The restored work

The Reintegration of the Paint Layer

A compromise solution was chosen:

• The shapes of the lacunae relating to the vandalism have been adhered to.
• The shapes of the King’s cloak and the Dauphin’s sword have been reconstructed using the minimal amounts of original paint remaining around the edges, which were enlarged to make them discernable.
• In the drapery covering the prie-dieux, the shapes of the lacunae conform to those of the fleurs de lys and the dolphins. This made the area easier to understand. The incisions visible in the preparation confirm this reading.

The legibility of these areas has however been improved by the reintegration, as the lacunae do not now require interpretation. The wear in the paint layer has been toned down.
Photographic details of the head of the King
before and after the 2001 intervention
(C2RMF- G. de Puniet). Christ’s hair and beard, which had become evanescent, have been lightly restructured. The Virgin’s right eye has been partially reconstructed from the remains of the original paint so that she can see again. The King’s hair has been left partly lacunary.

The preparation has been harmonized and glazed so that it will be seen in the background while the mastics have been reintegrated into the local tone in an illusionist manner, and the cracklure network has been recreated. In the deep lacunae, the wood has been slightly lightened with hydrogen peroxide so that it will harmonize with the paint layer whilst remaining visually set back.

When all is said and done, the restoration of the Crucifixion, essential for its presentation to the public, has been carried out taking into account all the historical and scientific elements known at this time.
Crucifixion of the Parliament of Toulouse,
after restoration.
Photo : Daniel Martin. The intervention has enabled the marks of the past to be preserved and will give the spectator the freedom of a virtual reconstruction from original parts, but at the same time will not misrepresent them.

Certain technical peculiarities enable some hypotheses to be put forward in relation to its anonymous author. The simultaneous use of a calcium carbonate preparation and a tempera binder is a rare combination, suggesting a Spanish origin. The analogies noted by art historians with the art of Enguerrand Quarton are only stylistic and not technical, thus indicating a purely visual knowledge of the compositions of the master of Avignon. Illuminated books were more of a vector than pictures in the widespread dissemination of artistic works, and recent publications have highlighted Quarton’s major role as an illuminator. A missal in which he illustrated the Canon of Mass using representations of God the Father surrounded by the symbols of the evangelists, and the Crucifixion could have been the source of inspiration for the painter of the Toulouse Crucifixion.