Recreation of third repaint.
Réalisation : realFusio
This repaint, which no longer shows any analogies with the earlier polychromes, changed the appearance of the work considerably. New motifs appeared and colours were combined in a very distinctive manner: red and green bands ran across the sleeve of the book and the Child’s tunic. There was another combination of colours (in stripes or squares) on the revers of the mantle: red, green and silver were used alternately, but changes to this layer make it impossible to know the exact decoration.
The Virgin’s face was very lively and quite appealing; her complexion was a pale orange tone, her lips were painted bright red, and her dark brown eyes were emphasized by a brown line along the upper eyelid. The pigments used, particularly smalt blue, place this intervention in the 17th or 18th Century.
Recreation of fourth repaint.
Réalisation : realFusio
A very limited palette of only four colours was used for this last repaint: grey-white, yellow ochre, blue and brown. No metal leaf was used. A simplified version of the original polychrome colours was used on the Virgin’s garments: a blue robe, white mantle and, on the lining, yellow instead of the gold. The flesh still had a sustained orange tonality, the eyes were brown-black, and the pupil was no longer distinguishable from the iris. The eyebrows, a light brown, were much thicker and extended to the bridge of the nose, which tended to harden the features of the face.
This is the only repaint to cover damage to the stone, particularly the break in the end of the nose, which was repainted without being repaired.
Prussian blue was used for the last repaint. This pigment was first made in about 1715, but it is agreed that it was only regularly used in paintings from around 1750, which enables us to place this fourth repaint in the second half of the 18th Century.