24 The Annunciation retable Horizontally oriented tears from dripping paint beneath ornaments that have since been lost indicate that the retable elements had been painted and gilded before mounting (Fig. 26). At the time of applying the gilding and paint, some parts of the ornaments were clearly already damaged or missing. In these areas, the gilding was applied in the form of the missing ornament on the flat background (Fig. 25). This suggests that the polychromy was carried out some time after the construction and/or delivery of the wooden structure. Furthermore, this confirms the division of the work between carpenter, carver, and painter, most probably having different contracts and working schedules. The painting The upper half of the painting depicts the annunciation scene, which is witnessed below by four almost life-size saints in a grouping of a “sacra Fig. 25: Even before gilding, the lower right volute had broken off. Here, the gilding lies on the flat support (condition before treatment). The blue paint has a patchy, irregular appearance Fig. 26: Detail of the frieze; drops of preparation and colour that had run behind the applied ornamentation are now visible due to the loss of the carving. The horizontal orientation makes it clear that the gilding and polychroming took place before the individual elements were assembled
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