Revealing Juan de Oviedo y de la Bandera’s artworks: the case of the polychrome of a stone-carved sculpture from the Madre de Dios Convent Façade in Seville

Abstract

The entrance of the Madre de Dios convent in Seville was carved in stone by Juan de Oviedo y de la Bandera, an important sculptor who made great artistic productions, highlighting his carvings in wood and stone. Several studies have been carried out on the carvings in wood, but no interest has been paid by experts to the carving pieces in stone. In this work, this polychrome made on stone around 1590 was studied for the first time. Micro-samples were taken and studied using micro-analytical techniques (optical microscopy, SEM-EDX, colourimetry, XRD, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy). The pigments (smalt, atacamite, malachite, copper resinate, cinnabar, red earth, yellow ochre, carbon, and bone black) and the consolidation product (acrylic resin, very possibly Paraloid B72) were characterized. The experimental study indicated that the polychrome was applied on a layer of white lead (cerussite and hydrocerussite) that was laid on the substrate stone, constituted by calcarenite. This study also includes a comprehensive discussion on the use of these materials and techniques in other artworks within Seville’s cultural heritage.