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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at|http: //books .google .com/I rA ma'/, I I "■^"^S;^, tmrvarb CoUeoe Xibrari; FROM THE BEOyEST OF CHARLES SUMNER CLASS OP 1S30 SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS FO» BOOKS KBLATIHC TO f 0 ORIGINAL TREATISES, DATING PROM THE Xllm TO XVIIItr CENTURIES KTRX ARTS OF PAINTING, #^ IN OIL, MINIATURE, MOSAIC, AND ON GLASS ; OP QILDINQ, DYEING, AND THE PREPARATION OF COLOURS AND ARTIFICIAL GEMS; PRECEDED BT A GENERAL INTRODUCTION ; WITH TRANSLATIONS, PREFACES. AND NOTES. MRS.^MERRIFIELD, BOKORAKT KEMBBK OF THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS AT BOLOOHA, TRANSLATOR OF THE TRSAT18B ON PAIKTIMO OF CBNNIHO CENNIMI, AKD AUTHORESS OF 'the art of FRRSCO-PAIHTIKO.* IN TWO VOLUMES. — VOL. 1. ^LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1849. TAsn7'/ A London : I'rlnted by Wilmam Olowxi & Sows, Stamford Street. 4 I r I ■..\ , I \ % 1 t I I I TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR ROBERT PEEL, BART., THESE TREATISES, COLLECTED UNDER HIS AUSPICES, ARE GRATEFULLY AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE EDITOR. ^ PREFACE. ■ * In the autumn of 1845 I was honoured by Her Majesty's Government with a commission to proceed to the North of Italy, for the purpose of collecting MSS. relative to the technical part of painting, with a view principally of ascertaining the processes and methods of oil-painting adopted by the Italians. I was also instructed generally to endeavour to procure tradi- tional and practical information on this subject from other sources. I succeeded in obtaining copies of the MSS. con- tained in the following volumes. On my return to this country, Sir Robert Peel was pleased to entrust me with the publication of the MSS., and to intimate that a part of the expenses of publication would be defrayed by Government I need not say how highly I was gratified by this distinction, for an occupation more congenial to my inclinations could scarcely have been suggested ; and I accepted the oflfer without, perhaps, properly consider- ing the magnitude of the undertaking, and my own incapacity. The foUowing work, in which I have endeavoured to supply by diligence what I have wanted in ability, is the result of my labours. VI PREFACE. In preparing the MSS. for publication, I have adopted, as nearly as possible, a chronological arrange- ment, considering it was best adapted to show the progress of the art, and the technical methods in use from the twelfth or thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The early MSS., although they do not treat of oil- painting, properly so called, are useful in showing the state of the art of painting at the period when they were written, and the importance attached to the pre- paration and purification of colours. In an antiquarian and historical point of view these MSS. are also highly interesting. Some of the most valuable facts to be col- lected from them are mentioned in the preliminary observations prefixed to each treatise. With a view of rendering the MSS. mofe generally useful, I have pre- fixed to them a brief sketch of the history and technical processes of the different kinds of painting and other arts, which are alluded to in the MSS. Among the various recipes, many of which may b^ traced to a very early period, it will not occasion sur- prise that some should be found which partake of the barbarism of the times when they were written. Ab- surd, and perhaps useless, as a few of these may be considered, except as forming part of the History of Art, it has been thought advisable to publish the whole of the MSS. in order to satisfy the reader that nothing important has been omitted. The ortho- graphy of the originals has been always scrupulously followed; and no emendations have been permitted, except in one or two instances which are mentioned in the notes. PRBFACS. V" Much information relative to oil-painting was com- municated to me orally by several eminent Italian artists during my tour. This information, which I endeavoured to preserve by committing the substance of their communications immediately to writing, is now published in the original form, with such explanatory notes as appeared necessary to make them intelligible. It also occurred to me that the statements made in these memoranda would require other confirmation than the oral testimony of living persons, who, although possessing much valuable knowledge acquired by their practice and researches, and much information derived from tradition and the study of works on art, are yet unknown to the reader, and their statements are fre- quently contradictory. It, therefore, appeared to me, that it would be important to examine and compare the statements of the Italian professors with the treatises contained in these volumes, and with many of the best English and foreign works connected with the fine arts, in order to ascertain how far the statements and prac- tice of these artists were supported in their view of the practice of the old masters; inasmuch as, in these points where they did coincide, it might fairly be con- eluded that the practice of the old masters was correctly stated by these modern professors. I have accordingly made this examination by comparing these statements with the most esteemed works on this subject The more important points connected with this examination I communicated to Sir Robert Peel in October, 1846. They are now more fully stated, with additions and corrections, in the following work. I have referred to the authorities from which I have framed my opinions, and from which the reader will be enabled to judge of the correctness of my conclusions. In arranging this brief account of the methods and materials adopted in oil-painting in Italy, it is to be observed, that it has not been my intention to give a complete history of all the procesEes employed in this art, and of the practice of the different schools, but merely to give such a general outline as will render the oral and documentary evidence and information con- tained in these volumes and now scattered through so many pages, available to the reader. The only varia- tions from the original memoranda which I have per- mitted myself to make consist in some necessary verbal corrections, and in some omissions of statements and opinions, which, on inquiry, could not be satisfactorily substantiated. I have also considered it unnecessary to mention the names of the professors who favoured me with the communications, although I was careful to ascertain that they were considered by competent judges eminent in their profession. Althoi^h no exertion has been wanting on my part to make the work as useliil as possible by a dispas- sionate and unprejudiced inquiry into the former pro- cesses of oil-painting, it may yet be feared that many errors have crept in, or been overlooked, and tlAt many links in the chain of evidence as well as in the technical processes are still wanting. As I have been particular in stating my authorities, the former may be ected by reference to the works indicated, the x will be supplied by Mr. Eastlake's promised me on the Technical Processes of the Italian itera PBEFACE. IX 4 I cannot dismiss the subject of oil-painting without acknowledging the great assistance I have derived from Mr. Eastlake's recent and very valuable work, * Materials for a History of Oil-Painting ;* and I take this opportunity of expressing my sincere thanks to him for the important assistance and encouragement he has so kindly and readily afforded me during the pro- gress of the work. To Ihe Earl of EUesmere I beg also to offer my very gratefiil acknowledgments for the loan of many valuable books, without which it would have been im- possible for me to have completed the work. To Sir Thomas Phillipps I am also indebted for a copy of an interesting work of the middle ages, en- titled ^Mappae Clavicula,' which I have found very usefiil. To my highly-esteemed friend, Mr. Seymour, of Dorset Gardens, Brighton, my acknowledgments are also especially due for loans of books, and valuable references to others, which his extensive reading quali- fied him to give. To Mr. Charles Carpenter, of the Brighton Bench of Magistrates, I am indebted for similar assistance I beg also to thank Mr. Bobert Hendrie, junior, whose recent edition of Theophilus has been of great assistance to me; Mr. Borrer, of Henfield, Sussex; and Mr. Albert Way, Secretary of the Archseological Institute, for their ready attention to my applications. Mr. Hermann Schweitzer, of Brighton, the eminent analytical chemist, has also afforded me much valuable professional assistance, which I feel great pleasure in acknowledging. By means of the introducticHis with which I was favoured by Sir Henry Ellis and Sig. Panizzi, of the j j ■ British Museum ; by M. ChampoUion-Figeae, of the I p, BiWioth^que Koyale, at Paris ; and the Cav. Gazzera, of the Library of the University at Turin, I obtained i i^ access to the poblie libraries of many of the principal r cities of the North of Italy, and to some private libraries: especially those of the King of Sardinia ; the Marquis Trivulzio, and Conte Pompeo Litta, of Milan, autiior of the ' History of the Noble Families of Italy ;' Conte Francesco de' Lazara, of Padua, the nephew and heir of the Cav. Lazara, whose valuable collection of MSS. and works on art is so ii-equently mentioned by Lanzi; of Sig. Giuseppe Riva, of the Monte Berici, aear Ticenza, author of several works of antiquarian interest; of the Canon Eamelli, of Rovigo; of Sig. M. A. Gualandi, of Bologna, editor of an interesting series of original documents and letters of painters ; of Pro- fessor Longhena and Sig. Vallardi, of Milan : to all of whom I beg to express my obligations for the facilities afibrded me.* * My acknowledgmenta and thanks are also due to many eminent id ~'ence, and art on the Continent. I regret to omit ihe names D), and among otliers named in these volumea, I feel gretilied my obligatnns to M.leComte Charles de I'Escalopier, andM. Parii; the C«T. Promis, of the Private Library of the Kingof Conte GaJiCeris, of Turin; Conle Giberto Borromco, and the ■f the Brera Library, Dr. Zai'deiti, of the Cabinet of Medalt, knd Vallardi, of Milan ; Conte Lochia, President of the Ao- ira, Conte Pietro Moroni, Sig. Salvioni of the Public Library, igoni, of Bergamo ; Conte Luigi Lechi, of Brescia ; Conte and Ctmie Jacomo Mosconi (known to the litenry world ai ' of some of the works of Sir Walter Scott), of Verona ; the io, the Ab. Barbaran of the Library of the Seminario,the Ab. he University Library, and Prof. Poli of the UniTernty of PREFACE. XI In preparing the follcming treatises for publication, 1 have been greatly assisted by my sons^ Charles and Frederic, who translated the whole of the M8S. In conclusion I would observe, that the work has been begun and finished under the pressure of great domestic anxiety and ill health, which sometimes ren- dered it scarcely possible to give that attention which so arduous a task required. Under these circumstances I have to request the indulgence of the reader for any oversights and mis-translations which may be found in the work. These errors will, however, be less impor- tant, inasmuch as the translations are accompanied by the original text, and any mistakes in the former may be corrected by reference to the latter. The fatigue of comparing the translations with works in MS. so numerous and so long, can only be appreciated by those who have been engaged in similar undertakings. The labour, however, has been far from irksome : on the contrary, it has been pursued from beginning to end with intense interest ; and from the consolation and stimulus I have derived from the pursuit, in many a Padua ; the Baron Galvagna, President of the Academy of Fine Arts at Venice ; Sig. Gio. 0*KeIly Edwards, son of Sig. Pietro Edwards, who restored the public pictures at Venice; Mr. Rawdon Brown, the Ab. Cadorin, the biographer of Titian ; the Ab. Valentinelli, of the Marciana Library ; Dr. Vincenzo Lazari, editor of a recent edition of the * Travels of Marco Polo;' Sig. Cigogna, author of the valuable work entitled * Iscrizioni Yenetiane ; ' Signori Felice Schiavone, Tagliapietra, and Quarena, of Venice; Dr. Devit, of the Public Library of Rovigo; the Ab. Antonelli, of the Ducal Library, and Sig. N. Cittadella, of Ferrara; Sig. Vegetti, of the Library of the University of Bologna ; Sig. Gaetano Giordini, Inspec- tor of the Pinacoteca, and Sig. Masini, Secretary of the Academy of Fine Arts at Bologna ; the Cav. Pezzana, of the Ducal Library, and Sig. Scara- musda, of Parma ; Sig. Bombardini, and Sig. Giambatista Baseggio, Pre- sident of the Athenaeum, of Bassano. weary hour, I take leave of it with the regret which | one always feels on partiDg with an old and agreeable i companion. ■; M. P. M, Brighbm, 6th Nov., 1848. CONTENTS OF VOL.! INTRODUCTION- CHAPTER L et» O* TH. Stat, o, Soci«rr aw. or th. Aw. »«mk« th. ^^^ XVU CHAPTER II. MuriATUBB PAnrriwG CHAPTER III. Mosaics Tarsia Work • XXYl XXZTIU Ivii I CHAPTER IV. Glass— § 1 . Early History of Glass Printing in Italy § 2. Windows . • • • • $ 8. Various Methods of Painting on Glass $ 4, Other Uses to which Glass was applied iVb*«.— On Jewish Glass . lix Ixxvi Ixxxi IxxxTii xeii 1 XIV CONTENTS OF VOL. I. CHAPTER V. On Gilding and othkb Abts — § 1. On Gilding .... § 2. On Auripetrum and Porporino • § 3. On the Use of Wax in Painting § 4. On Painting Statues . • § 5. On the Implements used in Painting § 6. On Leather, Dyed and Gilt § 7. On Niello .... § 8. On Dyeing .... Page xev xcviii c cu evil cix cxii cxin CHAPTER VL Painting in Oil — Introduction ••.... t cxyi § 1 . Opinions of Eminent Italian Artists as to the Practice of the Old Masters cxvii § 2. Colours used in Painting . . cxlviii § 8. On Oils and Varnishes— On Grinding and Diluting the Colours . ccxxx On the Purification of Oils . • ccxxxii On Dryers and Drying Oils • • cexxxvi On Essential Oils ccxlv On Resins . . • • , • ccxiviii On Varnishes cclxi • On Varnish in Tainting * . ' , • . cclxxY On • Varnishing PictiiFes • , . cclxxx § 4. On the Preparation of the Grounds , . cclxxxi Methods of Painting . . ccxciii Note — On MS. of Fra Fortunato of Rovigo cccxi CONTENTS OF VOL I. XV MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE— p^e Preliminary Observations ....... 1 Tabula db Vocabulis Sinonimis bt Equivocis CoiiORDM . 18 {Ibble of Synonymes and Words of uncertain sign^kation,) Alia Tabula Imperfecta et sine Inicio • • . • 39 {Another Table, imperfect and toithout a beginning.) Experimenta de Coloribus ^ ...... 47 {Experiments on Ck^ours,) Manuscripts of S. Audemar — Preliminary Observations 112 Liber Magistri Petri de Sancto Audemaro de Coloribus Faciendis •.....•• 117 {I7ie Book of Master Peter, of S. Audemar, on makinp (JdloursJ) Manuscripts of Eraclius — Preliminary Observations 166 De Coloribus et Artibus Romanorum — (On tite Colours and Arts of the Romans) — Lib. 1 188 Lib. II 199 Lib. Ill 206 Manuscripts op Archbrius — De Coloribus Diversis Modis Tractatur . . 259 {A Treatise on preparing many kinds of Colours,) De Diversis Coloribus 281 (On Colours qf different kinds,) Additional Recipes by Jehan le Begue . . .291 ERRATA. Page 4, Hue 12 fh>m bottom, for Again at Milan, read at Genoa. top, for Jaoobo, read Jacobus, bottom, dele "the." bottom I -^ "^ Janua, read at Genoa. bottom,/or mixed howeyer with oil and a little Tarnish, read a little Tarnish being mixed with the oiL .\ 16, 20 n 10 68, 12&18 82, 5 224, 17 L INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. ON THE STATE OF SOCIETY AND OF THE ARTS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. History gives but a melancholy view of the state of society in Europe towards the close of the dark ages. The domestic habits and accommodations of the people were rude in the extreme. The nobles were devoted to the pursuit of arms, and when not actually engaged in war their timfe was occupied in hunting and hawking, of which they were passionately fond. Nor did they disdain, in the intervals of these employments, to be- come highway-robbers, and to possess themselves by force of the money and baggage of the travellers whom chance threw in their way.^ Men so employed could have but little relish for the elegancies and comforts of domestic life. Their castles were merely a retreat from the pursuit of their enemies, and were more suited to secure the defence and safety of their possessions than to display their wealth and magnificence. The walls of these edifices were lofty and substantial, the openings for the admission of light few and narrow, the apertures unclosed with glass ; the interior walls, which were bare, had no decorations but arms and the trophies of the chase. The intellectual condition of the nobles was scarcely more advanced 1 See Ilallam's Middle Ages, vol. iii. p. 368. VOL. I. h XVUi INTRODUCTION. [chap. i. than their domestic arrangements ; the accomplishment of reading was possessed by few, that of writing was still more rare. Neither Frederic Barbarossa, John, King of Bavaria, nor Philip the Hardy of France, could read ; nor could Theodoric or Charlemagne write.^ Of the barons whose names are affixed to Magna Charta very few could write. The domestic accommodations were in accordance with the edifices. A passage quoted by Mr. Hallam,* from a work written about the year 1300, shows the state of manners in Italy during the age of Frederic Barba- rossa.' "In those days," the author observes, "the manners of the Italians were rude. A man and his wife eat off the same plate. There were no wooden- handled knives nor more than one or two drinking-cups in a house. Candles of wax or tallow were unknown ; a servant held a torch during supper. The clothes of men were of leather unlined; scarcely any gold or silver was seen on their dress." Such a state of society, it may be readily supposed, afforded small scope for the development of the arts. They were not, however, totally lost. The cloister, while it afforded a shelter and retreat from the more active pursuits of life, afforded also to the monks leisure and opportunity for cherishing the arts, the technical processes of which were preserved in their convents. The magnificent cathedrals which were erected during the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries,* not only in I Hallam, Middle Ages, vol. Hi. p. 329. » Ibid., p. 409. 3 Frederic Barbarossa was bom a.b. 1 121 , ascended the throne a.i>. 1 152, and died a.d. 1190. 4 In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Basilica of St. Mark*s at Venice, and the Cathedrals of Pisa and Siena, were erected ; and in the thirteenth the Basilica of S. Francesco di Assisi, the Duomo of Florence, that of Orvieto, and the churches of S. Antonio at Padua, Sta. Maria Novella at Florence, S. Croce, SS. Giovanni and Paulo, and the Frari at Venice, and the Campo Santo of Pisa. In other parts of Europe, the Cathedrals of Cologne, of Beauvais, Chartres, Rheims, Amiens, Brussels, York, Salisbury, West- minster, Burgos, Toledo, &c., were built* See, on this subject, Marchese, Memorie del piuinsigni Pittori, &c. Domenicani, vol. i. p. 17. CHAP. I.] SOCIETY AND ARTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. xix Italy, but in the more northern parts of Europe, gave an additional impulse to the study of painting. It was the delight of the monks to adorn these edifices with painted windows of the most brilliant colours, to cover the interior with pictures representing Scripture stories, which were to serve for the catechism and instruction of the common people,^ and to embellish the choral books with the most elaborate miniatures. It is impossible to study the history of the arts of the middle ages without considering the immense influence exercised over society by monastic institutions. It is unnecessary to inquire here whether this influence was the cause or the effect of the darkness which hung over Europe at this period ; it is sufficient to state that it extended over all classes of society, for the monks, who were the legislators* and physicians' of that period, and who possessed almost exclusively all the learning of the age, were almost the only persons skilled in the arts of sculpture, painting, and architecture. Marchese observes, with reference to the services rendered to the arts by the monks in Italy,* that " after having taught their ferocious conquerors the duty of forgiveness, struggled against the pride of the powerful, and preached the Gospel in the midst of the barbarous feudal laws, they prepared themselves to build bridges, to embank rivers, to construct magnificent cathedrals and abbeys, niany of which remain to record the variety of their genius and the benefits they conferred on mankind. In vain would the patronage of Charlemagne, of Theodo- ^ An inscription formerly over the principal door of the Church of S. Nizier de Trojes states that a certain cure had caused three windows to be painted ** for the catechism and instruction of the people." — L'Anglois, Essai sur la Peinture sur Verre, p. 16. « Mosheim's Eccles. Hist, vol. ii. pp. 26 and 377 n. s See Introduction to Mr. Eastlake's ' Materials for a History of Oil Fainting.' * Memorie de* Pittori, &c., p. 13. 62 XX INTRODUCTION. [chap. i. linda,* of Theodoric, and of some of the popes have sufficed to save the arts from total ruin, if the monks had not, with so much affection, protected and practised them during so many centuries. They preserved to us the traditions transmitted to them by the Byzantines, and bequeathed them to future ages, stamping them with that expression and melancholy which transpires in them in spite of the inelegance of the forms ; and they ennobled by their profession the arts which their barbarous conquerors despised." The proof that Europe is indebted to the religious communities for the preservation of the arts during the dark ages, rests on the fact that the most ancient examples of Christian art consist of the remains of mural pictures in churches, of illuminations in sacred books, and of vessels for the use of the church and the altar, and on the absence of all similar decorations on buildings and utensils devoted to secular uses during the same period, to which may be added that many of the early treatises on painting were the work of eccle- siastics as well as the paintings themselves. A similar remark may be made with regard to architecture, many of the earliest professors of which were monks. Painting was essentially a religious occupation. The early professors of the art believed that they had an especial mission to make known the works and miracles of God to the common people, who were unacquainted with letters, "agli uomini grossi che non sanno lettere."* Actuated by this sentiment, it is not surprising that so many of the Italian painters should have been members of monastic establishments. It has been observed that the different religious orders selected some particular branch of the art, which they practised with great suc- i Theodolinda caused to be painted on the walls of the palace of Monza the principal events in the history of the Lombards. See Rio, de la Po^ie Chr^tienne, p. 20, n. 8 See the Statutes of the Sienese Painters — Carteggio Inedito, &c., ro\, u. CHAP. I.] SOCIETY AND ARTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. XXI cess in the convents of their respective orders. Thus the Gesuati and Umiliati attached themselves to paint- ing on glass and architecture, the Olivetani to Tarsia work, the Benedictines and Camaldolites to painting generally, and the monks of Monte Casino to miniature painting, while the Dominicans appear to have practised all the various branches of the fine arts (with the ex- ception of mosaics) and to have produced artists who excelled in each. The various remains of the artistic skill of the monks of the middle ages which have escaped the ravages of time sufficiently attest their mechanical dexterity in these arts, and the excellence of the traditionary prac- tices of which they were for some time the sole depo- sitaries. Great, however, as the technical skill of the monks undoubtedly was at this period, their paintings were distinguished neither for accuracy of drawing nor for elegance or variety of design. Until the time of Cimabue and Giotto the Byzantine type was adhered to with little variation in Italy, or at least in the northern and southern parts ; but in Rome a somewhat different style prevailed, which has been called the Italian. The mural pictures and mosaics throughout Lombardy presented everywhere the same lengthened ^ and attenuated figures, standing on the tips of their toes (for the painters of those days did not possess the art of representing the feet in perspective), with ample and flowing draperies, narrow and ill-shaped extremities, solemn and severe aspects, and large, open, and staring black eyes ; the outlines of the figures were hard and black, cutting sharply the gold back-ground, and the expression of the features inspired awe and terror. The same type prevailed in the districts of Southern Italy. 1 The figures of the Byzantine school were sometimes thirteen heads in height XXll INTRODUCTION. [chap. i. The good taste of Gimabue introduced in the thirteenth century a better style of art, which was much improved by his gifted pupil Giotto ; and such was the influence of their example that the Byzantine style was banished from Tuscany, and wherever the works and influence of these artists extended. The improvement in the civil condition of the people followed, if it did not keep pace with the advancement of the arts. In the twelfth century there were many influences which had been for some time silently pro- ducing a change in the manners of the people. Among these may be enumerated the Crusades, which, by making the turbulent and warlike nobles of Europe acquainted with the arts and luxuries of the more re- fined and polished Saracens, awakened in them a taste for dress and the elegant enjoyments of life ; the com- mercial enterprise of a few cities,^ which, in spite of wars and tumults, succeeded in establishing an uninter- rupted intercourse with Constantinople and Palestine, and introducing the merchandise of Asia and Africa into the interior of Europe ;* the settlements in Sicily, in the kingdom of Naples, and in Spain, of tiie Sa- racens, who, less distracted with wars than the Eu- ropeans, had leisure to attend to the erection of palaces and to the cultivation of the arts ; and the establish- ment of the silk and woollen manufactories,^ and the consequent increase in the comforts and conveniences of life. To these may be added the occasional cessation of war, which enabled the laity to devote themselves to the study of the arts. During this period the kind 1 Venice, Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa. See Hallam, Mid. Ages, toI. iii. pp. 367, 388, 389, 390. s Saggio suir Antico Commercio, sull' Arti, e sulla Marina de' Vene- ziani, da Jacopo Filiasi, pp. 27 n., 153. 8 A silk manufactory was established at Palermo in 1148, and in the same century at Genoa. There were woollen manufactories in England in the twelfth century. — Hallam, Midd. Ages, voK iii. pp. 367, 393. i CHAP. I.] SOCIETY AND ARTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. xxiii of painting most practised in Italy was mosaic, but in the western part of Europe painting on glass appears to have been exercised in preference to all others. In the thirteenth century the manners of the people were still rude and uncultivated, but towards the latter end of this century a sensible refinement took place, especially in Italy. In Venice there were at this period laws in which were mentioned the tariffi regulating the manufactories of gauzes, purple cloth, and cloth of gold;^ this is sufficient evidence of the establishment of manufactories of these articles and of the increased taste for dress. At this period the commerce of Mar- seilles widi the Levant was in its greatest prosperity. Montpellier and Aries were also engaged in the same pursuit, and at the end of this century or the beginning of the fourteenth the first Venetian vessels arrived at Antwerp laden with spices, drugs, and silk stufis ; to these were added perfumes, cotton, and colours.^ The amelioration of the manners and habits of the people was decidedly favourable to the development of the arts in Italy, and the influx of Greek artists, after the taking of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, gave them an additional impulse, and contributed to their revival in different parts of the country. From the ancient mosaic on the Duomo of Spoleto, dated 1207/ works of art, bearing the names of the artists and the date, are of frequent occurrence in the annals of art Guido da Siena painted the large Madonna in S. Do- menico at Siena in 1221 ; and the works of Giunto da Pisa were executed during the early part of this century. These artists were succeeded by Cimabue, to whose influence is ascribed the revival of painting in Florence. 1 See Filiasi, Sagg^o, &c., p. 153. < Guicctardini, Belgli Deecript., AiDrterdam, 161 3« quoted by Depping. 3 Kagler, Handbook of Painfiiig in Italy, p. 28. XXIT INTBODUCTION. [chap. i. In the middle of this century arose the Florentine school of mosaic painters under Andrea Tafi, who was taught the art by the Greeks ; and the family of Cos- mati, also painters in mosaic, flourished at Rome about the same period. Id France and England other branches of the art were cultivated with success, especially painting on glass ; and a taste for mural paintings appears to have arisen in England. The arts had also made some progress in Spain during this century, for the corporation of the painters and sculptors of Barcelona dates from the same period.' The incorporation of similar societies in Italy appears to have taken place at a later period.' During this century the kings of England found leisure to attend to the decoration of the interior of their palaces. It is ascertained from records preserved at Winchester, that there was a " painted chamber" in this the favourite city of the kings of England, as early as the year 1216;' and it appears also from another document that this apartment was decorated with his- torical pictures.* In other documents, paintings, the subjects of which are mentioned, were ordered to be executed in the Hall at Winchester, in the Painted Chamber and Palace at Westminster, in the Castle of Nottingham, and other Royal residences.' 1 A.D. 1291. Capmany, Memorias, &c., tome iii., cited by DepfAog, ol. i. p. 264. a of the Sienese painters are dated I3S5 ; (hoee of tbo 1; of the Florentine pabtera in 1339. Those oT Padua omc years earlier. The Florentine painters were ineludcd ipany as the physiciong and apothecaries. See Gaye, Car- fols. i. and ii. p. i. 4 Heo. III., mem. 16, cited in the ArchKological i, p. 69. istlake's ' Materials,' p. 556. it. 17 Hen. III. mem. 6, and other documents quoted in cal Journal for 1B46, pp. 70-77 ; and \a Mr. Eastlake'a Iliatory of Fainting in Oil,' vol. i. pp. 552-561. CHAP. 1.] SOCIETY AND ARTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. XXV The analysis of early mural pictures, and the direc- tions of Le Begue, Theophilus, and the author of the Bolognese MS^ place it beyond a doubt that the greater part of these paintings were executed in tempera. Many of those which are called fresco paintings, were merely commenced in fresco and finished in distemper/ The art of fresco-painting, properly so called, did not arise until some time after the period of which I am now speaking. The paintings on the walls of the Chapel of S. Jacopo di Pistoia were ascertained by Pro- fessor Branchi to have been executed upon a ground composed of sulphate of lime (plaster of Paris, the gesso of the Italians), carbonate of lime, and a yellowish colouring matter tempered with glue. It has also been ascertained that many of the beautiful mural paintings by Bernardino Luini, in the Chapel of the Monjustero Maggiore at Milan, were not painted in buon-fresco, but on white stucco, in the ancient manner.* It appears, from MSS. of this period, that it was sometimes the custom in England to whitewash the exterior of castles, and sometimes to paint them of three colours.' " This castel is payoted without with thre inaner colours : Rede brennand colour is above toward the Mr tours, Meyne colour is y-middes of ynde and of blewe, Grene colour be the ground that never changes hewe." In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the houses of the English, of the middle and lower classes, con- sisted in general of a ground-floor only, divided into two apartments, namely, a hall, into which the prin- cipal door opened, and which was the room for cooking, eating, and receiving visitors ; and a chamber adjoining the hall, and opening out of it, which was the private apartment of the females of the family and the bed- 1 See the First and Second Reports of the Commissioners of Fine Arts. s Milano e il suo Territorio, vol. ii. p. 254. 3 See Archaeological Journal, Pari IV., Jan. 1845, p. 304. XXVI INTRODUCTION. [chap. i. room at night. The greater part of the houses in London were built after this plan.^ The habitations of the more wealthy classes differed from those of the middle ranks only in having an upper floor, called a 8oler^ or solar^ on which was an apartment called a " saloon." The access to this was by a flight of stairs on the outside of the nouse.* The soler is mentioned in the Le Begue MS., p. 88, probably with reference to an English house, since the term occurs in the recipes given by Theodore of Flanders to Alcherius. A differ- ent style of architecture prevailed on the Continent, for it is related that when Henry HI. visited S. Louis at Paris, he greatly admired the houses of that city, con- sisting for the most part of many stories.' In houses of this description there was but little room for decora- tion ; and they appear to have been but scantily pro- vided with furniture. Even at a much later period, neither looking-glasses nor chairs are mentioned in the catalogue of the furniture of Contarini, the rich Vene- tian trader, who resided at St. Botolph*s, in London, in 1481;^ or in that of a nobleman in 1572. The Bolognese MS., however, mentions glass mirrors, in a manner which proves that they were not uncommon in Italy at the time that MS. was written. In the fifteenth century the taste for decoration ex- tended, as might be supposed, to the castles of the nobility, and the apartments were decorated with his- torical paintings from the Old and New Testament. *^ Ther men tnyzth se, ho that wolde, Arcangeles of rede golds, fiytly mad of o molde, ^ , Lowynge ful lyzth ; 1 See notice of the ' Chronicle of the Mayors and Sherifis of London from 1188 to 1274/ in the Arch. Joum. for Sept. 1847, p. 282. < Illustrations of the Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages, by Mr. Wright, Arch. Joum., Sept. 1844. » Arch. Jour., Sept. 1847, p. 282. 4 Hallam*8 Middle Ages, vol. lit. p. 428. caiAP. I.] SOCIETY AND ARTS OP THE MIDDLE AGES. XXVU With the Pocalyps of Jon, The Powles Pystoles everychon, The paraboles of Salamoo, Paynted ful ryzth. And the foure gospellores, Sytting on pyllores, Hend, herkeneth and heres, Gyf hyt be zoure wyll. Austyn and Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose, Thus the foure doctores Lystened than tylle. Ther was purtred in ston, The fylesoferes everychon, The story of Absolon, That lykyd foil yUe/'^ It will be observed that in all the early MSS. pub- lished in this volume clocks are not mentioned, but the hours of the day were reckoned from sun-rise, and shorter periods by the time occupied in repeating Ave Marias, Paternosters, and Misereres. From this we may collect that, although the apartments of castles and palaces might reckon among their articles of domestic convenience — '^ An orrelegge (horloge) one hyzth To rynge the ours at nyzth,*' they were unknown in convents, and among the mid- dle classes, at least until the later half of the fifteenth century. 1 From a manuscript of the fifteenth century, in the Public Library at Cambridge, quoted in the Arch. Jour., Sept. 1844. XXVUl INTEODUCTION. [chap. li. CHAPTER II. MINIATURE PAINTING. Having thus taken a cursory view of the state of society and of the arts during the middle ages, it may not be uninteresting to treat more particularly of those arts, the technical processes of which are described in the following MSS., in order to render the various practical directions more available to the student, and more interesting to the general reader. It has been observed ^ that the rise and progress of painting is better shown by miniatures than by large pictures, because the altar-pieces and frescoes were fre- quently repetitions of smaller works painted in choral books, and the parchment on which they are executed being better preserved than pictures on waDs, and less injured by retouching, represented more exactly the types and traditions of the early schools. Besides the minia- tures painted in books, it was also the custom to a£Sx to every picture a predella or gradino,* on which the different events of the life of the Saint represented in the picture were portrayed in miaiatare; the frames were also ornamented with small figures, so that the study of miniature-painting was necessary to all painters. We turn, therefore, with increased interest to the early history of miniature-painting, which, after the revival of the art,* must be sought chiefly in the archives of the 1 Marchese, Memorie, &c., vol. i. lib. i. cap. xi. p. 175. s The step on the top of the altar was so called. ' 3 The school of miniature painters was very important during the eighth and ninth centuries. Kuglcr mentions some interesting illuminations exe- cuted in manuscripts of this period. (See Handbook of Painting in Italy, p. 20.) CHAP. 11.] MINIATURE PAINTING. XXIX convents of the Benedictine, Camaldolese, and Domini- can monks, and in those of the Canons Regular. It is impossible to imagine any employment more congenial to the peaceful and contemplative lives of the monks, in the intervals of their religious duties, than the pleasing and almost luxurious occupation of illustrating the sacred books with stories from Scripture, and of ornament- ing with elaborate miniatures the works of Virgil and a few of the other classic authors. It is not surprising, therefore, that this kind of painting should have found so many followers in the cloisters. The art of miniature painting was divided into two branches: the professors of the first were styled " Miniatori," or miniature painters, or illuminators of books ; and those of the second, " Miniatori caligrafi," or " pulchri scriptores.