The two different strata of the Hageri church retable – those of Ackermann’s time and of Rabe’s time – are also reflected in its polychromy. According to analyses of the paint on the retable, it appears that Rabe did not paint over the older sculptures from Ackermann’s time but did have the old ornamental parts repainted, since polychromic coats are found on these parts.

The retable’s polychromies from Ackermann’s and Rabe’s times are covered by another two monochromic coats of paint, the first in grey tones and the second in brown tones. It seems that the altar acquired its grey tonality in 1851, at the time of Walther’s painting, and it was given its current brown colouring in the early 1890s, when the old baroque retable was brought into the new church and adjusted to match the overall brown colouring of the church.

The sculptures were also probably painted white in the mid-19^th century, evidently because colourful wooden sculptures did not fit in with 19^th century aesthetics.