THE HIDDEN LIFE OF PAINTINGS:
ROCKS, ROOTS, BEETLES & ALCHEMY
PHOEBE DENT WEIL
www.northernlightstudio.com
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DOING TECHNICAL ART HISTORY
Cambridge MS: fresco painters at work, 13th c.
Exploration of the "hidden life of paintings"--of all that goes in to the
making of works of art--its materials and their subsequent changes-begins with Technical Art History. Art History is concerned primarily
with the visible aspects of works of art while Technical Art History
explores both the visible and invisible now made possible by highly
sophisticated scientific methods of documentation and analysis.
"Technical Art History" has therefore come to refer to the study of
works of art in a larger framework. Beyond the study of historical
context, meaning, significance, style, and artistic intent there is a
need to take in to account the "hidden life" of works of art which is to
be found in its physical body that carries the artistic message and on
which that message depends. Further, the word "technical" derived
from the Greek "tekné" meaning "to make" refers to the study of
works of art not only by scientific techniques but also to the study of
how works of art are made and to experiencing the making aspect
through doing reconstructions or "informed copies."
This "hidden life" has been until recently the almost exclusive and
privileged domain of Art Conservators whose primary concern is with
the care and preservation of the physical body of art works and
whose training must encompass both thorough art historical
understanding of the works they must preserve--problems of meaning,
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value and significance--but also an understanding of the materials
used by the artist, their complex behavior, the artist's working
methods and the various chemical and physical processes of
deterioration and change that occur with the passage of time.
The modern field of Art Conservation was ushered in by the
experience of two World Wars and by heightened awareness of the
great fragility and vulnerability of works of art that are the
cornerstones of our civilization. Any of you who are familiar with the
book, The Monuments Men, and the subsequent movie will have
some idea of the impact of the trauma of war and its impact on the
development of the modern field of Art Conservation.
For many years, as Art Conservation developed as a profession in
the 20th century with graduate training programs for Conservators
and with increasingly sophisticated methods of scientific study being
used to study and to document the materials of works of art, the
previously "hidden" aspects of artworks have gradually become more
and more revealed.
At first, many museums hesitated to reveal the "inside information"
that scientific studies such as those made by x-radiography, infra-red
photography, and chemical analysis revealed about the true state of a
painting's condition which may have been, in some cases, an
embarrassment. Transparency about condition has gradually won
over secrecy as museums have discovered that information about
condition and fabrication techniques is of great interest to the general
public and it is now not unusual to see such information published in
museum catalogues and small displays of materials and tools
displayed as part of exhibitions.
In the post-War era the educational value of doing reconstructions
was recognized and taught at Harvard's Fogg Museum as essential
training for Art Historians, Conservators. This course was
discontinued for several decades but has been recently revived.
Such courses are now being offered to undergraduates at other
colleges and universities to augment the traditional Art History
curriculum. Teaching of these courses has typically stimulated fruitful
cross-disciplinary collaboration between the sciences and humanities.
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INTRODUCTION TO PAINTING MATERIALS
AND METHODS
The aesthetic experience is...inherently connected with the
experience of making." --John Dewey
"If you want to know who I am, try to make what I make." -Gail Mazur
_______________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION-DEMONSTRATIONS:
1. Making Iron gall ink: Oak galls + ferrous sulfate soln.
2. Pigments: inorganic & organic /natural & synthetic
a. Inorganic, natural: malachite and azurite
b. Organic, synthetic: Lake pigments: cochineal
red and buckthorn yellow
3. Pigment properties: index of refraction, particle size
4. Early chemistry: verdigris--copper over vinegar;
(Egyptian blue, Lead white, vermilion)
I: DRAWING MATERIALS, ARTIST CONTRAPTIONS
and THE EDUCATION OF THE PAINTER
1. Silver point
2. Graphite
3. Iron gall ink: quill, reed, brush
3. Natural chalk, red, black and white
4. The Camera Obscura
5. Education of the artist: "how to" manuals
II. PAINTING TRANSITIONS: FROM EGG TO GLUE TO
OIL & FROM WOOD TO CANVAS
III. PAINTING TRANSITIONS IN OIL: FROM HAND
GROUND TO TUBE PAINTS
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REMBRANDT'S PIGMENTS: 17th c. Dutch
LEAD WHITE: (It. Biacca; flake white, Cremnitz white) TOXIC: Poisonous if
inhaled as dust or ingested. Basic lead carbonate [2PbCO3 . Pb (OH)2]—Made by
exposing lead to vinegar vapor and subsequently to CO2 produced by decomposing
manure or tanbark, as described in the ancient literature by Theophrastus, Pliny and
Vitruvius. It is also found in nature as the mineral cerrussite. It was manufactured
in the 17th c. by the ‘Dutch’ or ‘stack’ process. It can be used for thick impasto as it
enhances the drying of linseed oil without distortions. Lead white is highly
absorbent to X-rays. Cremnitz white is prepared by the action of carbon dioxide on
litharge (PbO), and is considered whiter, denser, and more crystalline than
ordinary Dutch-process white lead. When heated at moderate temperature it turns
bright yellow because of the formation of massicot ; higher temperatures melt the
massicot and changes it to litharge and even further heating oxides it to red lead
(minium). Pure lead white was known as schulpwit, or flake white; a cheaper
grade to which chalk was added was known as ceruse or loodwit and was used for
grounds and for underpaint layers. Rembrandt used lead white in flesh tones, white
cuffs and collars and in pastose highlights.
