Polychromy
Today, the original colours of decorated stonework are often not easy to identify at first glance, even though it was a very common and widespread tradition, stretching from the beginning of the Classical period through the Middle Ages and right up to modern era, to create more lively and expressive pieces. In the 19th century in particular, the catastrophic trend to strip all types of objects back to their basic material meant that countless works of art were robbed of their polychrome in order to bring the building material, usually stone, to the fore. Nowadays, restorers use scalpels, magnifying glasses and microscopes to search meticulously for the remains of the original versions so that they can document, preserve and – in some cases – reconstruct the objects.
Knowledge of the pigments and binding material used is the basic requirement for a serious examination of the object from an art history perspective, using these important artistic and conservation techniques.
Related projects
Further references
| Title | Location | Client | Year | Technologies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gothic facade, Wienerstraße 5 | Herzogenburg, Lower Austria | Dr. Hannes Gruber | 1989 | |
| Town Hall, plaster, stucco, stone, painting | St. Pölten, Lower Austria | Magistrate of St. Pölten | 1996 | |
| Old Mill, Monastery of Zwettl, plaque on bridge | Zwettl Monastery, Lower Austria | Monastery of Zwettl | 1990 | |
| Art Nouveau fountain and wall decor, old hospital Tulln | Tulln, Lower Austria | GEDESAG Krems | 2001 | |
| Parish church, tower clocks, Fresco | Spitz, Lower Austria | Parish of Spitz | 1988 | |
| Hohenwarth Parish church, facade with Fresco | Hohenwarth, Lower Austria | Archdiocese of Vienna | 1990 | |
| Descent from the Cross, Spitz, around 1500 | Spitz, Lower Austria | Municipality of Spitz, Wachau | 2006 | |
| Lesehof, house coat of arms, Hohensteinstraße | Krems, Lower Austria | Steiner family | 1992 | |
| Chapel Windisch Baumgarten, Fresco | Windisch Baumgarten, Lower Austria | Municipality of Zistersdorf | 1993 | |
| Fixed cross at church, gilded, base | Eichhorn, Lower Austria | Parish of Zistersdorf | 1995 | |
| Palace of Weinschlössl, concept, Attica and Fresco | Dürnstein, Lower Austria | Freie Weingärtner Wachau | 2000 | |
| St. Nepomuk under canopy | Spitz, Lower Austria | Municipality of Spitz | 1991 | |
| House coat of arms of Maria Hilf, Althangasse 1 | Krems, Lower Austria | Dr. Elisabeth Hackl | 1992 | |
| St. Nepomuk Rehberg at Kremsbrücke | Krems Rehberg, Lower Austria | Magistrate of Krems | 1997 | |
| Pieta, polychrome fixed | Hauskirchen, Lower Austria | Municipality of Hauskirchen | 2001 | |
| St. Nepomuk on base, 1819 | Bad Pirawarth, Lower Austria | Municipality of Bad Pirawarth | 2002 | |
| St. J. Nepomuk fixed, Stadtgraben, 18th century | Tulln, Lower Austria | Municipality of Tulln | 2004 | |
| Art Nouveau character, stucco fixed | Münzgasse, Vienna | Alfred Umdasch private trust | 2012 | |