THE COLOURS USED BY THE MEDIÆVAL ILLUMINATOR
One can hardly study the illuminated work of the Middle Ages without
being interested in the methods employed by the artists of this period.
The MSS. still in existence, with colours still fresh and bright, make
one curious to know what colours were used to produce this result.
Our knowledge of the colours used in classical times is derived
chiefly from Pliny’s “Natural History” and the writings of Vitruvius.
Theophrastus, in his work on stones, also adds some description of
pigments.
It appears from these writers that the earth colours, such as the
ochres and siennas, were well known, as also was the green earth terra
verte. Blues and greens were obtained from the ores of copper, one of
the most notable being azurite, a blue carbonate of copper. Verdigris
was prepared by the action of vinegar on copper. Cinnabar, a native
variety of red sulphide of mercury similar to our vermilion, which is
the same thing artificially prepared, and orpiment, the native sulphide
of arsenic, were also colours used at this period.
A number of white earths were also employed, chalk being the most
important. White lead was used, being prepared in practically the same
way as the best is to-day. Lakes were made by dyeing chalk or gypsum.
Several vegetal dyes were used for this purpose, such as madder, weld,
and woad. In addition to these dyes, lakes were prepared from kermes
and the celebrated murex. Kermes is a red dye caused by a small insect
similar to that of the cochineal insect; it was used for dyeing and for
making pigments, both in classical and mediæval times. The murex was a
species of shellfish from which was extracted the famous purple dye.
This was the dye used for the purple vellum that was used so much in
the early period.
The blacks used were carbon-blacks, such as lamp-black, bone-black, or
the black prepared from grape husks and vine leaves.
Indigo was undoubtedly in use, and it is highly probable that the red
resin known as dragon’s blood was also in use. Pliny, in his “Natural
History,” describes the fighting between the elephant and the dragon,
and he states that the name cinnabar should be given to the thick
matter which issues from the dragon when crushed beneath the weight
of the dying elephant, mixed with their blood. It is thought that he
may be referring to this pigment, for, in another chapter, he refers
to India sending the corrupt blood of her dragons and elephants. There
is one colour, which was one of the principal pigments of the Middle
Ages, of which no mention is made in the classical period, and that is
ultramarine.
It is difficult to be certain as to how the different colours were
mixed, but the ink used was prepared from lamp-black mixed with gum
and water, and it is probable that the colours were mixed with either
gum, glue, or egg.
The Lucca MS. of the eighth century, in the cathedral library at Lucca,
contains, amongst other things, a short list of pigments. There is very
little difference between the information given here and that given
by Pliny. This MS., however, gives the first distinct directions for
making artificial vermilion. It is also interesting as giving definite
information as to how colours were mixed for working on parchment or
vellum, as the following quotation plainly shows: “On wood the colours
being mixed with wax, on _skins_ fish-glue being mixed.”
In the twelfth-century MS., the Mappæ Clavicula, the greater part of
the Lucca MS. is repeated.
The Schedula Diversarum Artium of Theophilus is also of about the same
date, and is a very important MS. It is divided into three books, the
first dealing with painting, the second with the manufacture of glass,
and the third with metal-work. It is evident that Theophilus, who was
a monk in some German monastery, was a worker in metal. However, he
collected quite a lot of information on various forms of art work. It
is, of course, in the book on painting that the information with regard
to colours is found.
In Chapter XXVII. he gives instructions for preparing the gum for
mixing with colours. This is described as follows: “Take gum which
exudes from the cherry or plum tree, and, cutting it up very small,
place it in an earthenware pot, and pour water upon it abundantly and
place it in the sun, or in winter upon the coals, until the gum has
liquefied; and mix it together with a smooth piece of wood. Then strain
it through a cloth, and grind the colours with it and lay them on.”
In Chapter XXXIV., which is entitled “How Colours are Tempered for
Books,” he says: “Make a mixture of the clearest gum and water as
above, and temper all colours except green and ceruse and minium and
carmine. Salt green is worth nothing for books. You will temper Spanish
green with pure wine, and if you wish to make shadows, add a little
sap of iris or cabbage or leek. You will temper minium and ceruse and
carmine with clear of egg. Compose all preparations of colours for a
book as above, if you want them for painting figures. All colours are
laid on twice in books, at first very thinly, then more thickly; but
once for letters.”
Salt green, that is mentioned here, was a mixture of verdigris and
subchloride of copper. Spanish green was verdigris, and minium was
red lead, while ceruse was white lead. Verdigris is, of course, a
notoriously fugitive colour, but while in ordinary water-colour
painting it would probably not be safe to use, it would last fairly
well in books. Certainly it seems to have done so in the past, if one
may judge from the greens in many of the old MSS., which are still
brilliant.
Other colours described are those known as “folium” colours. These seem
to have been different vegetal dyes.
In Chapter XL. he gives a description of how to prepare ink. This
is quite different from the ink of the classical period, which,
as mentioned before, was made from lampblack and gum-water. The
ink described by Theophilus is more of the nature of our modern
writing-ink, being prepared from the bark of thorn-trees, amounting
really to an infusion of tannin, with the addition of iron sulphate,
popularly known as green vitriol.