CHALK: (calcium carbonate, whiting) [CaCO3]--occurs naturally. Largely composed
of remains of minute sea organisms. Chalk was used in the Netherlands combined
with animal skin glue as the primary constituent of grounds for panel painting,
whereas gesso (calcium sulfate) was used in Italy. Chalk is fairly transparent when
mixed with linseed oil. Rembrandt used chalk to add body and translucency to
other pigments without changing color.
VERMILION (cinnabar, It. Cinabro): [HgS] TOXIC- poisonous if inhaled as dust
or ingested:—Mercuric sulfide—Found naturally as the mineral cinnabar which is
the principal ore of the metal mercury. Pliny referred to it as minium, which later
came to refer to red lead. It comes in various shades of red according to its method
of preparation. Vermilion is one of the heaviest pigments, having excellent body and
hiding power. It goes black after prolonged exposure to strong light. Strictly
speaking, “cinnabar” should refer to the natural product, while “vermilion” should
apply exclusively to the artificial product (heating black mercuric sulfide). Dutch
vermilion, produced by direct combination of mercury and sulfur with heat followed
by sublimation, was highly developed in the time of Rembrandt. Rembrandt
typically preferred to use a bright red ocher heightened by the addition of red lake
rather than vermilion which he used only occasionally.
THE LAKE PIGMENTS—transparent glazing pigments produced from textile dyes
fixed to a precipitate formed with alum and potash or to a chalk substrate. They
were typically used in oil painting to produce effects of richness and depth over
opaque underlayers, though rarely used for this purpose by Rembrandt who
typically mixes lakes directly with other pigments to enrich their color.
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RED LAKES:
MADDER LAKE (It. Lacca, alizarin crimson): --derived from the name of
the insect “coccus lacca”. Madder lake is a natural dyestuff from the root of
the madder plant (rubia tinctorium)---formerly cultivated extensively in
Europe and Asia Minor. The coloring matter is extracted from the ground
root by fermentation and hydrolysis with dilute sulfuric acid. Madder lake
and rose madder for artists’ pigments are prepared from the madder extract
by adding alum and precipitating with an alkali. Synthetic manufacture
begins in 1868. Madder lake is a poor dryer in linseed oil.
CARMINE:
COCHINEAL CARMINE (grana): --natural organic dyestuff made from the
dried bodies of the female insect, coccus cacti, which lives on various cactus
plants in Mexico and in Central and South America. First brought to Europe
shortly after the discovery of those countries, about 1523. The coloring
principle of cochineal extract is carminic acid which gives a scarlet red
solution with water and alcohol and a violet solution with sodium hydroxide.
The cochineal lakes are not permanent to light. In oil, however, they are
fairly stable. Cochineal lake is a poor dryer.
KERMES CARMINE (granum, vermiculus, coccus, <krim Persian for
worm): --from a similar wingless scale insect found in different areas of
Europe and theOrient. The host plants are scarlet oak, roots of the perennial
knawel and strawberries as well as broad beans. Kermes contains only
about 1/10 the amount of coloring matter as cochineal. Carmine nacarat is a
very pure form of carmine. Lac is a colorant related to cochineal and kermes,
produced by the lac insect in India and South East Asia.
YELLOW LAKES:
BUCKTHORN (schietgeel, giallo santo, Dutch pinke, stil de grain): --made
from unripe Buckthorn berries, of which the color is extracted with potash
and fixed onto a substrate of aluminum hydrate. Yellow lake in oil is
perfectly transparent since the refractive indices of aluminum hydrate and
oil are very close to each other. Unfortunately the yellow color in schietgeel,
rhamnetin, is not lightfast, causing the yellow glaze to fade, and if over a blue
underpaint to produce green, the blueish color underneath will become
dominant. The name derives from verschietgeel which means “disappearing
yellow”. When precipitated onto a chalk substrate, the pigment was known
as a pink or pinke . Rembrandt typically used buckthorn yellow mixed with
other pigments thereby avoiding the problem of fading. Lake made from the
purplish ripe buckthorn berries produces a lake pigment known as sap
green. Buckthorn is a poor dryer.
WELD: --natural yellow dyestuff, obtained as a liquid or as a dry extract of
the herbaceous plant, Dyer’s Rocket (Reseda luteola) formerly cultivated in
central Europe. Weld is a poor dryer.
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LEAD-TIN YELLOW (massicot, It. Giallorino or giallolino): [Pb2SnO4] TOXICPoisonous if inhaled or ingested: --a lemon-yellow to slightly orange-pink
manufactured pigment, used mainly during the 15th to 17th century. It was
apparently developed in connection with ceramic glazes and opacifiers for glass.
Like lead white it is a dense and opaque pigment, dries well in linseed oil and can be
used to produce high impasto highlights.
EARTH PIGMENTS— OCHERS, SIENNAS, & UMBERS—all from naturally
occurring sources and all containing natural ferric oxide (Fe2O3)—The earth colors are
very stable in all painting media and do not interact with other more chemically sensitive
pigments. Their stability, range of color and range of translucency to opacity suited
Rembrandt’s purposes well and therefore tend to predominate in most of his paintings.
