The Wall Paintings at St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster Palace: Recent Imaging and Scientific Analysis of the Fragments in the British Museum

Abstract

Recent imaging, examination, and analysis of the few surviving fragments of wall painting from St Stephen’s Chapel have revealed new data relating to the original technique and aspects of workshop practice in the production of these important mid-fourteenth-century wall paintings. Infrared imaging of the paintings provides clear evidence for the presence of an under-drawing and of extensive modification of the design in situ at an advanced stage of the painting process. There are marked differences in the character of the under-drawing on the various fragments studied, which are likely to relate to different hands and may be indicative of workshop practice. In addition, the presence of an original varnish is strongly suggested, the red dyestuff employed for the red lake pigment has been identified, and the complexity of pigment mixtures and stratigraphy of the paint layers has also been elucidated. This information will be discussed in the context of the documentary sources and of analytical results from the investigation of contemporaneous polychromy.

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