Św. Roch odwiedzający chorych - tajemnice warsztatu malarskiego Martina Altomontego. Badania, technika, analiza porównawcza i konserwacja obrazu

The planned exhibition on Elżbieta Sieniawska, the second owner of Wilanów, provided an opportunity to conduct a comprehensive conservation and restoration of the exquisite work by Martino Altomonte, the painting St Roch Visiting the Sick. The painting, which in the past underwent several renovations, was reinforced with a lining of new canvas. Its composition regained its former aesthetic quality as the old re-paintings were removed and the missing fragments reconstructed. Physical and chemical analyses carried out using modern analytical equipment and techniques, including the noninvasive analyses, were an important part of the works undertaken by the Museum. The previously published results of the analyses of two other canvases by the same painter, The Battle of Vienna and The Battle of Párkány, made it possible to compare the painterly techniques applied by the artist at various stages of his creative career. The compositions of all paintings executed on coloured primers were first developed in the yellow ochre and grey tones, and then quickly finished in colours applied in two to three layers. Paints used by Altomonte contained primarily pigments obtained from natural coloured clays. Modified binding agents containing chicken egg and linseed oil enabled Altomonte to obtain the desired thickness of paint and to achieve the projected painterly effects. The hitherto technological analyses of the painting made it possible to establish further topics for future research projects. The issue of Altomonte's use of blue pigments is especially noteworthy. In his earlier works, those were various types of smalt and, to a limited extent, indigo and azurite. In the later period, the pigment he used was most probably Prussian blue, possibly indigo as well; this would need to be confirmed by a broader array of instrumental analytical methods. Apart from the blue pigments, the identification of ramie fibres in the canvas offers another interesting research topics. The use of ramie in European painting supports dating from the first half of the 18th century may become a topic for future exploration. The Italian-educated Martino Altomonte was very deliberate in his use of diverse methods and means of artistic work. In addition, at the basis of his adroit use of varied painterly matter lay his abilities as a draughtsman evident from his surviving sketches and painting designs. Sketch-like painterly presentations were also a characteristic element of his work.