CECCO DEL CARAVAGGIO’S MARTYRDOM OF SAINT SEBASTIAN. AN INVESTIGATION INTO CARAVAGGISTI PAINTING TECHNIQUE AND TECHNOLOGY.

The object of the analyses was the painting Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian from the Collection of National Musuem in Warsaw. Cecco del Caravaggio (active c. 1610 – mid-1620s), now known as Francesco Buoneri, is one of several artists who painted in the style of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Giulio Mancini in Considerazioni sulla Pittura, mentions a 'Francesco detto Cecco del Caravaggio' as one of the great master's more noteworthy followers. During analyzing the painting (the analytical light, IR, X-ray, UV, cross-sections, SEM-EDS, XRF, GC-MS, FTIR), it turned out that the artist made corrections to the composition, including the most important, changing theme of the painting. X-ray images show that under the figure of the saint there is an image of Christ at the column. Examinations show that the pigments used by the Cecco were typical 17th century earth-based pigments and similar to Caravaggio palette. A very interesting part about the palette of the Caravaggisti is the use of white: they used calcium carbonate or chalk as an extender to lead white. The research on Cecco del Caravaggio painting technique was conducted as part of an exploratory project: Technique and technology of caravaggisti paintings based on polish museum collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]