Renaissance and Mannerist Stucco North of the Alps; Interdisciplinary Research

This book presents Renaissance and Mannerist stucco work as a complex phenomenon standing at the intersection of artistic creation, craftsmanship, technology, material research, and heritage conservation. Stucco – a material long perceived as marginal or less valuable – is here grasped in the full breadth of its technological, art-historical, and material aspects. Through case studies, the book shows how combining methods from the humanities and natural sciences fundamentally expands our knowledge of past technological processes, migrating artists, regional variations, and the changing aesthetic and functional use of stucco. It offers new insights and interpretive frameworks that can serve art historians, restorers, and technologists, as well as anyone interested in early modern culture and its surviving monuments. The volume is divided into five thematic sections. The Art History section offers new perspectives on stucco work in the context of the Central European Renaissance and Mannerism, including its connections to the Rudolfine court and the iconographic and spatial functions of stucco decoration. The Materiality section provides detailed analyses of specific realisations along with broader cross-sectional studies of material and technological specifics. The 20th Century Perspective section reflects on the “second life” of Renaissance stuccos – their research, protection, and devastation in the modern era. The Restoration section focuses on the methodology and practice of caring for stucco monuments over time, from historical interventions to the present day. The concluding Catalogue summarises the results of a comprehensive survey of Renaissance stucco monuments in the Czech lands.