Pasta Pastiglia: Decorating frames in the Renaissance

Pastiglia, an Italian term meaning ‘paste work’, was a method used to embellish frames and small areas of panel paintings in Italy during the Renaissance. This type of low-relief decoration was cheaper than woodcarving techniques, giving a three-dimensional effect to some of our most beautiful Renaissance frames in the Sainsbury Wing.

Join artist James Heard to discover how this decoration was originally achieved, and learn some shortcuts that create similar effects by making your own small piece of pastiglia work, using some surprising materials.