Since gothic facade sculpture is one of the areas in which I take an
especial interest, I was abit horrified at myself at not immediately
knowing the answer to this question when it came up in discussion. So I
committed about 2 hours in Avery library this morning thinking the anwer
would be easy to come by in my basic reference souces. No luck. Although
the sources were all fairly responsible in telling me that sculputre *was*
generally painted in the middle ages, the best I did was to discover that
the paint in some English Churches was removed during the English
Reformation (we already knew that). So I resorted to asking people at the
Cloisters -- no luck there, either, but one friend in restoration did say
that 19th century restoreres were fond of removing paint on the general
principle that sculpture looked nicer without it. I will continue my
inquiries anon, and will share the info should anything come of it. But
wouldn't it be a let down if it turns out that it was wear, tear and plain
old aging that removed the paint, and never a concerted effort on the part
of ahisotrical earlymodernists objecting to something-or-other
ideological?
cecilia gaposchkin
uc berkeley history
cloisters
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