*' To the first class belonged the task of painting the Scripture stories, the borders, and the arabesques, and of laying on the gold and ornaments of the MSS. The second wrote the whole of the work, and those initial letters generally drawn with blue or red, full of flourishes and fanciful ornaments, in which the patience of the writer is frequently more to be admired than his genius. The wood-cut^ in the next page shows a writer of the fifteenth century engaged in this occupation and surrounded with his various implements. With the miniatori may be classed the authors and collectors of many of the MSS. now published, and others of a similar nature. To the second class belongs Alberto Porzello, who is mentioned- in the Le Begue MS. to have been " perfect in all kinds of writing, and to have kept a school at Milan, where he taught the art to young men and boys/' But the two branches were frequently prac- 1 Copied from the work of M. AJmd Champollion-Figeac, entitled ' Louis et Charles, Dues d'Orldans, leur Influence sur les Arts, la Littera- ture, et TEsprit de leur Si5cle, d'apr6s les 'Documents Originaux et Ics Peintres dcs Manuscrits,' Paris, 1844. INTHODDCTION. Frma a UanMiCTipl in lAa aiWuMjmt Rgyala at Prnv. tised by the same person, whence the term "writing" w»s also extended to painting, and the word was not confined to miniature painting only, but was applied to painting on glass, which was also called " writing on glass." As to the origin of the word " miniature," it received its name from the practice of writing the rubrics and initial letters with minium or red lead. The French term " illuminer" is supposed to be derived from the custom of illuminating or heightening the lights with gold. The term occurs in the Lucca MS., in the chapter " De L^uri." Previous to the invention of printing the art of calligraphy was of great importance. It was the cus- tom and the pride of the large religious establishments to have the books used in the celebration of Divine Service exquisitely written, and adorned with minia- tures. The recent researches into the archives of the different Italian cities have brought to light the minutes of expenses of some of these books, which prove the CHAP, tt] MINIATUBE PAINTING. XXXl time occupied in painting them, and the large sums paid to the artists for executing them, or for the pur* chase of the materials ; for the monks did not receive payment for the works intended for their own convents. The choral books of the convent of S. Marco, at Florence, were written and painted by Fra Benedetto del Mugello (the elder brother of Frate Angelico^), with the assistance of the monks. The cost of these books was 1500 ducats, and the time occupied in com- pleting them was five years.* The choral books belonging to the cathedral of Ferrara are thirty in number; twenty-two of which are 26 inches long by 18 in breadth, and the remaining eight smaller. They were begun in the year 1477, and completed in 1535.^ The most interesting of these books, for the beauty of the characters, as well as for the miniatures, were executed by Jacopo Filippo d' Argenta, Frate Evangelista da Reggio, a Franciscan, Andrea delle Veze, Giovanni Vendramin of Padua, and Martino di Giorgio da Modena. The parchment on which these books are written is in excellent pre- servation. It is worthy of remark that great part of the parchment or vellum for these books was brought from Germany, or, at least, was manufactured by Germans. There is an entry in the records of the cathedral, for the year 1477, of a sum of money paid to M. Alberto da Lamagna for 265 skins of vellum; of another sum, paid in 1501, for 60 skins, to Fiero Iberno, also a German ; and to Creste, another Ger- man, for 50 skins, furnished by them on account of these books. The magnificent choral books, thirteen in number, which formerly belonged to the Certosa of Pavia, are 1 Called also Beato Angelico. * Marchese, Memorie, &c., vol. i. p. 189. s Document! risguardanti i Libri Corali del Duomo di Ferrara, commu* nicated by the Ab. Antonelli, of the Public Library at Ferrara, to Sig. Gua- landi, by whom they were published in his Meroorie, &c., ser. ▼!. p. 153. xxxu NTRODUCTION. [chap. n. now in the library of Brera, at Milan. They are of very large size, probably three feet by two, and many of the illuminations are very beautiful. As a work of art, the choral books of the Monastery degli Angeli in Florence are perhaps more remarkable than those of Ferrara. They are twenty in number, and were all written by one writer, and embellished by one miniature painter. The former, Don Jacopo, was a Gamaldolese monk, of the same religious house at Florence; and, according to Vasari,^ was not only a most excellent person, but the best writer of initial letters that ever lived, not only in Tuscany, but in Europe; and he adds, that these choral books are perhaps, as regards the writing, the finest and largest in Italy; Don Jacopo also wrote other books at Rome and at Venice. The miniatures in the above- mentioned choral books, which are all by the hand of Don Silvestro, are not less excellent than the writing ; and so great was the esteem in which these two monks, D. Jacopo and D. Silvestro, were held in their con- vent, that the right hand of each was preserved in a casket with the utmost veneration. Yasari adds that he, who had seen these books so many times, was astonished at the skill in design and ability with which they were executed, at a period when the art of design was all but lost ; for these monks flourished about the year 1350. The choral books of the Cathedral of Siena have been preserved with the greatest care. They were all attributed by Vasari to Piero di Perugia,* but they are known to have been painted by several artists, among whom may be mentioned Liberale di Verona and Ansino di Pietro, whose names are inscribed on their paintings' There were also fourteen magnificent choral books in the convent of S*** Maria del Sasso, 1 Life of Don Lorenzo. * Life of Agnolo Gaddi. 3 Marchese, Memorie, &c., vol. i. p. 197, CHAP, ir.] MINIATURE PAINTING. XXXlii near Bibbiena, which were executed by Era Pietro di Tramoggiano, and which were valued at upwards of 1500 scudi. Many of the miniatures were cut out and carried away, others were sent to S**' Maria Novella, at Florence ; but the books are now lost, and the convent does not at the present time possess a single miniature.* The sister arts of calligraphy and miniature painting' flourished simultaneously in Italy and in the countries north of the Alps. The celebrated monastery of St Gall possessed a school of painters, who were distin- guished even in the ninth century. In the tenth century, Tutilo, a member of this community, was equally famous as a painter, poet, musician, sculptor, and statuary. But the best miniature painter of the tenth century was Godemann, who was chaplain of the Bishop of Winchester from a.d. 963 to 984, and after- wards Abbot of Thornley. His benedictional, orna- mented with thirty beautiful miniatures, is in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire. In the eleventh century schools of painting were formed at Hildesheim and Paderborn ; and the art was exercised by ecclesi- astics of the highest rank.* The reputation of the French miniature painters had reached Italy in the time of Dante, who alludes to the practice of the art '^ Ch' aUuminare h chiamato in Parigi/' while recording the merit of Oderigi da Gubbio and Franco Bolognese. Many artists who followed this branch of the profession are enumerated by Alcherius in the work of Le Begue. Some of these were natives of Italy, others of France, and others of Flanders. The Italian miniature painters are numerous. Among the I .Compendio Storico Critico sopra le due Immagine di Maria S. S. nella Chiesa di Sta. Maria del Sasso, presso Bibbiena, dato in luce dal P. Yin- cenzo Fineschi, Firenze, 1792, cap. x. p. 72 ; cited by Marcheae, vol. i. p. 209. s See Rio, de la Po^^sie Chrdtienne, p. 32-34. VOL. I. C • xxxiv INTRODUCTION. [chap. n. most celebrated miniatori of the fifteenth century was Francesco dai Libri, a native of Verona, called the Old, to distinguish him from his son Girolamo. He obtained the appellation " dai Libri " from his employment, which consisted in illuminating MSS. ; and, as he lived before the discovery of the art of printing, he found constant occupation, because those persons who paid the expense of the writing, which was very great, were also desirous of seeing their books ornamented with .miniatures. Francesco lived to a great age, and died contented and happy, because, says Vasari, " in addi- tion to the peace of mind which he derived from his own virtues, he left a son who was a better painter than himself." This son was Girolamo dai Libri, whose merits as a miniature painter ftiUy equalled the sanguine expectations of his father. Yasari is warm in his praises. He says, " Girolamo painted flowers with such skill, truth, and beauty, that they appeared like nature itself; and he imitated small cameos and other engraved stones and jewels in such a manner that it was impos- sible to make them more like, or more minute ; and among the figures which he made on cameos and facti- tious stones, may be seen some which are not larger than a small ant, yet all their limbs and muscles are seen distinctly." Girolamo illuminated many books for religious societies, and especially for the rich monas* tery of the Canons Regular of S. Salvatore, at Can- diani, where he went to work in person, which he would not do at any other place ; whilst at this monastery he taught the first principles of the art to Don Giulio Clovio, who was afterwards reputed to be the best miniature painter of his time.' Lanzi calls him the prince of miniature painters. Great part of his works were painted for sovereigns and princes, in whose libraries they may be seen, executed with such surprising truth 1 Vasari, Vita di Fra Giocondo ed Altri, vol. iii. CHAP, n.] MlfflATURE PAINTING. xxxv and liveliness, that they appear rather to be reflections in a camera obscura than works of art. Some idea of the labour of executing these minute pictures may be formed from the fact, that one work alone, which he illustrated for Cardinal Farnese, with twenty-six sub- jects, occupied him during nine years. His works are very scarce, but some may be found in the libraries of private individuals. The Sloane Library contains a MS. illuminated by Don Giulio Clovio. Among the miniature painters of the order of St. Dominic was P. Alessandro della Spina, who flourished during the fourteenth century. Padre Alessandro deserves the gratitude of posterity, and of all miniature painters especially; for to him we are indebted for making known the invention and use of spectacles. Indeed P. Marchese attributes the invention * of spec- tacles to Padre Alessandro, but the memorial of him in the Chronicle of St Katherine, at Pisa, proves that he had seen spectacles made by one who would not communicate the secret, before he made them himself, and that with a cheerful and willing heart he com- municated all he knew. The notice in the Chronicle runs thus : — " Fra Alexander de Spina vir modestus et bonus, qusB vidit oculis facta scivit et facere. Ocularia ab alio primo facta comunicare nolente, ipse fecit, et omnibus comunicavit corde hilari et volente. Cantare, scribere, miniare, et omnia scivit quae manus mechanic® valent" ^ Another monk and miniature painter of the same order, Fra Benedetto, usually called " Bettuccio,** deserves remembrance for his brave defence of Giro- 1 *' Spectacles had been known at Haarlem since the begintiing of the 14th century, and a monument in the church of Sta. Maria Maggiore, at Florence, alludes to Salvinodegli Armati, who died in 1317, as their in- ventor (inventore degli occhiali). Some accurate notices of the use of spec- tacles by old men appear to have been made in 1299 and 1306." Ilum- boldt*8 Rosmos, vol. ii. p. 497. — Is it possible that Padre Marchese can have oi'erlooked the monument alluded to by the accurate and scientific Hum- boldt? * Memorte de* Pittori, &c. Domenicani, vol. i. p. 177. c 2 XXXVl INTRODUCTION. [chap. it. lamo Savonarola, when the latter was torn from the shelter of his convent of S. Marco, at Florence, to meet a cruel and painful death, Fra Pacifico Burla- macchi, in his Life of Savonarola, relates that " Fra Benedetto armed himself from head to foot, and joined the party of the Piagnoni,' to defend a life so dear to him ; but Savonarola seeing him, desired him to lay down his arms, adding that the professors of religion should use spiritual weapons only. When Benedetto saw them carrying away his beloved master to prison, he entreated to be allowed to follow him. Then Savo- narola, turning round to him, said, * Brother Bene- detto, I command you by your vow of obedience not to follow me, because Brother Domenico and I must die for the love of Christ.' At this instant he was torn from the sight of his sons, who all wept for him. And it was then the ninth hour of the night'* * Fra Eustachio, another Dominican monk, was, per- haps, one of the greatest miniature painters that Italy has produced.' His merits, passed over by historians, and especially by Vasari, whom gratitude should have prompted to remember him, are recorded by his own order. Padre Timoteo Bottonio,* a contemporary of Fra Eustachio, relates that when Vasari was writing the first edition of his Lives of the Painters, he used to come frequently to converse with this old man, who re- lated to him many interesting facts concerning the early and illustrious artists. A Psalter, exquisitely painted by him, still exists in the Convent of S. Marco, at Florence. He has been styled the Porta of miniature painting. The French miniature painters wefe undoubtedly numerous, but a Vasari is still wanting to record their merits. The beautiful choral book, painted by Daniel d' Aubonne, in 1621, must not be forgotten. This volume 1 The partisans of Savonarola. 2 See Marchese, Memorie, &c., vol. i. p. 199. ^ Ibid., p. 202-207. 4 Annate MSS., vol. ii. p. 303, ann. 1555. XJHAP. iij MINIATURE PAINTING. XXXVU is preserved in the public library at Rouen ; it is of very large size, and the writing and illuminations are exqui- sitely beautiful. Daniel was thirty years in completing it. Missals and livres d'heures of great beauty are so common in all rich libraries, that it is unnecessary to particularise any in the present work. As a private collection, perhaps there is no single volume of greater beauty or value than that belonging to Mr. Kogers the poet, whose elegant and correct taste is well known. The volume, formed at great expense, consists of miniatures from diflerent works and dif- ferent countries ; and it is scarcely possible to see more exquisite specimens of the art. The manner in which these works were executed may be collected from the following Treatises: it is sufficient to observe that the colours were prepared with the greatest care, and that the vehicle was egg, gum, or glue. D^Agincourt, however, mentions some minia- tures, the colours of which were insoluble in water; and Dr. Dibdin,^ in describing the illuminations of a MS. of the Codex Justinianus of the fourteenth cen- tury, states that on close examination the colours appear to have been mixed up with a glossy material not unlike oil. These instances appear to have been exceptions to the general character of miniatures, the surface of which usually does not shine. It will be observed that the shades in miniatures were not generally painted with trans- parent colours, but that white was mixed with them. The parchment or paper on which these MSS. were written was usually left white ; but a purple colour was sometimes communicated to it, by tinging it with a decoction of oricello.* When the tint was dry, the letters were written on it with gold or silver. Several MSS. of this kind are preserved in the Biblioth^que Royale at Paris. 1 Northern Tour, p. 603. 2 See Bol. MS., p. 474. INTEODUCTION. CHAPTER III. MOSAICS AND TABSI In enumerating the arts of the middte ages, we must not omit to mention the beautiM art of working in mosaic, the most durable of all the methods of painting now ia existence, Domeiiico Ghirlandaio used to say that it was the only painting for eternity.' Vasari also has a similar remark; he says, with regard to the durability of all works composed of colours, there are none which resist the action of the winds and waters like mosaics.' The art of working in mosaic was known to the ancients. It was practised by the Byzantine Greeks, and appears never to have been entirely lost in Italy. Specimens of this art may still be seen at Home and at Ravenna, which date from the fourth and filth cen- turies. There were various kinds of mosaics." Those in- tended for the decoration of vaulted ceilings and other elevated parts of buildings, consisted of cubes of coloured glass, the older specimens being generally inlaid either on a white ground, as in the Romano-Christian school,* or on a gold ground, as in the early Christian mosaics of the Byzantine school. The mosaics in the church of SS. Cosmo and Damiano in the Forum at Rome were the work of Roman artists, while the old mosaics ' Vasari, Life of Domenico Gtiirlandwo. ■ LifeofGherordo. 3 For an account of the different kinds of rooewc, and of the process employed at Itome, sec Transactions of the Society of Arts, Part I., New Series, 1S47. * Rio, ie la Vo6aa Chretieune, p. 41. CHAP, m.] MOSAIC PAINTING. XXXlX in the Apsis ^ of the Basilica of S. Ambrogio, at Milan, which are said to be not later than the ninth century ; those in ,S. Lorenzo, also in Milan ; those in the Duomo of Torcello, reputed to be of the tenth century ; and some of the ancient mosaics in the church of S. Marco, at Venice, which are of the eleventh century, are re- presented to be the work of Byzantine artists. Some of the mosaics in the last-mentioned edifice are stated to have been actually brought from the East It appears that there were in Italy two principal schools of mosaic painting, established as early as the eleventh century. One of these was formed by the Greek artists employed on the church of S. Mark, at Venice, from which the Florentine school afterwards sprung; the other subsisted in Rome, from an early period until the thirteenth century.* Both schools have been praised by different authors as superior to all others ; Vasari gives the preference to that of Venice, while Lanzi considers that the Roman artists excelled the Venetians. The Venetian school undoubtedly originated in the decoration of the church of S. Mark, which afforded for several centuries constant occupation to the musaicisti. This church, observes Lanzi, was and is an incomparable museum, in which, commencing from the eleventh century, may be traced, in the mosaics begun by the Greeks and continued by the Italians, the gradual progress of design of every period until the present day. The earliest artists were undoubtedly Greeks, and the work appears to have been continued by Greek artists and their disciples until about 1250. From that time until 1350, Zanetti states' that he was unable to find any records of the progress of the work ; but at the I Tho Apsis was ako called the Tribune, It was .the semicircular recess at the east end of the church. * Lanzi, vol. i. p. 6 n. A NoUsde de* Musaici della Chiesa Ducale di S. Marco — Zanetti ^ del la Pitiura VeooKiana, p. 661. xl INTHODUCTIO^f. [coap. hi. last date the doge Andrea Dandolo caused the chapel of the Baptistery to be covered with mosaics. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries produced many artists, the best of whom was Michele Zamboni, who was the first to abandon the ancient manner, and to improve his design, by studying the works of the best painters of his time. Many of the ancient mosaics having perished, they were replaced by Zamboni, according to the old des^n. The sixteenth century was the golden age of mosaic painting at Venice. Among the great names of the period may be enumerated Vincente Bianchini, more remarkable for his talents than his in- tegrity, and his brother Domenico, called II Rosso or Bosetto; Alberto Zio, the priest; Marco Luciano Bizzo ; the celebrated Francesco Zuccato, the friend of Titian, who received his first instructions in painting from the father of Zuccato ; Valerio Zuccato, the brother of Francesco ; and Giovanni Visentin. The distinctions enjoyed by the brothers Zuccati excited the envy of the other artists, and when the former had completed the pictures from the Apocalypse, the quarrels among the rival painters ran so h^h, that they reached the ears of the Procuratore Cassiere. A process was instituted to discover the truth. The Zuc- cati were accused, among other things, of having added to the eflfect of their mosaics by painting on certain parts, and of having joined the squares badly ; Valerio especially was accused of not knowing his business. Among the most violent of the accusers was Bartolom- meo Bozzo, a former pupil of the Zuccati, who pointed out some small campanili, and also some clouds in the mosaic of the Apocalypse, which were executed with the pencil, and not with coloured glass and stones, as they ought to have been, according to the rules of the Pro- curatori. The Bianchini supported the accusation of Bozzo, and an accidental circumstance gave additional weight to the charge against the Zuccati. A mistake CHAP. III.] MOSAIC PAINTING. xU having been discovered by the latter in the word saasibus^ which formed part of the inscription, they had corrected the error by affixing to it a small piece of painted paper ; and when the mosaic was washed to ascertain whether it had been painted or not, the piece of paper was sepa- rated, and the Procuratore believed accordingly that some deception had been used. He therefore caused several persons employed in the church to inquire into the affair, and finally he summoned a council of the greatest painters of that time, among whom were Titian, Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto, and Andrea Schiavone, who de- cided that it could not be denied '^ that the pencil had been used in some parts, but that when these touches had been removed with a sponge and sand, the mosaics were not injured by it, but were even considered to be improved." Every one praised the design, and the skill of the artists, and Titian, especially, defended his friends the Zuccati with great warmth, saying that the cartoons ought to be examined, to see whether the campanili which had been painted were in them as well as in the mosaics ; thinking that the degree of blame attached to these masters^ depended upon this circumstance. It is doubtful who made the cartoons; Valerio asserted that they were made by " Messer Tiziano," and that they did not con- tain the campanili, and said that if it were necessary he would produce them with the outlines pricked, as they were. Titian, however, did not acknowledge that these cartoons were his work, although he owned having made others for the Zuccati. The trial concluded by the Zuccati being adjudged to execute again, at their own expense, the parts on which the pencil had been em- ployed; but this decree was never executed, and the painted parts, particularly the small campanili, remain to this day.^ The dispute concerning the execution of this mosaic 1 Zanctti, p. 576. xHi INTRODUCTION. [chap. iu. by the Zuccati led to the examination of the other pictures, which had been the work of their rivals ; and it was finally concluded unanimously, that the two Bian- chini and Bozzo were the best workers in mosaic, but that Francesco Zuccato excelled them all in the know- ledge of the art, and next to him in skill was Yincente Bianchini. The designs for the mosaics executed about this period were by the most celebrated painters, Titian, Tintoretto, Salviati, Sansovino, Domenico Tintoretto, Mafieo Verona, and others; and many of the mu- saicisti were so little acquainted with the principles of art, that the painters who made the designs were obliged to colour as well as draw them, and they were then servilely copied by the musaicisti. The Procuratori being satisfied by the representations of the professors of the bad consequences likely to ensue from the ig- norance of the musaicisti, new regulations were made, the number of masters employed in St. Mark's was reduced, and every one was required, before his election, to give a proof of his skill. In order to de- termine the respective merits of the rival artists, a design representing S. Jerome was made, and Francesco Zuc- cato, the two Bianchini, and Bozzo were required to copy it in mosaic. Sansovino, Titian, and Paolo Vero- nese were the judges, and it was agreed unanimously that Zuccato's picture was the best, Gian Antonio Bianchini's was next, then that of Bozzo, and Domenico Bianchini's was the last, although it was considered the most faithful copy of the design. Among the later Venetian artists may be enumerated Gio. Antonio Marini, Lorenzo Ceccato, Luigi Gaetano, Jacopo Pasterinr, and Francesco Turessio ; these worked from the designs of Palma Giovane, of Maffeo Verona, of Leandro Bassano, Aliense, Padovanino, and others. The artistsof the seventeenth century were less celebrated, and their works in mosaic executed in the style of that CHAF. ni.] MOSAIC PAINTING. xliii period were employed as decorations on new walls only ; according to Z^anetti,^ it was decreed in the year 1610, that no ancient mosaic should be removed, although the work might be Greek, and the style bad; but that where the danger of ruin was imminent, the design should be copied, and the picture restored exactly as it was at first. By this means a complete series of monu- ments, unique in their kind, not only in Italy, but in all the world, has been preserved to posterity. In the middle of the thirteenth century the fame of the Greek artists, who were still employed on the mosaic decorations of St. Mark's, was spread far and wide ; it reached to Florence, where Andrea Tafi then practised the art of painting. Andrea, ambitious of transmitting his name to posterity, and having greater confidence in the durability of the materials than in his own talents, prudently determined to adopt the art of mosaic painting ; but as the technical part of this art was unknown in the north of Italy, he found it necessary to go to Venice. While residing in this city, he gained the good will of a Greek painter named Apollonio so entirely, that he was persuaded not only to teach him the art, but to accompany him to Florence, where, in the middle of the thirteenth century, he executed, in conjunction with Andrea Tafi, some mosaics in the Tribune of the old church of S. Giovanni.* Vasari ' says that this work was entirely in the Greek manner, that the design was rude and without skill, but that the mechanical part was well executed, the pieces extremely well joined, and the surface even.* He adds, that the latter part of the work is much better, or to speak more correctly, not so bad as the portions first completed. After this, Andrea executed in mosaic, without the assistance of Apollonio, a figure of Christ 14 feet high, 1 Delia Pittnra Veneziana, p. 570 n. > Now the Basilica of S. Giovanni Battista — the Battistcro. 3 Vitadi Andrea Ta6. ^ See also Morrona, Pisa 111 ustrata, vol. i. p. 254. Xliv INTRODUCTION. [chai-. iil a work which, Vasari says, spread his fame throughout Italy. "Andrea was really," observes this author, "very happy in living at a time when works of so litde merit were so much esteemed." It may be added, that he was fortunate in forming so correct an estimate of his own powers, as to prefer being the head of a new school of painting in the north of Italy, to remaining in the obscurity to which his want of skill in design appeared to consigQ him. Andrea died in 1294, and his merits were recorded in an epitaph preserved by Vasari — " Qui ^iace Andrea, ch' opre Icg^adre, e belle Fece ia tutta Toscana, ed oia ^ ito A fiir vag;o lo R^do delle stelle." Contemporary with Andrea was Jacopo da Turrita,' or, as he was called ia Siena, Maestro Mino,' a Fran- ■ ciscan friar, to whose merits Lanzi says that Vasari did not do justice. Perhaps the latter judged from the specimens of the works of Jacopo at Florence, which were by no means equal to those conducted by him in Sta. Maria Maggiore at Rome. Some writers have believed that Fra Mino and Tafi both worked ia mosaic in the Tribune of the Duomo of Pisa, but Prof. Ciampi has shown that this mosaic was not begun until 1301, at which time Fra Mino and Tafi were no longer living. The mosaic at Pisa, the subject of which was a Maesta, was commenced by one Maestro Francesco,' assisted by his son Vittorio, Lapo of ^'"--jnce, Michele, Duccio, Tura, Turetto, Dato, I, and others. Francesco either died or aban- i the work the same year, and was succeeded as Maestro by Cimabue,* under whom worked o, Ganaccio, Upechino, and Turetto. The iovanni, on the left hand of the Saviour in the lari, Vita di Andrea Tafi. Baldinucci, Vite. .iToiia, Fisa Illust., vol. i. p. S47. mpi, Notizie, &C., p. 144, and Docum. iir. * Ibid., Doc. sivi. CHAP, inj MOSAIC PAINTING. xlv same design, is said to be the work of Cimabue, who however left it incomplete ; and it was, together with the figure of the Saviour, finished by Vicino, the pupil of Gaddo Gaddi, in 1321. As this is the only work in mosaic ascribed to Cimabue, it has been supposed by some persons that he merely executed the design. The repeated payments, however, to him, on account of this work,^ in the books of the Duomo, seem to warrant the belief that he actually worked on the mosaic. Giotto also exercised . his talents in mosaic painting, and the celebrated mosaic called the " Nave di Giotto," which was executed for the ancient basilica of St. Peter at Kome, attests his eminence in this branch of the art.* This work, observes D'Agincourt, " by its ingenious and picturesque composition, as well as by a more correct design, fixes the epoch of the revival of this kind of painting." Kugler says ' that the mosaic has so frequently changed its place, and thus undergone so many restorations, that the composition only can now be considered as belonging to Giotto. Gaddo Gaddi was the father of Taddeo Gaddi,* and the grandfather of Agnolo, the master of Cennino Cennini.* He was the friend of Cimabue and of Andrea Tafi; from the example of the former he learned to improve his style of design, and from the latter he acquired the art of working in mosaic. As he united the mechanical skill of Andrea to a better taste in design, it will readily be supposed that his works were in much request. He executed, in the semicircle over the principal door in Sta. Maria del Fiore in Florence, the mosaic representing the Corona- tion of the Virgin, which, on the authority of Vasari, ^ Ciampi, Notizie, &c., Doc. xzvi. ; Morrona, Pisa Illust., vol. i. p. 249 n. ; and see Kugler, Handbook of Psdnting in Italy, p. 32. ' Vasari, Int., cap. zxix. s Handbook of Painting, Italian School, p. 51. 4 Vasari, Vite di Gaddo, Taddeo, e Agnolo Gaddi. ft Cennino Cennini, Trattato. xlvi INTRODUCTION. [chap, iii- was considered by all masters, foreign as well as native, as the finest work of the kind which had ever been seen in Italy. He afterwards worked at Borne and at Fisa, and died in 1312. The secret of working in mosaic was inherited by Agnolo, the son of Taddeo,* who in 1346 repaired some of the mosaics executed by Andrea Tafi in the roof of S. Giovanni at Florence. He fixed the cubes of glass so firmly into the ground, with a stucco composed of mastic' and wax melted tc^ether, that neither the roof nor the vaulting had received any injury from water from the period of its completion until the time of Vasari. From Agnolo Gaddi the secrets of the art were transmitted to Cennino Cenniui, who, in his Treatise on Fainting, left them as an heir-loom to posterity. That Cennini actually treated on mosaics in his work, is related by Vasari ;' but as this subject is not mentioned in the MS. published by Tambroni, it was considered that Vasari was mistaken, and that he had spoken of the MS. without having read it. Subsequent researches,* however, have proved that he was right. Besides the MS. in the Laurenziana, the Biccardiana Library (at Florence) contains a more perfect copy made in the sixteenth century, probably soon after the year 1500, which contains many things omitted in the Vatican MS., among which may be mentioned the arts of working in glass and in mosaic. It is gratifying to learn that a second edition of this highly interesting work will probably be published at Florence, which will contain the new passages in the MS. of the Biccardiana, and which will be collated with both the Florentine MSS. It has been con- jectured from the last words of the MS. of Cennini in 1 Vasari, Vita di Agnolo Gaddi ; Bald., Vitadi Agnolo Gaddi. s Bald., Vita di Agnolo Gaddi. Vasari says ** mastrice," which signifies cement or glue. s Vita di Agnolo Gaddi. * Antologia— Firenze, 1821. CHAP. luj MOSAIC PAINTING. xlvii the Vatican, "Finite libro referamus gratia Christi 1437 a di 31 di luglio. Ex stincarum f.,"' that Cennini was an inmate of the debtors' prison at Florence called "Le Stinche," and our sympathies were excited on behalf of the patient and religious old man, who at an age approaching to eighty could so abstract his mind from the adversity into which he had fallen, as to compose his Treatise on Fainting during his confinement in a prison, and to allow no expressions of regret or discontent to escape from his pen. The researches, however, of Signer Benci of Florence prove that the name of Cennini does not occur in the books belonging to the prison of the Stinche in the year 1437, or in some of the later years of the four- teenth century. The addition of the above-mentioned words has been accounted for ^ by the fact that it was the custom to employ the prisoners for debt in copying MSS. ; and it was conjectured that these words, so expressive of the distaste we may suppose a person indifferent to the art to have felt on the completion of, to him, so irksome a task, were added by the unfor- tunate prisoner who copied the MS. afterwards placed in the Vatican. If then the date 1437 be that of the copy, the original MS. must be older, and perhaps may be actually a work of the fourteenth century. Many, if not all, of the early Florentine painters practised this branch of the art' It is said^ that Alesso Baldovinetto spared no pains to discover the best method of working in mosaic, and that he would never have succeeded in this pursuit, if he had not 1 These words are wanting in the Riecardiana MS. See Antologia — Firenze, 1821. > Edinburgh Review, 1847, p. 193. s Prof. Ciampi (Notizie, &c., p. 92) says iheMusatcisH called themselves painters, and he quotes the inscription on the mosaic by Torriti (or Turrita) in the church of S. Giovanni Laterani at Rome :— " Jacobus Torriti pictor hoc opus mosayoen fecit." 4 Vasari, Vita di Alesso Baldovinetto. xlviii INTRODUCTION'/ [chap. iir. accidentally met with a German who was travelling through Florence on his way to Rome. Alesso gave this man a lodging, and learned from him the whole process, so that he was enabled to set to work with confidence, and to execute some figures in mosaic in the church of S. Giovanni. This work so increased his reputation that he was employed in cleaning the whole roof of the edifice, which had been covered with mosaics by Andrea Tafi, and was then in want of repair. He completed this work also to the satisfaction of his employers. Alesso lived to be eighty years old, and then feeling the infirmities of age stealing over him, he sought a retreat for his declining years in the Hospital of S. Paul. It is related that in order to ensure for himself a better reception, he took with him to his apartments in the hospital a large chest which was thought to contain money, and in this belief the officers of the hospital treated him with the greatest respect and attention. But their disappointment may be imagined when, on . opening the chest, after the decease of the aged artist, they found nothing but drawings on paper, and a small book which taught the art of mak- ing the mosaics (pietfe del musaico), the stucco, and the method of working. At the present time we should have considered this little book a greater treasure than the money which was so much desired. The remarks of Vasari on this occurrence are highly honourable to the venerable old man ; he says, " It was no wonder that they did not find money, for Alesso was so boun- tiful, that everything he possessed was as much at the service of his friends as if it had been their own." Alesso taught the art of working in mosaic to Do- menico Ghirlandaio, who executed, in conjunction with Gherardo, some mosaics in the Duomo of Florence.^ The only artists of the early Roman school whose Vasari, Vite di Alesso Baldovinetto e Doroenico Ghirlandaio* CHAP, in.] MOSAIC PAINTING. xliX names have descended to posterity are the family of Gosmati.^ Adeodati di Cosmo Cosmati worked in Sta. Maria Maggiore in 1290, two years after the arrival of Giotto in Rome, and probably about the time that he was employed upon the " Navicella." Jacopo and Giovanni Cosmati also worked in mosaic about 1299 in Bome, and in the Duomo of Orvieto. It is said that these artists were all superior to the Greeks employed in S. Mark's at Venice. It is certain, how- ever, that much encouragement was given at Rome to artists from other parts of Italy, and especially to many Florentines. This city was in fact the general ren- dezvous of all who were distinguished for more than ordinary skill in the arts, as the place where they might not only improve themselves in their profession by the contemplation and study of works of art, but where their talents might meet with encouragement and reward. The art of working in mosaic was brought to perfection in this city. It became in time the rival of painting, not only by the artful combination of various coloured stones cemented together, but by means of a composition, by which it was possible to produce every colour, to emulate every half tint, to represent every gradation, every touch, as perfectly as with the pencil.