Processing
Oil-on-canvas pictography "Picta" category. The work is made of pictography painted in two layers in oil on wood, following the methods and recipes typical of Renaissance workshops. The work is executed with Maimeri and Winsor & Newton and Schminke colours. The details are executed with the aid of a special magnifying glass in order to recreate every smallest detail. The Florentine box frame, made of solid wood with Umbrian/Tuscan gold decorations taken from the original frame, is prepared with red bole and gilded with gold leaf. The photo frame may vary depending on availability at the time. Seasoned poplar wood plank with anti-sagging back crossbars. Prepared with plaster and 3-layer natural glue.
History
Jesus Christ is portrayed frontally, half-length, as is typical of classical iconography (think, for example, of Antonello da Messina's famous ‘Salvator Mundi’). With his right hand raised in a gesture of blessing and his left holding a globe, symbol of his universal dominion, the image seems to follow tradition. However, there is one detail that arouses curiosity: that globe is not what it seems. It is not the usual calcite sphere, but an optical instrument, a hollow glass sphere filled with water, an ancient magnifying glass, used since antiquity to sharpen vision. This unusual detail opens a window on a Christ who not only rules the world, but observes it with almost scientific precision. When the painting arrived in the hands of the National Gallery restorers, it was almost unrecognisable, blurred by centuries-old repainting and layers of varnish that made it look more like a workshop piece than a masterpiece. Beard and moustache, non-existent in the original painting, had perhaps been added after the Counter-Reformation, in an attempt to align the image of Christ with the official physiognomic canons of the time. But beneath those additions, the restoration revealed an astonishing pictorial quality, with a chromatic richness that, according to expert Pietro Marani, can rival the magnificence of the Last Supper. In particular, blues and reds have emerged in the drapery of an unexpected vividness. A comparison with the pigments used in the National Gallery's Virgin of the Rocks showed a surprising compatibility, and reflectographs together with other scientific analyses confirmed similarities with the preparatory drawings, suggesting that the work conceals more than the eyes can grasp at first glance.
Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator mundi (PICTA)