Ochers, the most opaque of the earth colors, are fairly pure hydrated (yellow) or
anhydrous ferric oxide (red), with colors ranging from yellow, orange, brown or red.
Siennas contain greater proportions of mineral impurities in addition to the ferric oxide,
especially alumina and silica that makes them more transparent. Siennas can be used raw
or roasted (burnt sienna) to produce a warmer shade. Umbers contain in addition to iron
oxide, some black manganese dioxide that has a siccative effect on linseed oil. Therefore
they are useful additions to ground layers to promote faster drying. Umbers can be used
raw, or gently heated to produce burnt umber that has a warmer tone.
CASSEL EARTH (Cologne earth, Vandyke brown)—not strictly speaking an earth
pigment but rather an organic pigment containing some inorganic minerals
originating from peat or decayed wood deposits. It is a transparent brown often
used by Rembrandt for his initial monochromatic sketching-in of a composition and
for deep brown background glazes. Cassel earth is a very poor dryer, hence
Rembrandt always mixed it with other earth pigments to avoid this defect.
BLUES:
SMALT (It. Smalto): --a blue potash glass containing cobalt oxide as coloring
ingredient, popular because of its low cost. Smalt manufacture became a specialty
of the Dutch and Flemish in the 17th century. If ground too fine, it loses its color,
therefore the particles of smalt found in paint layers are usually quite large. Smalt
discolors in oil, as the cobalt migrates out of the glass into the oil, leaving behind an
unsightly olive green color. It eventually deteriorates to a mottled gray because of
reaction of the alkali content of the smalt with the oil medium. The admixture of
lead white prevents discoloration to a degree. Smalt was used in the Delft ceramic
industry as the blue color in Delft tiles. Smalt is a very good dryer and was used by
Rembrandt for this purpose and also to give bulk to thick glazes containing lake
pigments which are poor dryers
.AZURITE (It. Bice): --basic copper carbonate [2CuCo3.Cu (OH)2]. It occurs in
mines of copper and silver, frequently together with malachite, and has a somewhat
greenish appearance. It is ground coarsely because fine grinding causes it to
become pale and weak in tinting strength. Traditionally it was most used in a
tempera medium because in oil it darkens and becomes muddy. Verditer, a
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synthetic azurite was available in the 17th century and has been found in some of
Rembrandt’s paintings. Azurite appears more frequently in Rembrandt’s early work.
In the later pictures Rembrandt invariably used smalt for blues. Azurite is a good
dryer because it contains copper that has a siccative effect on linseed oil.
Rembrandt therefore often added azurite to pigments that were poor dryers.
BLACKS:
BONE BLACK: (and ivory black) –a deep warm black made of ivory or bone
burned in closed retorts, consisting of carbon and calcium phosphate.[C.Ca3(PO4) 2].
Usually bones from glue stock, boiled to remove fat and glue, are used. Ivory black
is considered the deepest black of all and was used extensively by Rembrandt in the
sketchy under-layers of his paintings and for the deep black of the costumes worn
by his sitters.
Bone black is a poor dryer.
CHARCOAL BLACK : (vine black) –made from the residue of dry distillation of
wood by heating the wood in closed chambers or kilns. It has a bluish tone when
mixed with lead white. Under the microscope it is easy to distinguish the plant
fibers. Rembrandt used charcoal black primarily as a gray tinting pigment in the
upper ground layer on his canvas paintings which occasionally can be visible as the
cool half tones in flesh areas.
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OTHER HISTORIC PIGMENTS OF INTEREST
LAPIS LAZULI- -is a precious stone of a deep blue color with white veins of quartz
and golden glittering flecks of pyrite. The blue mineral is a complex sodiumaluminum-silicate containing sulfur. The blue color is due to the sulfur ion. Cennino
Cennini gives a method for purifying the mineral for use as a pigment. To obtain a
pure blue pigment, the stone is crushed and ground and then separated from the
impurities making use of the different affinity to fat and water of the various
components. Quartz and pyrite are slightly less hydrophilic than the blue
ultramarine. By mixing the powder into a paste of wax and oil and subsequently
slowly releasing it into lukewarm water, the more hydrophilic ultramarine comes
out first, quartz and pyrite stay behind. The process is very time-consuming: the
stone, to start with, is expensive, so the resulting blue pigment is very expensive
indeed. It is therefore used with great care. One way to economize on ultramarine
was to put it over a dark under-layer or over smalt. It was usually tempered with
walnut or poppy oil, neither of which yellowed as much as linseed oil, and thinned
with turpentine, or oil of spike to make a lean paint. Synthetic manufacture begins
around 1830. It is permanent to light and stable in fresco. Since the refractive index
of ultramarine is so low, it serves better and is far brighter in tempera than in oil. It
is discolored in an oil or a varnish film as they yellow with age producing a greenish
appearance. Ceneri d'azzurro, or "ultramarine ashes", a residue of ultramarine after
the purest particles have been extracted.
EGYPTIAN BLUE (calcium copper silicate)-the first synthetic pigment--very stableused from early dynasties in Egypt until end of Roman period
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GREEN EARTH (terra verde): an earth occurring naturally near Verona, also in
Tyrolia and in Bohemia-The coloring ingredient is iron present in the minerals
glauconite and celadonite. They are compatible with all binding media, but they
have very low hiding power in oil.