* As the building of S. Mark's at Venice called forth all the talent of the artists of that period, so the construc- tion and decoration of S. Peter's at Rome occasioned employment to Roman artists. Natural causes con- curred in promoting the cultivation of mosaic painting at Rome, for the humidity of S. Peter's was found inimical to paintings in oil, and it was considered advisable, even in the time of Urban VIII.,* to sub- stitute mosaics in the place of paintings in oil. The Roman school in mosaics produced Muziani, 1 Lanzi, vol. i. p. 6 n. ; Ciampi, Notizie, &c., p. 46. » Lanzi, vol. ii. p. 230. » Ibid. VOL. I. d 1 INTRODUCTION. [chap. iit. Paolo Rossetti, Marcello Frovenzale^ Gio. Batt Calandra, a native of Vercelli, by whose discoveries the mechanical part of the art was greatly improved, and the family of Fabio, who copied in mosaic some of the works of Guercino, Domenichino, and Carlo Maratta. The earliest document known which gives an account of any of the processes of mosaic painting, is the Lucca MS. ; but this merely contains some recipes for colour* ing the glass of which the work was composed. These recipes are repeated in the Mappae Clavicula. The Bolognese MS. contains directions for making coloured glass, and ^^ Materia Musica ;" and the subject is alluded to by Theophilus. The recipes for coloured glass in the MS. of Eraclius may also relate to mosaics. Neither of these authorities, however, describe the stucco in which the mosaic was embedded, nor do they speak of any cement for fastening the pieces of glass together. The omission has, however, been supplied by Yasari,^ who has mentioned the materials employed for this purpose. According to this author the stucco, which would remain in a state fit for working for a period of from two to four days according to the weatiier, was com- posed of lime, pounded brick, gum tragacanth, and white of egg, and it was kept moist by laying wet cloths upon it. In the Life of Agnolo Gaddi, Yasari mentions that the mosaics of Andrea Tafi in S. Giovanni in Florence, having been injured by the penetration of damp, were repaired by Agnolo, who employed stucco made of mastrice (or mastic according to Baldinucci) and wax, and this composition effectually answered the purpose of excluding the damp. From the same account it also appears that the squares were deeply embedded in the stucco and firmly cemented together. The repairing of these mosaics also gave the artists employed on the work an opportunity of observing that 1 Intr., cap. zzix. c«AP. HI.] MOSAIC PAINTING. ~" H the design had been marked out on the stucco with red outlines, and that it had been entirely worked on the stucco. Prof. Branchi of Pisa thus describes the ground in which the before-mentioned mosaics in the Tribune of the Duomo of that city were embedded : — " The cement or bed of the beautiful mosaic of the Tribune of the Duomo of Pisa consists of two thick strata one upon the other. The lower stratum^ which is white, tasteless, of a texture apparently homogeneous, soluble in acids, with liberation of carbonic acid, consisted undoubtedly of a mixture of slaked lime and marble dust. Having tested the weight of 2 denari (grammi 2-358) with acetic acid, there remained only silica and yellow oxide of iron, weighing ligr. (grammi 0085). The superior stratum in which the parallolopipeds of coloured glass were embedded, consisted of a yellowish mixture some- what hard, which acquired on lighted charcoal a colour that was first grey and then blackish. The same acetic acid, to the action of which I exposed an equal quantity of this layer as of the lower, dissolved the lime with slight ebullition, and left 12^ gr. (grammi 0*613) of a substance of a dark-yellow colour, which I found was composed of linseed oil dried, and a small portion of turpentine, and of other resinous matter. The cement of Uie mosaics of the cloisters of the Basilica of S. Paolo without the walls at Rome was composed of slaked lime and brickdust more or less finely pulverized. It was of a flesh colour, unalterable by fire or by exposure to the sea wind, and of a taste slightly saline. By means of an analysis, sufficiently accurate for the pur- pose, I found in the same quantity, namely 2 denari, that its constituents were nearly as follows : — Denari. Onina. Qnuami. Carbonate of lime ^ H (1*3^ Pulverized bricks deprived by acetic acid of their cal- . careouB parts • • • • . .0 11} (0*072 Muriate of soda, earthy muriates^ and a little calca- . reous sulphate . . • . . 0 8J (0*433 d2 Ki INTRODUCTION. [cajiF. ux. By these results I have learned, that the grounds of the mosaics were not always prepared in the same manner. Chambers ^ informs us, that '^ the composition adapted to retain the different pieces of glass, consisted of lime, and powder of fine bricks, with gum tragacanth and white of egg. From the Encyclopedic we learn, that anciently the cement of the mosaics was composed of white of egg and water, three parts of pulverized bricks, and one part of slaked lime, but that the materials generally employed, and which were preferable to the preceding, were slaked lime, pulverized marble, and linseed oil. As this last composition does not differ essentially from that which formed the superior layer of the Fisan mosaics, it is evident that it was known to the most eminent workers in mosaic of the thirteenth century." With regard to the oil and turpentine or other resin of which Frof. Branchi found traces in the upper stratum of the ground, I may add that notices have been found by Frof. Ciampi, in the records of the Duomo of Fisa for the year 1303, of payments for oil and tur- pentine which belong to the mosaics of the Duomo.* 1 Diet., Art. Mosaics, in which he mentions those of Pisa. [Note by Branchi.] Chambers probably learned this from Vasari (Intr., cap. zxix.), who adds travertine to the other ingredients. s << Docum 26 Johannes Orlandi coram me Ugolino notario recepit a D. Burgundio operario pro pretio librarum 76 olei linseminis ab eo, et operato ad operam Magiestatis* que fit in Majori Ecclesia, lib. iii. Sol. zviiii Johannes Orlandi sua sponte dixit se habuisse a d. Operario libras duas den. pis. pro pi-etio libre viginti novem trementine operate ad operam MagiesUtis." Da lib. di am. deir an. 1301 st. pis. dell' opera del Duomo di Pisa. '' Libras quinquaginta quatuor et solidos decem et octo den. pisanonin minutorum pro pretio centinarum quatuor olei linseminis ad operam Ma- * By a "Majesty" or "Maestk," is meant a representation of the Virgin or SaTiour enthroned. See Mr. Eastlake's * Materials/ &c, p. 170, n. In the pre- sent case the maest2i consists of the gigantic figure of the Sayioar seated on a throne, and holding in \k\s han4 a book, on which are inscribed the words " Ego sum Lux Mundi." On one side is the Virgin, and on the other St John ; these figures also are gigantic, and the effect is sai<|l to be most grand and sublime* Morrona, Pisa lUust., toI. L p. 247, 249, n. Murray's Guide to North Italy. CHAP. III.] MOSAIC PAINTING. Hii I It will be observed that wax does not occur in these documents, neither does it appear that it was found by Prof. Branchi in his analysis of the ground. From this it may be inferred, that it was not used generally, but was employed by Agnolo Gaddi merely as a hydrofuge. Prof Branchi analysed also some of the glass or enamel of which the coloured cubes were composed, for the purpose of ascertaining the metals with which they were coloured. On this subject he has the following observations : — "The art of composing the glass and enamels of various colours, by uniting them with glass liquefied by metallic oxides, is at the present time more extensively and perfectly conducted than it was among the ancients. Some chemists assert that the use of the oxide of cobalt in colouring glass blue was known to the ancient Egyp- tians,^ but this opinion, as far as I am aware, has never been confirmed by experience. In the observations of the Cav. Rossi, on the vase preserved at Genoa under the name of the *Sacro Catino,*" &c. (Torino, IS07), inserted in the fifth number of the Giornale della Society d'Incoraggiamento delle Scienze e delF Arte giestatis, et aliarum figurarum que fiunt in Majori Ecclesia, ad rationem dcnarioram xxviii. pro qualibet libra Upechinus pictor pro libris quadraginta tribus vemicis emptis ab eo ad operum Magiestatis." See also Morrona, Pisa Illustr., vol. i. pp. 249, 250, 256. 1 M. de Brongniart (Traitd des Arts Cdramiques, p. 563) says, that having analysed some of the Egyptian blue glass, he found it to contain silica, alkali, cobalt, and a small quantity of lime. He also says that the Egypdan figurines are coloured blue with copper, and not with cobalt. > This was a vessel for a long time supposed to have been formed of a single emerald. There is little doubt, however, that it is composed of glass. As a work of art its value will scarcely be diminished on this account ; since it affords evidence of the perfection to which the art of making and colour- ing glass was brought at a very early period ; for this vessel formed part of the spoils won at the taking of Cassarea in 1 101. The author of the Hand- book for North Italy observes (p. 106), ** The extraordinary perfection of the material, as well as the workmanship, roust always cause it to be consi* dered as a very remarkable monument, and of remote antiquity. The colour is beautiful, the transparency perfect, but a few air-bubbles sufficiently dis- close the substance of which it is made." Bv INTRODUCTION. [chap. iu. etabilita in Milano/ the following passage occurs: — ^ Sig. Millin infers from the blue glass, that cobalt was known to the ancients ; but this was unnecessary, says the author, because the oxide of copper, which naturally takes a blue colour, was sufficient for this purpose.' I have not been able to analyse the blue glass of the two works in mosaic above mentioned, because too small a quantity was sent me, and because my own private occupations did not permit me to devote as much time to these experiments as was necessary. I observed, however, that in the Roman mosaic and in the frag- ments of the Pisan ^ seen by refracted light, the charac- teristics pointed out by Bergman which distinguish glass coloured with cobalt were entirely wanting. I observed also that the last*mentioned glass preserved, as it should do, its own colour after being pulverized and fiised by the combined action of fire and of a small quantity of carbonate of soda ;* whilst that from Rome passed to an amethystine colour, which the Pisan glass also acquired, although in a less degree, having been both pulverized, mixed with carbonate of soda, and exposed to the same degree of heat. Having treated in the same manner the other enamels of various colours and more or less opaque of the mosaic of Pisa, I saw that the red passed to a blue colour ; that the purple was changed to an amethystine colour, and that the black became a transparent yellow glass, on the surface of which was an alkaline stratum of a bluish 1 The blue glass of the mosaic of S. Paolo is transparent ; that of the mosuc of Pisa is opaque, and of much greater thickness. [Note by Braochi.] * Sig. CIoYCt remarks on this subject, " The blue obtained from an oxide of cobalt is the most permanent of all colours ; it is equalljr fine at a low or at a great heat/* — Annales du Chimie, Paris, tome zxxir. p. 222. And in tome ii. p. 434, of the Dictionnaire Portatile des Arts et des Metiers, Paris, 1776, is found the following passage : — *' The most permanent colours are, the blue from cobalt, which resists without changing the greatest heat of the fire ; then the purple from gold, certain reds prepared from iron, &c."-— [Note by Branchi.] jCKAF, III.] MOSAIC PAINTING. 1^ gpreen. Having repeated these last experiments, I obtained from the dark green, light green, and purple enamels, results differing from the preceding in the gradation of colour only. From the red I afterwards obtained a transparent glass of yellowish green colour ; from the black, a violet or amethystine glass. These iterations and anomalies, some of which throw light on the nature of the blue glass of the ancients, are to be ascribed to the greater or less degree of oxidation of the metallic colouring matters." It will be interesting to the practical artist to compare the recipes for the mosaic glass and enamels in the Bolognese MS. with these results of Prof. Branchi's researches. In the Fisan mosaics, the red colour appears to have been produced from copper, while in the MS. it is produced from gold as well as from copper. Another variation also occurs in the blue, which in the old Fisan and Roman mosaics was pro- duced from copper, while in the Bolognese MS. it was coloured with " azzurri ultramarini." The green of the Fisan mosaic was produced by copper, that of the Bolognese MS. by ^^ crocus martis " and salgem. The gilding of the mosaics of which the backgrounds of the figures were composed was next examined by Frofessor Branchi. On this subject he observes:— ^^ The gilding of the cubes of common glass and enamel of these mosaics is very beautiful ; the leaf of gold is itself defended by a vitreous varnish, which, although not distinguishable on account of its thinness in the Fisan mosaic, except by having a shining surface, dif- ferent from that of gold, and by the resistance it offers to iron tools, to the action of mercury, and nitro-mu- riatic acid, is also of such a thickness in the Boman mosaic that even the sight of it alone is sufficient to remove all doubt. " Chambers,^ in speaking of the method of gilding 1 Dict.| Art. Mosaics. Thb also is from Vasari. Ivi INTRODUCTION. [chap. m. glass for mosaics, does not mention this varnish. * The pieces,' he says, * to be gilded, are moistened with gum-water, and the leaves of gold are applied; they are then placed at the entrance of the furnace until they are hot. By this means the metal remains fixed to the glass so firmly that it cannot be detached/ In order to varnish the gilded glass and enamels, it is very probable that glass or crystal, easily fusible, was reduced to an impalpable powder; that this powder was distempered with water, or with a solution of gum, or of borate of soda or other liquid ; that this mixture was spread over the gilded surface, and that finally the pieces of glass thus prepared were exposed to a degree of heat sufficient to -fuse this fine powder, which, when fused, would form the desired varnish/ " The gilding by fire on crystal ^ and porcelain is much superior in beauty to that of our mosaics. The latter, however, besides resisting the above-mentioned reagents, appears, as it were, after the lapse of six cen- turies, without the slightest alteration, and in the same state in which it lefl the hand of the artist. This ob- servation, confirmed by so many others, proves that the old masters had the stability of their works much at heart, and that they wished to preserve them, not only for their own sons and grandsons, but also for posterity." The method alluded to by Professor Branchi of mixing 1 Leon Battista Albert! recommends fixing the gold to the glass with cal- cined lead (calcinadi piombo), which he says becomes more liquid than any kind of glass. Arch., book 6, cap. x. 3 Kunckely in the additions to the Arte Vetraria of Neri, treats at length of gilding with greater or less permanence on glass. For gilding which was to be fixed by fire, he recommends tliat the leaves of gold should be applied with the solution of borate of soda, or the borax of commerce, or with gum and a small quantity of this salt dissolved in a proportionate quan- tity of water. By bathing that part of the crystal which is to be gilded with a solution of nitro-muriate of gold, mixed with a sufficient quantity of sul- phuric acid, and exposing it afterwards to a sufficient degree of heat, a fine and permanent gilding is produced, according to the assertion of Struve and Exsaquet, Giornale di Torino, tom. ii. part i. [Note by Branchi.] CHAP. III.] TARSIA WORK. Ivii pulverized glass with gum-water, and spreading it over the gold lea^ and afterwards fusing the glass, appears to have been the method followed by Theophilus : while the process described by Count Caylus of placing the des^ in gold between two plates of glass, and fixing the surfaces together by fire, was the method which Eraclius says was practised by the Romans, and which he describes in Lib. I. cap. v.' TARSIA WORK. Another art, allied to mosaic painting, was practised in Italy, and was called " Mosaic of wood," " Tarsia** or " Tarsie*' work, or " Tarsiatura.'* This consisted in representing houses and perspective views of buildings by inlaying pieces of wood of various colours and shades into panels of walnut wood. Vasari* says, that at first this kind of work was executed in white and black only ; but Fra Giovanni Veronese, who practised it extensively, much improved the art by staining the wood with various colours by means of waters and tints boiled with penetrating oil, in order to produce both light and shadow, with wood of various colours, making the lights with the whitest pieces of the spindle tree. In order to produce the shades, it was the practice of some artists to singe the wood by the fire ; while others used oil of sulphur and a solution of corrosive sublimate and arsenic. St Audemar (No. 165) mentions that saffron was used to stain box-wood yellow ; but he does not say to what use the wood was put when stained. The subjects most proper for Tarsia work are per- spective representations of buildings full of windows and angular lines, to which force and relief are given by means of lights and shades. Vasari speaks rather slightingly of this art, and says that it was practised 1 See pages 187, 188. > Int., cap. xxxi. Iviii INTRODUCTION. [chap. m. chiefly by those persons who possessed more patience than skill in design ; that although he had seen some good representations of figures, fruits, and animals, yet the work soon became dark, and was always in danger of perishing from the worms and by fire. Tarsia work was frequently employed in decorating the choirs of churches, as well as the backs of the seats and the wainscotings. It was also used in the panels of doors. The art was cultivated to the greatest extent in the Venetian territories, where three Olivetani monks were particularly distinguished for their skill. The most celebrated of these was Fra Giovanni da Verona, who was called to Rome by Pope Julius II. to decorate the doors and seats of the Vatican with Tarsia work, the designs of which were made by Baffaelle. Fra Damiano da Bei^amo, a Dominican monk, attained equal cele- brity in this art. So great was his skill that Charles V. refused to believe that the Tarsia work executed by him in the Area of S. Domenico, at Bologna, really consisted of pieces of wood inlaid, but he thought it must have been the work of the pencil.^ Nor would he be convinced of the fact until part of the stucco was removed and a piece of the wood taken out; in re- membrance of this circumstance the work was left in that state, and has never been repaired. The inlaid work in wood of various kinds called " Tunbridge ware" is a kind of mosaic, but it cannot be compared with the Italian Tarsia work in the deli- cate gradations of colour, or the intricacy of the subject represented. ^ Marchese, Vite de' Pittori, &c. Domenicani, vol. ii. p. 257, CHAP. IV.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Hx CHAPTER IV. GLASS. § I. Early Histoiy of Painting on Glass in Italy* While the history of painting on glass has been studied in France and Germany, where it has been illustrated by the works of Le Vieil, Langlois, Thibaud, La- steyrie, and of Fathers Martin and Cahier, its rise and progress in Italy has been but little investigated. A sufficient reason for this may perhaps be found in . the superiority of the glass painters of France and Germany * over those of Italy in all the mechanical parts of the art, as well as in the fact that all the improvements introduced into this branch of paint- ing may be traced to the northern nations, who in their turn are represented to have received their first instruction from the East* It might be supposed from the celebrity of the glass works at Murano, that the Venetians would have excelled in this art, but this has not been the case ; the art of painting on glass was but little practised by them,^ and the glass manufac* tured at Murano was found too opaque for this pur- pose/ Still the art was occasionally practised in Italy, sometimes by native artists, who employed their skill either on Venetian glass, or on glass manufactured for the purpose by German or French artists, and some- 1 See Vasari, Int, cap. xxxiu t In 687 many Greek workmen went to France, for the purpose of work* ing in glass. Filiasi, Saggio suir Antico Commerdo, &c., p. 148, n. s The windows of charches in the Venetian territories are usually filled with small drcolar panes of colourless glass, about 6 inches in diameter. * Vasari, Introduction, cap. xizii. Ix INTRODUCTION. [chap. nr. times the painted glass was executed entirely by foreign artists invited into Italy for this purpose. The designs, however, were frequently made by the Italians, who excelled the Germans in design and composition. The names of but few painters on glass have descended to posterity, and this is partly explained by the rule which prevailed among the Flemish artists at least, of not affixing their names to their works, or of marking them with their monograms only. ^ The notices of the Italian painters on glass are few and scanty, and have never yet been published collectively. It may, there- fore, not be uninteresting to give a short account of some of the most distinguished painters in this branch of the profession. History has not preserved the name of the artist who executed those glass windows, considered to be the earliest of the kind in Italy, which were painted or stained by order of Pope Leo III. at Home, a.d. 795 ;* neither is it recorded whether they were by a Greek or an Italian artist. That they were the work of the latter is probable, from the existence of recipes for coloured glass in the Lucca MS., published by Mura- tori, which was apparently written by an Italian. From this time until 1303 '^ no certain notices of painting on glass in Italy are found. The archives of the House of Savoy show that at this period a sum of money was paid to one Johanneto (Giannetto) for painting certain windows in the Castle at Chambery.* In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the art was 1 See Le Vieil, de la Peinture sur Veire, p. 33. Albert Diirer is an exception to this rule ; he is said not only to have written his name on his works, but to have added sometimes his portrait also. s Mur., Rer. Ital., torn. iii. part i. p. 196, 197. ' At Altare, a Tillage in the midst of the central range of the Ligurian AlpS) glass-works are said to have existed from time immemorial. They are reported to have been founded bj some fugitive Gauls. — ^Murray's Hand- book for North Italy. 4 Lcttera dal Vemazza al P. Guglielmo della Valle. Giomale di Pisa, 1794. CHAP. IV.] » PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixi much cultivated in Tuscany, especially by the Gesuati, who worked in the Cathedrals of Florence, Arezzo, and elsewhere. The names of a few only of these artists have survived. The necrology of the Dominicans, in the convent of Sta. Maria Novella in Florence, has preserved the name of Fra Giacomo di Andrea, a Dominican and painter on glass, who flourished during this century. ' Fra Domenico PoUini, a native of Cagliari in Sar- dinia, lived at Pisa during the first half of the fourteenth century. The Chronicle of the Convent of Sta. Cathe- rine of Pisa thus records his merits : " Frater Dominicus Sardus de PoUinis Kallaritanis fuit valde gratiosus et probus, soavissime conversationis. Cantabat bene, scri- bebat pulcre, et fenestras vitreas operabatur optime." * The same Chronicle also eulogizes more copiously Fra Michele Pina of Pisa, who is said to have been a perfect master in painting on glass, and who painted the large window in the church of the Dominicans at Pistoia now destroyed, and one in the refectory of the convent of Sta. Katherine. He died in 1340. A lay Dominican named Andrea painted the window of the choir in the same church of Sta. Katherine, as appears by his name being at the foot of it' The large window in the choir of the church of S. Francesco at Pisa was painted in 1340, but the name of the artist has not been preserved. This window was repaired in 1585 by P. Johanne Antonio Nerucci/ Another window in the same church was painted in 1390 by Jacopo Castelli, of Siena, as is proved by an inscription on the glass.^ It appears from these notices and from the records of the Duomo that a school of 1 Marchcse, Vite de' Pittori, &c., Domenicani, vol. i. p. 391. « lb., p. 390. s Valtancoli) Annali Pisani, vol. i. p. 428. See Marchese, vol. ii. p. 488. 4 Ciampi, Notizie, &c., p. 116, n. ' Morrona) Pisa lllust., vol. iii. p. 56, ft Pisa lUust., vol. iii. p. 60. v Ixii INTRODUCTION. [chap. rr. painters on glass subsisted in Pisa irom the early part of the fourteenth century until 1685, if not later. Lunardo, M. Simon e di Domenico of Florence, and Bartolomeo da Scarperia, painted, between 1460 and 1464, the glass for the large windows which sheltered, on the sides exposed to the north and to the marine winds, the walls of the Campo Santo. The remains of the iron employed in fixing the windows may still be seen opposite the pictures of Buffalmacco and OrgagnaJ About the same time flourished at Venice one Maestro Marco, who painted certain windows in the church of S. Francesco at Treviso, " which were well executed; for a certain German iriar painted [the originals of] all those works formerly in the convent (of the Frate Minori) at Venice, and Maestro Marco copied and sent them to Treviso.'' This Marco is stated to have been living in 1335.* In the fifteenth century the notices of painters on glass in Italy are more numerous; among those who flourished in the first half of this century may be named Angioletto da Gubbio, who painted some windows in the cathedrals of Orvieto and Siena, and the large window in the chapel of S. Ludovico in the Basilica of Assisi. The original designs for this window, executed in distemper, are preserved in the collection of Conte Francesco Ranghiasi Brancaleone in Gubbio.' In the beginning of this century flourished a Do* minican fi*iar named Ambruogio di Bindo, an excellent painter on glass, whose name appears in the archives of the Duomo of Siena from 1404 to 1411.* 1 Ciampi, Notizie, &c., p. 116, n, s Zanetti, Nuova Raccolta delle Monete e Zecche d' Italia, vol. iv. p. 151, cited by Lanzi, vol. i. p. 151, and by Mr. Eastlake, ' Materials,* &c.y p. 90, 91. 3 Memorie Storiche di Ottaviano .Nelli. Da Luigi Bonfatti. Gubbio, 194S. 4 Marchese, Vitede* Pittori Doroenicani, vol. ii. p. 440. CHAP. IV.] PAINTING ON GLASS. * Ixiii Fra Bartolommeo di Pietro di Vanni Aocomandati of Perugia painted a beautiful window in the church of S. Domenico at Perugia,^ which is said to exceed in the dimensions, in the composition, and in the beauty of the colouring, every other painted window in Italy, with the exception of those by Gulielmo de Marcillat in Arezzo. On the lowest compartments of this window there is an inscription purporting that the window was painted by Fra Bartolommeo in 1411. It has been doubted whether the inscription actually belonged to the window below which it is placed, but the fact appears to be satisfactorily proved by Marchese.* A contract for making a glass window in the sacristy of the church of the Dominicans proves that Bartolommeo was living in 1415. The dates of his birth and death are unknown, but he was resident in his convent in 1370, and was elected superior of it in 1413. It is much to be regretted that the annals of the convent should have been discontinued (excepting a few brief notices) for nearly a century, so that there are no means of ascertaining how Fra Bartolommeo ac- quired his skill in glass-painting, or where he procured llie glass. Even twenty-five years after Bartolommeo completed his celebrated work, the glass made in Italy was not considered good enough for the windows of the Duomo of Florence ; for we read that Lorenzo Ghiberti, who delighted greatly in this kind of work, and who had undertaken to paint some of the windows in this cathedral, having considered how large a quantity of glass of the finest workmanship would be required for so great a work, and having heard of a native of Tus- cany named Francesco Dominici Livi di Gambasso, who was then living in the city of Lubeck, and who was considered the most eminent master of this art then living, determined to recall him with his whole 1 Marchese, Vite de' Pittori Domenicani, vol. i. p. 393. « Ibid., vol. i. p. 391-402. Ixiv INTRODUCTION, [chap. ir. family to his own country, for the benefit of which he might exercise his profession. This design was executed ; Livi came to Florence in 1436, and made the glass, which was all painted by Ghiberti, with the exception of one window, which was painted by Donatello. Baldinucci proves the truth of these facts by an entry in the * Libro di Deliberazione de' Signori Operai,' b. 1436, a.c. 8,* which he quotes in his Life of Ghiberti, and thus disproves the assertion of Vasari, that the glass used for this purpose was Ve- netian. In reading the history of Italian art there is nothing that strikes the mind more forcibly than that versatility and universality of genius for which so many of the medieval and cinque-cento artists were distinguished, and by which they were enabled to attain so high a degree of eminence in all the fine arts. At the present time, in which division of labour is the order of the day, the exercise of one branch of the arts is considered a suffi- cient employment for the mental powers of an artist during his whole life. When we remember the long period of pupilage through which the Italian artists were accustomed to pass, it is not surprising that there should have been artists who have succeeded in all kinds of painting, as I have mentioned with regard to the painters in mosaic and on glass, who frequently excelled also in oil and fresco painting; but it does appear astonishing that the greatest architect should have been, as was firequently the case, not only the greatest painter of his time, but the greatest sculptor also. Vasari accounts for this fact by saying that " design and invention are the father and mother of all the arts, and not of one only." There is no doubt that he was right, and that the great Italian masters owed 1 The same document is published in the Carteggio Inedito, toI. ii. p. 441. -^ CHAP. IV.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixv their celebrity to their mental endowments, and not merely to their practical skill. It is said ^ on the au- thority of Lorenzo Ghiberti that Giotto, painter, archi- tect, and poet, sculptured some of the subjects in marble on his own beautiful campanile at Florence. At a later period the great Raphael changed his manner of painting after having examined the paintings of Michael Angelo, the greatest architect and the greatest sculptor of his age. Francia was a goldsmith before he was a painter. The genius of Benvenuto Cellini was as con- spicuous in the jewelled ornaments he made for the pope as in his Perseus. The names of painters who have possessed high mathematical attainments are numerous. But the most remarkable man among the moderns was undoubtedly Lionardo da Vinci, who was at once a painter, poet, musician, mathematician, and natural philosopher, and, as some say, architect and statuary also, whose sagacity anticipated Bacon in de- claring tibat experiment should precede theory — who had described the camera obscura before it was made known by Porta — who wrote on the descent or attrac* tion of heavy bodies to the earth forty years before Copernicus — whose discoveries in hydraulics preceded by a century those of Castelli — and whose observations "on flame and air "were made nearly three centuries before the modern theory of combustion was promul- gated.' Did Lionardo, when he registered these dis- coveries in characters that could only be read by reflection in a glass, think, like Bacon, that mankind -j~ — - — - -- -- - ■ ■ ■ - - > Yasari, Vita di Giotto. Lorenzo Ghiberti left a MS., in which he gives a short account of ancient and modem painters. The most interest- ing parts of this Essay have been published by Cicognara in his Storia di Scultura. s See Amoretti, Memorie Storiche di Lionardo da Vinci, p. 185-142y citing Venturi, Essai sur Jes Ouvrages Math6matiques de Leonard da Vinci, 1797. See also Humboldt's Kosmos, vol. ii. p. 322, 380, 389, and Hallam's Hist, of Literature, vol. i. p. 303, and note. VOL. I. e Ixvi . INTRODUCTION. . [chap. iv. were not at that period sufficiently enlightened to profit by his researches into the arcana of nature ? Second to Lionardo only in fame, but his equal in talent, was Leon Batista Alberti. His genius was universal : he was a skilful architect, an accomplished painter, sculptor, poet, and musician, a mathematician and inventor of optical instruments, an author of trea- tises on painting, sculpture, and architecture, and a moral and dramatic writer. Lorenzo Ghiberti was another of these distinguished men. He began his career as a goldsmith, but being more partial to the arts of design and sculpture, he sometimes practised painting, and sometimes cast small bronze figures, which he finished with infinite grace. In his maturer years he seems to have occasionally worked at all these arts. He painted an apartment for Pandolfo Malatesta at Rimini soon after the year 1400. In 1439 he made for Pope Eugenius a golden mitre which weighed fifteen pounds ; the weight of the pearls with which it was decorated was five pounds and a hall^ and which, with the other jewels, were estimated at 30,000 golden ducats. It is said that six of these pearls were as large as filberts, and Vasari remarks that, to judge fi'om the design, nothing could be ima- gined more beautiful than the arrangement of the jewels and the variety of the figures and other oniaments. But the capo d'opera of Ghiberti was the bronze doors of the Baptistery at Florence, one of the finest works of the middle ages, and which alone was sufficient to im- mortalise the name of Ghiberti. His predilection for painting on glass has been already mentioned. Besides the windows in the Duomo of Florence, he painted others at Arezzo ; but in spite of his precautions to se- cure the best kind of glass, it is related that the build- ings were too much obscured by these windows, and this was undoubtedly Vasari's reason for saying they CHAP. IT.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixvii were made of Venetian glass. Lorenzo taught the art of painting on glass to Parri Spinello, who introduced it into Arezzo.^ At Milan during this century the art was practised less successfiiUy. It appears from an entry in the records of the Duomo, dated November 10, 1449,* that a dispute having arisen between Stefano da Fandino, the painter, and the authorities on account of some window which he had painted, his work was adjudged to be so badly executed that the artist was obliged to repaint great part of it at his own expense. In the Venetian territories painting on glass was occasionally practised at this period. In 1473 the window of the choir in the south transept of the church of SS. Giovanni and Paolo at Venice, and another at Murano, were painted by Mocetto from the designs of Vivarini.' But the most distinguished painter on glass of the fifteenth century in Italy was Beato Giacomo da Ulmo, a native of Ulm, in Germany. He was born in 1406, and acquired the art of painting on glass in this city. At the age of twenty-five he travelled to Rome, where he spenT his time and money in visiting the sacred edifices of that city; but finding himself at last pennyless, he became a soldier in the service of Alphonso of Arragon, king of Naples, and fought in the great battle in which the Genoese were victorious, and Alphonso lost both his throne and his life. Gia- como having served four years in the army, became disgusted with the profession, and engaged himself as servant to a citizen of Capua. In 1440 or 1441 he determined to return to his native land and embrace 1 Vasari, Vitadi Lorenzo Gbiberti. s Memorie de* Pittori, Scultori, e Architctti Milanesi, Opera MS. detl* Abate Ant^ Albuzzi, vol. i. This MS. is now in the possession of Co. Gaetano Melzi, to whom I am indebted for the loan of it. s See Lanad) vol. i. p. 152, and Murray's Hand-book for North Italy, p. 354. e2 Ixvili INTRODUCTION. [chap. rr. once more his aged father. With this view he arrived at Bologna, where, praying before the altar of S. Do- menico, he felt himself inspired to renounce his earAly home, and think only of the heavenly. In the thirty- fourth year of his age he entered his noviciate in this monastery, where he lived for fifty years a life so holy that he obtained the honours of canonization. His death took place in 1491. With the religious habit Fra Giacomo resumed his early occupation of painting on glass. It appears from public archives preserved in Bologna, that he painted windows in the convent of S. Domenico in 1464 and 1465; in the library from 1467 until 1472; and the last time his name was mentioned was in 1480, when he was in his seventy-third year. Some painted glass in a window of the first dormitory in this convent has been attributed to him ; but it is considered by Bian- coni * and by Marchese to be much more ancient — in- deed to be the most ancient specimen of painted glass in Bologna. But the principal works of Fra Giacomo were in the church of S. Petronio in Bologna.* It is much to be regretted that it cannot now be ascertained what glass was painted by him, for the windows in this church were the work of several artists, among the best of whom was Frate Ambrogino da Soncino, who had been pupil of Fra Giacomo for thirty years. Besides the glass in S. Petronio, Fra Giacomo is said to have 1 Guida di Bologna. s The colours in the oM glass in S. Petronio are eztremelj yivid — ruby red, emerald green, ultramarine blue, and opaque black. The two former are transparent, but the blue is semi-opaque, resembling in effect thin plates of ultramarine, rather than blue glass. I could imagine the colour was produced bjr stirring the ultramarine in powder into glass, as described by Suger when speaking of the blue glass for the abbey of S. Denys. In one of the windows is another kind of blue, more transparent, but the colour is neither so deep nor so pure. — ^^Thb resembles the blue seen in the old Venetian coloured glass windows. OHAP. IV.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixix painted several other windows in Bologna, which still remain. It appears from an entry in the records of the con- vent that Fra Giacomo was assisted in the designs by a certain Michele. Bianconi states ^ that the designs for some of the windows in S. Petronio were by the great Michael Angelo Buonarroti. On considering the dates, it will be seen that these designs by Michael Angelo could not have been for the windows painted by Fra Giacomo, because it does not appear that the latter painted after 1480, when Michael Angelo had only attained his sixth year. The reputation of Beato Giacomo was as great in France as in Italy. He was there called " Jacques TAllemand." Le Vieil (p. 34) says, "The miracles that were wrought at his tomb caused him to be placed among the saints of his order, and the company or guild of the master glass-makers, painters on glass at Paris, celebrate his fete as their second patron on the second Sunday in October.'