104 The Church of Our Lady od Špilice – St Mary retable / St Joseph retable To date there are only hypotheses about the simple quality of the brown layer and the exclusive application of preparation only for the gilded areas. The reason for this unusual approach which contrasts with the finding in the Mary retable may be shortage of material or lack of time. It is possible that the retable stood unfinished in the church for some time with only gilded details. It can also be assumed that the imprecise application of the brown paint was later carried out by a layman. This could also explain the unusual design of the rosettes on the architrave frieze. They were prepared by dark pencil sketches on the wooden surface. It appears that a glossy layer was applied over the sketches. The form of the flowers is defined by the application of the overall reddish-brown paint (Fig. 163). The St Mary retable shows gilded carvings contrasted against a blue background. Exceptions are the putti heads on the protruding elements of the architrave, which are painted in a realistic manner. Starting with an all over glue-based white preparation layer, the gilded ornaments were then coated with additional layers to create a base for water gilding. After a very thin, Fig. 164: St Joseph retable, detail next to the right column, raking light; Preparation was only applied for the golden contour (red arrows) and the carved ornaments of the columns; drops and superficial material (yellow arrows) from the careless execution are visible everywhere and were not smoothed out before the imprecise application of the brown paint.
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