Scientific Investigations

Noëlle L. W. Streeton; Francesco Caruso; Calin Constantin Steindal; Tine Frøysaker; Elena Platania; Maite Maguregui

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Chapter 6 Revealing Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child: Decoding Damage Via Non-Invasive Scientific Investigations

In: Sacred Medieval Objects and Their Afterlives in Scandinavia

Authors:

Noëlle L. W. Streeton

Noëlle L. W. Streeton
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Francesco Caruso

Francesco Caruso
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Calin Constantin Steindal

Calin Constantin Steindal
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Tine Frøysaker

Tine Frøysaker
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Elena Platania

Elena Platania
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Maite Maguregui

Maite Maguregui
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 163–198

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004712034_007

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Abstract

Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child came to the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo in 1915. The sculptural group has no solid provenance, and no documentation prior to the 1930s, after the museum restorer/handyman Louis Smestad removed heavy secondary paints that covered all three figures, which prior to 1915 had been extensively repaired. Smestad revealed gilding, paint and/or ground layers that are fragmented, worn or altogether missing down to the wooden support. The object, in short, is difficult to read. Building on Chapter 5 in this volume, which addresses the original functions of this object in relation to late medieval piety, this chapter focuses on Smestad’s notes and recent analytical imaging and surface investigations. Here, attention is given to Smestad’s description of his work, and to new analytical results that 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. In advance of sampling and reconstructions, the results of this work facilitate a new appreciation for the dramatic history of this object and its damaged polychromy. The results can enhance the experience of current audiences faced with this fragmented yet intriguing object in a museum gallery.

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Sacred Medieval Objects and Their Afterlives in Scandinavia

Series: The Northern World, Volume: 98

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004712034

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 07 Dec 2024

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Part 1 Original Object. Original Experience

Part 2 Ageing Gracefully?

Part 3 Interrogating Materials. Decoding Transformations

Part 4 Becoming Medieval Heritage

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Chapter 6 Revealing Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child: Decoding Damage Via Non-Invasive Scientific Investigations

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Sacred Medieval Objects and Their Afterlives in Scandinavia

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