LEAD-TIN-ANTIMONY YELLOW: [ternary oxide of lead, tin and antimony] TOXICunlike Naples yellow which is pure lead antimonate- This pigment, warmer hued
than lead-tin yellow, was identified as that used by Orazio Gentileschi for the yellow
dress of the Lute Player and in St. Cecilia and an Angel in the National Gallery in
Washington. It appears to be restricted in use to Italian painting and specifically to
paintings produced in Rome. (see article by Ashok Roy and Barbara H. Berrie, "A
New Lead-Based Yellow ...."
WELD: -natural yellow dyestuff, obtained as a liquid or as a dry extract of the
herbaceous plant, Dyer's Rocket (Reseda luteola) formerly cultivated in central
Europe. Buckthorn (giallo santo) was another source of yellow dye, also fugitive.
ORPIMENT (Auripigmentum): [As2S3] TOXIC.-yellow sulfide of arsenic, occurs
naturally, also made artificially. Bright yellow, sometimes almost orange color, with
a crystalline, glittering appearance. Used as a fly killer mixed with honey (Symonds
MS). Realgar, the natural orange-red sulphide of arsenic [As2S2] is closely related
chemically and associated in nature with orpiment.
INDIAN YELLOW: -a yellow organic extract formerly prepared in India from the
urine of cows that were fed on the leaves of the mango-now made synthetically.
VERDIGRIS (It. Verde Tame) (Vert de Grece): -basic copper acetate-Known in
ancient times, its preparation was described by Theophrastus and Pliny. Prepared
by exposing sheets of copper to vinegar vapor. The resulting copper acetate is
scraped off and the copper sheet placed back over the vinegar. Verdigris was used in
oil, even though there are many warnings against using it in the treatises from the
16th c. onward, as it turns dark brown. It is the most reactive and unstable of the
copper pigments.
COPPER RESINATE: -a transparent, amorphous green of copper salts of resin acids
formed when verdigris-basic or neutral copper acetate-reacts with a varnish. It is
made by heating and dissolving copper acetate in colophony (rosin) and Venice
turpentine resins. Balsam or other similar resins may be used as well. It produces a
transparent green glaze.
ASPHALTUM (It. Spalto) or BITUMEN also SPALTE, ASPALATHUM: "-a brownish
black, native mixture of hydrocarbons with oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen, and often
occurs as an amorphous, solid or semi-solid liquid in regions of natural oil deposits."
(Gettens and Stout, p.94) Prepared by heating in a drying oil, bitumen tends to
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absorb the oil to produce a rich, transparent brown that never completely dries, and
ultimately causes serious cracking in the paint layers. Identified by Ann Massing in a
painting by Orazio G.(see: A. Massing, "Orazio Gentileschi's Joseph and Potiphar's
Wife)
CAPUT MORTUUM is the name for stronger burnt dark purple varieties of iron
oxide.
GENERAL WEB RESOURCE ON PIGMENTS:
http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
PRINCIPAL RESOURCE: Gettens and Stout, Painting Materials: A Short
Encyclopedia
DRAWING
PRINCIPAL RESOURCE: J. Watrous, The Craft of Old Master Drawings,
Madison, WI, 1957.
Paper: In addition to white or off-white, two popular types of toned paper:
turchina : pale blue, made with indigo dye, which seems to have originated in
Venice in the latter 15th c. and used throughout Italy by the 17th c; beretta:
greenish-gray. The paper could also be toned with washes, e.g. with bistre or
tinted gesso thinly applied. Chalk (It. lapis, lapis negro, lapis rosso etc.): black,
red, white, trimmed with a knife and held in a tocha lapis (Fr. porte-crayon) (chalk
holder); also charcoal, graphite, and lead white in watercolor form for highlights.
Pen: quill
Tocha lapis: chalk holder for ease in manipulating the piece of natural chalk
without having to hold it with your fingers
Ink: Lamp black plus gum water; also iron gall ink made from oak galls soaked in
water for several days and then adding some ferrous sulfate to make a deep
violet, browns with age and occasionally eats away the paper if acid content is
too high; bistre made from resinous wood soot. (See photos of iron gall ink being
made in our workshop. http://www.knaw.nl/ecpa/ink/index.html is a website about
iron gall ink)
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PAINTING--16th-17th c.:
Support:
Canvas: The use of linen as a support was introduced in the 15th century by
Northern Artists (Bouts, Brueghel) and adopted by artists in Northern Italy
(Mantegna) who used it with distemper (glue medium). The advantage of linen
for portability, compared with wood panel typical for egg tempera and early oil
painting, led to its widespread adoption and use for oil painting which then took
precedence over the more delicate and fragile distemper. Linen was attached by
tacks to a board for distemper with a felt liner to separate it from the wood. For
transport it could simply be removed from the board and rolled up. For oil
painting canvas was typically attached to a strainer using tacks. In Holland
canvas was often stretched with strings to a strainer like a ship's sail so that it
could be tightened as needed by simply pulling the strings rather than pulling out
the tacks to restretch. The expandable stretcher was invented shortly prior to
1775. Early small distemper paintings were called tüchlein and were on a linen of
very fine weave. In Rome, 17th c., linen for painting was typically plain (tabby)
weave with density of 7 to 8 threads per cm2 i.e. fairly coarse weave, giving a
craquelure pattern of small squares. For large paintings canvases were typically
pieced and sewn together.
