Panel paintings and frescoes in a art Saturday

diptych attributed to the painter from Lucca Bonaventura
Berlinghieri, half of the thirteenth century
Photo Wikimedia Commons

Croce 432 anonymous painter of Pisa,
last quarter of the twelfth centuryPhoto Wikimedia Commons

Croce 434 anonymous Florentine painter,
middle of the thirteenth centuryPhoto Wikimedia Commons

Having finally free time after weeks of intense work, I took a walk in the historic center. At the end of the morning I visited the exhibition of the three oldest paintings in the Uffizi just restored and on display in the church of San Pier Scheraggio until March 29 (the entrance is free and in the first portal to the left in the loggia of the Uffizi). I share photos of the paintings before restoration but here you can see a gallery of photos after the restoration.

In the afternoon, passing through the narrow streets of the city near the Casa di Dante I visited the Oratory of San Martino seat of the Company of Buonomini, a benefit company founded in 1441. The interior is richly decorated with frescoes in the lunettes, attributed by some to the workshop of Ghirlandaio but for others to Francesco d'Antonio del Chierico. On the altar a wooden sculpture painted of St. Anthony attributed to Verrocchio. To the right of the door the hole for alms unfortunately with a "graffito".

Photo Wikimedia Commons

Illumination from the Bible of Borso d'Este

Illumination from the Bible of Borso d'Este.

Egg tempera, pure pigments, genuine lapislazzuli, gold leaf 23 3/4 on parchment cm. 4,5x4,5.

Below you can see the working in progress.

design on parchment

preparation of gilding with gum ammoniacum

painting with egg tempera

Fontaine de Vaucluse

This past weekend I was in Mallemort in Provence for some business meetings. In the little free time we took a walk in Fontaine de Vaucluse small village not far from Avignon and famous for having resided Petrarca. I share some photos taken during the ascent to the source, that Tetsuo has faced in his stroller red. I had never been here this season and the color of the water was an amazing blue green.

Illumination from Piccolomini Library

Illumination on parchment, egg tempera with pure pigments, genuine lapislazzuli and gold leaf 23 3/4 on pastiglia cm.6,5x4

This is the first of a new series of illuminations copied from the manuscripts conserved in the Piccolomini Library in the Duomo di Siena. 

At end of August I visited the Duomo of Siena for the annual exposition of the marble decorated floor (see my post with images and videos) and I took this pictures of illuminations exposed, illuminated by Liberale da Verona and Girolamo da Cremona. 

During the visit I tried to fix in my mind the colors of the original illuminations.

I share other photos of the frescoes by Pinturicchio that cover all the surface of the ceiling and the walls in the Library.

 The last photo is a detail of the floor with decorated tiles.

Illumination, little detail

A detail of an illumination copy from Domenico Morone.

Gold leaf 23 3/4 on pastiglia, egg tempera on parchment.

Here more images of the work in progress

                           

Memling work in progress 2

Gilding the halo with gold leaf 23 3/4 and ammoniacum gum

gilding the frame in my atelier

the frame gilded and varnished

Restoration of a little sculpture of Saint Isidoro

This small wooden sculpture arrived into the atelier broken into several parts, the head was detached and in two and the eyes in  glass paste was removed luckily without breaking. 

In addition, as you can see from the pictures the head is not wood but is modeled in stucco plaster and connected to the body by a wodden pin. 

The difficulty has been to rebuild the site for the left eye and at the same time to paste the head. In the other photo you see the final result.

New illuminations work in progress

Illuminated letters on parchment in metal frame.

I found these gold metal frames with curved glass in inventory of a decoration store, should be part of something more complex; I like that the glass is really thick and is cut by hand.
I immediately thought of adapting them to protect my miniatures on parchment and this is the result.
The letters are painted in egg tempera on parchment with pure pigments, lapislazuli and gold leaf 23 3/4 applied with ammoniac gum. Diameter cm. 5


Ho trovato queste cornicette in metallo dorato con il vetro bombato nelle rimanenze di magazzino di un negozio di decorazione, dovevano far parte di qualcosa di più complesso; quello che mi ha colpito è che il vetro è veramente spesso ed è tagliato a mano.
Ho pensato subito di adattarle per proteggere le mie miniature su pergamena e questo è il risultato.
Le lettere sono dipinte a tempera a uovo su pergamena con pigmenti purissimi, lapislazzuli e foglia oro 23 3/4 applicata con gomma ammoniaco. Diametro cm. 5