The altarpiece of the church of Freixo de Espada-à-Cinta: a study on its artistic materiality

The Altarpiece from the Church of Freixo de Espada-à-Cinta, in Portugal, is a remarkable work from the 16th century attributed to workshop of Viseu and its master, the great Portuguese renascence painter Vasco Fernandes. However, some questions have been raised about the true attribution of the altarpiece, and art historians have pointed out different hypotheses about the painters and the workshops involved in its production. This work presents the study of the 16 paintings that constitute the Altarpiece, using a multi-analytical approach for the characterization of the painting technique and materials applied in the paintings, with the purpose to answer to some of the problematic questions. Several micro-samples were collected from each painting and then analysed by optical microscopy, FTIR, and SEM-EDX. Data obtained through the combination of these analytical techniques, along with infrared reflectography, bring to the light new evidences that contribute to the problematic questions on the altarpiece’s attribution.