Wood panel: prepared with a layer of rabbit skin glue and one or more layers of
gesso. For oil painting, to counteract the excessive absorbency of the gesso
ground, the panel was covered with an imprimatura or priming of ogliaccio (nasty
or dirty oil) probably based on sediment from cleaning the brushes and palette, to
reduce but not totally remove the absorbency of the gesso and to provide a toned
ground, even or streaky.
Copper: prepared with one or more very thin layers of lead white or lead white
plus small amounts of red or yellow ochre and carbon black in linseed oil [see:
Isabel Horovitz, "The Materials and Techniques of European Paintings on
Copper 1575-1775"
Canvas preparation:
Glue size: applied hot or cold to isolate the oil-based ground from the canvas
Ground:Applied with a priming knife. Preliminary layer to fill interstices of canvas
weave and provide a smoother painting surface, of white gesso in Italy up to end
of 16dt c. Colored grounds were used in the early 16th century in North Italy by
e.g. Correggio, Dosso Dossi and Parmigianino. By 1600 colored grounds were
common practice and available commercially throughout Italy and in the North,
typically a double ground, the first (lowest) a red-brown, composed of any or all
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of the following: leadwhite, red and/or yellow ochre, umber, chalk, or gesso, and
carbon black; the second, referred to as the imprimatura, applied by the artist in
the studio, was typically a cool gray, composed of lead-white and carbon black.
The second layer is occasionally omitted, typical for Caravaggio, and often in
Artemisia. There were a number of alternatives such as the use of a white
preliminary ground followed by a thin, streaky warm-toned imprimatura (Rubens),
or a white preliminary ground followed by an even-toned pinkish or buff-colored
imprimatura (Vermeer).
Paint layers:
Underdrawing/ undermodeling:
Note on use of sgraffitto outlines:
Dead coloring, (It. sbozzo): blocking in
the main areas of color. Dead coloring could be different from and have a
particular desired effect on the surface color.
Painting / glazing (velare,
velatura) / wet-on-wet / oiling out:
Varnish: -"amber varnish"(probably copal and colophony) used selectively and
not overall, in Orazio's paintings for "oiling out" where medium has sunk in
(prosciugare) and to produce smooth effects in paint applied subsequently. Both
drying oils and resins were used. Not much physical evidence remains because
of subsequent cleaning to remove discolored coatings. Various opinions
regarding the use of varnish can be found in the 17th c.(see: Felibien; Marco
Boschini, La Carta del NavegarPittoresco, Venice 1660; Baldinucci, "11
Lustrato"; De Mayerne) etc.
Brush (It. penello, old English pencill or pensill): -two types: bristle from hogs
hair (setola) and those made from finer hair, like the polecat (puzzola), minever
(vaio) and badger (tasso) [see: Rosamond Harley, "Artists' Brushes-Historical
Evidence from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century"]
Klad pot: a small box that usually held some linseed oil where un-used paint
could be discarded and then re-used, for example, in making a colored
imprimatura
Mahlstick (or maulstick): stick, about a yard long, with padded end used to
support and steady
the hand while painting.
Palette (It.tavoletta): -fine-grained wood (walnut or boxwood) flat surface that
could be held conveniently near to the surface being painted. Palettes typically
have a thumb hole for a stable grip in the artist's (usually left) hand. The artist
can arrange small blobs of paint on the palette and keep it conveniently close to
the surface that is baing painted using a brush held in the free (typically right)
hand. Early (medieval) palettes were quite small as pigments were costly and
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had to be freshly ground each day in small amounts. Palettes became larger as
oil paint was introduced. Pigments ground in linseed oil could be deposited in
mussel shells and submerged under water to preserve it for several days. With
the arrival of commercially prepared oil paint in tubes in the 19th century and its
use, for example, by Monet on large canvases, palettes of fairly large size were
employed.
Easel (It. palcho)--: support for painting for work in progress
Pincelier: container for solvent for cleaning brushes
Color grinding equipment: grinding slab (preferably a hard non-porous stone
like porphyry) and grinding stone or muller
MEDIUMS: DRYING OILS AND RESINS
Linseed oil: from the flax plant. Stand oil is linseed oil thickened by heating in
the absence of oxygen. Viscosity can be increased by simply heating the oil to
produce "burnt plate oil" used in inks and to produce a more viscous paint. See
article "Rembrandt and Burnt Plate Oil" on website
<www.northernlightstudio.com>
Walnut oil:
Poppy seed oil:
"Amber varnish from Venice of the kind used for lutes":-mentioned by de
Mayerne as used by Orazio (and Artemisia) G., "especially for the flesh areas so
that the whites can be applied more easily and give a sweeter effect. In this way
he works at his leisure without waiting for the colors to dry completely." Orazio's
"amber varnish" was probably a combination of colophony and copal resins
recently identified in the Getty Lot (see: Mark Leonard, et.al., "'Amber varnish'
and Orazio Gentileschi's 'Lot and his daughters"')
Various resins: Sandarac, mastic, damar, colophony (pece Greca), Venice
turpentine, etc
ADDITONAL TERMS
cangiante: -literally "changing"--Italian term for shot fabrics-i.e. fabrics with warp
and weft in different colors so that the color changes depending on angle and
direction of light-In painting, drapery has different hues in the light and dark areas,
and shadows are without black, but rather a pure color
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contorni: outline, extolled by Pliny, Alberti, Annenini and theoreticians through
mid-17th c. as a great challenge in disegno. The importance of contorno over
ombra (shadow) was an important tenet of the classicists, beginning with the
Carracci, and was used to demonstrate the "erring ways" of Caravaggio.
