2021 Volume 53 Issue 1 Pages 49-56
This is a study on the stucco technique in fresco landscapes from the late Italian Gothic period. So far, we have investigated the stucco techniques of fresco paintings of the Siena school, which use a characteristic type of plaster. In particular, the use of this technique in painting nimbuses is considered to be one of the characteristics of the Siena school. An investigation of nimbuses in fresco murals of the New Testament cycle of the Collegiate Church of San Gimignano in 2019 and 2020 revealed that certain scenes were embossed using techniques that differed from the common stucco of the Siena school, where plaster was embossed while it was still soft. In this study, details of the peculiar technique of embossing the nimbuses in these frescos were examined on the basis of extant research and technical books from that period. The results revealed that the unique decorative technique was not achieved by embossing plaster, as seen in other Siena school works; instead, the ornamental parts were constructed at another location, such as a workshop, and then pasted onto the fresco as it was being created.
