Here gold leaf has been applied to the ornate borders, is the background to the Crucifixion, and forms the haloes of the religious figures, in places tooled and burnished to vary the texture. Gold paint has also been applied with a brush to provide finer details, such as the patterns on the mantle of the Virgin and the cope of the kneeling bishop. This grandeur was leavened by the artist’s addition of an illusionistic fly on the chest of the white horse.

Catalogue entry adapted from Gold, London, 2014.