Sts John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and James (detail)

The detail shows the ‘sgraffito’ of the floor textile.

The saints stand on a lavish red, blue and gold textile dotted with vine tendrils, birds – identified as finches – and carnations. Carnations, also known as dianthus (‘flower of God’), were associated with Christ’s suffering and death: they smell like cloves, which were thought to resemble the nails used at the Crucifixion. The textile has been painted using the sgraffito technique, in which an area is covered in gold leaf and then red paint, which is scratched away in areas to reveal the designs. Some parts are given extra detail using deep blue ultramarine paint, a very expensive pigment.