* The discovery of the art of staining glass a trans- parent yellow with silver has been by some authors ascribed to Van Eyck, but it is attributed with greater reason to Fra Giacomo da Ulmo. The discovery is said to have originated in an accident Le Vieil (p. 108) gives the following account of it : — Fra Giacomo being one day occupied in placing his glass in the fur- nace in order to fix the colours, let fall a silver button firom one of his sleeves without perceiving it. The button sank into the lime, which is always placed in the furnace under the glass. The furnace being closed, the enamels melted. The button, or at least a part of it, was fused, and it imparted a yellow stain to the glass which lay above it, and this yellow stain was found to have penetrated into the substance of the glass. 1 Guidadi Bologna. Ixx INTRODUCTION. . [chap. iv. Fra Ambrogino da Soncino, the pupil of Giaconio, was also an excellent painter on glass, and his works may be seen in many churches at Bologna. He died in 1517. He wrote the life of his master, Giacomo, from which the biographical facts relative to the latter have been extracted.* Frate Anastasio, also a lay brother of the convent of S. Domenico at Bologna, was another pupil of Fra Giacomo. He died in 1529, having instructed in his art a pupil who left, in a book of Memoranda concern- ing the Area of S. Domenico, begun in the year 1521^ the following affectionate and pathetic memorial of his master : — " After hira (one Fra Petronio, who held the office of Archisti, or guardian of the Area, until 1521) 'came my beloved and dear master and predecessor Frate Anastasio, a lay brother, a devout man, a man of God, and of our father S. Domenico. Cheerful, of middling stature, the beauty of his mind was reflected in that of his body ; in him I frequently seemed to behold a cherub ; one of his hands was worth my whole body ; he had great genius, was most skilful in painting on glass, a disciple and imitator of the blessed Giacomo, and during the space of eight years he most faithfully, most fervently, and most devotedly served with the greatest charity and integrity of life, his and our good father S. Domenico, and by him he was richly re- warded." * That affectionate and lasting attachment which so frequently subsisted between the master and the pupils, and which is a beautiful trait in the character of the Italian painters, could only have arisen under their system of working together for a long period of years. The lengthened term of the apprenticeship, frequently extending to twelve years, and the consequent inter- 1 Marcbese, vol. i. p. 409, 410, slbid., p. 411. CHAP. IV.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixxi change of benefits given and received by master and pupil, frequently gave rise to a friendship as sincere as it was affectionate, and which terminated only with the death of one of the parties. Thus Taddeo Gaddi, the godson and favourite pupil of Giotto, was the disciple of the latter for twenty-four years ; Cennini was for twelve years the pupil of Agnolo, the son of Taddeo, Many other instances are noticed in these pages ; many also are recorded by Vasari. In the * History of the Duomo of Orvieto ' Mt is stated that in 1444 a certain Fra Mariano di Viterbo, a Dominican, offered himself to paint the windows of the cathedral, and proposed to paint one as a specimen. He did so, but his painting was not approved of, and D. Gasparro di Volterra, a priest, was then invited to paint a specimen. This also was disapproved of^ and ultimately the celebrated Benedictine monk D. Fran- cesco di Barone Brunacci was selected, who executed the work to the satisfaction of all parties. Marchese ^ conjectures that he was a pupil of Fra Bartolommeo di Pietro. In the Necrology of the convent of S. Domenico at Siena, under the year 1515 is mentioned the name of Frater Raphael Peregrini; he is said to have been skilfol in painting on glass.^ The names of two other professors of this art, Fra Cristophano and Fra Bernardo, have been preserved in the archives of the Duomo of Arezzo. The contract is dated March, 1477', and the colours were to be " cotti alfuoco, e non messi a olio'' * A similar stipulation is contained in the contract, dated August, 1513 (preserved in the same archives), relative to the windows to be painted in the cathedral » Storia del Duomo di Orvieto, Document Ixviii. p. 71, 8 Vol. i. p. 413. 3 Id. ibid. 4 Carteggio Inedito d* Artisti, vol. ii. p. 446. Ixxii INTRODUCTION. [chap. rr. by Domenicho Pietro Vannis de Pechoris * and Sts^o Fabiani Stagii ;* and in another contract, dated April 25, 1515,* it was stipulated that Domenicho should execute certain paintings on good Venetian or German glass. The price paid for the last windows was at the rate of fourteen " lire piccole " the square braccio.** The execution, however, of these works was not such as to satisfy the good people of Arezzo, and one M. Lodovico Bellichini, a physician, and intimate friend of Guglielmo de Marcillat, persuaded the latter, who was then resident at Cortona, to visit Arezzo, where Stagio had the liberality to invite him to reside in his house/ The greatest of all the artists who practised painting on glass in Italy was Guglielmo de Marcillat, whose name is generally translated William of Marseilles- Dr. Gaye, the editor of the *Carteggio Inedito,' has, however, discovered his real name and designation in a document preserved in the archives belonging to the Bishop of Arezzo. He is there • described as " Messer Guillelmo de Piero, Franceze, Priore di S. Tibaldo, di Sto. Michele, diocesi di Verduno*' (Verdun, in France), and he subscribes his name thus : " lo Guil- lelmo de Piero de Marcillat" From this Marchese (vol. ii. p. 212) thinks that Marcillat was his family- name, and Piero that of his father. He was born in 1475, and acquired the art of painting on glass in France. In order to escape the consequence of being concerned, with some of his friends, in the death of an enemy, he sought refuge in a Dominican convent, 1 Carteggio Inedito d' Artisti, vol. ii. p. 446. See also Vasari, Life of Don Bartolommeo, Abate di S. Cleinenti. > Carteggio Inedito, vol. ii. p. 446. Vasari, in the Life of Lazzaro, calls this artist Fabiano Sassoli. s Carteggio Inedito, vol. ii. p. 449. ^ A braccio is about 23 inches. ^ Vasari, Vita di Guglielmo de Marcillat, and see Marchese, vol. ii. p. 211, &c. ^ Carteggio Inedito, &c., vol. ii. p. 449. CHAP. IV.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixxiii where he assumed the habit of the order and continued to practise his art. About this time Pope Julius the Second commis- sioned Bramante to introduce many windows of glass into the palace. In reply to the inquiries made by the latter for the most excellent among those who practised this art, he was informed that these things were done in a wonderful manner in France, and he was shown a specimen by the French ambassador at the Court of Rome, who had for the window of his study a piece of white glass, on which was painted a figure with an infinite number of colours fixed on the glass by the action of fire. Bramante caused an invitation to be sent to these French artists, offering them good emolu- ment. Claudio, a brother monk, and excellent painter on glass, and intimate friend of Guglielmo, persuaded the latter to accept the offer, and the two artists set out together for Rome, where they were employed by the Pope to paint several windows of the palace, which are now no longer in existence ; two only remain of those painted in Sta. Maria del Popolo. About this time his friend Claudio died, leaving him heir to his designs, and the implements used in the art ; and Guglielmo henceforward worked by himself. From Rome he went to Cortona, where he painted the firont of the house of Cardinal Passerini, and several windows. Leaving Cortona he went to Siena, where he painted a window in Sta. Lucia, in the chapel of the Alber- gotti, in the bishopric of Arezzo ; " which," says Va- sari, " may truly be said to be living figures, and not coloured or transparent glass." Some parts of these still remain, and the parts deficient are filled up with white glass. He also painted three windows in the Duomo di Arezzo, as appears by the following con- tract,' dated 31 Oct., 1519:— 1 Carteggio Inedito, vol. ii. p. 449. Ixxiv INTRODUCTION. [chap. iv. " I signori operai al Vescovado ano alogato a fare tre finestre di vetro in Vescovado a Maestro Guglielmo di Pietro, franceze, maestro a far finestre di vetro, coi^ una finestra sopra la cappella di San Francesco, una finestra sopra la cappella di San Matio, una finestra sopra la cappella di San Niccolo, per prezzo di lire 15 per ciascheduno braccio, cotti a fuoco^ non a olioj e debale avere finite per tutto Gugno prossimo 1520." For each of these windows he received 180 ducats, as appears by a record dated 31st Dec^ 1520. He also painted a window in the church of the Dominicans, for which he would receive no recom- pense, "because," he said, "he was much indebted to that society," alluding to the shelter and protection the Dominicans had formerly afibrded him. Besides other windows, he painted several frescoes which are still in good preservation ; the design and composition of these works are good, but the colouring is rather feeble.* He lost his life from his too great application to fresco painting, which he followed summer and winter ; the exhalations from the lime occasioned an illness which carried him oflFin a few days, in the year 1537, at the age of 62.* Many practical details relative to painting on glass are given in the Life of Guglielmo by Vasari, who united to his other attainments a knowledge of this art. Vasari attributes to Guglielmo de Marcillat the honour of having carried the art of painting on glass to per- fection in Tuscany. He particularly eulogizes the skill of Guglielmo in the arrangement of the colours, whereby the most forcible colours were employed for the figures in the foreground, while the darker colours were reserved for the more distant objects. He praises also his invention and composition, and the great skill i Marchese, vol. ii. p. 223. 2 Vasari; Vita de Guglielmo dc Marcillat. CHAP, IV.] PAINTING ON GLASa ^ Ixxv with which he arranged the joinings of the lead and iron, which he disposed in such a manner in the joints of the figures, and the folds of the draperies, that they were scarcely visible, and even imparted to the figures a grace which could not be exceeded by the pencil. Vasari mentions more than once the great dexterity of Guglielmo in applying diflerent colours to the same piece of glass by grinding away the coloured surfaces, so as to leave the white glass, to which another colour was afterwards given ; and he informs us that the Gesuati of Florence, by whom this art was much cul- tivated, having obtained possession of a window painted by Guglielmo, took it to pieces in order to ascertain how it was put together, and removed and experi- mented on many of the pieces of glass, which they replaced by new ones. Guglielmo left the materials belonging to the art to Pastorino da Siena, his assistant, who had worked for him many years/ Pastorino painted in 1549 the beautiful round or rose window (occhio) in the Duomo of Siena, and others in St. Peter's at Rome. He usually worked from the designs of Pierino del Vaga. Maso Porro, of Cortona, who was more skilful in joining and in burning the glass than in painting, and Battista Borro, of Arezzo, were also pupils of Gugli- elmo de Marcillat The latter taught the art to Benedetto Spadari and Giorgio Vasari, the biographer of the painters. To these artists may be added Gondrate, who in 1574 painted a window in the Duomo of Parma, from a design by Lattanzio Gambara. The first glass furnace was introduced into Rimini in 1551 by Geminiano da Modena, whose sons becanie excellent painters on glass.^ 1 Vasari, Life of Guglielmo ; Bald., Vite, Dec. iv. Part i. del Sec. iv. ^ Yedriani, Fittori Modcnesi, p. 86. Ixxvi INTRODUCTION. [chap. iv. § 2. On Windows. We have been so long accustomed to see glass win- dows in our houses, that few, perhaps, except antiquaries and archaeologists, have ever inquired whether they were possessed by our ancestors. It may not, therefore, be deemed uninteresting to relate briefly a few facts relative to this subject, gleaned from history and archaeology. There is reason to believe ^ that glass windows were employed occasionally in ecclesiastical buildings during the early centuries of the Christian era ; but the prac- tice was by no means universal, and the most ancient glass windows mentioned to have been constructed in Italy were those ordered by Pope Leo the Third in the eighth century ^ at Rome. The windows of some sacred edifices were closed with valves, or shutters of stone, like those of the Duomo of Torcello' erected in 1008. Others were filled with slabs of a transparent kind of talc or alabaster.* The only example now known to exist of this kind of window is in the church of St Miniato at Florence, built in the commencement of the eleventh century, under the Emperor Henry and his wife Cunegonda. The windows, five in num- ber, are in the apsis, and are each filled with a single slab, formed of a kind of transparent alabaster, or marble, called by the Italians "fengite."* The effect of these windows is singular. When illuminated by the morning sun, they appear shining with a cloudy roseate light^ » See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 185. 2 Coloured glass is mentioned in the Lucca MS., which is said to be of this century. 8 The windows are now glazed, but this is thought to be a later addition. * Vasari, Ipt, cap. xxxii. ^ Fantozzi, Guida di Firenze, p. 770. < Murray's Guide to North Italy, p. 583. CHAP. IV.] WINDOWS. Ixxvii Bede relates that glass was brought to England, a.d» 674, by certain ecclesiastics for the purpose of deco- rating the churches then erecting in this country ; but although makers of glass were brought to England at the same time, the progress of the art in this country must have been inconsiderable, since Matthew Paris relates that, in the reign of Henry the Third, a few churches only had glass windows. In 1135> glazed frames, called "verrinee,*' were made for the windows in the chapel and hall of Winchester, and in some of the chambers.' The earliest painted glass in York Cathedral was painted about 1200. This slowness of progress must, however, have been the effect of want of encouragement rather than of want of ability, for in 11 53 the Queen of England sent a present of a painting on glass to the Comte de Dreux, and his third wife, the Comtesse of Braine, in Normandy.* The beauty of the early English painted glass is evi- dent fipom the windows of Lincoln Cathedral : some of these, which are remarkable for the brilliancy of the colours, were executed in 1220. In France the art must have been extensively cul- tivated. A great many churches were erected during the eleventh century, and Le Vieil considers that the art of painting on glass, properly so called, arose in France about this period. In the twelfth century Suger adorned the Abbey of St. Denys with painted windows, and his example was followed in most of the churches newly erected. The use of glass windows in private houses was ^ Archseological Journal for 1845, p. 54. » Le Vieil (de la Peinture sur Verre, p. 24), quoting the Chartularium of the Abbey, and the Index Coenobiorum Ordinis Prsemonstratensis. According to Lavoisne, Matilda of Boulogne, wife of Stephen, died in 1162, consequently there was no Queen of England in 1153. The window, however, might have been ordered to be painted some years previously, and perhaps was not completed and fixed in its destined place until 1153. Ixxviii INTRODUCTION. [chap. iv. extremely limited during the middle ages. In France it was not employed until the fourteenth century.* At the close of this century, however, and the begin- ning of the next,* several windows were painted for the hotel of the Duke of Orleans in the Rue de la Poterne lez Saints Pol, at Paris. It may be interesting to know that the price paid for this painted glass varied from four to eight Parisian sous the foot. In the document which contains an account of these windows, there is also a charge for " taking down, washing, and replacing several panes of glass, painted and reco- loured, in the chamber of Louis Monseigneur de Bourbon." This makes it probable that the glass had been fixed in the windows for some time, since it had become necessary to wash and recolour it. It also suggests the idea that these paintings were not executed with enamel or vitrified colours, which would not have required recolouring, but probably with pigments mixed with egg or oil. It appears firom recent archaeological researches that many of the royal residences in England had glazed windows in the thirteenth century. In the twentieth year of the reign of Henry the Third (1235-6), the windows of the chapel and hall of Winchester, and some of the chambers, were glazed.^ The accounts of Rockingham Castle for the year 1279 also contain an entry of payment " for glazing the windows, 5^."^ It is probable that the dwellings of the nobility were furnished with glass windows in the fourteenth century, I Ilallam^s Midd. Ages, vol. iii. p. 425. 8 Between 1399 and 1429. See < Louis et Charles, Dues d'Orl^ns, leur Influence sur les Arts, la Litt^rature, et TEsprit de leur Si^cle, d'apr^ les Documents Originaux et les Peintures des Manuscrits. Par Aim^ Champollion-Figeac (de la Biblioth^que Royalo). Paris, 1844.' This extremely interesting publication is very scarce, the work having been sup- pressed. 3 Archaeological Journal for 1845, p. 64, 74. * Ibid., Jan. 1845, p. 370. CHAP, rvj WINDOWS. Ixxix since they are mentioned in a description of the inte- rior of a castle in a MS. of the fifteenth century ^ (in the public library at Cambridge), containing the metri- cal romance of Sir Degrevant : — " Square windows of glas The richest that ever was, The moynells (muUions) was off bras, Made with menne handes." Glass, however, was not in common use in England until the reign of Henry the Eighth f but it appears to have been employed for windows in Vienna during the fifteenth century. JEneas Sylvius mentions that the houses in that city had glass windows and iron doors.* During the middle ages, glass windows, instead of being aflBxed to the buildings, were frequently fastened into wooden frames ; they were considered as moveable fiirniture, and were removed with the other eflects of families when they travelled. Upon the arrival of the family at the mansion, the glazed frames, or verrinae, were placed in the windows, where they remained during the residence of the family, and on their depar- ture they were taken out and laid by carefully.* A passage in Yasari's Life of Guglielmo de Marcillat proves that this custom of using moveable windows pre- vailed in France and Italy until the beginning of the sixteenth century. Vasari says that at this period Pope Julius the Second commissioned Bramante of Urbino to make many glazed windows in the palace ; and while the latter was making inquiries for persons skilled in this art, he was shown a specimen of one belonging to the French ambassador at the Papal court. This, which he had used for the window of his study, con- 1 Arch, Journ., Sept 1844. ' Hallam's Midd. Ages, vol. iii. p. 425. ' Ibid. * Northumberland Household Book, Preface, p. 16, quoted in Hallam's Midd. Ages, vol. iii. p. 425. Ixxx INTRODUCTION. [chap. iv. sisted of a piece of white glass fixed in a frame (telaro), on which was painted a figure with an infinite variety of colours burnt in by the action of fire. It must not, however, be inferred, because the glasses were moveable, that the windows of houses were destitute of any protection firom the weather. The Bolognese MS.* describes no less than three contrivances for ex- cluding the air, softening the light, and concealing the inmates of the houses from the gaze of passengers in the streets. The three methods described in this MS. were probably for the windows of the nobility, for it is unlikely that private individuals would incur the ex- pense of painting these substitutes for glass in the manner described. The first substitute was thin parch- ment stretched on a frame, and afterwards painted and varnished; the second consisted also of parchment, painted as before, but instead of varnish, a coat of linseed oil was applied to make it transparent; the third consisted of linen, stretched on a fi*ame, and then painted. When dry, a coat of white of egg and gum water was applied, and it was then varnished. It is not at all improbable that some of the early trans- parent paintings executed in Germany, France, and England, may have been intended, and used occasion- ally, instead of glass for windows. In France, paper was much employed as a substitute for glass in domestic architecture even at a late period. Le Vieil * devotes a chapter of his work to this subject He says that at the close of the seventeenth century, the persons whose business it was to fix the paper in the windows were called " chassissiers," and the glazier who repaired or cleaned the glazed windows on the inside of the apartments of the palace and its de- pendences left to the chassissier the care of renewing the double windows of paper. From this it seems ""'""" -^ ■■ ■ »— ■■■!■ ■— —■■ ■■■— ■■■■ »».-..iil».l , mm — — 1 No8. 214, 215, 216. > De la Peinture sur Yerre, p. 235. CHAP. IV.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixxxi probable that glass windows were limited to the habita- tions of the higher ranks, and that these windows were further defended with other windows, the frames of which were filled with paper. In Le Vieil's time these paper windows were found only in the studios of painters and engravers, who found them useful in diminishing the noise from the street. The light which passed through them was more equal, and less fatiguing to the sight. He adds there was no place of study or religious community, the windows of which were not defended by double casements filled with paper : these had also the additional recommendation of affording an obstacle to the indiscretion and curiosity of those within, as well as without. At Lyons they were used constantly in the time of Le Vieil in the silk manu- factories, where they were found to yield a more uniform light than glass. In France, the paper, after being fixed in the windows, was made transparent by the application of poppy oil, or mutton suet, instead of which some persons whose olfactory nerves were more susceptible, employed wax. Paper windows being con- stantly exposed to the rain, the sun, and the wind, required to be renewed annually, and were conse- quently found more expensive than glass ; this perhaps was a principal cause of their falling into disuse. These paper windows may still be seen in many villages in the north of Italy. § 3. Various Methods of Painting on Glass. The origin of painting on glass, properly so called, is involved in obscurity. Le Vieil, as has been before observed, attributes it to the French in the eleventh century. It appears certain, however, that it was known and practised at Constantinople in the preceding century. Perhaps the earliest historical notice yet recorded of painting on glass, is the portrait of Con- VOL. I. / Ixxxii INTRODUCTION. [chap. it. stautine VII., which the Arab historian, Ibn Hayyan, states was presented by the ambassadors of that Prince in 949 to Abdurrahman at Cordova. Ibn Hayyan relates that the ambassadors of Constantine, son of Lieo, Lord of Constantinah the Great (Constantinople), pre- sented to the Moorish prince a letter, of which he gives the following description: — " It was written on sky-blue paper, and the charac- ters were of gold. Within the letter was an enclosure, the ground of which was sky-blue like the first, but the characters were of silver; it was likewise written in Greek, and contained a list of the presents which the Lord of Constantinah sent to the Khalif ; on the letter was a seal of gold of the weight of four mithkals, on one side of which was a likeness of the Messiah, and on the other those of King Constantine and his son. The letter was enclosed in a bag of silver cloth, over which was a case of gold, with a portrait of King Constantine admirably executed on stained glass. All this was en- closed in a case covered with cloth of silk and gold tissue. On the first line of the Inwan or introduction was written, ^Constantine and Romanin (Bomanus), believers in the Messiah, kings of the Greeks ;' and in the next, ^To the great and exalted in dignity and power, as he most deserves, the noble in descent, Ab- durrahman the khalif, who rules over the Arabs of Andalus ; may God preserve his life ! ' " * In the absence of all information relative to the man- ner in which this portrait was painted, conjectures must be useless; it is sufficient for the present purpose to 1 The description of Ibn Hayyan is quoted by the Arab historian, Al Makkari, in his History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain. The work has been translated, with critical Notes, by Pascual de Gayangos, late Professor of Arabic in the Athcnseum of Madrid. Printed for the Oriental Translation Fund, 2 vols. 4to. 1840.43. See Blackwood's Mag., vol. 54, p. 442, where the account of the visit of the ambassadors to Abdurrahman is given at length. CHAF. IT.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixxxiil establish the fact that iC portrait was actually painted on glass at Constantinople and sent to Spain as early as the year 949. It is generally considered that the earliest glazed windows were filled with stained glass/ for it is said to require more skill to make colourless glass than to tinge it with some of the ordinary colours. The pieces of stained glass of which the early windows were composed were small, and they were arranged in a kind of mosaic pattern. The next improvement consisted in forming pieces of stained glass into figures, the outlines and strong shades of which were afterwards formed with black,* and fixed by the heat of the furnace. This kind of semi-painting afterwards gave place to painting on glass, properly so called. This was executed in various ways. The colours were sometimes diluted with white of egg,' and sometimes mixed with oil, and then varnished/ But as it Vas found that in both kinds of painting, the colours were affected by the weather, a new plan was adopted of employing vitrified colours or enamels, which were applied to the glass with gum water, and then fixed by burning them into the glass in the fiimace. This method of painting is described by Eraclius and Theophilus. The invention is generally ascribed to the Flemings or Germans. It is quite certain that Italy was supplied with these coloured glasses or ^^smalti"*^ by some transalpine nation; the Marciana MS. states that they were brought from Germany.* •^^^■^^■^^ 1 See Tbeoph.y £. £d., lib, ii. cap. xxiz. * The black used for this purpose is described by Eraclius, Lib. ii. No. 20, Lib. ill. No6. 8 and 49 ; the MS. of the Marciana, No. 325 ; Bulcngc- ms de Pictura, &c. s See Marciana MS., p. 615. 4 Ibid. See also the Padoan MS., p. 693. ^ The smalti of the modem Italians consist of pieces of glass, about ^ an inch thick, and 6 or 8 inches in diameter. A See the Marciana MS., p. 617. /2 Ixxxiv INTRODUCTION. [chap. iv. The method of painting on glass practised by Gu- glielmo de Marcillat and his pupils has been described by Vasari. The following is a condensed account of it To produce a good picture on glass, three things were considered necessary, namely, a luminous transparency in the glass selected, good composition, and brilliant colouring without confusion. Transparency was to be secured by selecting the clearest glass, and in this respect the French, English, and Flemish glass was preferable to the Venetian ; for the former was very clear, whilst the latter was dark; "and,** observes Vasari, " when clear glass is shaded, the light is not totally lost, but appears through the shadows; but Venetian glass, being naturally dark, and being made still darker by the shadows, loses its transparency. Many persons delight in loading the colours artificially applied upon the surface, which being exposed to the sun and air, appear more beautiful than the natural colours ; it is better, however, that the glass should be light rather than dark, that it may not be rendered opaque by the thickness of the colour." . To paint on glass it is necessary to be provided with a cartoon, on which are drawn the outlines of the figure, and of the folds of the drapery, which will serve as a guide in joining the glass. The various pieces of red, yellow, blue, and white glass are then arranged in their places as required ; and in order to reduce each piece to the form and size indicated by the cartoon, the pieces are laid upon the cartoon and the outline marked with a pencil fiill of white lead, and a number is affixed to each piece in order to find its place more readily when uniting the various fragments. These numbers are obliterated when the painting is finished. This, being done, the pieces of glass must be cut according to the form and size required; for this purpose, the point of an emerald must be drawn along the part to be cut, and the division must be completed by passing a CHAP. IV.] PAINTING ON GLASS. Ixxxv pointed piece of hot iron over the outline (which is to be first moistened with saliva), being careful not to go too near to it. The superfluous glass is then to be removed with the emerald,* and the pieces of glass reduced to the exact size and shape, by filing them with an iron tool called " grisatoio " or ** topo," until they fit together accurately. The cartoon being laid on a table, and the pieces of glass thus fitted and laid upon it, the shades of the drapery must be painted with scales of iron ground, and another sort of red rust found in iron mines, or the hard red haematite ground, and with this the flesh is shaded, using more or less red or black as required.^ But in painting flesh, the glass should be previously covered with a coat of this red, and the drapery should be painted with the black, in the same manner tempering the colour with gum, and painting and shading it by degrees until it resembles the cartoon. The painting being completed, in order to produce the high lights, a short and thin pencil of bristles, with which the colour is removed from the lights, is necessary. The high lights in the beards, hair, draperies, casements, and landscapes are to be produced by marking them out with the handle of the brush. There are, however, many diflSculties in ex- ercising this art, and he who delights in it may lay various colours on the glass ; for if it be required to paint on a red ground a leaf or other small object, which, after being in the furnace, should become of another colour, the surface of the painted glass may be ground away within the outlines of the leaf with the ' ^ It 18 evident, from the Bolognese MS., p. 495, that the diamond was used for cutting glass long previous to the time of Vasari, It appears, how- BTer, not to have been used for this purpose in France until the time of Francis I. (if the story related hy Le Vieil be true), and this will account for the emerald being used by Guglielmo de Marcillat and his pupils. 2 In addition to the haematite, Guglielmo de Marcillat is said to havo .used for the flesh, scales of copper (scaglia di rame). Ixxxvi INTRODUCnON^ [chaf. it. iron point, which removes the surface of the glass ; for hy so doing, the glass remains white, and that red colour (composed of several mixtures), which, when ftised by heat becomes yellow, is applied to it* And this may be done with all the colours, but yellow is better when applied over white than over otJier colours ; but when blue is laid on it, it becomes green by the application of heat, because yellow and blue mixed, make green« This yellow colour* can be used only on the back of the painting, because by iusing, it would spoil and unite with that colour, which being heated remains red on the surface, but which being rasped away with an iron, leaves the yellow visible. The pieces of glass being painted, they should be placed in a muffle or coffin, on a layer of sifted ashes mixed with burnt lime, then another layer of glass, and another of ashes, until all the glass is disposed of; the whole is then to be placed in the furnace, and heated gradually by a slow fire, until the colours are fused and become fixed to the glass. This burning in of the colours re- quires the greatest caution, for if the heat be too great it will cause the glass to crack, and if insufficient it will not fix the colours. Neither should the glass be withdrawn, until by repeated trials it is ascertained that the iron coffin and the ashes are red hot, and that the colours are fused. The windows of the Duomo of Milan were once filled with painted glass of the greatest brilliancy ; much still remains, but a great quantity was destroyed by the French, who it is said, on some occasion of rejoicing, 1 From this description it is apparent that the colours were ** flashed '* on the colourless glass. This is said to have been the case with the red glass which was found among the ruins of old St. Paul's in London. See Bojle's Philosophical Essays, vol. i. p. 458. 2 In the Life of Guglielmo de Marciliat, this is said to becaicioed silver. CHAP. IT.] USES TO WHICH GLASS WAS APPLIED. Ixxxvii placed cannon in the piazza immediately under the windows, which were shattered by the discharge/ The restoration of the painted glass has however been undertaken by the Austrian Government, and several of the windows, including those very large ones in the apsis, have again been filled with glass painted in the vicinity of Milan. The original windows were painted in the ancient manner, in a kind of mosaic of coloured glass ; the result was a picture of the utmost brilliancy. The modern glass is painted with coloured ^^ smalti " mixed with some flux which accelerates the fusion and fixes them firmly to the plate of glass before it melts.' § 4. Of the various Uses to which Glass was applied. Another important application of glass was in the composition of factitious gems, which appear to have been made, not for the purpose of personal decoration, but for adorning covers of sacred books, reliquaries,' and pictures of the Virgin and saints. It is not, there- fore, surprising that so many recipes of this kind should occur in MSS. belonging to convents. Bibles and psalters were frequently bound in ivory covers, beauti- fully carved, and inlaid with artificial gems, the surfaces of which are always smooth, from their having been formed in moulds, and not cut. Sometimes the covers of books were of silver, or silver-gilt ; sometimes they were solid, and carved in relief; sometimes they con- sisted of a sort of filigree-work in silver, over crimson velvet ; and sometimes they were covered with velvet, 1 Murray's Guide for North Italy. ■ Dizionario delle Invcnzione e Scoperte nelle Arti, nelle Scionze, &c., Milano, 1830. Art Pittura. 3 A reliquary of brass gilt, set with false stones, was exhibited by Mr. Way at the meeting of the Archaeological Institute at Winchester, in 1846. It was of the Uth century, and was orFrench workmunahip. Ixxxviii INTRODUCTION. [chap.it. and strengthened and ornamented with silver or gold studs. The application of factitious gems to pictures was common. They are expressly mentioned by Cennini, who describes the method of attaching them to the pictures ; and they may be frequently seen on paint- ings executed in Italy during the middle ages. The most remarkable picture decorated with these gems is one by Carlo Crivelli, in the gallery of Brera, at Milan. The picture Is highly interesting, not only on this account, but because several portions of it are in relief. It is not less remarkable for the extreme brilliancy of the colours, which are as bright as if just painted. The picture is divided into three compart- ments. The centre .contains the Virgin and Child ; on the right hand are St. Peter and St. Dominic ; and on the left St. Peter Martyr and St. Geminiano. The surface of each compartment is slightly convex, rising about one inch or one inch and a half in the centre of each compartment; it is quite perfect, without a flaw of any kind. The figures are placed on a gold ground. St. Peter has on his head the papal crown, the gilded ornaments of which are in high relief; and it is set with precious stones, or rather imitations of such. The keys are in his hand, and these are actually modelled, the stem-part of the keys being quite round, and merely attached by a small part of the surface to the picture ; the other key lies on this, so that here the relief must be at least one inch and a half. The keys are gilded. The mantle of the Virgin is fastened with a gold or gilt ornament, in which a sapphire is set The drapery of St. Geminiano is painted to represent crimson velvet, on which is a collar of gold, set with real or factitious pearls, some of which having dropped ofl^ show small holes made in the panel to receive them. The picture by the same* artist, placed next to this in C3HAP. IV.] USES TO WHICH GLASS WAS APPLIED. Ixxxix the same gallery, is, in some respects, a codtrast to it. The colours are as brilliant as those in the former picture, and the ground also is of gold ; but the glories, instead of being in relief, are indented, and the jewels, with which the mitre is decorated, are painted, instead of being actually affixed to the picture. The artist has given as much transparency and brilliancy to these as if they were actually inlaid, like those in the picture above mentioned. The period of the birth of Crivelli is unknown, but he was living in 1476. Sacramental cups, both of metal and of glass, were also frequently set with gems, real or factitious ; hence the directions given in old MSS. for cements for gems. It is certain that glass was in use in Italy for drinking- vessels in the first half of the fifteenth century. Glass drinking-vessels are frequently mentioned by Cennini, who calls them by the name by which they are still known in Italy — bicchieri* Kepresentations of them, of the same shape as those now in use, may be seen in early Italian pictures of the Last Supper, and- particularly in the Cenacolo of Lionardo da Vinci. Glass vessels were frequently embossed, or enamelled, with the armorial bearings of their owners, some- times parcel gilt, sometimes set with jewels, and occasionally they bore designs of high pretension.