Copy of a fragment of The Virgin and Child with St Anne, St Margaret and St Catherine – a painting by the Altar Master from Warta, dated ca. 1520, from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw

When I learned that it was possible to make a technological copy of a Gothic altar as part of the master’s degree piece, this opened up many amazing opportunities for me. I could explore the mysticism of the Gothic style thanks to my work with the original in the Store of Medieval Art in the National Museum in Warsaw. I wanted the copied object to look like it has just been painted by the Master. Therefore, attempts to reconstruct the missing elements of the composition were the problematic part of the degree piece. Fortunately, a comparative analysis of other preserved paintings of the author of the object made it possible to reconstruct the fragments that had not survived. I made the copy on a poplar board covered with 17 layers of glue-chalk primer. I painted the copy using handmade paints, including lead white, which is very rarely used today, and the object is gilded with 23.75-carat gold. For the copy of the painting, I made a decorative frame in a style referring to a Gothic frame with a decorative tracery.