Blue or gold? Visual perception and the restoration of a Medieval painting

This study investigates how the background color of the Lindau Crucifixion, a fifteenth-century panel painting by the Master of the Lamentation of Christ in Lindau, affects visual perception. Originally gilded, the painting was later overpainted with a blue paint, raising questions in conservation about whether to preserve the intervention or restore the gold. To assess potential perceptual consequences, we used digital reconstructions of the painting in eye-tracking and gist perception experiments. In the eye-tracking task, participants viewed each version for 6 s among similar medieval paintings. Faces were consistently gazed at, while angels attracted less gaze. However, a slightly reduced likelihood of fixating angels was found for the blue background. In the gist perception task, participants described similar elements across both versions, reporting the central figures regardless of background color. These findings suggest limited perceptual differences under brief viewing, highlighting the potential of perceptual experiments to inform art conservation decisions.