^ The museum of antiquities of the middle ages in the Louvre, and in the Hotel de Cluny, at Paris, afford many interesting specimens of glass of the middle ages, enriched with enamels and jewels. The drinking- vessels and flasks, executed at Murano, were particu- larly esteemed. Many beautiful specimens of the latter are in the possession of the Marquess Trivulzio, at Milan. It is generally considered that the art of colouring glass was introduced from the East into Venice. The I Arch. Joura., Sept., 1845, p. 264. XC INTRODUCTION. [chap, it, time of its introduction is uncertain, but it is known that as early as the commencement of the twelfth century the manufacture of what is called crystal^ and the art of colouring glass, were carried on at Venice.^ The mirrors and other works executed in glass in this city were, during the middle ages, the finest works of the kind ; and the fiasks and other small articles were much sought after, not only in Europe, but also in Asia, and even in the deserts of Africa,* Murano was, during four or five centuries, the seat of this manufacture, which the Venetians knew how to vary according to the taste of the times, and for which they found a ready market in the countries of the East. As long ago as 1275 there was a law mentioned in the Chronicle of Dandolo, which prohibited the exportation, not only of sand and the other substances used in the fabrication of glass from Venice, but also of the frag- ments of broken glass, which other nations might melt and fashion into new forms. It seems that there were formerly large masses of glass, which were employed in the factories," Filiasi supposes that they were brought from Greece, where the composition of glass had attained a certain degree of perfection. By an ancient Venetian law masters of vessels were permitted to import these masses of glass as ballast. Sabellino speaks with admiration of the works executed at the commencement of the fourteenth century in the glass- works at Murano. It is much to be regretted that no work should be known to exist in which the art of making glass, as practised at Muranq, is accurately described. All in- quiries for such a work are, however, rendered useless by the fact that the workmen at Murano have always 1 Depping, Histoire du Commerce, &c., vol. i. p. 191. «Ibid., vol.ii. p. 322, n. ' Arc these the masses of glass mentioned by Eraclius, p. 208, 210? CHAP. IV.] USES TO WHICH GLASS WAS APPLIED. XCl been sworn to preserve secrecy with respect to all technical processes.^ Much information, however, relative to this subject, will be found scattered through the pages of Neri's * Arte Vetraria,' and the Commentary on this work by Dr. Merret, an Englishman. Cardanus mentions a Venetian MS. on the manufacture of glass, which fell into his hands. This would undoubtedly be a great acquisition if it could be discovered. It was said to have been written by a Venetian named Panteo. Besides the uses already enumerated, glass was em- ployed in making beads for paternosters, a manufacture which is still carried on to a great extent at Murano. But the favourite material of which the beads or rosa- ries used in the middle ages were composed, appears to have been amber.* The scarcity and high price of genuine amber placing it beyond the reach of the people generally, various attempts were made to imi- tate it ; hence the numerous recipes in old MSS. for " making amber for paternosters ;" and hence also the adoption of the term " amber " as a synonyme for beads, in which sense it is frequently used in the Bolognese MS^» where we find directions for colouring the composition red, green, or blue, at pleasure. This fact is a sufficient proof of the estimation in which amber was held during the middle ages. Genuine amber was so highly prized that a statue of the Virgin made of this material, and a set of altar furniture in 1 Gallipado Tallier (author of the ' Nuovo Plico d' ogni sorte di Tin- ture^' published at Bologna without a date) observes (p. 152), that ^* The red colour called ' rubino/ which, as every one knows, is made at Murano, is composed of * oro di zecchino,' but few are acquainted with the process of combining the calcined gold with the liquid crystal." He adds, '* The method of calcination is, howerer, known to mc, but it is not lawful for mc to discover it." * Secreti di Don Alessio Piemontese, Part ii., p. 35. MS. of the Mar- ciana, p. 609. 3 Nos. 249—254. XCil INTRODUCTION. [chap.it. amber, studded with jewels,^ were considered among the treasures of the Santa Casa at Loreto. At the meet- ing of the English Archaeological Society in 1845, a necklace of rough amber was exhibited, which was found round the neck of a skeleton near Ely, and which was supposed to be of the Romano-British period.* Another art practised during the middle ages was the manufacture of artificial pearls firom the bones of the heads of fish, from mother-of-pearl, and other sub- stances; many recipes for these occur in MSS.,' as well as for making large pearls out of small ones. Beckmann treats these inventions with contempt, and thinks it impossible to give to any pulverized calcareous matter the hardness and lustre of real pearls. The varnish of caseum, mixed with the milk of the fig-tree, described in the Bolognese MS., No. 245, is certainly curious, and perhaps may hereafter receive a trial. NOTE ON JEWISH GLASS. It would appear, on the authority of the third book of Eraclius (p. 245), that lead-glass (see Eraclius, p. 217) was called Jewish glass. I have mentioned in the note to this passage,*^ that a ruby-coloured glass was for- merly sold at Birmingham under the name of Jews' glass ; the coincidence was at least curious, but facts were wanting to establish any connection between the Jewish glass of the middle ages and the modem ''Jews' glass." It is known that the manufacture of glass was pursued extensively by the Jews during the dark and middle ages. There were Jewish glass- blowers at Constantinople between a.d. 531 and 565. This is proved incidentally by the following narrative, related in the ' History of the ■Jews :'t — " It was the custom of the Church to distribute the crumbs of the conse- crated host which might remain to children summoned for that purpose I It contained nearly 7000 pearls, besides diamonds and rubies, and was valued at 200,000 crowns. s Archeeological Journal for 1845, p. xlii. 3 See Secreti di Don Alessio, Part ii., p. 85. Bol. MS., Nos. 246, 264, 320. * P. 245. t Hist of the Jews, vol. iii. p. 230. «HAP. IV.] JEWISH GLASS. XCIU rrom their schools. While Menas was Bishop of Constantinople, the child of a Jewish glass-blower went to the church with the rest, and partook of the sacred elements. The father, inquiring the cause of his delay, discovered what he had done. In his fury he seized him and shut him up in the blazing furnace. The mother went wandering about the city, wailing and seeking her lost ofl&pring. The third day she sat down by the door of the workshop, still weeping, and calling on the name of her child. The child answered from the furnace, the doors were forced open, and the child was discovered sitting unhurt amid the red-hot ashes. His account was, that a lady in a purple robe, of course the Blessed Virgin, had appeared, and poured water on the coals that were immediately around him. The unna- tural father was put to death, the mother and child baptized.*' Filiasi * relates, that in 687 many Greek workmen went to France for the purpose of working in glass. It is probable that these persons practised the art after the same methods as the Jews, and that they made the pro- cesses known in France. It appears that the Jews carried on the art in Syria also. Benjamin of Tudela, whose * Travels ' bear date from 1 160 to 1 173, states that he found 400 Jews resident in Tyre, who were glass- blowers. This fact certainly shows a great trade in this branch of industry, and may be considered a confirmation of the assertion that the soda found at Tyre was peculiarly fitted for the manufacture of glass.f The glass- works in Syria do not appear to have been confined to Tyre, for Miss Martineau relates^ that a glass-house still exists at Hebron. The glass made here, however, appears to be of the most ordinary description, and it seems that the workmen are Arabs, and not Jews. At the beginning of the ninth century the Venetians traded with the ports of Egypt and Syria; and when, in 1122, the King of Jerusalem requested the Venetian navy to assist him at the siege of Tyre, the Vene- tians stipulated for the possession of a third part of the city, and the pay- ment of an annual sum of 300 besants. In the fourteenth century the Venetians had still a colony at Tyre.§ The art of glass* making, therefore, with which the Venetians are supposed to have been acquainted as early as the eleventh century, may have been communicated to them by the Tyrian Jews. It appears certain that they acquired it in the East. It was in the eleventh century that a leaden glaze was, as I have men- tioned (p. 177), first found on European pottery. The recipes in the MS. of Eraclius prove that lead-glass was known in some parts of Eurofie * Saggio suir antico Gommcrcio, &c., p. 148, n. t Neri, Arte Vetraria, lib. i. cap. I, and lib. vii. cap. 117, and Merret's notes on these chapters. The Venetians and Genoese had both settlements at Tyre in the 12th century. I ** Next we were oondacted to a glass-house, of all odd places to see in Heb- ron!'I would recommend a Newcastle one in preference, as there the glass is not greenish and thin, and the articles made can stand upright. We thought here as before, however, that the Arabs are expert enough at manual arts if they had fair play with tools and materials." — Eastern Life, vol. iii. p. 64. § Depping, Histoire du Commerce, &c., vol. i., p. 153, quoting Navigero, Sto- ria della Republ. Veneziana, 819 ; in vol. xxiii. of Murat., Script. Rer. Ital., and And. Dandolo, Chronic. Venet, ann 828, in vol. xii. of the same work. XCIY INTRODUCTION. [chap. it. at least as early as the thirteenth century ; but it appears that it was not generally known even at a later period,* for Neri, who published his * Arte Vetraria' in 1612, says (lib. iv. cap. Ui.) it was a secret known to but few glass- woriLcrs, *^ Cosa nota a pochi delP arte vetraria.'* Meiret, the comr mentator on Neri, in a note to this passage, remarks, that it was not in use in England on account of its want of durability. Both writers speak of the extreme beauty of the colours of the &ctitious gems made of this kind of glass, and Neri says '' that it is the most beautiful and noble kind of glass that is made, for real oriental jewels may be imitated with it; whi<^ cannot be done so well with crystal or any other kind of glass ; but if great care is not taken, it is so extremely fusible, that it will mn through the glass-pots, and be lost among the coals used in heating the fumaoe." From these facts, therefore, it is considered that there may be some reason for ascribing the invention, or at least the introductkm, of glass con- taining lead, &c., to the Jews, and at the same time of supposing that the correct reading of the above passage in Eradius has been given. * A peculiar kind of Venetian glass, containing lead, was used in Italy as a dryer for certain colours. See Mr. £astlake*8 'Materials,* &c^ p. 851. CHAP.v.] GILDING. 3LCV CHAPTER V. GILDING AND OTHEE ARTS. § 1. On Gilding. Thb frequent and profiise employment of gilding in every kind of decorative work in the middle ages cannot have escaped the observation of the most super- ficial observer. The grounds of the most ancient mosaics were of gold, so were those of the pictures of the Byzantine and early Italian schools. The early Italian frescoes, as they are called, were adorned with gold leaf; the same decoration was extended to minia- tures, and afterwards to painting in oil, and the use of gilding in pictures was universal, until Domenico Ghirlandaio discovered the method of imitating gold with colours.* The directions, therefore, of all old MSS. on painting are diffuse and minute on this head, and although the recipes are alike in principle, there is some variety in the details. The grounds of the ancient gildings were of two kinds ; one of which was for miniatures and places not exposed to damp; the other consisted of an oil mordant, which was employed on walls and places exposed to humidity. As the gilding on many old mural paintings is in a remark- able state of preservation, it becomes important to ascertain the manner in which it was executed ; and where there is no precise documentary evidence to demonstrate this, it is desirable to have recourse to chemical analysis. Under this impression. Professor Branchi, of Pisa, 1 Vasari, Vita di Domenico Gfatrlandaio. 2fCVl INTRODUCTION. [chap. v. analysed some portions of the gold ground of the mural pictures by Benozzo Gozzoli and Buftalinacco in that noble relic of the arts and genius of the middle ages, the Campo Santo at Pisa. Professor Branch! relates in the following words the result of his experiments on this subject* " With regard to the ancient method of gilding in Pisa, I must observe that my experiments have not enabled me to discover any essential difference between •the gilding in Pisa and that of the picture by Taddeo Gaddi, which is still to be seen in the suppressed church of St. Francesco. " The intonaco is, however, white, fine, and of a thicker consistence. One denaro (grammi 1*779) contained gr. 11| (grammi 0*576) of a fine white sand, mixed with a little ai^illaceous earth. " The gilding of the fi'agments of a picture by Buffalmacco in our magnificent Campo Santo, is spread upon a layer of wax of the thickness of about half a line. This yields to the action of the nail, is slightly transparent, inflammable, and lighter than water; it liquefies at a low heat, is soluble in boiling alcohol, from which it separates on cooling in the form of a white and bulky mass ; it gives a lustre, to wood, and being thrown upon burning charcoal, it diffiises sensibly the odour of wax, which cannot be mistaken for any other substance.' It is true that in some parts the gold is seen on both sides ; from this I conjecture that this gilding was executed by Buffalmacco, either to repair some part already gilded, and with which he was not satisfied, or it was a reparation made at a subsequent period. ^ Letteradel Prof. Branchi al Prof. Ciampi, &c., p. 18. 8 ^* In making the above experiments I had no indication that a fixed dry- ing oil was mixed with the wax. Among the various mordants which painters were accustomed to use in illuminating with gold, is that which is composed chiefly of the above-mentioned substances." [Note by Prof. Branchi.] CHAP, v.] GILDING. xcvn " The gilding of those small fragments which were removed from one of the numerous pictures painted by the celebrated Benozzo Gozzoli in the same Campo Santo is in excellent preservation. The gold being removed with a sharp instrument, discovers a thin layer, not opaque, which may be scraped like wax, and which, like that substance, gives a lustre to wood on which it is rubbed. Below this appears a yellowish tint, which penetrates into the intonaco to a small, but not always uniform depth. When the gold leaf was separated from the fragments by immersion in boiling distilled water, a pellicle of wax appeared on the surface. " The liquid being filtered, and afterwards slightly evaporated, acquired a yellowish colour, and then formed a pellicle which differed from the preceding, and by complete evaporation left a small quantity of combustible matter — so small that I could not deter- mine its nature. " From these experiments it appears that our an- cient gilding was executed, 1st, by applying on the smooth intonaco a kind of size, that is a liquid and tenacious substance, soluble in water, and coloured yellow ; 2ndly, by applying on this a thin coating of wax ; 3rdly, and finally, by affixing on this the gold leaf. " It should here be remarked that the gold leaves being detached without having suffered any alteration in consequence of the liquefaction of the wax, gave me an opportunity of observing how much thicker they were at that period than they are at present. From the time of the Romans until now the art of gold- beating has been continually progressing towards per- fection. From one ounce of this metal they were accustomed to obtain 750 square leaves and upwards, four fingers broad on each side,^ which is certainly 1 Plinj, lib. xzxiii. cap. 3. Modern goldbeaters now make 1200 VOL. I. g xcviu INTRODUCTION. [chap. t. below the number of those of equal dimension which our best goldbeaters now produce from the same quan- tity of gold. And as to the wax, which Benozzo applied to the intonaco in order to serve as a mordant, I shall observe that it must have been dissolved either in a volatile or in a fixed drying oil. From its charac- ters I am inclined more towards the volatile than the fixed oil ; but in order to form an accurate decision on this point, it would be necessary to have at my disposal a larger quantity of the gilding. I am induced to believe from the experiments which I made on some ancient pictures in 1791 for my particular friend Signer Alessandro Morrona, the author of the cele- brated work entitled * Pisa Illustrata,* that the first of these oils was formerly added to the above-named substance.'* ^ Some estimate of the extent to which gold was used on paintings in the fifteenth century may be formed from the document relative to the expenses of painting the chapel of S. Jacopo di Pistoia, which records that 7000 leaves of gold were used for this purpose. § 2. Auripetmm and FcHrporino. When the parties for whom pictures were painted were unable or unwilling to pay for gold (which was always supplied by the persons who ordered the pic- tures), it w^as usual to substitute for it on mural paint- ings leaves of tin-foil, covered with a yellow varnish. leaves from the same quantity. Cennino (cap. 139) complains that m his time 145 leaves were obtained from the ducat instead of 100 ; and it appears from Vasari, that in his time 435 leaves of gold were made from three ducats. The size of the leaves is described by Vasari to- have been the eighth of a braccio square. Cennino does not mention their size. 1 Vol. ii. p. 162. '^ Sig. Giov. Fabbroni has proved ( Vantaggi e Metodi della Pittura £ncausta) that in encaustic paintings the ancients did not unite the wax with mastic as Requeno asserts, nor with an alkali as Lorgna pre- tends, nor with gums and honey as Astori asserts, but with a volatile oil- like naphtha, or spirit of turpentine." [Note by Prof. Branch!.] CHAP, v.] AUEIPETRUM AND PORPORINO. xcix The method of applying and varnishing the tin-foil is fully described in the MS. of 8. Audemar, and many other old works on painting. Its actual employment on mural pictures is proved by the above-mentioned document^ relative to the expenses of the paintings executed in the chapel of S. Jacopo di Pistoia, in which 37 pieces of tin are mentioned. At the time Professor Branchi made his experiments on the gild- ing and pigments employed on these paintings, ancient treatises on art appear to have been but little studied. Branchi, it is true, mentions the work of Theophilus, which had been published by Lessing and Raspe ; but his acquaintance with it must have been superficial, or he would have recollected that Theophilus describes* the leaves of tin, and the method of using them on pictures and on books. If he had read this part of the work, he would also have seen that the tin-foil was varnished, and he would then have understood the probable use of the varnish mentioned in the document, for the employment of which he could not satisfactorily account,^ since he says that the fragments of the gild- ing, and of the pictures which he had analysed, gave no indication of varnish.* In order to economize gold, the old masters had another invention called "porporino," a composition made of quicksilver, tin, and sulphur, which produced a yellow metallic powder that was employed instead of gold.* The Bolognese MS. devotes a whole chapter to this subject A substance of a similar nature is now in 1 Ciampiy Notizie, &c., p. 145. s Lib. i. cb. 26 and 32, £. ed. Tbe varnish for the tin leaves is fully described in the MS. of S. Audemar, p. 163, 165. 3 The small quantity of sandarac (one pound) mentioned in the document published by Ciampi was evidently insufficient to varnish the pictures, which, judging from the large quantity of colours supplied, must have been very large or very numerous. 4 Letteradi Branchi, p. 18. ^ See Cennino Cennini,Trattato, cap. 159; fiol. MS., cap. 6. ^2 C INTRODUCTION. [chap. v. use in England, and is employed as a substitute for gold on coloured woodcuts and chromolithographs. § 3. Od the use of Wax in Painting. The subject of wax-painting during the middle ages has been so fully and ably treated by Mr. Eastlake in his recent work/ that but little remains to be added. It may, however, be remarked that, in addition to the use of wax as a mordant for gilding, in the manner before mentioned, it was employed as a varnish for paint- ings,* for which purpose it is supposed to have been dissolved in an essential oil. That it was also used as a vehicle for painting is established by the two recipes quoted by Mr. Eastlake from the Byzantine MS., and from that of Le Begue. The principle of these two recipes (the solution of wax in caustic potash^) is the same in both MSS., but the latter recipe contains mastic in addition to glue and wax. The last-men- tioned vehicle must have resembled somewhat the cement, or cera colla^ which was in use in England about the year 1385, and of which Mr. Hartshorne found the following notice among the documents pre- served in Rochester Castle :* — " For 3i lbs. of wax bought for cement (ad cimentum), 21df., at 6d. a lb. In 2 lbs. of frankincense, 6rf. In 5 lbs. of lees (coda) and 1 lb. of pitch, 6 id" * It will be observed that glue is not mentioned in the above entry. Neither does it appear in the varnish used for painting on glass described in the Venetian MS.** This varnish 1 Materials, &c., chap. 6. ^ Ibid., p. 163, andn. * In the Le Begue MS. (p. 307) the word " flandres" has been erro- neously substituted for '* cendres ** — ashes, which, when boiled with water, made a lixivium, which was rendered caustic by the addition of lime, exactly in the manner now employed by soap boilers. < See Arch. Joum., Jan. 1845, p. 373. ft The Marciana MS. (p. 626) has a recipe for a cement of this kind, composed of wax, liquid varnish, and black naval pitch. • Sloane MSS., No. 416. See Mr. Eastlake's ' Materials,' &c., p. 172, n. CHAP, v.] ON THE USE OF WAX IN PAINTING. W consisted of wax, white turpentine, and mastic, and was of the same nature as the cement employed by Agnolo Gaddi in repairing the mosaics in S. Giovanni at Florence, which varied from the above in being composed of mastic and wax only ; its object was to exclude damp. One of the very few medieval pictures reputed to be painted with wax at present known to connoisseurs, is the Martyrdom of St Simon the Younger, by An- drea Mantegna, whose name is inscribed on the paint- ing. It is in the possession of Signer Giuseppe Vallardi at Milan, and belonged formerly to the Abbate Boni, of Venice.^ The picture is very perfect, the colours bright, and the touches sharp. The darks are laid on very thick, but the paint appears to have run into spots or streaks, as if it had been touched with something which had disturbed the surface. It is said, however, that it has never been repaired, and its authenticity is stated to be undoubted. It is evident that the wax has been used liquid, for if the colours had been fused by the application of heat, the sharpness and precision of touch for which this picture, in common with other paintings of this period, is remarkable, would have been lost and melted down. The vehicle, what- ever it was, appeared to me to have been as manage- able as that of Van Eyck. This picture was painted late in life by Mantegna. The same collection also contains a modern picture, which may with propriety be said to be in encaustic, since the colours are melted in by the application of a hot iron. This is a small picture of a sleeping Cupid by Appiani, painted by way of experiment on a brick, the surface of which was properly prepared. The colours of this picture were dull, and the effect like that of a fresco ; it seemed to be better adapted for 1 See Catalogo dei Quadri di Giuseppe Vallardi. Milano, 1830. Cli INTRODUCTION. [chap. v. decorative effect than for cabinet pictures. The lights were poor, and did not bear out well. Wax painting is now practised at Parma. An apartment of the Museo di Antichita, and another in the public library of that city, are now being painted with a wax vehicle, and after a process invented by an artist of that city, which he freely and obligingly com- municated to me. The vehicle used consists of wax and resin dis- solved in spirit of turpentine. The mixture is fluids and of the colour of milk. In this the colours are ground, and are then preserved in small glasses, and spirit of turpentine is poured upon them to preserve them. To close these glasses conveniently, the painter employs a cushion of leather larger than the glass, with a button on the top for a handle, and this contrivance effectually defends the colours from the air and dust All colours may be used indiscriminately, Prussian blue, orpiment, and others which are not permanent in oil. For the ground, the wall or ceiling is plastered in the usual way with lime, and is not quite smooth, but is left with a kind of grain or tooth. The painting is executed on this ground when dry, without other pre- paration. The method is said to require some practice, a^ the colours dry fast. When working, the colours are diluted with spirit of turpentine. This kind of painting has great brilliancy and trans- parency, and can be seen well from any point of view. If durable, it seems well adapted for decorative pur- poses. The method has been in use for about six years. § 4. On Painting Statues. The practice of painting statues was common during the middle ages.* The proofs of this are numerous. ^ Ciampi, Notizie, &c., p. 118, 142. CHAP, v.] ON PAINTING STATUEa CUl The documents recording the wax vehicle, or varnish, called cera collar furnished to Andrea Pisano for paint- ing and varnishing a marble statue over the principal door in the fa9ade of the Cathedral of Orvieto, has been mentioned by Mr. Eastlake.^ This practice is alluded to more than once in the MS. of Le Begue,^ and in the Tabula Imperfecta' is a reference to some direc- tions contained in Theophilus^ for painting round images, " ymagines rotundas,"* and other sculptured articles which are not covered with leather, cloth, or parchment. The most remarkable example, probably now in existence, of the union of painting with statuary, is in the baptistery near the Cathedral of Novara. The building is circular, and supported by ancient columns : the recesses between the columns contain the events of 9 the Passion. The figures in plastic work are as large as life, coloured ; and in some cases the resemblance to life . is completed by the addition of real hair. The wall behind the figures, which is painted in fresco, serves as a background to the figures ; and the light aerial tone of the painting contributes much to the effect of the figures. The remarks on these groups, in a MS. Journal, quoted by the author of the * Hand- book for North Italy,' are so appropriate and judicious, that I shall make no apology for introducing them here. ** They are," he says, " probably by Gaudenzio Ferrari,® who excelled in this branch of art ; and many of the figures are of exquisite workmanship. The two finest groups are the Garden of Olives, and the Scourging of our Lord, which last, without being in the least disgust- ing or painful, is most deeply affecting. One of the 1 Materials, &c., p. 170. « See No. 180 (p. 146), and No. 344 (p. 316). » P: 40. 4 Lib. i. cap. 23, £. ed. ^ The word *' rotundas" is not in Theophilus. ^ Gaudenzio Ferrari was born in 1484, and died in 1660. He was oiio of the principal painters of the Milanese school, and his merits, which have been overlooked by Vasari, have been justly appreciated and warmly eulo- gized by Lomazzo and Lanzi. CIV INTRODUCTION. [chap. v. executioners is sitting down, tired with his work ; the Roman soldier looks on with pity; the other can no longer look, and turns away. These representations are so entirely at variance with our conventional rules, that it requires a considerable degree of mental exertion to appreciate them. The first step in this, and many similar occasions, must be for the observer to forget all that he has read upon the theory of the fine arts ; and to form his opinion, as the judge tells the jury, not to mind what they have heard out of court, but to give their verdict upon the evidence before them. In so doing, you must recollect that the only valid plea by which the introduction of images into churches is attempted to be justified by the Romanists, is, that they are books of instruction to the common people ; and certainly neither mere painting, nor mere sculp- ture, can realise the events of Scripture to the mind in a manner so vivid as this union of form and colour. You will rarely enter this baptistery without finding individuals employed in acts of devotion before these scenes ; some reading appropriate selections from Scrip- ture, some engaged in prayer, but not praying to the images, for the circumstance of their forming entire groups prevents any one being singled out as the object of worship; and let us repeat, that the independent judgment which we have ventured to advise the tra- veller to assert in Italy, will be much strengthened by his asserting it in the baptistery of Novara." In the Life of Andrea Verrocchio, Vasari gives a descrip- tion of some curious eflSgies of Lorenzo de' Medicis, which were modelled in wax and afterwards painted in oil. His account is as follows : — " On the occasion of the murder of Giuliano de' Medicis, and the narrow escape of Lorenzo his brother, who was wounded at the same time, in the Church of S** Maria del Fiore, the friends of Lorenzo ordered several effigies of him to be made in commemoration of this event. Among tDHAP. v.] ON PAINTING STATUES. CV others, Orsini, a celebrated modeller in wax, with the assistance and under the direction of Andrea Ver- rocchio, modelled three images as large as life. Within these was a kind of skeleton of wood, and split canes, which was covered with waxed cloth, disposed in such well-arranged folds, that it was impossible anything could more nearly resemble the reality. The heads, hands, and feet, which were of wax, were hollow within, and modelled from the life, and then painted in oil, real hair being added, and all appropriate ornaments. " These,'* says Vasari, " represented not waxen effigies, but living men, as may be seen in all three figures, one of which is in the church of the nuns of Chiarito, in the Via di S. Gallo. This figure is habited in the very dress which Lorenzo wore when, wounded in the throat and bandaged, he appeared at a window of his house, that he might be seen by the people, who had collected there to ascertain whether he was alive, as they wished him to be, or dead ; and if dead, that they might avenge him." The second figure is in the church of the Servites, at Lucca, in the civil costume worn by the Florentines. The third image was sent to S^** Maria degli Angeli, at Assisi. There were other wax figures by Orsini in the Church of the Servites. These were distinguished by a large O, within which was an R, with a cross above it. They were all fine works of art, and Vasari remarks that they have been equalled by few. He adds diat the art was practised in his time, but whether from want of devotion, or other causes, it was then declining. The custom of painting figures extended also to the colouring, with a kind of enamel, of figures and bassi rilievi in terra cotta ; and the niunerous specimens of this kind of decoration which still remain, prove the estimation in which this art was once held. The most distinguished artist in this line was Luca della Eobbia, to whom many improvements in the art are ascribed. cvi INTRODUCTION. [chap. v. In Spain the art of colouring wooden statues was continued to a comparatively late period. Pacheco* gives instructions for painting statues, and it appears that he did not disdain to practise the art himself, and that he even claimed the honour of having introduced a better style of painting sculpture. Alonzo Cano and Montafies are said to have frequently stipulated that none but themselves should paint the images which they had carved.* The practice of painting " ymagines rotundas " was not confined to those carved in wood ; it extended also to stone statues, and was frequently employed on the sepulchral effigies of kings and nobles. In this case the dress of the sculptured figure exactly resembled that worn by the person whom it was intended to represent Among the Germans and English a general custom prevailed of painting monumental effigies. A remark- able instance of this occurs in the effigy of Henry II. of England, at Fontevraud, in Normandy, described by Mr. Stothard in his work entitled ' The Monumental Effigies of Great Britain.* The beard of the figure is painted and stippled like a miniature, to represent its being closely shaven in the Norman fashion. The mantle, Mr. Stothard ascertained by scraping, had been painted several times ; it was originally of a deep reddish chocolate.* The Dalmatica, or tunic, was of crimson, covered with gold stars. The boots were green, with gold spurs, fastened by red leathers. The gloves have jewels on the centre of the back of the hand, a mark of royalty or high ecclesiastical rank. The crown and the right hand are broken, but the latter still retains the sceptre. The sword lies on the bier .by 1 Tratado della Pintura, p. 402, &c. 2 For additional information on this subject, see Ford^s Hand-book for Spain, p. 110. * Probably the deep red colour found on old frescoes, apparently pro- duced by the red haematite. CHAP, v.] IMPLEMENTS USED IN PAINTING. cvu the left side. With the exception of the position of the sword, it will be seen that this description agrees with the account of the burial of Henry II., extracted by Mr. Stothard from the History of Matthew Paris, who says, " the king was arrayed in the royal investments, having a golden crown on his head, and gloves on the hands, boots wrought with gold on the feet, and spurs, and a great ring on the finger, with the sceptre in the hand, and girt with a sword: he lay with his face uncovered." Mr. Stothard continues, " It therefore appeiars that the tomb was literally a representation of the deceased king, as if he still lay in state. Nor can we, without supposing such was the custom, otherwise account for the singular coincidence between the effigy of King John on the lid of his coffin and his body within it, when discovered a few years since." ^ § 5, Implements used in Painting. The wood-cut, copied originally from a miniature of the fifteenth century, in the Bibliotheque Royale at Paris, appeared in the before-mentioned interesting work of M. Aimfe ChampoUion-Figeac ; it exhibits a female artist in the act of painting a statue of the Virgin holding the infant Saviour. The subject is highly interesting in another point of view, because it shows the implements used at that period in painting. The artist holds a pencil or brush in her right hand, and a palette with a handle in her left, thus afibrding incontestable evidence that the palette was used in France during the fifteenth century. This is, perhaps, the earliest notice of this implement with which we are acquainted. The colours, mixed in shells, as described by Alcherius and other writers, are placed on a small bench by her side, near which are the brushes in a tray, and a second palette, also furnished with a handle. 1 King John was buried in Worcester Cathedral. INTHODUCTION. Another illustration of the work of M. Champollion, copied from a miniature of the same period, represents the atelier of a painter of the fifteenth century. He is sitting on a folding stool, holding in ^ left hand a palette, similar in its form to those represented in the last cut. In 1^ right hand he holds a brush, with which Jj^ is painting a picture of the Virgin and Child, CHAP, v.] LEATHER. ClX which, from being framed, suggests the idea of being painted on canvass. The picture is placed on an easel, supported by three legs. In the background is a man grinding colours, with a jar by his side. In the fore- ground is a low table, on which are shells of various kinds holding colours, and a tray full of brushes. The long and flowing sleeves of the painter, and the pointed shoes of the man grinding the colours, will assist in fixing the date of this drawing. § 6. Leather. It has been mentioned that during the age of Frede- rick Barbarossa, the clothes of men were of leather, unlined. There is reason, however, to believe, from the recipes contained in the Lucca MS., and repeated in the Mappae Clavicula, that the skins were frequently dyed. During the dark and middle ages, the prepara- tion of leather appears to have been carried on chiefly in the south (^ Europe, and in the countries inhabited by the Saracens and Moors. The leather of Marseilles was particularly valued at this period ;^nd one quarter of the city, called "La Cuiraterie," was especially set apart for the preparation of this article, with which the markets of Spain and Italy were supplied. In the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, skins and leather were also imported from Africa into Barcelona, and the merchants of this city occupied, conjointly with those of Marseilles, a certain quarter of the city of Troyes, where they carried on a trade principally in Morocco leather.* From the ninth to the middle of the thirteenth century, the city of Cordova, in Spain, was celebrated for the leather called " Cordovan," which was manufactured there by the Moors. The use of leather was not limited to articles of dress, but as men became more luxurious, the fashion I Depping, Histoire du Commerce, vol. i. p. 249, 263, 294. ex INTRODUCTION. [chaf. v. of hanging rooms with leather, painted linen-cloth,^ or tapestry, was introduced. The walls of apartments were formerly left bare, and on the introduction of leather hangings or tapestry, they were confined to that part of the room which was immediately behind the seats occupied by the owners of the house. These hangings were suspended from hooks fixed in the wall, and, like the glass windows, were removed when the family changed their residence. Frequent examples of these partial hangings of apartments may be seen in miniatures and pictures of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In the fifteenth century, the hangings were continued round the apartment, and the leather was frequently stamped and gilt, or ornamented with tin- foil, and afterwards varnished with a yellow varnish. Descriptions of this varnish are to be found in all technical works relating to art, from the Lucca MS. to the Treatise of Pacheco, inclusive. Filiasi* observes that " the art of gilding skins and leather has been exercised from time immemorial in the [Venetian] lagoon, and to such an extent was the commerce in this merchandise carried on with Spain and the Levant, that, one year with another, the trade in gilt leather brought into Venice a clear profit of about 100,000 ducats and more." Apartments hung with this stamped and gilt leather may still be seen in some of the palaces at Venice. The Barbarigo Palace has more than one room decorated in this manner. Leather hangings were also in use in our own country; the best specimens are at Nonsuch Palace, in Surrey ; Hinchinbrook House, near Huntingdon ; Ruffor Abbey, in Nottinghamshire ; and at Blenheim.