L'arte e la tecnica delle decorazioni a stucco in Europa dalla fine del XV all'inizio del XVIII secolo. Ediz. italiana e inglese

Bučovice Castle, in southern Moravia, Czech Republic, was built in the 1580s for Jan Šembera Černohorský of Boskovice. As commissioner of the works, he was in contact with Jacopo Strada, architect of the Hapsburg Imperial Court, with whom he collaborated in designing the layout of the renaissance castle’s interior decoration. During Šembera’s life, only five rooms on the ground floor were decorated. The Imperial room, intended for the representation of Šembera himself, featured spectacular decoration, of which the dominant elements are four three-dimensional stucco statues in the lunettes, portraying Charles V, Europa, Diana and Mars. These are complemented by four semi-relief portraits of Roman emperors. This decoration is consistent with the figurative stucco decoration in the next room, portraying Diana and Leda. This building offers the exceptional assemblage of ten stucco statues in full relief and semi-relief. The remarkable quality of these works distinguishes them from decorations by local artisans, leading to the hypothesis that they are the work of an Italian plasterer or a plasterer who had worked in Italy. This study, prepared within the framework of complex interdisciplinary research into the renaissance interior of the castle, concentrates on examining technological issues concerning the creation of the figural decoration, technical solutions applied and materials. The resulting outcomes suggest how the artist and his workshop could have worked on the statues. The major discovery, in direct contrast with previous findings, was that none of the statues had been cast. In fact, the stucco was applied layer by layer to an inner supporting framework. The reverse side of the statues was only roughly finished and thus provides unique evidence of the artist’s approach to his work. The stucco material was applied to a wooden supporting framework (Charles V, Europa, Diana), which was slightly reinforced with nails and fabric. Only Mars contains a terracotta core. This work assembled from at least six individual parts, is finished with the application of a layer of white stucco according to the all’antica recipe. The individual parts were linked with nails and covered with drapery modelled in stucco. The surfaces of the statues were unified with a white stucco layer, enhanced with gilded details and encrusted with colourful pieces of glass (a typical feature of renaissance statues intended for grottos). The statues of Diana and Leda are examples of another sculpture method featuring a stucco core, but with an exterior finish imitating terracotta. Given the documentation of the wide range of technological processes, solutions, and materials used, the knowledge acquired provides a unique contribution on the general issue of renaissance figurative stucco. The identity of the artist and workshop are still unknown but these data lead to a deeper understanding of the workshop’s methods and characterisation of the artist’s style.