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Another reason for my reluctance is that I don’t want to get into trouble with Master Cennini if I should ever meet him.
You probably wonder why I should incur his displeasure. Well, like many other artists of my era he is acting quite secretive, when it comes to the details of preparing pigments from raw materials. In his book he demands crabbily ‚ ... and keep it to yourself, for it is an unusual ability to know how to make it properly.’ Anyway, don’t worry. He doesn’t say ‚keep the colour recipes to yourself ’, doesn’t he. So I can give you a couple of pointers how to make a nice colour of ultramarine pigment. ‚To begin with, get some lapis lazuli’ That’s Master Cennini’s advice. ... Uhm ... makes some sense if you want to prepare colour, doesn’t it. Alright, let’s be serious again. What he actually wants to say is that one should make sure to get pigment of a very good quality. ‚And if you want to recognise the good stone, choose that which you see is richest in blue colour ...’ Lapis of average quality tends to be contaminated with other minerals which can give it a greyish look. Such inclusions reminded Cennini obviously of ash, for he states ‚... That which contains least of this ash colour is the best ...’ Another ... let’s say ... challenge when you want to work with ultramarine is not only to find stones or pigment of good quality, but also not to mix them up with other substances such as azurite, another semi precious stone. ‚ ... see that it is not the azurite stone, which looks very lovely to the eye ...’ ... but is mined in Northern Europe, is much, much cheaper and doesn’t have the deep brilliance of ultramarine. Well, I have to admit that the painters and illuminators of my era contributed not exactly little to the possibility of confounding lapis with other substances since they didn’t use a precise terminology. Various blue pigments were often simply called ‚lazurium’. However, this term could designate a blue made of real lapis, as well as blues made of azurite or even indigo or woad. Reading medieval painter’s recipe books you will find that they very often confused the different blues by themselves, like the Master-Painter Adrew of Colmar in his painter’s handbook which is nowadays called the Strasbourg Manuscript. He recommends a certain method with which synthetical copper blue could be produced, but he refers to ultramarine as a result. Another famous artist, Theophilus Presbyter who lived and worked three hundred years before I was born, stays in his book On Divers Arts elegantly vague when he talks about lazurium. He most likely talks of azurite, but it’s not absolutely clear. So at least I want to be precise! When I’m talking here of lapis lazuli or ultramarine I mean ultramarine and nothing else. The colour made of this pigment is remarkably light-fast and durable. When you mix it with aqueous binding agents like any kind of gum or egg distemper you’ll get a luminous blue. However, when you mix it with oil the colour effect ranges from dark blue to almost black, depending how thick you apply the colour. According to Cennini ‚ ... It is true that you may use on parchment any of the colours which you use on panel; but they must be ground very fine. ...’ So in case you should want to work on parchment and your pigment is still a bit coarse ‚ ...Pound it in a bronze mortar, covered up, so that it may not go off in dust; then put it on your porphyry slab, and work it up ...’ ... with the binding agents that stick well on parchment. In the sphere of book illumination gums, egg distemper or glues made of parchment snippets or hare bones have proven to be the best choice. When you work on wood panels you can mix colour pigments also with linseed or walnut oil to make the colour even more durable. But mark it well, anyway which binders you use, you have to mix the colour very thoroughly. Only when you follow this advice the colour brings its full tinge to bear. Now I’ve told you many a thing about ultramarine, so you can try and make your own colour. Hopefully som man mai lyke of that I wryte. References Cennino d'Andrea Cennini, The Craftman's Handbook, Daniel V. Thompson 1960 Viola & Rosamund Borradaile, The Strasburg Manuscript, Callwey Verlag, 1982 |
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I BID YOU WELCOME GOOD SIRS My name is Alisande
and I appreciate you've dropped by. I'm a limner and scrivener - or as you would put it in your 21st century - an illuminator and scribe. I was born in the year of the Lord 1394. Shortly after my 16th birthday, I suddenly found myself - heaven knows through which mysterious occurrences - in the 21st century. Since then I have been living with a couple who very lovingly and affectionately took me in. Since they are both painters and book illustrators, I can even help them with their work. Information about their art you can find on their websites: In the course of time me and my feline chaperone Harry became rather well known and started to receive a lot of messages from near and far.
It became clear: We needed our own space where we can correspond with all our devoted followers and friends. So Norman - one of my two artist friends - set up this 'Chronicle' for us. Here you can have a chat with me and my rascally mouser. Archives
August 2023
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