^ Gilt leather was also applied to other purposes. It 1 See Mr. Eastlake's * Materials,' p. 97. * Saggio suir Antico Commercio, suU* Arti, e suUa Marinade' Veneziani, appended to the 7th volume of his Memorie Storiche de' Ycneti, p. 153. 3 See a paper on this subject in the Art Union for August, 1847. CHAP, v.] LEATHER. CXI was used for the covers of books, and for frames of mirrors. Examples of both may be seen in the museum in the Hotel de Cluny at Paris. Pictures were also frequently painted on plain leather, stretched on a panel. The circumstance is alluded to by Eraclius. Marco Bizzi sometimes painted in tempera on kid-skins ;^ and in the Fondaco de* Tedeschi an apartment is decorated with historical pictures by Paolo Veronese, painted on the gilt leather for which Venice was so famous.* In the commencement of this Introduction foil credit has been given to the monks for the preservation of literature and the arts ; but it must be allowed that if they have been the cause of the preservation of learning during the dark ages, they have also actually destroyed the writings of many classic authors in order to tran- scribe on the parchment on which they were written the works of the fathers or the legends of the saints. Some of the lost works of antiquity have been brought to light by the labours of Cardinal Angelo Mai and other learned men ; but alas ! the ingenious monks had discovered another and more effectual method of destroying the literary treasures of antiquity. This method is revealed in the Bolognese MS.,^ where we find a recipe " To make chamois leather with sheep or goat-skin parchinentj which lias been written on /" Who shall say how many classic works have been made into leather waistcoats for the warriors of the middle ages or cut into sandals for the sleek and well-fed monks ? Who shall even say how many works were obliterated before the destroying process was brought to perfection, and the grand discovery made that parch- ment which had been written on would make as good leather as that which had never been touched by a pen ? 1 Zanettiy della Pittura Veneziana, p. 442, n. « Ibid., p. 194. 3 Ibid., p. 376. cxii INTRODUCTION. [chap. y. § 7. Niello. Amopg the arts formerly practised and now fallen into disuse, there is perhaps none which has led to such im- portant results as the ancient nigellura or niello, for to this we are indebted for the invention of engraving. The art was known to the ancients and was practised during the middle ages, as we find from the * Mappae Clavicula,' the MSS. of Eraclius, Theophilus, and Le Begue, as well as from specimens of the art still existing in diflTerent museums. These examples are extremely rare. That the art was practised by the Byzantine Greeks is proved by the specimens in the Pala d'Oro, which was made at Constantinople in 976, by order of the Doge Pietro Orseolo, for the church of S. Mark at Venice, where it may now be seen. The material is silver-gilt ornamented with gems and enamels. Some of the inscriptions are in Greek and some in Latin, but the letters are all in niello. The Pala d'Oro was repaired in 1105, in 1209, and in 1345, but it is highly probable that the nielli formed part of the original design. Some fragments of it are now in England. The Marquess Trivulzio of Milan has a collection of about forty nielli, among which I saw a very fine specimen by Maso Finiguerra and another by Pere- grino, besides others highly interesting. This art was much cultivated by the early Milanese goldsmiths, who applied it to the decoration of arms and armour, as well as to religious purposes.^ Benvenuto Cellini remarks^ that the art of exe- cuting nielli was nearly forgotten at Florence in the year 1515, when he began to learn the craft of the goldsmith. But, he proceeds, as he was continually 1 Milano e il suo Territorio, vol, ii. p. 244. « Deir Arte del Niellare, e del Modo di fare il Niello. CHAP, v.] NIELLO.-DYEING. CXlll hearing from the goldsmiths of the beauty of the nielli, and particularly of the skill of Maso Finiguerra in this art, he applied himself with great diligence to follow the traces of these skilful goldsmiths ; but not content with learning to engrave on the silver only, he learned also the mode of executing the nielli, in order to work with more facility and certainty. Cellini has left us the most precise description of the mode of working nielli which is extant It has been published with his other works.* The art consisted * in drawing the design on gold or silver with a style and then engraving it with the burin ; a black composition was then made of copper, lead, silver, and sulphur, incorporated together by heat. When cold the composition was pounded and laid on the engraved silver plate, a little borax was sprinkled over it, and the plate was then placed over a charcoal fire until the composition, being dissolved, flowed into all the lines of the design. When cold, the work was scraped and burnished, and the niello presented the effect of a drawing in black on gold or silver. § 8. Dyeing. During the dark ages the Jews appear to have mono- polised the trade of dyeing. Benjamin of Tudela relates that when he visited Jerusalem (between 11 60 and 1 1 73) he found only two hundred Jews resident in that city, who were all dyers of wool, and who had purchased a monopoly of the trade. Beckniann * has shown that the art of dyeing was principally carried on by this people during the same period in Italy. Dye- houses were established in the duchy of Benevento as early as the eleventh century, and in Sicily at the com- 1 The Life and Writings of Cellini were published in 3 toIs. 8vo., in 1806, at Milan. > See Yasari, Int., cap. zzxiii. > Inventions, Title Indigo, VOL. I. h cxiv INTRODUCTION. [chap. v. mencement of the thirteenth. From the Jews resident in Italy the art soon spread to the Italians, who carried it to a greater degree of perfection than the other nations of Europe. In Venice there appear to have been distinct esta- blishments for dyeing in the thirteenth century/ for this city was then celebrated for its purple dyes. The scarlet dyes prepared from the kermes (ffrand) at Florence were particularly prized. About the year 1338 this city contained nearly two hundred of these factories.* In the year 1300 the art of dyeing with the purple colour obtained from the lichen Roccella or Ori- cello was introduced from the Levant ; but the secret of preparing the dye was for a long period confined to a single family, who acquired a lai^e fortune by culti- vating this branch of industry, and who for this reason received the name of " Ruccellai." Previous to this period Marseilles, Aries, Montpellier, and other parts of the South of France, were famous for red, blue, and rose-coloured dyes. The statutes of these cities contain regulations relative to the use of madder, kermes, and brasil wood in dyeing.' The date of the introduction of the art of dyeing into England seems uncertain. Hume remarks that " in the reign of Henry III. woollen cloth, which the English had not then the art of dyeing, was worn by them white, and without receiving the last hand of the manufacturer;" and it is certain that as late as the year 1284 * the English were in the habit of contract- ing with the Florentine merchants for the sale of their fleeces for a period of one year or more. Mr. Hallam * has, however, shown that a woollen-manufactory existed 1 Filiasi, Saggio, &c., p. 153. 3 Depping, Histoire du Commerce, &e., vol. i. p. 235. 8 Ibid., vol. ii. p. 293, 800. 4 Ibid., vol. i. p. 337, quoting Pagnini ' Delia Decima e delle altre Gravezze.' ^ Hbtory of the Middle Ages, vol. iii. p. 378. CHAP. ▼.] DYEING. CXV in England under Henry 11^ which was noticed in the regulations of Kichard I., and which, by the importa- tion of woad under John, may be considered to have been then flourishing. From the importation of woad it may certainly be inferred that the English under- stood and practised the art of dyeing as early as the time of John. The MS. of S- Audemar alludes to a substance called folium,^ which was used by the English to dye wool red or purple. The date of this MS. is uncertain, but it is probably not later than the beginning of the thirteenth century. From the frequent occurrence of treatises on dyeing in old MSS. relative to the arts, it seems probable that this art was formerly practised in monasteries conjointly with painting and medicine. The older MSS., such as that of Lucca and the *Mappae Clavicula,' contain recipes for dyeing skins and leather only. The Bo- lognese MS. contains a long treatise on dyeing, in which various methods of dyeing skins and leather of all kinds, as well as silk, thread, and woollen stufis, are circumstantially detailed. The Sloane MS., No. 1754, contains also a treatise *' de Tincturis," which seems to have been written principally for the use of the monks, the dyeing of the dresses worn by them being described in it These treatises are generally accompanied by recipes for removing stains from cloth. In the intro- duction to the MSS. of Le Begue a practice is noticed " which prevailed in England, previous to the introduc- tion of printing with blocks, of painting linen cloth intended for wearing-apparel with figures, flowers, and various devices in imitation of embroidery. Recipes of a similar kind are contained in the Sloane MS. above mentioned, and also in the Bolognese MS." ^ A vegetable colour employed also in painting, prepared from the juice of the Croton tinctorium. « Page 7. 8 Page 491. h 2 CXVl INTRODUCTION. [cHAP.vt CHAPTER VL PAINTING IN OIL. The fact that in Italy colours were mixed with oil in painting long before the alleged introduction of oil painting by Antonello da Messina, has been established by the clearest evidence ; but the method adopted by these early artists was rude and imperfect ; and it was only after the middle of the fifteenth century that the process, which had been perfected by the genius and skill of the brothers Van Eyck, was introduced into Italy by their pupils and followers. In the course of years the Flemish process under- went various modifications, some of the old practices were altered, and new ones introduced, until the ex- ample of Titian and Paolo Veronese occasioned a radical change in the technical methods of the Italian painters. After their time the new methods were again modified and changed by succeeding painters, until not only the original Flemish process, but those of the Venetian painters, had fallen into oblivion, and but few traces of the old practices remained. Some of these have been handed down traditionally from mas- ter to pupil ; others may be collected from works on painting. It was with a view to collect these scattered reminis- cences of art that the present work was principally undertaken. As traditionary practices might possibly preserve the remembrance of technical processes not recorded in books, or at least serve to confirm those which have been described by writers on aft, it appeared to me CHAP. VI.J PBACTICB OF THE OLD MASTERS. CXTO most desirable to learn as many of them as I could. With this view, I applied for information to several eminent artists and restorers of pictures in the north of Italy. Nothing can exceed the kindness and frankness with which they answered my inquiries, and commu- nicated all they knew respecting the old methods of painting. On one occasion only was there the slightest degree of reserve. The information contained in the treatises published in these volumes, and in other works on art, relative to technical details, is frequently concise and incomplete, and sometimes merely incidental. Extensive reading is, therefore, necessary to enable one to form a just idea of the early methods of oil-painting. As many of the processes are described in books which are so rare as to be scarcely accessible to the general reader, I have endeavoured to collect from them, as well as from the communications of Italian artists, such information as will give the reader some slight notions of the Ita- lian practice of oil-painting. The materials I have collected may be arranged under the following heads: — 1st. The communications made by foreign professors of painting. 2ndly. An explanation of the colours used in painting,^ with some account of the manner in which they are employed. 3rdly. A description of the mode of preparing oils and varnishes, and of the resins of which the latter are composed ; and, 4thly, A short account of the process of painting. § 1. OpinioDs of eminent Italian Artists as to the Practice of tlie Old Masters. The following particulars relative to old methods of painting were communicated to me by Signor A., an artist who had practised many years at Milan, and is esteemed as a skilful restorer of pictures. The Society of Painters in the Italian States were CXViu INTRODUCTION. [chap. n. governed by certain rules and regulations among them- selves, and when a young man wished to become a painter, he was placed with one of established repu- tation, with whom he was to continue one year on trial If at the end of that period the master was dissatisfied with the boy's progress, he returned him to his parents ; if he approved of him, the boy was bound to him for twelve years,^ the first six or seven of which were spent in learning to grind colours, and all the other mecha- nical parts of the art, as well as in painting " Madon- nine," which were sent to the fairs for sale, and the proceeds helped to pay the expenses of the boy's board and lodging. The pupil was sworn never to divulge the secrets * of the art until he became a master him- self, when he was allowed to teach his own pupils, first binding them to secrecy. Signer A. remarked that a master could not execute large works properly unless he had half a dozen pupils at least, and the object of the long apprenticeship was, that the pupil might by his services repay the master who had maintained and taught him, for in those days pupils did not pay apprentice fees. He observed that Titian painted on a ground of thin "gesso msjrcio,*" taking especial care not to put too much glue,* and this slightly absorbent ground was useful in getting rid of the superfluous oil. He next stated that the two great faults of the moderns were the use of white lead in their grounds, and the little care they took in purifying their colours. He said that any 1 Cennini (cap. civ.) mentions a similar terra of apprenticeship. He says the first year was spent in studying drawing ; the next six in learning to grind colours, to make glue, to prepare grounds, and to gild ; and the remaining six years in learning to paint. » Compare with the Statutes of Siencse Painters, s. xiii. xJ. Carteggio Inedito, vol. ii. 8 See Zanetti, della Pittura Veneziana, p. 101. 4 Strong glue would have hardened the ground and rendered it oon- absorbent. Sec p. 888. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OF THE OLD MASTERS. CXlX picture in which white lead was used in the ground would inevitably crack within fifty years after it was painted, and that pictures painted with oil on a white lead ground would moreover turn brown,^ This prac- tice, he said, was observed by Mengs, who in other respects painted with the true method. He also said that the colours were always ground with oil, but that oil was not used to paint with. The colours, he said, were of the most common description, as we read in Lanzi and others, * but they were careftiUy purified and washed. Signor A. told me, that when he was at Venice he made a point of going to the Piazza San Salvatore,' where Titian used to purchase his colours, to see whether there were any " speziali " * there still. He found one, and inquired of him if he had any old colours, such as were used by the old painters, and he was shown an orange-coloured pigment, which resem- bled a colour frequently found on Venetian pictures. Signor A. gave me an ounce or more of this colour. He said the blue used by Titian, Correggio, Paul Veronese, and others, was " bleu minerale," (he pro- nounced this word in the Italian manner ;) he showed me his bottle of this blue, and told me I could pur- chase it for one soldo an ounce, for it was no^^^r used for the most common purposes ; but that it could not be used with oil, or in any method but his, on oil paint- ings. He said the Venetians never used ultramarine,* which inclined too much to the violet. As to Titian's method of painting, he said the whole subject was painted in chiaroscuro with this same blue, mixed with white and terra rossa, as if painting with - ^ Vasari (Int., eap. ix\.) and Armenini mention that white lead was used in the grounds. s Zanetti, delia Pittura Veneziana, p. 100. s Titian is said to have purchased his colours in Rialto ; San Salvatore is on the other side of the Canal Grande. 4 Apothecaries or druggists who sold colours. ^ There is proof that the Venetians did occasionally use ultramarine. CXX INTRODUCTION. [chap, vl Indian ink; that the lights were laid on with flesh- colour (red and white) ; the picture was then laid aside for several months (say five or six); afterwards the flesh-colour, consisting of terra rossa, or whatever you please, was glazed over the flesh, and then the picture was again laid by to dry. I think Signor A. said the shades and half tints were then painted, and the picture again dried. The glazing was then repeated until the painter was satisfied with his work, setting the picture aside between every glazing, until quite dry and hard.^ That the picture was invariably first painted in cold colours, and that the warm colours were afterwards glazed upon them. That the whole surface of the picture, when the painting was completed, was glazed over with asphaltum ("spalto bianco, bi- tume Hebraico'*). "But," I remarked, "if asphaltum is now used, it is almost sure to crack." He answered, "That is because you do not know how to use it." He added, that all Titian's pictures were glazed with it The effect of daylight discernible in Titian's pictures was, he observed, produced by his studying after the life in the public gardens and the open air, and never in the darkened studio.* I asked whether placing the picture in the sun made any difference : he hesitated. I then related the passage from the letters of Rubens,' giving the authority ; and he admitted this was necessary to prevent the picture becoming yellow.* He also said it is reported that Correggio was a 1 The subject was resumed at another interview, and is more clearly ex- plained in p. cxxiii. 2 See Zanetti, della Pittura Yeneziana, p. 99. 3 See Gachet, Lettres inddites de P. P. Rubens, 1840, p. 234. 4 I had been previously informed that it was the custom in Italy to place pictures in the air, and to expose them to the heavy dew, and then to sufier them to dry thoroughly in the sun, that this process was carried on after every coat of paint, and that it was owing to this process that the oil of old pictures did not become yellow. I have myself seen pictures so exposed at Milan. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OF THE OLD MASTEKS. CXXl pupil of Mautegna's, but that he was certain from the manner in which his pictures were painted, that he was a pupil of Giorgione's or Pordenone's. He said it was more diflElcult to imitate Correggio than any other painter. He spoke of his (Correggio's) St Je- rome, at Parma, which he said was the finest picture ever painted, and stated that Correggio had painted the figure of St, Jerome in two days. The first day he painted the head and balf the body, passing from the top of the shoulder to the wrist witii one stroke of the brush. The next day, he said, he began at the hips and finished at the toes with one stroke of the brush. ^^ This facility," said he, " he obtained from painting in fresco." I noticed that some of his own pictures had in places that shrivelled look which is sometimes found on Titian's and Palma Vecchio*s pictures, which Merimee mentions ^ as a proof that oil or an oleo-resinous var- nish had been used. With regard to the darks being raised above the surface, he said that in Correggio's St Jerome before- mentioned, the blue drapery was the thickness of a five franc piece above the rest of the picture. He showed me a copy he was painting of Correggio's Mar- riage of St Catherine, which was unfinished and with- out the glazings. The paint seemed to be dry and hard as he rapped it with his fingers, and did not shine, excepting a portion of the drapery. A part of the Virgin's red drapery was glazed ; the glazing shone like varnish, and was higher than the lights — that is, it stood up with an edge where it joined the lights. I have reason to think that the vehicle used was amber varnish. I inquired what he thought of Lionardo da Vinci's different processes as related by Lomazzo and others ; he said they were " niente, niente." That he (Lionardo) was always experimenting (" soffisticare "), 1 De la Peinture k rHuilc, p. 31. CXXU INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. taking up his oils with little bits of cotton, and so on, but the oil was of little consequence ; that when Titian was asked about his oil, he said, " If you have good oil, you can make a good picture ; if you have bad oil, you can still make a good picture.** He observed, " the Englishman Laurent (Sir T. Lawrence) thought the secret consisted in wax; but before his death he discovered his error/' He also observed, "some use litharge and the oxides of lead with their oils; but nothing can be worse for the pictures than oxides of lead, for they will always darken the colours." Signor A, also remarked that the difference between the methods of Titian and Kubens consisted in the former glazing the whole picture, while Rubens only glazed parts. The nu- merous sketches, however, left by Rubens, and the testimony of various writers,^ show that Rubens painted his pictures in a different manner, Rubens beginning his pictures with rich browns, then the silver gray shade's, then the various flesh tints ; while, according to Signor A., Titian began with the cold colours and finished with the warm ; each attaining transparency by a different road. He also observed that the old painters never used a mahl-stick on large pictures: that Rubens mentions being obliged to have recourse to one in his old age and in declining health.* He allowed that the Dutch used them on small easel pictures ;' and he said that the great painters used brushes with long handles, and stood at a great distance from their pictures ;* that the ^ Rubens' method of colouring is described at some length by Mr. East- lake, * Materials,' &c., 408, 409, 483, 494—508, 616—628. s If I am not mistaken, this fact is related by Rubens in one of his letters. 3 Cespides mentions a mahl>stick among the implements necessary for a painter. See Pacheco, p. 396. 4 This is said to have been the case with Velasquez, and in modem times with our own Gainsborough. Vasari recommends that the cartoon should be drawn with a piece of charcoal fixed into a long cane. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OP THE OLD MASTERS. CXXIU practice of keeping a youth drawing for years with a hard point (a pencil) was very injurious to his pro- gress as a painter ; that he should be taught to draw with his brush, which was flexible and elastic at the point, and which gives freedom and facility of execu- tion ; and that there was no practice so good to form a painter as fresco painting. He added, if a man is not a good painter at the age of 18 or 20. he never will be, because he will be too timid to work with proper boldness. Signor A. called on me again, and I inquired fur- ther respecting the method of Titian. He told me that Titian began by painting in the flesh in chiaro- scuro with a mixed tint, formed of biadetto, biacca, and a very little terra rossa. He then painted the lights with flesh colour, and laid by the picture to dry. Afler 5 or 6 months he glazed the flesh with terra rossa and let it dry. He then painted in the shades transparently (that is, without any white in the sha- dows), using a great deal of asphaltum with them. Signor A. then stated that Titian always represented his subjects surrounded by daylight, and reflected upon by surrounding objects. He also said that in a blue drapery he painted the shades with lake, and then laid on the lights [with white]. That these colours were laid on with great body, and when dry he took a large brush and spread the biadetto over the whole. ^ Signor A. also told me that the beautiful green used by the Venetian painters was an artificial pigment formed of copper and vitriol (he said he could not describe it 1 SifT. Pftlmaroli (note to Marcucci, p. 230 n.) states that he succeeded in imitating certain blue tints in draperies by Titian and Paolo Veronese, by drawing and painting the shadows very transparently with the usual brown tint, broken with lake, next to these the blue tint composed ofsmal- tino and a little verdigris. The lights wore painted with white and ultra- marine and a little verdigris, and when dry the whole was glazed with ultramarine mixed with varnish. CXXiv INTRODUCTION. [cbat. ti. more accurately because he did not understand che- mistry), called verde lavita, or verde vita, which was sold so cheap that it might almost be said to be worth nothing.^ He added, that all the colours used by the Venetians were cheap and common ; but that they were made valuable by their mode of using them. He said, " You may use the biadetto as I have directed you with all the Venetian impasto, but in two years it will become green*** (meaning to say it could only be used with his vehicle, which he did not describe). I said that in England painters mixed varnish with the colours, and that the pictures cracked. He replied, ^^ that was because they painted with the colours mixed with varnish before the under colours were dry ;" but, he added, painters did not all adopt Titian's manner ; some could paint a picture in four hours; Bubens painted his Descent in nine days ; and painters could so temper their colours that they could complete a picture as fast as their hands could execute it; that their vehicle gave them complete command over their materials, and that every one added more or less of " certe droghe " (certain drugs), according to their con^'enience and manner of working. Sig. A. has an accurate and most extensive know- ledge of all the writers on painting, and seems to know every thing in these authors that bears on technical points. He quoted passages from Vasari, Kidolfi, Bellori, Zanetti, Guarienti's * Abecedario,' &c. * I asked him whether he knew anything of Errante's paintings at Home, and of the work he had written,' the object of which was to recommend the addition of ground 1 The Venetians used " verde eterno/* which is crystallised or puri- fied verdigris, sometimes called distilled verdigris. 2 It is well known that biadetto and other blues from copper cannot be used with oil without turning green. See Palomino, vol. ii. p. 52. Paolo Veronese frequently mixed them with size instead of oil. See Boschini, Ricche Minere ; and Baldinucci, Vita di Paolo Veronese. ' Saggio sui Coloriy del Cav. D. Giuseppe £rrante, Roma, 1817. CHAP. YiJ PBACnCB OP THE OLD MASTERS. CXXV rock-crystal and " sraalti " to the colours. Sig. A, replied, that it was " Niente, niente," and added, " see what his pictures become in a few years/' But he did not explain in what respect the pictures had suffered. Sig. A. showed me a picture by Bamboccio (Peter Van Laer), and at the same time informed me he pos- sessed a black mirror which was used by this artist in painting, and in which the subject was reflected, ** exactly," he said, " like a Flemish landscape ;" ** and then," he added, " they had only to paint what they saw in the mirror."* This mirror was bequeathed by Bamboccio to Gaspar Foussin ; by the latter to some other painter, until it ultimately came into the hands of Sig. A. In order to prevent insects from eating the panels, Sig. A. stated that roche-alum should be mixed with the grounds. He also told me that to destroy the insects which had already got into the wood or ground of pictures, some assafcetida and sulphur should be burnt in an open vessel, over which the back of the picture should be placed at a proper distance ; the whole should be then covered in, so as to enclose the smoke arising from these ingredients, which will effectually destroy the insects. The picture may afterwards be washed, if necessary, but the sulphur will not injure the painting. Assafcetida and garlic were both used by the old masters for these purposes.' Sig A. thinks the old masters used madder-lake, and that they burned it to make it darker. Verona. — We breakfasted this morning with Count -, who had invited an artist, principally employed in restoring pictures, to meet us. Among other things this artist said that ultramarine was the only blue pig- 1 See Du Fresnoy, de Arte Grapfaica, 1. 286, and the Commentary of De Piles. > See Pacheco, Tratado, p. 382, &e. Palomino, vol. ii. p. 49. CXXVl INTRODUCTION. [cbaf. vx. ment used by the old masters. That they did not use red-lead, but other colours mixed to imitate it; that the Venetians used cochineal lakes. That if they laid oil upon oiV they waited a year between each painting. That there are few painters who have painted so many times over their pictures as Titian; that he did not apply asphaltum over the surface of the picture, but that he used a yellow varnish ; that the old masters did not use oil-varnish in painting ; that if new pictures were exposed to the sun they would crack to a certainty, unless they were previously wetted, when the process might be repeated several times. (This reminds me of what I had been previously told about exposing pictures to the dew as well as to the sun.) That the canvass was never primed on both sides. He stated that he had found on a picture of Titian's a coat of thin ge.sso, then a coat of very strong glue, made from pig*s-skin, very hard and shining, upon which the picture was painted.* I inquired whether the plan described by Sig. A., of getting in the chiaro-scuro with a blueish tint, was that of Titian ? He said it was not. That he painted his pictures first with colours of great body, and then finished with glazings. Sig. A. also said he painted his colours with great body at first. This artist mentioned a kind of strong glue called crocante^ the nature of which I have not been able to ascertain. He prepared his linseed-oil first by straining it ; he then put white-lead into a sieve and filtered the oil through it, when all impurities remained behind in the lead, but he never boiled it. He always found that Guimet's ultramarine, mixed with this oil, turned black. 1 To understand this expression, it is necessary to state that I had been previously informed tliat the Venetians painted the solid colours at once with oil, and finished with varnish, so that one layer of colour mixed with oil was not laid on another. s That this coat of hard glue is frequently laid between the ground and the picture is proved by £dwards*s Report, p. 888. This glue rendered the ground non-absorbent, of which he did not approve. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OF THE OLD MASTERS. CXXVli Venice. — I was introduced to Sig, B., an artist who had been long employed in restoring the public pictures. He had then just dead-coloured a copy he was making of a picture by Gian Bellino, The dead- colouring of the flesh was not so blue in the shades as Sig. A.'s. There was more red with it ; indeed the dead-colouring seemed conducted exactly in the same manner as I have seen it done by artists in England, The blue drapery was dead-coloured with bleu de Berlin. The following is a summary of the information I obtained from this artist. 1. The grounds consisted of nothing but gesso and glue, which absorbed the superfluous oil. 2. The dead-colouring was always painted with cold colours, the lights white, and the shades warm;^ you may then make your picture any thing you please. 3. The warm colours were always glazed, over the more solid tints. 4. The vehicle he used for every part of the picture was linseed-oil, boiled on litharge, which was of a high colour, indeed almost black, and which he purchased in bottles imported from Germany. He also showed me another bottle containing linseed-oil thickened in the sun, and mixed with litharge ; more than half the con- tents of this last bottle was a black sediment He said he required nothing thinner to dilute the colours ; he never used spirit of turpentine or varnish in painting. He used bladder-colours. The lake he mixed with his boiled oil, and it stood up on the palette, and when put on his nail did not flow. He said he exposed his pictures to the sun after every process of painting; that this never occasioned their cracking, and that he did not wet them before exposing them to the sun. He paints on the plan always observed in the Venetian 1 The first shades in the picture he was copying were painted in cold colours. He must have meant that the shades when finished were to be warm. cxxvui INTRODUCTION. [chap. vr. school. He does not know the Flemish method, or that of Rubens. He knows that his own method is that pursued by the Venetians, from the frequent opportunities he has had of observation when cleaning their pictures. Sig. B. said that Titian did put red shades under his blue draperies.^ He also said, " If yoii paint your half tints cold, your shades warm, and your lights white, you may glaze your picture to whatever tone you like." Sig. B. observed that the Venetians used little besides earths, and never orpiment; but that the modern Romans use it in great quantity. There was a most beautiful deep lake-coloured drapery in an old picture in the room where he was painting. I asked with what colour was that done? He shook his head, and said he did not know, but that the dead-colouring was done with much white, and when dry it was glazed with lake until it was suffi- ciently dark. I asked why in old pictures the darks were always raised higher than the lights ? He said it was because the painters went over them a great many times. I remarked that the blites are always more in relief than any other colour. In this he agreed, but assigned no further reason. His knowledge seemed entirely practi- cal, and his practice derived from his restorations of old pictures. He said Titian used asphaltum, and that blue draperies were glazed with ultramarine. Sig. C, another artist, who had been frequently employed during the last thirty years in restoring the public pictures at Venice, informed me that Titian generally painted on a ground of glue and gesso, but great care was necessary, when this ground was used on canvass, to make it soft and pliant ; the best means of 1 See p* czxiii., cxxix. y CHAF. Yt] PRACTICE OP THE OLD MASTERS. cxxix securiDg this was to add some milk to the glue and v^ gesso. That the use of this gesso ground was to absorb the superfluous oil. He also observed, that Titian sometimes used a ground composed of terra rossa, with oil. That he laid in the subject in the natural colours, or as nearly as he could to nature, only much fainter, and thin of . colour, and when dry painted in the colours more ^ solidly; but that he always painted the shades cold. ^ He then put the picture by for a year, and corrected it by glazing. That Titian generally used nothing but oil ; that he sometimes went seven, eight, or nine times over the same part,' with oil glazings, which is the reason why his paintings become more yellow than others ; that he sometimes glazed with varnish. That ^ he did not put red under the shades of his blue draperies ; but that when this appearance was perceived it arose from his having used a red ground, and when the blue became thin by being rubbed ofi^ the red ground appeared through. That the blue used formerly was called " Turchino,** that it may still be purchased, . that some old painters still use it, and that it is very apt to turn green. I mentioned that Baldinucci said that Paul Veronese laid on the blue in distemper. He said it was the fact, and that many restorers did not know it until they found it out by taking off the colour unintentionally in cleaning it. That some of Paul Veronese's blues turned green; but those that best retained their colour were found to have been painted in distemper. Sig. C. observed that Titian and Paul Veronese both painted " con colori di corpo,** that they suffered the colours to dry thoroughly before they painted on them again, and this hard, dry body of colours enabled them to apply the glazings and sfregazzi.^ I See'Zanetti, della Pittura Veneziana, p. 102. ^ See note, p. 879. VOL. I. i CXXX INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. That the brilliant reds were obtained by glazing lake over terra rossa ; that the terra rossa they had formerly is now lost ; that the best is now brought from Spain.^ That for a green drapery, Titian began with terra verde, with, perhaps, giallolino for the lights. When dry he glazed the whole with verdigris, and the shades with asphaltum ; both these colours might be rubbed in with the hand. Sometimes he glazed with asphaltum without the verdigris, when he required a warm rich green. That asphaltum could be easily dissolved for use in spirit of turpentine. That litharge mixed with oils was very bad for the picture; *and that it corroded the paint, as well as darkened the colours. I saw Sig. C. on the following day, when I again cross-examined him. The following is the substance of the replies elicited : — That he had never heard of mixing powdered glass with oil or colours. That he had heard of encaustic painting, but not of mixing wax with oil. That he had never heard of dissolving resins in oil, and thus making an oil varnish.