Natural Pigments The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting

Details Author: Daniel V. Thompson
ISBN: 0486203271
Publisher: Dover Publications, 1956
Size: 135 x 200 mm (5.375 x 8 in.); 239 pages, Paperback.

Medieval painters built up a tremendous range of technical resources for obtaining brilliance and permanence. In this volume, an internationally known authority on medieval paint technology describes these often jealously guarded recipes, lists of materials, and processes.

Based upon years of studying medieval manuscripts and enlarged by laboratory analysis of medieval painting, this book discusses carriers and grounds, binding media, pigments, coloring materials, and metals used in painting.

It describes the surfaces that the medieval artist painted upon, detailing their preparation. It analyzes binding media, discussing relative merits of glair vs. gums, oil glazes, and other materials. It tells how the masters obtained their colors, how they processed them, and how they applied them. It tells how metals were prepared for use in painting, how gold powders and leaf were laid on, and dozens of other techniques.