59 The Holy Cross retable The puzzle of the unpainted sides of the retable Obvious modern interventions were limited to the repainting of the sculpture of the Christ, the panelling of the pedestal zone, and the black background of the central niche. Small remnants of a fabric that have survived there show that the original textile design of the back of the niche was torn away and black colour applied instead. All other areas of the retable appear to remain unchanged and authentic. However, the situation presents some puzzles: ■ the outer sides of the retable are not decorated and show the bare wood (Fig. 89) ■ the frieze has two vertical cuts through the finished gilding, causing a formal damage of the central cartouche and possibly made to narrow the dimension (Fig. 90) ■ several gilded mouldings have been added to the structure of the predella after finishing with gilding and polychrome layers. Here nail heads are visible, which is not the case anywhere else ■ the vertical joint between the semi-columns and the “Arma-Christi” boards show naked wood ■ an original pedestal zone is missing The most obvious puzzle is the bare wood on both sides of the aedicula (Fig. 89). The small gap to the adjacent pilaster and the uncovered edge at the front indicate a missing decorative panel. Did it never exist in the first place or was it lost at some point? The fact that the entire construction is nailed step by step and additively manufactured does not help to explain these missing panels. Both sides of the central cartouche in the frieze are cut sharply and the outer parts of the ornament are missing (Fig. 90). As there are no traces of preparation and/or gilFig. 89: Bare wood on the side of the retable; condition as found
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