54 The Holy Cross retable Construction The wooden body of the retable is made by butt-joined and nailed coniferous planks. Several elements, like the boards of the niche, the semicolumns and some parts of the predella are made of poplar boards. On the back of the cartouche, some tool marks provide insights into how the boards were prepared. The horizontal board at the bottom of the cartouche shows the regular traces of a mechanical frame saw. A frame saw was used as well for the poplar boards for the “Arma Christi”. Sawing marks of different levels suggest that other boards were sawn by hand from both sides. Marks of hand sawing can be seen on the backside of the putti as well. The retable is mounted in situ in form of an assemblage process. All elements were added successively with nails to form the body of the retable. The whole structure is assembled in a complex system, not always following the logic of carpentry. Some parts, such as the sides of the predella, were made from boards that look like odds and ends (Fig. 82). Fig. 82: Predella; side wall made of board pieces without logical arrangement
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