METHODS OF COPYING, ENLARGING AND TRANSFERRING DESIGNS
calco, calcare, ricalcare, incisione indiretta: stylus tracing or incision.
Camera obscura: a darkened space, box or room, into which an image from
outside is produced by light entering through a small hole or lens. The
phenomenon was known in ancient times and in 17h century Holland lenses
were employed to produce very sophisticated cameras. The painter Vermeer
most certainly used a camera obscura in some way to produce his paintings. Just
how he used it has been the subject of much recent speculation. Caravaggio is
also thought to have used some form of camera obscura.
graticola: -device made with strings stretched on a rectangular frame to form a
square grid The strings could be chalked and snapped against a wall, canvas or
other surface to transfer the grid pattern. A smaller scale drawing could then be
squared off with a ruler and copied with reasonable accuracy to the surface
squared off with the graticola.
lucidi: tracing paper made by applying oil, e.g. walnut oil to paper to make it
translucent According to the Volpato MS., the design could thus be traced in
charcoal or colored chalk. If this design was to be transferred onto canvas, a
piece of paper covered on the lower side with chalk was placed between this
oiled paper and the canvas. 'By means of a bone needle or a metal stylus, the
lines on the oiled paper were pressed onto the canvas, the chalk covered paper
in berween leaving impressed all the marks which were indented with the needle.
In order to transfer the design on to white paper, the middle paper was covered
with charcoal, or with red or black chalk. (See: Beal, M., Symonds)
spolvero: -technique of transferring a drawing to another surface, e.g. cartoon to
canvas or wall. The drawing was perforated along the lines and applied to the
intended surface. The punched lines were pounced with a small bag of charcoal
dust producing a dotted line on the canvas or wall.
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON HISTORIC PIGMENTS with additional
basic references on historic painting techniques, technical art history
and reconstruction, useful websites
*See: http://www.northernlightstudio.com Especially “Illustrated list and description
of pigments found in 17th c. Painting”
http://www.northernlightstudio.com/pig17.php
And addidtional bibliographies :
http://www.northernlightstudio.com/biblio17ital.php
General Sources:
Albus, Anita, The Art of Arts: Rediscovering Painting, tr. M. Robertson (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf) 2000.
Ball, Philip, Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour (London: Penguin) 2001.
Bomford, David, Christopher Brown and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Rembrandt
(London:National Gallery Publications) 1988. See especially, “Rembrandt’s Painting Materials
and Methods”, pp. 21-26.
Bomford, David, Jill Dunkerton, Dillian Gordon, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Italian
Painting before 1400 (London: National Gallery Publications) 1989.
Cennini, Cennino d'Andrea, The Craftsman's Handbook: "Il Libro dell'Arte", tr Daniel V.
Thompson, Jr. (New York: Dover) 1933; 1960.
Cennini, Cennino d’Andrea, Il Libro dell’Arte, a cura di Franco Brunello (Vicenza:Neri Pozza
Editore) 1982.
Chenciner, Robert, Madder Red: A history of luxury and trade, Caucasus World ser. (Richmond,
Surrey, UK: Curzon Press) 2000.
Clarke, Mark, The Art of All Colors (London:Archetype) 2001.
Delamare, François, Blue Pigments: 5000 years of and Art Industry, (London:Archetype) 2012.
Delamare, Francois and Bernard Guineau, Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments, Discoveries
series (New York: Harry N. Abrams) 2000.
Dunkerton, Jill, S. Foister, D. Gordon, N. Penny, Giotto to Durer: Early Renaissance Painting in
the National Gallery, (New Haven and London: Yale Univ. Press) 1991.
______________________________________, Dürer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Painting
in the National Gallery (New Haven and London: Yale University Press and National Gallery
Publications Ltd.) 1999. (especially chapters 6-9)
Eastaugh, Nicholas, V. Walsh, T, Chaplin, and Ruth Siddall, The Pigment Compendium: A
Dictionary of Historical Pigments (Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford and Burlington,
MA) 2004.
16
___________, The Pigment Compendium: Optical Microscopy of Historical Pigments (Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford and Burlington, MA) 2004.
Feller, Robert L. (vol.1), Ashok Roy (vol.2), and Elizabeth West Fitzhugh (vol. 3), eds. Artists’
Pigments: A Handbook of their History and Characteristics, 3 vols., (vol. 1, Cambridge and
Washington: Cambridge Univ. Press and National Gallery of Art) 1986; (vol. 2, Washington and
New York: National Gallery of Art and Oxford University Press) 1993; (vol. 3, Washington and
New York: National Gallery of Art and Oxford University Press) 1997.
Finlay, Victoria, Color: A Natural History of the Palette (NY: Ballantine) 2003.
Gettens, Rutherford J. and George L. Stout, Painting Materials: a Short Encyclopaedia (New
York: Dover) 1942,1966
Harley, Rosamund, Artists’ Pigments c. 1600-1835: a study in English documentary
sources, 2nd ed., (London: Butterworth Scientific) 1982.
