Souffleur, what is sgraffito?

SOUFFLEUR

Sgraffito

Art, like all domains, has its own vocabulary. In 'Souffleur', M staff explain specialist terms that may sound familiar to you but perhaps no have forgotten what they mean, or you never did know.

Kaat Goossens, a Master’s student in history and an intern with the Collections team: “Sgraffito comes from the Italian word sgraffiare , meaning to scratch. It is an age-old decorative technique. First, you apply a layer of paint onto metal leaf – usually gold leaf, sometimes silver leaf. Then you scratch away parts of that layer, revealing the underlying metal leaf. This is how you create figures. These might be text, an elegant motif, or even the simulated texture of a fabric.”

“The 16th-century Antwerp Passion Altarpiece in our collection is also decorated with sgraffito . It is no longer clearly visible, but that will change through the restoration. The Passion Altarpiece will remain on display in the gallery during the restoration process. This way, everyone can follow how this precious work, with its stunning sgraffito, is being restored to its former glory.”