53 The Holy Cross retable The central front of the pediment is adorned with a separately made and attached decoration in form of a cartouche being presented by two carved putti in high relief. In the centre, God the Father in a painting on wood is holding the sphaera in his hand. The cartouche, baroque in form, is carved, gilded and polychromed, the putti are fully polychromed as well (Fig. 81). This separate addition represents a more developed baroque style. The carved putti and the style of frame and painting do not directly match the decorative pattern of the polychromy of the retable, although the blue smalt layer seems to be of the same character. The artistic quality of the painting is much greater than that of the “Arma Christi”. An existing contract from 1574 with the painter Simone Ferri concerning the commission of a painting of God Father can be linked to this cartouche.49 Fig. 81: Cartouche “God Father”; condition after conservation
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