The technique of the mural paintings in the choir of Angers Cathedral

AbstractThis paper describes studies carried out on mural paintings in the choir of Angers Cathedral, dating from the middle of the thirteenth century. The Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques undertook analyses on all the paintings in order to determine the technique. The analyses related to the pigments, the stratigraphy and the binders. Several methods of analysis were used, notably gas-chromatography combined with mass-spectrometry, which allowed us to confirm observations made by other methods in relation to the binders. It was found that the paint layers, laid directly on the stone or with a very thin coat of lead white preparation, were applied using linseed oil as a medium. To complement these studies, statistical analysis of all the samples allowed us to group the results obtained for the different variants of the technique. At the same time, art-historical studies allowed us to relate the technique to old treatises and to other paintings of the Gothic period.