Medieval paintings hidden from public view for more than 650 years have been reconstructed by researchers in Germany. Created around 1310, the 26 images of saints, angels and fantastic creatures were concealed when the church was expanded just decades later.
Using multispectral imaging and 3D modelling, researchers have recreated the colours and appearance of paintings that once decorated the exterior of St Nicholas’ Church, now known as the Friedenskirche, in Frankfurt (Oder), a city in eastern Germany near the Polish border.
Created around 1310, the paintings were arranged within 26 niches on the church’s eastern gable. They depicted saints and other figures, as well as creatures including phoenixes and pelicans.
Their visibility was short-lived. Around 1370, a new choir was added to the church, with its higher roof built against the existing gable. The paintings were enclosed within the new roof structure, where they remained for centuries. They were documented again during an inventory of the church in the early 20th century.
Over the last four years, researchers led by the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam have investigated the paintings in a project supported with approximately €250,000 from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, or DBU).
Much of the original colour is now difficult to see with the naked eye. Researchers used multispectral cameras to detect traces of pigments and other details, allowing them to reconstruct all 26 paintings and their original colour schemes.
“Through the extensive use of multispectral cameras, we were able to show how magnificent and impressive the paintings were in their original state,” explains project leader Jan Raue.
The team also measured the confined roof space to create an accurate 3D model of the medieval portal, gable and painted niches. The resulting reconstruction shows how dramatically different the colourful façade would have appeared to people in the early 14th century.
Ironically, the construction work that hid the paintings may also have contributed to their survival. Enclosing the gable protected the pigments from many of the environmental conditions they would otherwise have faced outdoors.
Evidence of medieval pollution
St Nicholas’ Church, now known as the Friedenskirche, in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany – Photo by A. Savin, Wikipedia
The investigation also uncovered evidence about the environment of medieval Frankfurt, as materials accumulated on the paintings when they were still exposed. “We did find gypsum formations and layers of soot on the colour pigments,” Raue says. “They probably date back to the period before the church was extended around 1370 and are therefore interesting evidence of medieval environmental pollution.”
The findings could have implications beyond Frankfurt. At least six churches in the German state of Brandenburg are known to contain medieval exterior wall paintings that were later enclosed by subsequent construction. The methods developed at the Friedenskirche could therefore help researchers assess and conserve similar paintings elsewhere.
DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde explains, “the paintings are nationally significant testimonies to the Middle Ages and, at the same time, offer an excellent opportunity to develop innovative, non-invasive methods for determining their condition and conservation needs and to investigate damage caused by environmental and climatic influences.”
The results are now being presented in a permanent exhibition at the Friedenskirche that opened yesterday. Since the original paintings remain in a difficult-to-access section of the roof, the exhibition uses reconstructions and 3D modelling to show visitors how the medieval gable once appeared.
The scale models depict the current and original state of the old east portal of St. Nicholas Church (now: Peace Church) in Frankfurt/Oder. Medieval facade paintings were reconstructed as part of a DBU-funded project. | Copyright: Fanny Belling/Studio Zweibrand
The research project is scheduled to conclude at the end of September, while a specialist conference and further publication of the findings are planned for March 2027. Click here to learn more about this project.
Medieval paintings hidden from public view for more than 650 years have been reconstructed by researchers in Germany. Created around 1310, the 26 images of saints, angels and fantastic creatures were concealed when the church was expanded just decades later.
Using multispectral imaging and 3D modelling, researchers have recreated the colours and appearance of paintings that once decorated the exterior of St Nicholas’ Church, now known as the Friedenskirche, in Frankfurt (Oder), a city in eastern Germany near the Polish border.
Created around 1310, the paintings were arranged within 26 niches on the church’s eastern gable. They depicted saints and other figures, as well as creatures including phoenixes and pelicans.
Their visibility was short-lived. Around 1370, a new choir was added to the church, with its higher roof built against the existing gable. The paintings were enclosed within the new roof structure, where they remained for centuries. They were documented again during an inventory of the church in the early 20th century.
Reconstructing the medieval paintings
Over the last four years, researchers led by the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam have investigated the paintings in a project supported with approximately €250,000 from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, or DBU).
Much of the original colour is now difficult to see with the naked eye. Researchers used multispectral cameras to detect traces of pigments and other details, allowing them to reconstruct all 26 paintings and their original colour schemes.
“Through the extensive use of multispectral cameras, we were able to show how magnificent and impressive the paintings were in their original state,” explains project leader Jan Raue.
The team also measured the confined roof space to create an accurate 3D model of the medieval portal, gable and painted niches. The resulting reconstruction shows how dramatically different the colourful façade would have appeared to people in the early 14th century.
Ironically, the construction work that hid the paintings may also have contributed to their survival. Enclosing the gable protected the pigments from many of the environmental conditions they would otherwise have faced outdoors.
Evidence of medieval pollution
The investigation also uncovered evidence about the environment of medieval Frankfurt, as materials accumulated on the paintings when they were still exposed. “We did find gypsum formations and layers of soot on the colour pigments,” Raue says. “They probably date back to the period before the church was extended around 1370 and are therefore interesting evidence of medieval environmental pollution.”
The findings could have implications beyond Frankfurt. At least six churches in the German state of Brandenburg are known to contain medieval exterior wall paintings that were later enclosed by subsequent construction. The methods developed at the Friedenskirche could therefore help researchers assess and conserve similar paintings elsewhere.
DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde explains, “the paintings are nationally significant testimonies to the Middle Ages and, at the same time, offer an excellent opportunity to develop innovative, non-invasive methods for determining their condition and conservation needs and to investigate damage caused by environmental and climatic influences.”
The results are now being presented in a permanent exhibition at the Friedenskirche that opened yesterday. Since the original paintings remain in a difficult-to-access section of the roof, the exhibition uses reconstructions and 3D modelling to show visitors how the medieval gable once appeared.
The research project is scheduled to conclude at the end of September, while a specialist conference and further publication of the findings are planned for March 2027. Click here to learn more about this project.
Top Image: In a project funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), a covered church gable of the Nikolaikirche (today: Friedenskirche) in Frankfurt/Oder was examined and its medieval appearance reconstructed.© Fanny Belling/Studio Zweibrand
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