There is no mention in this MS. of the preparation of ultramarine.
Following this there are the MSS. that have been translated by Mrs.
Merrifield, _viz._, Eraclius, Alcherius, the book of Peter St.
Andemar, all included in the MSS. of La Bègue, the Sloane MS., and the
Strassburg MS.
The MS. of Eraclius is regarded as not being later than the thirteenth
century, the first two books being very early and quoted by Theophilus.
In these MSS. it is plainly stated that the colours were generally
mixed with either gum-water or egg. White of egg was often used,
but occasionally the yolk. For example, it seems to have been used
as a medium for vermilion and orpiment. These MSS. contain a lot of
information very similar to that in the MS. of Theophilus.
Lakes were, in the earliest MSS., prepared in a similar way to that
used in the classical period, and are described in this manner in
the MS. of Eraclius. In the MS. of Jehan le Bègue, however, there
are several recipes that have been compiled by him from the MSS. of
Alcherius, of the fourteenth century, which are practically the same as
the modern method.
The MS. of Le Bègue is also of interest, as it contains a recipe for
the preparation of real ultramarine.
Perhaps the most interesting MS. of all is that known as the Book of
the Art of Cennino Cennini. This is a most delightful treatise on the
methods then in use. Cennino Cennini was an Italian painter and was
living in Padua in 1398. The MS. in the Vatican is dated 1437, but
this is in all probability merely the date attached by the copyist. It
is evident that the colours and methods that he mentions were in use
during the fourteenth century.
As this was a period when some of the finest examples of illumination
were produced, it is interesting to note the various colours used, so
they are given in detail.
The reds mentioned by him are sinopia, cinabrese, cinnabar, minium,
amatisto, dragon’s blood, and lake. Sinopia is a similar colour
to light red, either native or prepared by roasting yellow ochre.
Cinabrese is a mixture of sinopia with chalk. Cinnabar, as mentioned
before, is mercuric sulphide, which, when artificially prepared, is
termed vermilion. There is hardly any doubt that the variety Cennino
was familiar with was the artificial kind, for he remarks that it
“is produced by alchemy, performed in an alembic.” Minium is red
lead, while amatisto is probably hæmatite. Dragon’s blood, as already
referred to, is a resinous colour, and lakes were prepared from various
dyes.
The yellow pigments were ochre, giallorino, orpiment, risalgallo,
zafferano, and arzica. Giallorino is supposed to have been a native
mineral yellow pigment. It is described by Cennino as a volcanic
product. Some, however, think this to be similar to the pigment that
used to be known as Naples yellow, which was a compound of the oxides
of lead and antimony. Risalgallo realgar, or red orpiment, was prepared
by gently heating orpiment. Zafferano was saffron, while arzica was a
lake prepared from weld, which is wild mignonette.
The greens that he refers to are verde terra, verde azzurro, and
verderame. Verde terra is the natural earth known also as terra verte.
In all probability verde azzurro was a native copper carbonate, similar
to green bice. Verderame was verdigris.
The blues used were azzurro della magna, azzurro oltre marino, and
indaco baccadeo. Azzurro della magna was a copper-blue similar to the
azurite of the classical period. Azzurro oltre marino was the genuine
ultramarine. Cennino’s description of the preparation of this pigment
from the _lapis lazuli_ is very similar to the recipes that are given
in other MSS. Indaco baccadeo was indigo from Bagdad.
The white pigments were bianco sangiovanni and biacca. Bianco
sangiovanni was whiting or chalk, while biacca was white lead.
The blacks were “a soft black stone,” black “made of the young shoots
of the vine, which are to be burnt, and when burnt, thrown into water,
and quenched, and then ground like other black pigments.” Another
black pigment “is made of the shells of almonds, or of peach-stones.”
Lampblack was also used.
The colours were mixed with gum arabic or egg.
Cennino also makes mention of the use of the _pezzuole_ colours, or
clothlet tints, which were used a great deal in the Middle Ages. These
were pieces of linen stained with transparent pigments. When required
for use, a small piece was cut off and soaked in water to make a tint
of the colour, a little gum being added.
Cennino also treats of tinting parchment with various colours. This
was not done, as was the custom in the earlier period, by staining the
vellum with a dye, but by washing a colour over it with a large brush.
It may be noted that practically all the permanent colours mentioned in
these MSS. are in use to-day. Some of the colours used in the Middle
Ages can hardly be recommended to-day. The copper blues, for instance,
are not reliable, as impure air is very liable to change them into
copper sulphide. Orpiment is an unsafe colour to use, while kermes will
fade in a strong light, besides being no longer an article of commerce.
Both dragon’s blood and saffron are notoriously fugitive colours.
It is hoped that these few brief notes with regard to the colours used
by the mediæval artist may be of interest to the student. If he wishes
to study this subject further he is referred to the various works
mentioned.