Phoenix Ancient Art S.A.

The very thin woodcut (approximately 5-7 mm) is decorated by stucco work and painted in accordance with the fresco technique; it was the first right panel of a frieze composed of several elements and certainly surrounded by a frame, now lost (stucco is missing on both horizontal sides, as well as on the right side; a small square was regularly sawn). The panels were assembled with four small cylindrical wood plugs inserted in the left side of the woodcut. The rear part is smooth and flat.

 

The painting is faded but the subject is still comprehensible: a man dressed in a beige tunic is seated on a high-backed seat, that a pink cushion makes comfortable; a white coat, with gray undertones, covers his legs, his left shoulder, his left arm completely and his left hand like a toga. Behind the chair lies a rectangular case out of lightwood. Unfortunately the hands and feet of the man are lost, which prevent us to understand who he was talking to or what he was doing. His right arm is extended forwards.

 

In the upper part, horizontal lines of gray, blue and grayish-blue, and beige painting frame the scene; the bottom is dark gray.

 

The style is very realistic: the very short beard, the detailed muscles of the face and the folds of the fabric are naturally rendered with lots of “sfumati”.

 

In the absence of other elements, it is difficult to determine this panel's location: it might have simply adorned a wall or a furniture, like a coffer for example, or a wooden sarcophagus.