^ 1 I am inclined to believe that the red earth, called sinopia, was a finer colour than any of the iron ores now in use as pigments. I have frequently noticed a red of this description on old mural paintings in Italy; and I have also seen specimens of a fine red colour in a dry state in a volume of draw- ings by Lionardo da Vinci, in the possession of Sig. G. Vallardi, at Milan. Some of these drawings had been executed on the paper of which the books used for keeping leaf gold were made. Before the gold was laid in these books, the leaves were rubbed over with dry sinopia, as we read in Theophilus (lib. i. cap. 24), and the above instance proves that the custom was continued in Italy at least until the time of Lionardo da Vinci. * As far as I could ascertain, oleo-resinous varnishes are not only obsolete in the north of Italy, but they appear to be almost entirely forgotten. When living artists mentioned the colours being mixed with oil and varnish, they always alluded to the mixture of an essential oil- varnish with linseed or nut-oil. In one instance only had I reason to think an oleo-resinous var- nish was habitually employed by a living artist. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OF THE OLD MASTERS. CXXXl That he had never heard of placing pictures in the sun, unless it was for the purpose of cracking a new picture to make it look like an old one. That the reason why old pictures cannot be repaired with oil colours, is that the oil in the old picture has undergone all its changes, that the new tints are made to match the old with oil that will change ; and when this change takes place the colours darken, and cease to match the old paint. That all restorations are now done with colours mixed with varnish ; that Sig. Pietro Edwards was the first who introduced this practice. Sig. C. then remarked that the reason why spirit of wine dissolved old oil paintings, and not new ones painted entirely in oil, was because the greater part of the oil was dried up, and no more remained in the picture than was sufficient to hold the paint together. In other words, that the oil of the old picture was con- verted into a resin, and, like other resins, was soluble in spirit of wine. That the Venetians did not paint on gold grounds after the time of Titian. That the Venetians sometimes laid a coat of white- lead and oil over the gesso ground. With regard to the use of ultramarine, he observed that it was occasionally used by the Venetians, chiefly on easel pictures. That as this colour was a stone, and not a metal, it never changed colour ; but that if used with oil, in time the oil would dry and leave it, and the colour would come off in powder. That it should be used in distemper, and then it would last ; that all those painters whose blues have stood, have applied them in distemper. He also stated that the lake used by the Venetian painters was called " Lacca di Cambaneri o di Ver- zino ,•"* that it may still be purchased at Venice ; that 1 If this lake was made of verzino, it should probably have been called <* Lacca ColombiDa." i 2 CXXXU INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. it was always glazed, and used with varnish ; that it will not stand with oil. That the blue tinge of the lake in old pictures was occasioned by adding blue to the lake. That the Venetians and Titian glazed with varnish. That red-lead might be used with boiled oil, because as the oil was already oxidised to the highest d^ree, it would not de-oxidise the red-lead (deutoxide of lead), which would therefore not change. He said also that Paolo Veronese had originally glazed his red-leads with giallolino, which had been re- moved in cleaning ; and that the rich bright yellow colour I had noticed in P. Veronese's picture was gamboge. That the Venetians of the present day make great use of madder-lake ; and that the old Venetian school also possessed this pigment, because the madder-plant grows in the neighbourhood of Venice.^ Sig. G. also informed me that Titian glazed much with asphaltum, and that in glazing he used an essential oil varnish, such as aqua di ragia.' He stated also, that the very fine hs^ir-like cracks in old pictures were the effect of time only.' He mentioned that distemper was frequently em- ployed on early oil-pictures, particularly on parts that it was feared would turn yellow, such as white linen. With regard to the method of Titian, he observed that Titian always softened the shades of flesh with his fingers ; and that he used sometimes nut-oil, and some- times linseed-oil, and sometimes both together; but that linseed-oil was the best, because the nut-oil soon became rancid, and when mixed with the colours under- went a sort of fermentation. 1 This reasoning is not conclusive, and it is probable that the Yenetian madder was not the best, since in 1566 madder was imported for dyeing by the Venetians from Flanders, under the name of ^'robbia o vero rozadi Fiandra." See * Libro intitolato Plicto,' Yenezia, 1565. * If this be true, whence arise the wrinkles so frequently observed on Titian's pictures, which can only take place on the tough surface of the oil ? 3 If so, why do not those of Van £yck, Lucas Van Leyden, Hamme- link, Antonello da Messina, Francesco Francia, and others of that period crack also ? CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OF THE OLD MASTERS. CXXXIU From what this gentleman said I collect that he deems the rapid drying of the vehicle to be of the first importance to the permanence of the colours, which were not likely to change when once dry, and that it is better to use a dark-coloured oil which will not change than any of a lighter colour which will change. Sig. D., an eminent artist, called on me this evening for the purpose of describing the methods of painting practised by Titian and others of the Venetian school. He began by stating that the only artists to be con- sidered as examples in the mechanical part of the art are Gian Bellino, Giorgione, Titian, Bonifazio, and the two Bassans. That the decline of the art is to be attributed to Tintoretto, who, to save expense, used bad colours in his immense pictures, and to Falma Giovane. The following was the plan generally adopted by the first-mentioned artists : — The grounds were made with gesso and a very thin glue ; sometimes a little black was added to this by Gian Bellino and others- Over this one or two coats of glue were applied to prevent the ground being too absorbent. The glue was made of parings of leather. An analysis of some pictures by Gian Bellino showed they were painted in the following manner and order : — The ground as above. Then the outline with ink. The chiaroscuro painted very thin with brown. Then the first flesh colour, very rosy, the colour being spread thin. Second coat of flesh colour made browner, with more yellow, also very thin. Third coat thin, and with more white, to match the complexion. CXXXIV INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. This manner of painting keeps the flesh light and clear, because it permits the white grounds and the rosy tints to be seen through.* These colours are all mixed with oil, but the coats of paint being so thin, the colours dry quickly and hard before the oil has had time to become rancid. The flesh was finished with glazings of asphaltum. Draperies. — The lights and shades strongly con- trasted, the lights pure white or nearly so. The darks consisted of the pure colour. Then the glazings with the local transparent colours. The whole figure, drapery, &c., finished with glasangs of asphaltum and terra di Cologna,^ not much burnt. Asphaltum was mixed with olio di sasso (naphtha) or spirit of turpentine. No part of paintings in oil was executed in distemper. Titian generally began his pictures like Gian Bellino, but instead of painting the flesh three times only, he painted over it four, five, or six times ; consequently the ground would not absorb all the superfluous oil, which rose to the top and darkened the picture. That he frequently laid on the paint with his fingers. That he did not paint with a thick coat of colour, but always used his colours thin, for the reason given above. That he frequently covered the whole picture except the white linen with asphaltum. He painted no part in distemper. Bonifazio glazed more than any of the others. Giorgione began like Gian Bellino and Titian. Did not lay in any part of the picture with distemper. Paolo Veronese painted generally alia prima with ^ As to the lights in early oil paintings being semi- opaque, see Mr. East- lake's * Materials/ &c., p. 408. 2 I am not aware that Cologne earth is mentioned in Italian M-orks, at lea^t previous to the 17th century. The colour might have been terra di Campagna. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OP THE OLD MASTERS. CXXXV more body than Titian (whose patience he appeared to want), so that the finished picture was little more than the abbozzo ; that is, that he painted up his picture at once. • That he did not employ distemper on his pictures ; but with regard to the appearance of distemper ob- served on his pictures, it had been remarked that the pictures in the churches in Venice that had hung on south walls for a great many years had the appearance , of tempera paintings because the sun had di^ied up all the oil, and that the colours of these pictures would wash oflf with water. That the old Venetians always exposed their pictures to the sun, and the dew even, for five or six months, in order to prevent their becoming yellow ; that he himself had always done this, and without the least injury to his pictures. That he had never found glue, &c., between the pic- ture and the varnish in old pictures, but that this was the modern practice, because the varnish spread and adhered better on the glue than on the oil. He said also that Damara varnish has been found in old pictures, and not mastic^ which is modern.* That varnish is found mixed with the paint and oil in old pictures. That he had never heard of colours having been mixed with vernice liquida, as described by Cane-' parius,* and thinks this practice must have been intro- duced after the decline of the art. Sig. D. also mentioned that Chilone, an old painter who died about seven or eight years ago, was acquainted with Canal and Canaletto, and that he had told Sig. D. that these artists used oil boiled on litharge, and re- 1 It is almost unnecessary to remark that mastic was used by the old masters, and that Damara resin appears to be only recently introduced. * Canepario was a Venetian ])by8ician. His work, De Atramentis, was published in London in 1660. CXXXVl INTRODUCTION. [chap. yi. commended him to use it also, and that they frequently spread it over the whole picture. That mastic varnish was sure to crack if used in painting pictures, but that Damara varnish was not so strong and would not crack. The reason the darks stood higher than the lights on old pictures was because the painter went over them so often, and generally mixed varnish with them. He said the oil always rose to the sur&ce of the picture and dried dark; that they (the restorers of pictures) take off this crust of oil with potash. That the green used by the Venetians was verd! etemOj and when used with oil the sur&ce turns black ; that when cleaning pictures the crust is scraped off and the green beneath is found as fine a colour as ever. He told me also that he had made experiments by taking qff some of the colours with a knife, and had had them analysed by a very skilfiil chemist (now dead). The following are the colours he has found on Vene- tian pictures of the best period : — White-lead, yellow, red, and other earths, ultra- marine, native cinnabar,^ cinabro d'OUanda, verd' eterno, Cologne earth, asphaltum, lakes of kermes and madder ; Naples yellow, very seldom used ; orpiment, used by Bonifazio only; red-lead, very seldom used, and always with varnish ; biadetto and verzino lake, used by Tintoretto only ; verd' eterno and lake, always laid on with varnish. Sig. D. stated that he had found no blue but ultrl- marine, and the reason this colour was raised so much f above the surface of the pictures on draperies was that \ it was used very thick, because as it was coarsely ground it would otherwise look granular and show the white through. 1 Probably the hard red haematite, which was called ''dnabro minerale** by the Italians. y the drying away of the oil, assumed the appearance of paintings in distemper. In reply to my inquiry how he had ascertained the number of the coats of colour on pictures, hor replied, " By taking them off one after another with ^ knife.** Sig. D. told me he generally used fresh linseed-oil unboiled; that he had once filtered the oil through animal charcoal, but that this rendered it too thin. The only preparation he used habitually was to filter the oil through four or five sheets of paper. In consequence of what Sig. D. told me concerning the painting of Paolo, I inquired of Sig. C whether coUa (glue or size) had ever been found on the pictures of Paolo : he said, " Yes, certainly.'* But he did not know that it had been found on the oil-paintings of any other person.* Having frequently observed in Paolo's pictures at ^ £ztraordinary precautions were sometimes taken at Venice to defend oil-paintings from damp. See p. 880, n. < See Oraini, Elogio e Memorie di Pietro Perugino, 208, n., where it is stated that the blue in a picture by this artist at Montone was tempered with flour-{)a8te, or starch (colla di farina). A part of Van Eyck's cele- brated altar-piece at Ghent was painted in distemper. This discovery was made accidentally by some ignorant painters washing off the colour in clean- ing it. See also Pachoco, Tratado de la Pintura, p. 373. CXXXVlii INTRODUCTION. [chaf. vi. Venice that the colour appears laid on at once, the dark threads of the canvass being visible on great part of the picture without any appearance of a ground, I inquired the reason of this appearance, and why the white threads of the canvass should appear black. Sig. C. told me it was because Paolo frequently painted without any other ground than a little colloy just suffi- cient to bind the loose downy threads of the canvass t and enable the brush to move freely ; that this being absorbent the oil soaked into the canvass and turned it black, or nearly so. It will perhaps be recollected that Pozzo, the Jesuit^ generally painted without a ground, for he said the gesso caused the colours to change.* Callot, the Vene- tian, painted on the same kind of ground. I mentioned having been informed that Titian had begun his pictures in chiaroscuro, and alluded to his early picture in the gallery Manfrin ; but Sig. C. would not allow that it was painted in this manner, and he denied that Titian ever began his pictures in this way, but that he always laid in the abbozzo with the local colours, but very thinly and light in colour. In support of his opinion Sig. C. said there was an unfinished pic- ture by Titian at Udine, in which part of the abbozzo may still be seen, having never been covered over. The S. Sebastian in the Barbarigo palace is another example by Titian of an abbozzo in his last manner. From the passage in Paolo Pino's Dialogue it appears that the practice of beginning pictures in chiaroscuro with brown was discontinued some time previous to 1548, the date of Pino's work. The probability is that Titian painted in his youth in the Flemish manner, but that he afterwards changed it to that usually ascribed to him. In the Manfrini gallery is a picture said to have been painted by Titian when he was only sixteen years of I Sec Lanzi, vol. ii. p. 228. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OF THE OLD MASTERS. CXXXlX age. This picture is evidently painted in the manner described by Sig. D., that is, the chiaroscuro with brown and the flesh colours upon this ; the lights of the draperies are white, and the' local colours glazed over it when dry : this is seen where the lake has been nearly all rubbed off. I inquired of Sig. C. whether he had found the de- scription given by Boschini * of Tintoretto's method of painting correct. He replied that Tintoretto did not begin his pictures in chiaroscuro, but that he made the sketch in water-colours in chiaroscuro, and then oiled it ; and when it was dry he painty in the local colours with oil. Several of these sketches, he told me, were in the possession of Sig. Bernardino Corniani. I inquired of Sig. C. whether it was true that pic- tures which had been hung for a very long period of time (say 100 or 200 years) on a south wall were found in a different state from those which had hung on other walls. He answered "Yes: those which have been hung on north walls are always found destroyed by the damp, or at least much injured ; because the damp dissolves the glue of the ground and the picture scales off, while those on the south walls are always found dried up and burnt from the effects of the sun." I also inquired his authority for saying that colours were frequently mixed with milk ; he replied, " It is an old tradition ; milk was much used by the ancients, and is mentioned by Pliny." Another day I observed to the same professor, if the Venetians always required so long a period for their colours to dry before they laid on anotjier coat of paint, how could those pictures be painted that were said to be executed in so short a time? He replied 1 SeeRicchc Minere. Boschini, speaking of Tintoretto, says, ^* Abboz- zava il quadro tiitto di chiaroscuro, havendo scmpro oggetto principalc di conccrtarc tutta la massa come a' e dctto," &c. Cxl INTRODUCTION. [chap, vt that Tintoretto had painted his Crucifixion entirely in twelve days, but that he had painted it up at once, without touching the same part twice, consequently without glazing. I asked whether this, picture was in good preservation ; his answer was " Benone ** (excel- lent). Sig. C. told me also this picture was painted on a ground of flour-paste*^ Signor G. told me it had been found that Paolo Veronese's pictures were painted in the following man- ner and order : — A ground of gesso. The abbozzo. The solid painting with colours mixed with oil. A light coat of varnish. Then the blues, vermilions, red lead, and white linen (biancheria), as well as the vermilion tints in flesh, were laid on in distemper, and over the whole picture was a coat of varnish. He. added, the tints in distemper were so firmly united, that they would sometimes bear washing twice without being disturbed, and that the restorers were ignorant of the manner in which they were painted, until, having removed the varnish, they found the colours soluble in water. I asked, how could the distemper colours be made to adhere upon oil colours? He said the distemper colours mixed with size and milk, adhered firmly to the thin coat of varnish, before mentioned. Signor C. also said that Paolo used a general tint, composed of Cologne earth, or some other brown pig- ment, a little white lead, a little blue, and a very little terra rossa, which he spread thinly over the shadows. 1 ** La prontezza z^ meterse davanti Una gran tela, e de farina propia Tamisar, e impastar figure in copia, £ scnza natural, far casi tanti.*' Boachini, La Carta del Navegar, p. 839. CHAP. ▼!.] PRACTICP OF THE OLD MASTERS. cxli (which had been previously prepared with a grey tint,) sometimes a velatura^ sometimes a sfregazzoj and that he used this tint on every part of the picture, even on the heads.^ Speaking one day of the hardness of the old pic^ tures, that when tried with the file, they scaled o^ and presented almost a glassy surface, Signor C. said he had experienced this, but attributed it merely to the viscous nature of the oil, and the varnish with which it was mixed. He also told me the pictures of Cima da Conegliano were painted with solid colours in a light key, and that the shades were laid on transparently with asphaltum. This also was discovered in the cleaning of his pictures ; when the varnish was removed, the shades came away with it« , Signor C. stated that the colour so much used by Titian in shading was not, as is generally supposed, terra rossa, but terra di Siena, burnt to difierent shades of colour, from yellowish brown to almost black. I asked whether Titian had painted in tempera on his oil-paintings ? Signor C. said No ; Paolo Veronese being aware that oil darkened the colours, had employed tempera : but he did not know of any other who had done so. I inquired whether Paolo glazed much ? He answered, " Very littie, and in the shades only." Did he use asphaltum ? No, not that he was aware of. But Tintoretto used it extensively, and some few used mommioj but it was not generally approved of. With regard to the use of oil, Signor C. said that Titian had used more oil than other artists of the same period ; that he frequently glazed with oil, although he sometimes used varnish. 1 See Zanetti, della Pittura Veneziana, p. 164. * I observed that the blue draperies in the pictures of Tintoi'etto in the Scuola of S. Rocco were painted with a flat and uniform tint of colour, and that the shades had all disappeared, probably in cleaning. cxlii INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. He again mentioned that the Venetian school used little beside earths, and as few metallie colours as pos- sible ; and that the latter were used with varnish, except by Paolo Veronese, who applied them in distemper. Speaking, again, of the practice of Titian, he ob- served he lived to a great age, and had time to im- prove, and he changed his methods several times ; but those pictures best retain their colour which he painted in the manner of Gio. Bellino ; he added, also, he had seen one picture by Titian the colours of which were very brilliant, and this was painted on a ground of terra rossa; and he added, "I think the terra rossa was laid on in distemper." He mentioned that this picture was on a ceiling. Signor C. observed it was the same with Giorgione as with Titian; his early pictures were bright and clear, but the later ones were dark. He said that he had seen some pictures by the former as dark as could be. The same remark applied to Tintoretto ; but he said Gian Bellino *s were always transparent and bright.* Signor C. seemed to know nothing of the manner in which these pictures were painted; indeed^ he told me Gian Bellino did not begin his pictures in chiaroscuro. I then showed him the passage in Paolo Pino's * Dialogue,'* "disegnare le tavole con tanta estrema diligenza, componendo il tutto di chiaro et scuro, come usava Giovan. Bellino, perch^ ^ fatica gettata, havendosi k coprire il tutto con li colori," &c, Signor C. said this method was practised by the Roman school; but the restorers in the Venetian territories seem to know little or nothing of the prac- tice of any but the Venetian school. I called the attention of Signor C. to some passages in the Marquis Selvatico's work,* treating of the prac- tice of oil-painting, where it is observed that the coat I See Boschini, Ricche Minere. « Dialogo di Pittura, fo. 16. 3 * Suir Educatione del Pittore storico odiemo Italiano,' Padom, 1842. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OP THE OLD MASTERS. cxliii of glue aud gesso on the panels was, from the begin- ning to the end of the sixteenth century, covered with a coat of boiled oil. I asked, had he observed this ? He replied he had frequently ; but he always added the ground should be very absorbent to get rid of the oil. He observed Titian never used white lead in the grounds. He also mentioned that Paolo Veronese always laid in the abbozzo with very little colour, so that only a faint impression of the colours should be left ; and if the colour was too deep, that it was some- times the practice to rub it down with pumice stone. On this abbozzo he laid the local colours solidly, but he seldom repeated his colours, or employed glazings; that many coats of pamt were never found on any part of his pictures. In this respect his manner was en- tirely opposed to that of Titian, on whose pictures they frequently found seven, eight, or nine coats of colour. Beturning again to the subject of painting parts of the picture in tempera, Signor C. said that he had found the blue painted with varnish only, and that he had been assured that it was frequently painted in distemper, and that in this case there was no oil paint under it, but that where the skies in Paolo's pictures had turned green, they had been found to be painted in oil. Speaking again of the old method, and of the dif- ferent practice of modern artists in restoring pictures, Signor C. observed, " I think we have lost something. Every artist restores in his own way, and the present method of painting is very bad, much worse than it was in the last century.*' He added, that in restoring he had used oil with a small quantity of thin mastic varnish, in which a little honey was put, and that this had cracked less than other vehicles. Signor C. said it was an error to paint with the colours too dry} That this was the case with the ^ See Requeno, Sagg^i sul Ristabilimento dcH' Antica Arte de* Gred e Romani, vol. i. p. 163. cxliv INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. beautiful copy by Baroccio of Raphael's Transfigu- ration. When this picture was lined, the person en- trusted with it neglected to secure the face of the picture by pasting paper over it ; the consequence was, that when they attempted to raise the picture after lining it, they found that, by wetting the back in order to fix the new canvass, they had dissolved the ground, and that the picture, which had become very dry, was detached firom it, and had dropped to pieces, and that it could never be put together again properly. He also told me that when he had been painting with oil, and had found the oil penetrate through the gesso ground, he had laid glue and gesso on the back of that part where the oil had soaked through to absorb it,^ and when that was saturated, he had scraped it o^ and had laid on fresh gesso, and had repeated the operation until all the superfluous oil was absorbed; but this was only in cases where he had found it neces- sary to repeat the coats of oil colqur. Everything shows that the Venetians endeavoured to use as little oil as possible. Signor C. observed that another cause of the dark- ening of pictures has been the excessive use of asphal- tum and mummy; that many used them as solid colours (di corpo), whereas they should be used in glazing only, and very thin, and that they should be mixed with varnish only, and should not be ground with oil or spirit of turpentine. He said, also, that he believed mastic was not much used by the Italians of the time of Titian, and that those who had analysed Venetian pictures had never found wax in them. He also observed that Paolo never painted the abbozzo with colours tempered with water, and that yolk ^ Merim^e (de la Peinture k THuile, p. 31) mentions having seen a picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in which the latter had employed a similar contrivance to get rid of the superfluous oil, where he had found it neces- sary to repaint the head. CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OF THE OLD MASTERS. Cxlv of egg had not been found on his pictures ; that the tempera vehicle used by Paolo consisted of animal glue. Signor C. showed me a picture painted with boiled oil which had not been varnished. I inquired how the glossy surface was produced ? he replied, "by polishing it with a soft cloth.'* I saw this morning Signor E., an artist who had restored some pictures by Paolo Veronese. He told me his plan, formed from observation of Titian's pictures, is to lay on the canvass a thin ground of gesso and glue, made of the primings of leather ; over this he spreads a coat of colour mixed with oil (the colour is drab, made, I should think, of a little umber, white, and a little black). The gesso ground absorbs the oil, which makes the back of the canvass quite yellow. On this ground the artist paints the whole picture with solid colours, mixed with raw linseed oil, without any glaz- ings. He says that glazings are never permanent, and that nothing can make them so ; and as a proof, he told me there were in a certain palace several pictures by Titian, which had always been covered by glasses. That he was present when the glasses were removed for the first time; when, to the surprise of every one present, the glazings were found to have evaporated from the pictures, and to have adhered to the inside of the glass. I considered this incredible, and it certainly appears to require proof, although it must be recol- lected that Lionardo da Vinci says, "II verde fatto dal rame, ancorche tal color sia messo a olio, se ne va in fiimo," &c. If the colour evaporated from the pic- ture, it would certainly be retained by the glass ; and this artist distinctly said that all the glazings were fixed on the inside of the glass, exactly above the painting, and that the effect of the different colours on the glass was very singular. From that time, he added, that he had left off glazing his pictures. VOL. I. k cxlvi INTRODUCTION. [chap, tl The same gentleman informed me that he had never found any colours in distemper on Titian's painting ; and that what people took for tempera painting on tihe pictures of Paolo Veronese was not really so, but was done in the following manner : — The first painting was executed with coloui^ mixed with oil, and the part to be painted on with metallic colours (or with such as darken with oil) was left to dry until it was tacky; the metallic colours were then applied, mixed with water only. The water evapo- rated, and the oil left on the picture in the first painting was sufficient to bind the upper layer of colours firmly to the picture. Of the Grounds used by some of the principal Painters of Bologna. [A oommunication from an eminent liner of pictores in that city.] Panels were formerly prepared with gesso only, applied with the pencil in the same manner as is done by gilders; after this, the panels received a coat of glue or oil to prevent the colours from sinking in. In this way Francesco Francia prepared his panels, and Samacchini,^ Sabbatini,' and Tibaldi ' both their panels and canvass. Then came the Garracci. Ludovico^ used no other priming than a thin coat of white lead and ochre mixed with oil, sufficiently thick to ensure a smooth surface, and he employed this priming as a shadow colour, which we know too well was the cause of the great change observable in his pictures. But Ludovico Garracci was not sufficiently remunerated for his pictures to enable him to incur great expenses in the priming. Annibale, his cousin, sometimes em- ployed successfully on canvass, "creta,*'* mixed with 1 He died in 1577, aged 45. * Also called Andrea di Salerno, was bom about 1480, and died about 1645. 3 Called also Pellegrini da Bologna, was born in 1527, died 1591. 4 Bom 1555, died 1619. ^ Is this *'creta'' the same as **geno Bolognese?" CHAP. VI.] PRACTICE OP THE OLD MASTERS. cxlvii white lead. Instead of "creta," Guercino generally adopted in his early pictures a thin priming of marble dust and size, and his pictures are thought to owe much of their brilliancy to this circumstance. In his second manner, the priming was thicker. When lining Guer- cinos pictures, it is generaUy found necessary to remove the ground as well as the canvass. The ground sometimes appears to be composed of hard and gritty terra rossa, and which is thought to have been procured outside tlie Porta Castiglione at Bologna. Grounds are now prepared extremely well at Bologna and at Rome. The canvass is all the produce of Bologna, which province produces hemp of the finest quality. The most durable and unchangeable pictures are stated to be those painted on gesso. In the eighteenth century coarse open canvass, the holes of which were filled up with strong glue, was introduced; pictures painted on these canvasses were not durable, for in time the colours scaled off. The following particulars relative to the method of painting in oil as practised by the Farmasan School were communicated to me by a distinguished painter of Farma : — Ist That gesso grounds were used. 2nd. That neither size nor varnish was laid over this ground, which was suffered to absorb the oil. 3rd. That the picture was begun in chiaroscuro. 4th. That the first colours were painted with raw nut oil. 5th. That in the glazings and retouchings varnish was used. I was informed that a professor of that city had devoted much time and attention to the study of the ^ood method of oil-painting, and that he knew more about it than any other person. The professor had been suffering firom illness ; but at k2 cxlviii INTRODUCTION. [chap. ti. the request of the Cav. Pezzana, of the Ducal Library at Parma, he kindly permitted us to pay him a short visit. He perfectly recollected having sent a bottle of varnish to an English artist, and he said that the reason he had not written to him was because he had lost the use of his hand, and could not write legibly ; that he had written out the recipe for some person, but that it proved useless, for the varnish could not be made from this recipe on account of the diflBculty of the manipulation. I asked, could he tell me the ingredients ? He said it consisted of amber in the natural state, and the higher coloured the better, dissolved in oil of spike, and this was rendered slower in drying by the addition of oil (balsam) of copaiba. I immediately inquired whether he had found any document showing it was used by Correggio ? He said No ; it was the result of his own observation and study. I asked whether he had ever analysed any of Cor- reggio's pictures ? He replied without hesitation, No, no ; and as I saw it was painful to him to talk, I took my leave. On my return to the library, I was told that the professor had analysed parts of pictures by Raphael, and had found amber. In one respect my informant was probably mistaken, — namely, as to the artist whose pictures had been analysed, since the professor had said the varnish he had made was that of Correggio. It appeared, however, quite clear that amber varnish had been found on the pictures of one or other of these great painters. § 2. Colours used in Fftinting. The Italians appear generally to have exercised the same care in the purification and preparation of their pigments as the Flemish, Dutch, and French artists. This is apparent from the directions preserved in those chaf.vl] colours XJSED IN PAINTING. CxHx manuscripts which treat in an especial maimer of the manufacture of colours, but it is seldom alluded to in the treatises on painting. The omission in the last- named works is easily accounted for on the supposition that the different processes of washing, purifying, and grinding colours were taught to the students during the first six years of their long apprenticeship. It is pro- bable also that many studios possessed manuals or hand- books like those published in the following pages. The Byzantine MS. of Mount Athos, the Treatise of Cenniui, and several MSS. now in the British Museum, are works of this class. In the MS. of Le Begue several instances are mentioned of the loan of MSS. of this de- scription by different painters to Alcherius ; and Cennini wrote his treatise, as he himself informs us, for the benefit of all who studied the arts. It was, therefore, less necessary to introduce such directions in works of higher pretensions. Nex^ perhaps, in importance to the purification and preparation of the pigments was their agreement or incompatibility with each other. This subject occupied the attention of artists at a very early period; it is noticed in the third book of Eraclius,^ and in the Mar- ciana MS.* The subject is also alluded to in the Faduan MS. and in the Treatise ofLomazzo;' and these passages are usefiil in showing what pigments were actually mixed together by the old painters, and what mixtures were to be avoided. Among the latter were verdigris and white lead, orpiment and white lead, indigo and cochineal lake, Indian lac lake and white lead. In some cases the mixtures of pigments were not such as would be recommended by modern pro- fessors of chemistry ; but it is possible that, as the old masters were so select in the choice of vehicles for certain colours, they could regulate the drying of 1 Cap. Ivii. p. 262. » P. 609. » TratUto, p. 193^195. See also Do Piles' El^mens de Pcinture, p. 1 10. cl INTRODUCTION. [cbaf. vi. these pigments in such a manner as to prevent their exercising any chemical agency upon each other. Bos- chini ^ praises the colours used by Gian Bellino, espe- cially the ultramarine, which, he says^ compared with the modems^ put the latter to shame by their greater vivacity and beauty. Boschini attributes this not alto- gether to the goodness of the colours, but to the skill of Bellino in every part of the art The choice of good pigments was another point which engaged the attention of artists : a few hints on this subject may be collected from the work of Volpato*' The same work also contains directions ' for burning earths of different colours. The different drying properties of the several pig- ments were also studied by the old painters, and the desiccation of some which were too long in drying was assisted by the addition of pounded glass^ white cop- peras, or verdigris, with or without boiled oil, as the natore of the colour required. The action of oil on the pigments, and especially on mineral pigments, was also well understood by the old masters; and where oil was known to be injurious, varnish, or, in some instances, size was substituted for it. White Pigments. Several white substances used as pigments and in the preparation of colours and grounds, are mentioned in the following treatises. The white pigment universally employed for oil painting is white lead, which is men- tioned in the MSS. under its various synonymes of albus, blacha, bracha, blanchet, biacca, and ceruse. It was called albayalde by the Spaniards. White lead is considered a good dryer, and is even used to render oil more drying ; it is, therefore, remark- able that it should be classed in the Brussels MS.