Page 37 - The mystery of faith

Fig. 1

The long voluminous sleeves of the saint’s cassock were carved separately from two other single pieces
of cedar, or possibly pine. After Montes de Oca had completely carved the torso and the two separate
sleeves, these elements would have been securely assembled, most likely by the use of nails or drifts,
although this is impossible to confirm without an X-ray. Then all of the joins would have been covered
with strips of gessoed linen to add further strength and stability, and would have been hidden, along
with any visible nail heads, by several layers of cooked coarse gesso made from baked gypsum (yeso
gueso). To do this a skilled assistant in Montes de Oca’s workshop, known as an aparejador, would
have first applied several layers of animal glue size and white ground to the cleaned bare wood, then
the yeso gueso, followed by several thin layers of the more refined yeso mate brushed on quickly and
evenly while it was hot. Finally, after the gesso layers had evenly cooled and dried, the aparejador
would have removed any imperfections with a knife or a cuttlefish bone and the surface would now be
ready to receive the gilding and polychromy.

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