Hermens, Erma, ed. Looking Through Paintings: The Study of Painting Techniques and Materials
in Support of Art Historical Research (London: Archetype) 1998.
Kirby, Jo, Susie Nash and Joanna Cannon, Trade in Artists’ Materials: Markets and Commerce
in Europe to 1700 (London:Archetype) 2010.
Languri, Georgiana M., Molecular studies of Asphalt, Mummy and Kassel earth pigments
(Amsterdam:AMOLF) 2004.
Phipps, Elena, Cochineal Red: The Art History of a Color (New York and New Haven:
Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press:) 2010.
Spring, Marika, ed., Studying Old Master Paintings: Technology and Practice, The National
Gallery Technical Bulletin 30th Anniversary Conference Postprints (London:Archetype)
2011.
Thompson, Daniel V. The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting (New York: Dover}
1936; 1956.
Thompson, Daniel V. The Practice of Tempera Painting (New York: Dover) 1956.
Townsend, Joyce, T. Doherty, G. Heydenreich and J. Ridge, eds,. Preparation for Painting: The
Artist’s Choice and its Consequences (London:Archetype) 2008.
Wallert, Arie, E. Hermens, and Marja Peek, Historical Painting Techniques, Materials and Studio
Practice, Symposium Preprints, Univ. of Leiden, 26-29 June 1995 (The Getty Conservation
Institute (Lawrence, KS: Allen Press) 1995.
17
Additional basic resources on historical materials/techniques: treatises
Leon Battista Alberti On Painting, tr. and ed. John R. Spencer. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1966.
Eastlake, Charles Locke, Methods and Materials of Painting of the Great Schools and
Masters, 2 vols. (New York: Dover) 1847, 1960.
Mayeme, Sir Theodore Turquet de, Pictoria, Sculptoria & quae subalternarum artium, (1620,
with entries dating until 1646) British Library, BL Sloane MS 2052.
1. Ernst Berger, Quellen fur Maltechnik wahrend der Renaissance und deren Folgezeit (XVIXVII Jahrhundert) nebst dem de Mayeme MS. Beitrage zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der
Maltechnik, IV Folge, (pp.99-364) Munich, 1901, reprint 1973.
2. J .A. Van de Graaf, Het de Mayeme Manuscript als bron voor Schildertechniek van de
Barok, Mijdrecht, 1958.
3. M. Faidutti and C. Versini, Le manuscript de Turquet de Mayeme, Lyon, n.d. [1968]
4. D.C. Fels, Jr., Lost Secrets of Flemish Painting, 2002. (includes English translation of De
Mayeme MS B.M Sloane 205-on the Mayeme MS see: Trevor-Roper, Hugh, "Mayerne and His
Manuscript" in Art and Patronage in the Caroline Courts, pp. 264-93, ed. David Howarth.
(Cambridge:Cambridge University Press) 1993.
Merrifield, Mary Philadelphia, Medieval and Renaissance Treatises on the Arts of Painting,
Original Texts with English Translations, 2 vols. bound as one (New York: Dover) 1849, 1967,
1999.
Pliny (Gaius Plinius Secundus or Pliny the Elder, 23-79 C.E.), Historia Naturalis (Natural
History), 10 vols. Tr, D.E. Eichholz, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press) 1971. [-especially Bk.XXXV, or the following link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=9zwZAAAAYAAJ&dq=Pliny+the+elder+on+pigments&so
urce=gbs_navlinks_s
Vasari, Giorgio, Vite (numerous editions available).
Vasari, Giorgio, Vasari on Technique, L. Maclehouse and G. Baldwin Brown, tr. & ed. (New
York: Dover) 1907, 1960. [Translation with notes of the Introduction to Vasari’s Vite 1550, rev
1556.]
Veliz, Zahira, Artists’ Techniques in Golden Age Spain, (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press)
1986. [contains the treatise Arte de la pintura, by Francisco Pacheco (Seville) 1649].
Da Vinci, Leonardo, Leonardo on Painting, Martin Kemp, ed. (New Haven: Yale University
Press) 2001.
18
Distemper /Tüchlein Painting
Dunkerton, Jill, S. Foister, D. Gordon, N. Penny, Giotto to Durer: Early Renaissance Painting in
the National Gallery, (New Haven and London: Yale Univ. Press) 1991.
“Glue Size Painting”, pp187-188; Figs. 207, 210, 212, 259, 164; and entries no. 32 pp. 296-97,
Dieric Bouts “The Entombment”c. 1450-60; and no. 64. pp.372-375 Andrea Mantegna, “The
Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome 1505-6.
Cennini , Cennino, op. cit. “Painting on Cloth”, pp. 103-4.
Rothe, Andrea, “Mantegna’s Paitings in Distemper”; and Keith Christiansen, “Some
Observations on Mantegna’s Painting Technique”, in Jane Martineau, ed., Andrea Mantegna
(New York:Abrams)1992, pp. 80-88 and pp. 68-78.
Devolder, Bart, “Two 15th Century Italian Paintings on Fine-Weave Supports and their
Relationship to Netherlandish Canvas Painting”, Harvard University
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~anagpic/pdfs/Devolder.pdf
Villers, Caroline , review of The Beginnings of Netherlandish Canvas Painting 1400-1530, by
Diane Wolfthal (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989) in Burl Mag, Vol 133, No. 1057, Apr., 1991, pp.
