The Polychrome Finishing


Home Up Movable objects of Art The Paintings The Stained-Glass Windows The Organ The Altars A New Plastering or not? The Polychrome Finishing Upstairs, Downstairs The Counter Reformation	The natural stone inside the church had never been visible during the eight centuries of architectural history. That much is certain. The walls and vaults had a coloured lime coating from the construction of the nave until the finishing of the choir's chapels. It had been applied with a coarse brush and there was plenty of colour. The vaults were salmon, yellow ochre or white. Regardless of the course of bricks the first coat was painted red or white. Zigzag lines with white and vermilion coloured triangles, gild and blue stripes made up the embellishment. At a certain moment the brown-red and bright red pillars had a black plinth of 230 cm.	Lime and colour were to mask the rough and sombre lay-out of the facing stone. Thanks to the lime coating polychrome figurative images could be painted. They rendered a personal touch to the chapels and also served as an illustrated bible to the illiterate medieval population. Abundant traces confirm that the interior of the church was not decorated uniformly and that different polychrome decorations can be found next to each other. The late Prof. Firmin De Smidt and the present professional research team (Art Studio G. Thienpont, assisted by the art historic expert G.J. Bral) have revealed a number of data as far as the original colours are concerned. Progressive random checks (all finishing coats are exposed stratigraphically), punctures (only the oldest finishing coats are exposed), historic data and chemical research have laid the foundations for the restoration policy. We should not try to imagine these bright colours in the present light. That would be beside the truth. The light that entered the church through the original stained-glass windows was much more diffuse and subdued and weakened the colour contrasts on walls and vaults.