23 The Annunciation retable It is well documented that Lopud had a fleet of over 100 wooden boats and ships during that time.26 It is obvious that the enormous demand for wood for this and other purposes could not have been fulfilled with the limited resources of the tiny island itself and must have been imported from elsewhere. Besides Venice with its well-established wood trade with the Piave region, Rijeka was the primary port for transporting timber from the lush forests of the Frankopan estates of Gorski Kotar to the islands.27 Other areas like Montenegro and Albania could be added as additional sources. Import also explains the existence of poplar boards in the retable, as poplar does not grow on the island. Polychromy and gilding The character of the polychromy and water-based gilding also reflects the quick routine of the craftsmen. After a first sizing, two or four priming layers made of gypsum and animal glue were applied: two layers where blue was planned, i.e. in the background areas, and four layers where gold leaf was applied. The white priming coat covering the entire surface was applied in varying thicknesses, resulting in a smooth but slightly uneven surface. In the corners and recesses of the gilded areas in particular, the layers measure up to several millimetres. This is apparently due to the application of colour and gilding without prior reshaping or grinding of the priming layers. Gilded areas show an extremely thin layer of subsequently applied ochre-coloured poliment. After the application of gold leaf and burnishing, the ungilded backgrounds were painted in two layers with two slightly different blue paints that define the borders of the gilded areas. Smalt was identified as the pigment, while animal glue serves as the binder. Typically, the pigments of the lower layer are fine-grained, whereas those in the upper layer have a coarse-grained structure. The blue surfaces show different hues of blue, resulting in a patchy character (Fig. 25, 26). In the corners and along the boundaries of the carvings, the blue tends to be darker, contrasting with the pale blue flat surfaces. This could be the result of uneven application, lack of stirring in the pot, and re-orientation processes during the drying of the glue-based paint with very irregular pigment sizes. In the pale blue layer, coarse dark-blue pigments can be clearly distinguished with the naked eye.
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