258-259 [posted on Moodle site}
For further exploration of the topic:
Bomford, D. , A. Roy, and A. Smith, ‘The Techniques of Dieric Bouts: two paintings contrasted’,
National Gallery Technical Bulletin, X [1986], p.46; and A. Roy, ‘The techniqe of a “Tuchlein”
by Quenten Massys’, ibid, XII [88), p.38.
Dubois, H. & L. Klaassen, “Fragile Devotion: Two Late Fifteenth-Century Italian Tüchlein
Examined” in Villers, C, ed., The Fabric of Images. European Paintings on Textile Supports in
the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, London, 2000. [SC Art/ND1840. F32 2000]
Dubois, H, H. Khanjian, M. Schiling and A, Wallert, “A Late Fifteenth Century Italian Tüchlein”,
Zeitschrift für Kunsttechnologie und Konservierung, 11:pp. 228-237.
Dunkerton, J., “Mantegna’s Painting Techniques”, pp. 26-38 in Ames-Lewis, F & A. Bednarek,
eds., Mantegna and 15th century court culture; lectures delivered in connection with the Andrea
Mantegna exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1993.
Leonard, F., F. Preusser, A. Rothe and M. Schilling, ‘Dieric Bouts’s Annunciation: Materials and
Techniques, The Burlington Magazine CXXX (1988).
Villers, Caroline, ed. , The Fabric of Images: European Paintings on Textile Supports in the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, London, 2000
Wolfthal, Diane, The Beginnings of Netherlandish Canvas Painting 1400-1530 (Cambridge
University Press) 1989.
19
Drawing
Petherbridge, Deanna, The Primacy of Drawing: Histories and Theories of Practice. (New
Haven: Yale University Press) 2010.
Watrous, James, The Craft of Old Master Drawings (Madison, WI: Univ. of Wisconsin Press)
1957
Periodical:
The National Gallery Technical Bulletin, vols. 1-30, London, UK.
On Technical Art History and Reconstruction:
Art Technological Source Research Study Group/ now Working Group of ICOM-CC
http://www.icom-cc.org/21/working-groups/art-technological-source-research/
First Symposium: Art of the Past: Sources and Reconstructions (London:Archetype) 2005.
Second Symposium: Art Technology: Sources and Methods (London:Archtype) 2008.
Third Symposium: Sources and Serendipity: Testimonies of Artists’ Practice
(London:Archetype) 2009.
Bewer, Francesca, A Laboratory for Art: Harvard’s Fogg Museum and the Emergence of
Conservation in America 1900-1950 (Harvard Art Museum and Yale University Press:
Cambridge, MA and New Haven and London) 2010.
Bomford, David, “Introduction”, Looking Through Paintings: the Study of Painting Techniques
and Materials in Suppport of Art Historical Research, Erma Hermens, ed. London: Archetype,
1998, pp. 9-12.
Carlyle, Leslie, “Beyond a Collection of Data: What We Can Learn from Documentary Sources
on Artists’ Materials and Techniques”. Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio
Practice, Preprints, University of Leiden (Lawrence, KS: Allen Press Inc.) 1995, pp. 1-5.
Dunkerton, Jill, and Rachel Billinge, Beyond the Naked Eye, (National Gallery Company:
London) 2005.
Haag, Sabine, Elke Oberthaler and Sabine Pénot, Vermeer, Die Malkunst (Vermeer, The Art of
Painting) (Kunsthistorisches Museum:Vienna) 2010.
Mohen, Jean-Pierre, Michel Menu, Bruno Mottin, Mona Lisa: Inside the Painting (Abrams: New
York) 2006.
Wrapson, Lucy, J. Rose, R. Miller, S. Buckllow, eds., In Artists' Footsteps: The Reconstruction of
Pigments and Paintings (London:Archetype) 2012
20
Useful websites
Ghent Altarpiece
http://www.closertovaneyck.kikirpa.be
Pigments
http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/
http://www.northernlightstudio.com Especially “Illustrated list and description of
pigments found in 17th c. Painting”
http://www.northernlightstudio.com/pig17.php
And
http://www.northernlightstudio.com/biblio17ital.php
Pigments and Refractive Index
http://www.naturalpigments.com/education/article.asp?ArticleID=8
http://interactagram.com/physics/optics/refraction/
Art supplies:
Kremer Pigments Inc. http://kremerpigments.com/
Iron gall ink:
http://ink-corrosion.org/
Cutting quill pens from feathers:
http://www.flick.com/~liralen/quills/quills.html
21
A 15th c. Northern Painter's Studio depicted by Stradanus
where the Nova Reperta "new invention" of oil painting (here
attributed to van Eyck) was practiced.
Note that the support used here is the traditional wood panel. During
the 16th century canvas stretched on a stretcher frame was gradually
adopted as more practical, portable and less expensive.
Clockwise from upper right: Delivery of newly prepared wood panels
by workman entering the doorway; color grinders preparing paint with
pigment and linseed oil using muller and slab; on the corner of the
table, prepared paint placed in mussel shells; young apprentice
copying eyes from a drawing textbook; older apprentice preparing a
palette for the Master Painter who stands on a dais at work on a
panel painting; advanced apprentice drawing from a classical bust;
studio artist painting a portrait of a young lady with her nearby
chaperone.