* 1 Riccho Minerc. « P. 745. a P. 745, 747. < P. 818. CHAP. VI. j COLOUKS USED IN PAINTING. cli among the colours which do not dry well. De Piles, however, states * that it dries with difficulty, especially in winter, if ground with new oil, or if it has been recently ground. The * Trait6 de Mignature' of Chris- tophe Ballard * contains ^^ a great secret to make white lead dry without changing." This consists in temper- ing it with oil of turpentine. The Italians, and especially the Venetians, were ex- tremely careful in the preparation of their white lead,' which was generally purified by washing. Fra Fortu- nato of Bovigo, in his * Baccolta di Secreti,' gives the following recipe " for rendering white lead extraordi- narily white. Take white lead in scales, select the finest quality, grind it weU on marble with vinegar and it will become black, then take an earthen vessel full of water and wash your white well, and let it settle to the bottom, and pour oflF the water. Grind it again with vinegar and again wash it, and when you have repeated the operation three or four times, you will have white lead which will be as excellent for miniature painting as for painting in oil." ^ There is scarcely a doubt that the pigment called " lime " was the preparation of lime mentioned by Cennini* and Imperato,* under the name of Bianco San Giovanni. The lime was prepared by macerating it in water until it had lost all causticity. According to Imperato, pulverized white marble was added to the ^ EUmens de Peinture, p. 140. s Ljon, 1693, 6th Ed., p. 216. The first edition was published iff 1682. * " Lindo alvayalde de Venecia" — " el meyor alvayalde que se hallare, i io es flobre todos el de Venecia.'' Paeheco, Traiado, pp. 354, 387. ^ Per rcndere la biacca piCi bianca straordinariamente. Prendete biacca di piombo in acaglie, elegete la pii^ bella, e macinatela bene sul marmo con aceto, e diyentark nera, allora prendete un vaso di terra piena d' acqua, e lavata il vostro bianco bene, poi lasciatelo bene dar in fondo, e vcrrate ]' acqua per inclinazione. Tornatela a macinarc con aceto et a lavarc ; e fatta questa operatione med** 3 o 4 volte, che havcra una biacca che sar^ perfettam** bella tanto per miniare, quanto per dipingere a olio. * Cap. 56. ^ Istoria Naturale, lib. iv. cap. 13. clii INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. lime. This pigment was used in fresco painting. It is known to later authors by the name of Uancho secco} White chalky marble ditst, gesso, the bone of cuttle fish, alumen^ and travertine^ were occasionally used as white pigments. They were also frequently mixed with transparent vegetable colours to give them body. Calcined harfs-hom or bones were used occasionally as a white pigment^ Egg-sheU white was employed in fresco painting. With reference to this pigment, Lomazzo ' says, that " there is another thing which, in fresco painting, causes the colours to remain unchanged as when first appUed on the damp lime ; and this, which is one of the rare inventions belonging to the technical part of the art, consists of the shells of eg^ finely ground, and mixed in greater or less proportion with all the colours." Terra di cava, terra da boccalij or terretta^ a white earth used by potters. It is mentioned by Volpato * and Baldinucci ^ to have been employed in the priming for oil paintings. The pigment called alumen by Eraclius ^ appears to have been allume scagliuola, a kind of stone resembling talc, of which, when calcined, is made the ''gesso da oro,** or gesso of the gilders, which is also used for the grounds of pictures. According to Eraclius^ it was prepared for painting by grinding with gum and water, and was distempered when required with white of egg. Travertine is a calcareous stone, sometimes light and porous, sometimes dense and heavy. It is of various colours, white, grey, yellowish, reddish yellow, and variegated. It is found at Pisa and Tivoli. The tra- vertine from Tivoli is white. It was used by painters to give a body to lake made from verzino. 1 Lomazzo, Trattato, pp. 192, 194. s Sioane MS., No. 1754; Strasburg MS., cited by Mr. Eastlake, *Ma. terialB/ p. 133. ' Trattato, p. 191. 4 P. 780. a Voc. Dis. « P. 245. ^ P* 232. CHAP. Ti.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. cliu IVhite marble is mentioned as a pigment for tempera painting by Palomino.* " A most beautiful white pigment,** probably for mi- niature painting, is described in the Faduan MS. * It is composed of powdered Venetian glass (cristallo) and sulphur, and is precisely similar to the opaque white glass used for painting pottery, for which recipes are given in the second and third books of Eraclius.^ Yellow Pigments. Arzica. — ^Two pigments are known by this name in medieval MSS. The first kind of arzica is mentioned by Cennini (cap* 50), who says that it was much used at Florence for miniature painting. With regard to the nature of the pigment, he observes merely that it is an artificial colour. The Bolognese MS., written about the time of Cennini, or soon after, proves^ that it was a yellow lake made from the herb ^^ gualda/* which is the Spanish and Froven9al name for the Reseda luteola. The plant has been used as a yellow dye not only in England but in all Europe, firom a very early period. This yellow lake was known to the Spanish painters under the name of ancorca ^ or encorca, and when used for the kind of painting called " estofado,'* was mixed with lemon juice and weak size. The second kind of arzica is stated to be a yellow earth for painting, of which the moulds for casting brass are formed.* A yellow loam is still used for this pur- pose in the foundries at Brighton. It is brought by sea from Woolwich, and when washed and dried it yields an ochreous pigment of a pale yellow colour. 1 Miueo Ptctorioo, toI. ii. p. 113, 152. « P. 704. » P. 201, 206. 4 P. 483. ft Indioe de loa Terminoe Primativos de la Pintura, appended to Palo- mino's Museo Pictorico. < Table of Synonymes, p. 19, 23. cliv INTRODUCTION. [chaf. vi. When burnt it changes to an orange colour, which is likely to prove valuable in painting. Arzicoriy or Arsicon. — ^In the Table of Synonymes arzicon is considered synonymous with arziocL, This is not the case. Le Begue is, however, correct in saying that it is the same as orpiment. It is undoubtedly a contraction or corruption of arsenicony which Vitnivius (lib. vii. cap. vii.) says was tiie Greek name for orpi- ment. The term arzicon must not be confounded with azarcon^ the Spanish name for red had. Auripigmentum or Orpiment — ^There was a native as well as an artiEcial pigment known by this name. The former is found in masses in the neighbourhood of Naples, and in other volcanic countries. It has the great advantage over the artificial pigment of being less poisonous. The artificial pigment only seems to have been known to Cennini. ^ Being difficult to grind, powdered glass was mixed with it, as we are expressly told, for this purpose.* And Pacheco directs * that orpi- ment should be mixed with linseed oil, made drying by boiling it with red lead or copperas in powder.* For miniature painting it was tempered with gum-water and white of egg. Its brilliant yellow colour renders it a desirable pigment for draperies in oil painting, but it is not durable when mixed with oil, and dries very slowly. The author of the third book of Eraclius says, * ** If you mix oil with it, it will never dry." Lebrun re- marks,^ that ^' fat oil should be added to orpiment to make it dry. otherwise it will never dry/' Lomazzo also mentions '^ that it was mixed with pulverized glass, but he does not state for what purpose the latter was added. De May erne, however, states ® that Vandyck was accustomed to mix powdered glass with orpiment 1 Cap. 47. « P. 603. » Tratado, p. 388. 4 He was evidently unacquainted with the fact that lead decomposes orpiment. » P. 234. « P. 813. 'i Trattato, p. 192. 8 See Mr. Eastlake's * Materials/ &c., p. 6SL ctujf, n.] COLOURS U8BD IN PAINTING. clv to make it dry. Facheco ^ recommends it for the same purpose ; but there is some doubt as to the propriety of this mixture. In the third book of Eraclius it is directed' that orpiment should be crushed in a leather bag, and then ground upon marble with a little calcined bone ; in this respect the directions resemble those given in the Strass- burg' and also in the Sloane MSS., No. 1754, where calcined hartshorn is said to be the only substance which can be safely mixed with orpiment to lighten it. Orpiment is mentioned by Biondo ^ among the pig- ments used by the Venetians ; and Boschini states^ that it was employed by Fordenone and by Faolo Veronese. A professor of painting at Venice informed me that he had found it, by analysis, on the pictures of Bonifazio only. It is generally asserted, and there appears every reason to think justly, that orpiment should not be mixed with any other colour, and especially with white lead, the bad effects of which were well known to the Italians.' But there is evidence that the Italians were in the habit of mixing it with ultramarine or with indigo to make a brilliant green.'' The Marciana MS.® recommends that white lead should be laid under orpi- ment, because it has no body. This pigment was called jalde, or oropimente, by the Spaniards. Facheco directs,* that for the second or half tints of draperies the orpiment should be burnt in an iron shovel over the fire. Falomino, after describing the method of painting draperies with orpiment, re- marks, ^^ that he did not approve of the colour, which dried very badly and required many precautions in using it, and that it was, moreover, liable to turn black ; 1 Tratado, p. 888. 2 p. 289. » Materials, &c., p. 188, 488. * Delia Pittura, cap. 24, f. 20. & Ricche Minere. * See p. 609, and Armenini, lib. ii. cap. 8. 7 Cennini, cap. 68^ 55; Borgfaini, Riposo, p. 170; Marciana MS., p. 611. « P. 611. » Tratado, p. 388. io:Vol. ii. p. 252. clvi INTRODUCTION. [chap, vi- this, he adds, may be prevented by varnishing it as soon as it is dry. CricdloUnOy GiaUorinOy or GialdolinOf strictly signifies a pale yellow. It is a diminutive of giaUo. There appears to be so much confusion in the ac- counts of this colour by different writers, that it will be necessary to treat of it at some length. According to Borghini * and Baldinucci ' there were two kinds of Giallolino : the first, called " Giallolino fino,** which was brought from Flanders, was used in painting in oil, and contained lead ; the other, which was brought from Venice, was composed of " Giallo di vetro " and " Giallolino fino *' above mentioned- Lo- mazzo ^ speaks of three kinds of Giallolino, which, he says, are artificial pigments, but the terms in which he mentions them are not sufficiently precise to determine exactly their names or composition. Sig. Branchi ^ found on analysis that the giallolino of the old pictures at Pistoia, mentioned in the docu- ments published by Ciampi, consisted of the yellow oxide of lead, which, he said, was known by this name in the sixteenth century. In support of this he quotes Cesalpino, who mentions a pigment then prepared fix)m burnt or calcined lead, which was commonly called giallo- lino— ^^ pigmentum pictoribus • • . quod hodie arte paratur ex plumbo usto, vulgoque giaUolinum vocant."^ And again, Cesalpino ' says, ^^ the ashes (calx) of burnt lead assume a yellow colour, on account of the black soot mixed with the white ; tin, however, gives a white calx.'' Painters use the former for lights and for repre- senting flame, calling it giallolino. Potters use the 1 Bipofio, p. 166. > Voc Di8. s Tnitteto, p. 192. « Letten di Branchi, &c., p. 13. ^ De Metallicis, lib. ii. cap. 62. « Lib. iii. cap. vii. 7 Thomson (Annals, &c., p. 166) says, that the grey oude of tin, when brought to a full red heat, takes fire, and acquii'ing an excess of oxygen, passes to a yellow colour. CHAP. VLJ COLOUfiS USED IN PAINTING. clvii latter tp give a white colour to their vessels.** Professor Branchi adds, that this is confirmed by Ferrante Impe- rato,* a Neapolitan writer of the same century. This author says, ^^ Giallolino, which is made of burnt ceruse (the first degree of alteration by fire), imitates the colour of the yellow broom." Dr. Fabroni/ of Arezzo, analysed the colours of a miniature of the fourteenth or beginning of the fifteenth century, and he ascertained that the yellow pigment consisted of ^^ massicot,*' which, he says, is the first gradation of the ^^cerussa usta ** of the ancients. In fiirther confirmation of the above statements it may be observed, that neither Ceimini, Borghini, Lionardo da Yinci, Lomazzo, Baldinucci, nor the Faduan MS., mention ^^ massicot,** while they all speak of giaUolino.^ It may also be observed, that Lebrun, the author of the Brussels MS., mentions ^ no yellows but ochre and massicot ; the latter, he says, serves for the fine or bright yellows. Van Mander, Hoogstraten, De Bie, and Beurs,^ in enumerating the yellow pigments used by the Flemings, mention ochre, massicot, and yel- low lake, to which all but De Bie add orpiment. Bulen- gems ^ also names massicot, which he calls '^ fin jaune.** As a fiirther proof of the identity of these pigments, it may be observed, that Haydocke, the translator of Loma2zo*s Treatise on Fainting, published in 1598, trsinslates^giaUoUnohy die word massicot'^ The lastau- 1 Istoria Natarale, lib. iv. cap. 42. * Ricerche Chimiche sopra le Miniature di un Manuscritto, Memoria del Dh A. Fabroni di Arezzo, lettanelle Adunanze Accademiche de' 13 Genn. e 17 Febb. 1811. s See Cennini, Trattato, cap. 46. Borghini, Riposo, p. 166. Lionardo da Vinci, Trattato, cap. 352, 353. Lomazzo, Trattato, p. 191, 192, 193, &c. Baldinucci, Voc. Dis. * Cap. 1, No. 6 ; cap. 7, No. 5. 6 See Mr. Eastlake's ' Materials,' &c., p. 438, 440. ^ De Pictura, &c., lib. ii. cap. iii. ^ A Tracte, containing the Artes of curious Pdnting, Cairing, and Build- clviii INTEODUCnON. [chip. thority is particularly valuable on account of the trans- lation having been made so soon after the publication of the original work. Lomazzo mentions ^ ^^ Giallolino di fomace di Fian* dra e di Alamagna." From this it would appear that two kinds of Giallolino were brought from the north into Italy. These were probably the two kinds of massicot mentioned by Felibien, who states * tiiey were made of calcined lead, '* Le massicot jaune et le massi- cot blanc," or as they are called in Jombert's edition of the Fl&mens de Peinture, ^^ le massicot dor^ et le massicot pale." Haydocke translates the above-men- tioned passage thus, ^^ Yeallowe of the Flaunders for- nace, and of Almany, commonly called masiieot and ffeneraW There is no doubt, therefore, that the ^^ Giallolino Fino " and " Giallolino di Fomace di Fiandra " was massicot, or the yellow oxide of lead, the ^^ Fin jaune " of the French. The yellow pigment prepared from lead is described by Theophilus (cap. i.), who, however, does not give it a name. The same pigment is mentioned in tlie MS. of Le Begue. We now come to the second kind of factitious giallo- lino which Baldinucci ' states was brought from Venice, and was composed of the giallolino di Fiandra and giallo di vetro. Borghini says^ nearly the same. In the Bolognese MS. No. 272, is a recipe for " Vetrio giallo per patrenostro o ambre," the ingredients of which are lead 1 lb. and tin 2 lbs., melted and calcined. The recipe which follows this, No. 273, is entitled " A fare zallolino * per dipengiare," and the directions are to ing, written first in Italian by Jo. Paul Lomatius, punter, of Milan, and Englished by R. H. (Haydocke), student in physick, 1598, p. 99. 1 Trattato, p. 191. « Trincipes, &c., p. 299. 3 Voc. Dis. * Eiposo, p. 166. ^ It will not escape observation that the gi in this word are changed into Zf as was usual among the Venetians. CHAP. VI.] C0L0UB8 USED IN PAINTING. dix take 2 lb& of the above-mentioned glass, 2h lbs. of minium, and ^ lb, of sand from the Yal d'Arno : the ingredients are to be pulverized finely, and then refined in the furnace. I can scarcely doubt that this is the second kind of giallolino mentioned by Baldinucci and Borghini It may also be the third variety mentioned by Lomazzo.^ It must be observed that Marcucci does not men- tion giaUolino among the modern Italian pigments; he describes* three yellow pigments, namely, gtaUo di Napoli (Naples yellow), which he says is composed of the yellow oxide of lead and the oxide of antimony, mamcoty or the yellow oxide of lead, nxid giaUo mineralej which was composed of muriate of lead. The earliest notice I have met with in Italian writers of a pigment called Naples yellow, is in the work of Pozzo the Jesuit^ The name he applies to the pig- ment is ^^ Luteolum Bomse dicitur Luteolum Napoli- tanum,'' and he enumerates it among the pigments to be used in firesco. He also gives a list of colours improper for this kind of painting, among which we find cerussa, minium, and luteolum Belgicum, which can be no other than giallolino di Fiandra. The con- clusion then is unavoidable that the luteolum Napoli- tanum was not the yellow oxide of lead. In the French translation of Fozzo's Treatise on Fresco-painting ^ the term luteolum Napolitanum is very properly translated Jaune de Naples, and luteolum Belgicum by Jaune de Flandres. In other parts of Jombert^s edition of the 'E16mens de Peinture," two kinds of massicot, the yellow or golden and the pale or white, are mentioned ; but they are not identified with jaune de Naples, which 1 Trattato, p. 192. > Saggio, &c., p. 66. s The Treatise on Fresco Painting, appended to his work on Perspective, published at Rome, 1693—1702. 4 See Jombert's ed. of the El^mens de Peinture, by De Piles, Plaris, 1766. B £)6mens de Peinture, pp. 252, 286, &c. clx INTRODUCTION. [chap.ti. is mentioned as a distinct colour. The Italian trans- lator of Pozzo's treatise ^ renders luteolum Napolitanum by giallolino di fornace, which he says is called giallo- lino di Napoli, and luteolum Belgicum by giallolino di Francia. This writer does not appear to have been aware that giallolino di fornace and giallolino di Fiandra were synonymous. Giallolino di Francia ap- pears to be a mistake for giallolino di Fiandra. Ffelibien,* Pomet,* Pozzo/ and the author of the article "Fresque" in the Encyclopfedie describe the pigment jaune de Naples as a natural production found near mines of sulphur, which is used in fresco-painting, although it is not so good as the colour formed of ochre and white. M. d'Arclais de Montamy, in his Treatise on the Colours for Enamel Painting, describes it as a stone of a pale or deep yellow colour, which ap- pears to be composed of a species of yellow sand, loosely combined. He believes it to be the production of a volcano. He adds that Naples yellow may be consi- dered as safiron of Mars, first produced by a volcano, and that then the colour was brought to perfection by remaining in the earth, or as a ferruginous substance, the vitrification of which was afterwards decomposed.* Cennini's description • of this pigment is as follows : — " There is a yellow cofour called giallolino, which is artificial and very compact It is as heavy as a stone, and difficult to break. This colour is used in fresco, and lasts for ever (that is on walls and on tempera pictures). It must be ground like the preceding with water. It is difficult to grind; and before grinding, 1 At the end of the Abecedario Pittorioo (Naples, 17SS). s De I'Architecture, &c., 1697, p. 292. ^ s Histoire G^n^rale des Drogues. 4 See the French translation of this Treatise in Jombert's edition of the El^oiens de Peinture, by De Piles, p. 191. & Treatise on Punting and the Composition of Colours, tracslated from the French of M. Constant de Massoul. London, 1797. P. 137. ^ Trattato, cap. zlri. J CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxi as it .is very difficult to pulverize, it should be broken in a bronze mortar, in the same way as the lapis ama- tito. When employed in painting, it is a very beautiful yellow ; and with this colour and other mixtures which I will describe to you, you may paint beautiful foliage and herbage. And I have been informed that this colour is a real stone, produced in volcanoes ; and it is for this reason that I said it is formed artificially, but not in the chemical laboratory.'* From this account it is evident that Cennini is de- scribing a native mineral which he considers to be pro- duced by volcanic agency — "Pero ti dico sia color artificiato, ma non di archimia." The accordance of this description with that of the jaune de Naples just mentioned is apparent. It is therefore certain that there was a native yellow pigment found in the neigh- bourhood of volcanoes, the nature of which was not well understood, which was known by the name of giallolino or giallolino di Napoli and jaune de Naples. This is the opinion also of Branchi and Watin.* In this case therefore giallolino and giallolino di Napoli (Naples yellow) were really synonymous. There is also an artificial pigment called Naples yellow or jaune de Naples, which, by some authors, has been considered to consist of an earth coloured with weld (gaude, Eeseda luteola) and by others to be composed of the oxides of lead and antimony with other ingredients. The last is the general opinion, and there appears to be no doubt the modern pigment of this name is composed of these oxides.* The vegetable pigment above mentioned is the arzica of Cennini, the Le Begue, the Bolognese MS., and Borghini, and the ancorca of Palomino.' 1 Lettera di Branchi, p. 12. > See Merimde, de la Peintnre k THuile, p. 110; Marcacci, Saggio Analitico de' Colori, p. 06; Lettera di Bnmchi, p. 12; Bachhofftier, Chemistry as applied to the Arts, &c. 3 Indice de los Terminos Primativos de la Pintura — appended to Palo- mino's Museo Pictorico. VOL. I. I clxii INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. I consider it therefore established that there were three kinds of giallolino employed by the old Itialian Masters, namely: — 1. A native mineral yellow pigment known by the names of giallolino, giallolino di Napoli, jaune de Naples, luteolum Napolitanum. 2. An artificial pigment which was composed of the yellow protoxide of lead, and which was called giallolino, giallolino fino, giallolino di fornace di Fiandra, giallo- lino di fornace, giallolino di Fiandra, luteolum Belgi- cum, genuli (the last is a Spanish term) and massicc^ of which there were two varieties ; namely, the gcJden or yellow and the white or pale massicot 3. An artificial pigment made at Venice composed of giallolino fino and a certain kind of " giallo di vetro," or vitreous yellow, for which a recipe is given in the Bo- lognese MS. No. 273, in the Venetian dialect, and which appears, to have been the hornaza of the Spaniards. I consider it also established that there are two kinds of Naples yellow, namely : — 1. A native mineral pigment found in the neigh* bourhood of volcanoes, the nature of which is not accu- rately known, and which was called giallolino, giallolino di Napoli, and jaune de Naples, and which is synony- mous with the first kind of giallolino above mentioned. 2. An artificial pigment now in use composed of the oxides of lead and antimony, called also giallo di Napoli, jaune de Naples, and Naples yellow, which was not known to the old Italian artists. From the above statements it will be seen that it is scarcely possible to determine which of the three pig- ments called "giallolino " is alluded to when the terra occurs alone in writers on art It is certain, however, that one or other of these pigments was much used by the Italian masters. Giallolino was recommended by Lionardo da Vinci ^ to be mixed with white lead and » Trattalo, cap. 363. CHAP, ri.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxiii lake for flesh tints. There is reason to suppose it was also used by Raphael, since it is mentioned in an ac- count of payments for colours found on the back of a drawing by the great painter preserved in the Academy at Venice, and supposed to be in his hand- writing. It was seldom found among the colours of Venetian pictures which have been analysed. It is stated on the authority of Boschini^ (who mentions that the pigment was not generally approved by the Venetians) to have been used by Giacomo Bassano and Paolo Veronese, and it is also enumerated among the pigments named by Biondo.* Massicot is however frequently disapproved as a pig- ment, especially when mixed with white.' We have the evidence of Cennini that the native pigment called giallolino was a durable colour. Pacheco remarks that he has employed genuli, which has surpassed in bril- liancy and beauty the best orpiment, excelling it in durability ; he adds that it is preserved in water like white, and is very drying. Giallo in Vetro, or Gialh di Vetro. — Borghini states* that this pigment, which is used in fresco, is made in the glass furnaces, and he recommends that it should be purchased ready made. It is probable, as has been before observed, that this pigment was of the same nature as the vetrio giallo mentioned in the Bolognese MS. No. 272 to have been composed of tin and lead calcined. The ochresj so remarkable for their durability and variety, will always be among the most valuable yellow pigments. Many varieties are enumerated by writers on art, among which may be mentioned arzica, ochre de ru, mottfee de sil, &c; The best kinds are sold in Italy in the lump, and Volpato recommends * that such 1 Ricche Minere. > Delia Pittura. * See Mr. EastUke's < Materials/ p. 440. « Riposo, p. 166. * P. 745. 12 clxiv INTRODUCTION. [chap, tl should be preferred to those which are sold in powder, because the first are in the natural state and no other material is mixed with them ; " for/' he continues, " the vendors are accustomed to falsify everything/* During the middle s^es, an imitation of the Attic ochre of Pliny was in use. This pigment^ to which the name of " Sillacetus " was given, was a preparation of white chalk or gesso, saturated with the colour ex- tracted from the wall-flower ^ (Viola lutea). Vegetable yellow pigments were of two kinds — ^those which were precipitated on a white earth, such as the different kinds of yellow lake, and those which were used as transparent colours, without any other prepa- ration than that of expressing and inspissating the juice of certain plants. Of the latter kind were saffrouj the zafferano of Cennini, and aloes ; the latter was chiefly used for colouring varnishes, or for heightening the colour of verdigris in the manner recommended by Lionardo da Vinci." Giallo santo was a kind of yellow lake, which was made from various plants. It was sometimes prepared from the berries of the buckthorn ' (spincervino), some- times from the flowers of the yellow goat's-beard (barba di becco), sometimes from the flowers of the yellow broom, sometimes from weld or dyer's weed: the latter is the arzica of Cennini and the Bolognese MS. The sillacetus of the Table of Synonymes was a yellow lake. The French call pigments of this description ^* stU de grairij'' and include under them not only those pigments which are of a pure yellow colour, but such as incline to green. The English term for this class of pigments is or was ^^ pink" Thus we have ^^ Dtttch pinkf'* ^^ Ita- lian pink^" '^ brown pinkj^* &c. Volpato observes ^ that giallo santo . should be of a • Table of Synonymes, p. 36. » Trattato, cap. 120. 3 p. 708. * P. 744. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxv fine colour, that in grinding it should become very liquid, so as to require but very little oil to temper it, and that it should dry very quickly, which is a sign that it is pure ; but if it hardens and requires a great deal of oil in grinding, this is a proof that it contains dust and other impurities, and in this case it dries slowly and fades on the pictures. As another test, he directs * that the colour should be exposed to the sun ; if it faded, it was bad. He also mentions that it should not be kept in water. Giallo santo appears to have been extensively used by the Italians, and although it is included among the colours which Boschini says the Venetians " detested like the plague,** it appears, on his own evidence, that it was em- ployed by Giacomo Bassano in shading yellow drapery. The pigment is also mentioned by Biondo, by Arme- nini, by Borghini, and in the Paduan MS. Malvasia says that it was used by Tiarini and Cavedone. Saffron, zafferanOj the crocus of the middle ages, is produced from the flowers of the crocus. Peter de S. Audemar informs us that safiron was produced in France in his time ; but he says the French safiron was not good; he mentions that this drug was imported from Spain and Italy, and that the best kind was brought from Sicily, and was called corwcos. The plant is cultivated extensively in England in the neighbourhood of Safiron-Walden, and the name of the place is derived from this circumstance. It was brought into England from the Levant in the reign of Edward III-, and the manner in which it was introduced is thus described by Hakluy t :" — " It is reported at Saffiron-Walden, that a pilgrim, purposing to do good to his country, stole a head of safiron, and hid the same in his palmer's staff, which he had made hollow before on purpose, and so he brought this root into this realm with venture of his 1 P. 744. « See Beckmanns Inventions, vol. i. p. 179, n. clxvi INTRODUCTION. [chap, tl life ; for if he had been taken, by the law of the country from whence it came, he had died for the fact.** To these vegetable pigments may be added gamboge^ which is a gum resin that flows from the Hebradendron Cambogioides. It derives its name from Eamboia, a river in Siam, in the vicinity of which the gum is ob- tained in abundance. It was certainly in use in the Venetian territories at the period when the Paduan MS. was written, and is believed to have been employed by Paolo Veronese. It was sometimes purified by being ground up with lemon juice and roche alum.^ Gamboge is prepared for painting in oil by depriving it of its gum. Marcucci recommends'^ the following method : — " Gamboge of the finest colour is to be ground with water ; it is then to be put into a china cup, and a suflScient quantity of water is to be poured on it to cover it twice its own height ; after being left thus two days, the supernatant water is to be decanted, and the resin which remains at the bottom of the water is to be dried. When quite dry, a quantity of spirit of turpentine sufficient to cover it is to be poured over it, and the cup is to be placed upon warm ashes until the resin is quite dissolved and incorporated with the tur- pentine. A little nut oil is then to be added, and it is to be preserved for use." Marcucci adds, "this is excellent for glazing yellow and green draperies; for the latter it must be mixed with ultramarine." Other modes of preparation are mentioned by Mr. Eastlake in his recent work.' It appears from the Brussels MS.^ that gamboge was in use in France in 1635. Palomino re- marks^ that this pigment, which he calls " Gutiambar,** was employed to glaze yellow draperies, and that it dried so badly as to require the addition of the com- mon drying oil. 1 p. 660. 3 Saggio, &c., p. 135. > Materials, &c., p. 442. ^ P, 784. * Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 63. CHAP. Ti.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxvii A recipe for an artificial pigment somewhat analo- gous to the modern pigment called " Gallstone" appears in the second book of Eraclius. It consisted of the gall of a lai^e fish precipitated on a white earth. It was said to have resembled orpiment in colour. Ahes. — ^The inspissated juice of the aloe spicata. The plant is a native of Africa. The finest kind of aloes has a brilliant reddish-brown colour, and is trans- lucent at the edges of the fragmented pieces ; its fracture is smooth and conchoidal, its odour aromatic and rather agreeable, its powder deep gold colour, its taste intensely bitter and nauseous. But such is rarely found in trade ; it is generally opaque, of a dull brown, when it is called Hepatic aloes^ often passing into black, when it is denominated CabaUine aloes. It appears to be a mixture of gum, extractive, and a little resin. It is nearly soluble in boiling water, but as the solution cools, some resin and altered extractive are thrown down ; the alkalies and their carbonates form with it permanent solutions, and proof spirit dissolves and re- tains it with only a slight precipitation of resin. Ca- baUine aloes are mentioned by Lionardo da Vinci' as an improvement to the colour of verdigris, and he recommends its solution in warm spirit (aqua vitae). Orange-coloured Pigments. The ochreous pigment called Arzica in the Table of Synonymes, afibrds, when burnt, ah orange-coloured pigment, which is likely to prove a valuable addition to the palette. Orange or red orpiment — realgar. — ^This pigment, as well as yellow orpiment, is sometimes found native. It is also prepared artificially by melting it in a crucible over a charcoal fire, and when cool, grinding it* Burnt or orange orpiment is mentioned by Borghini' 1 Trattato, cap. 120. « Paduan MS., p. 662. « Riposo, p. 166. clxviii INTRODUCTION. [chaf. vi. and by Loniazzo/ who observes with regard to this pigment, which was said to be of the colour of gold, "and this is the alchemy of the Venetian painters." Matthioli makes a similar remark ; after describing the manner of converting the yellow orpiment into red by burning it, he says, that every one may provide himself with the latter by inquiring for it in the " calle" (lanes or narrow streets) of Venice, where colours are sold. It is probable that red orpiment was used by some of the Venetian artists,* since a colour resembling it is frequently seen on pictures of this school, particularly on those of Bonifazio. A few ounces of a pigment of the colour of orange orpiment was given to me at Milan by an artist who told me it was used by Titian, and that he had procured it at an old colour-shop in Venice. He called the colour rauschel minerale, and said that he had shown the pigment to a colourman at Bergamo who knew it by that name. From the name, therefore, it may be conjectured, that the pigment was native red orpiment or realgar, and that the name by which it was known to this artist was intended for ruschegel or raitschgelb. This pigment was called jalde or oropimente qiiemado by the Spaniards,' and sanda- raca by the Greeks.* It is considered to be less durable than yellow orpiment, and extremely corrosive, for Merim^e relates* that where it had been employed on flower-pieces, it appears to have corroded the priming. The term sandaraca was also applied during the middle ages to red leady or minium.^ With the artists of this period it must have been a favourite colour ; if we may judge from the numerous recipes for preparing it which 1 Trattato, p. 191. s Marcucci is of this opinion : see Saggio, &c., p. 226—228. Accoixling to this writer, it was also used bj Fra Bartolomeo : see Saggio, &c., p. 216. 3 Palomino, vol. ii. p. 66. 4 Diosc, lib. V. cap. 80, by Matt., p. 1428. » De la Peinture k I'Huile, p. 124. • See Table of Syuonymes, p. 36. S. Audemar, p. 141, CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAIKTING. clxix occur in old MSS. on art, and from its being mentioned so much more frequently than vermilion. It was purified by washing it in a horn with wine and water.^ When to be used on walls it was to be mixed with gum water, when on parchment with egg, but when on wood with oil. For illuminating books it was frequently mixed with vermilion.* It is mentioned by many Italian writers on painting,' and has been found on Venetian pictures of the best period. Boschini informs* us that it was used by Pordenone, by Paolo Veronese,* and by MafFeo Verona. Sig. Pietro Palmaroli states' that it was employed by Titian. According to Marcucci, it was also used by Fra Bartolomeo.^ Lomazzo ^states^ that it was sometimes mixed with lake. Lebrun recommends^ it in painting flesh, and says, " If some minium be mixed with white lead and a little fine lake, a most beautiful carnation tint will be formed, as I know from experience." Bisagno also observes^® that in order to make vermilion dry, a little minium may be mixed with it The general opinion seems to be that minium should be used alone, and according to the observations of the Venetian restorers ' of pictures always with varnish. Palomino alludes^ ^ more than once to its want of durability ; he says that, " after a time it throws upon the surface a kind of salt which destroys the juice of the picture." Perhaps this defect may be corrected by purifying the red lead in the manner described by De Mayeme," who observes, " If you extract the salt from -J Le B^;ue, p. 143, 295. s Ibid., p. 141, 297. ' s Biondo, c. 20. Lomazzo, Tnittato, pp. 191, 193. Borghini, p. 166. Volpeto, p. 745. Paduan MS., p. 655. 4 Ricche Minere. * Sec also Marcucci, Saggio, &c., p. 228. « Note to Marcucci, p. 226. "^ Saggio, &c., p. 217. 8 Trattato, p. 195. » Brussels MS., p. 820, 822. w Trattato della Pittura, p. 206. ii Vol. i. p. 66 ; vol. ii. p. 62. w See Mr. Eastlake's * Materials,' &c., p. 452. y 1 ckx INTRODUCTION. [chap. ti. minium by washing it with distilled vinegar the re- mainder does not fade and dries very well." When minium is thus purified, it appears to resemble the pigment formerly known by the name of Saturnine red ; which consisted merely of minium washed in large ves- sels of distilled water, which was changed every forty-four hours, till the surface was quite free from extraneous matter, and the colour ceased to blacken at the edge of the vessel. The colour was afterwards purified with spirits of wine.^ Pacheco mentions' that native red lead (azarcon de la tierra) was used in his time in tempera painting. JRed Pigments. A great variety of native red pigments have always been used in painting. They all owe their colour to iron." Of this kind were the sinopia of Pliny and Cennini, the terra rossa d* Inghilterra, terra rossa di Spagna, Majolica, ferretta di Spagna, almagrej Pa- vonazo, Indiar^ red^ light red, Venetian red^ hcematite, lapis amatito, sanguinej terra rubea^ brunus, hroum red, mottie de sil^ red ochres. The terra rossa d^Inghilterra^ so frequently men- tioned by Italian writers, is still sold in Italy, where it is imported from England. The colour called Venetian red is procured from Verona. Besides its use in painting, this earth was formerly much employed in making the bricks of which many of the old buildings in Venice are con- structed. The fine colour of these brides, heightened perhaps by their contrast with the green waters of the 1 Constant de Massoul, p. 205. 3 Tratado, p. 345. Native miniam occurs amorphous and pulyenilent, but when examined by the lens exhibits a crystalline structure. It is sup- posed to bean oxide of lead, and to arise from the decomposition of galena, in which it commonly occurs. PhUIips, Min., p. 337. 3 The different kinds of red earth used in painting are fully described in the Introduction to my work on Fresco Painting, pp. xiii. — zxxiv. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. ckxi narrow canals, can scarcely have escaped the observation of travellers. Hill, the translator of Theophrastus, mentions that what is sold in the shops as Lidian red is a native red earth [haematite] found in England. He states (p. 122, n. 9), ** I have a specimen of some from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, very little inferior to the sort brought from Ormuz in the Persian Gulf, which is so much esteemed and used by our painters under the name of Indian red. It is indeed so like, both in colour and quality, that it is used for it, as the people employed in taking it up informed me, and sent to London to be sold under its name. On comparing it with some of the true Persian kind, which I had from the East Indies, I find it of a paler colour, but of a much finer texture." The real Indian red has also a sparkling appearance, which is wanting in the common sort. The Sinopia of Pliny and Cennini was, as has been before mentioned, a red earth originally brought from Sinope, but medieval writers north of the Alps gave the name of Sinopia^ or Sinopis de MeUanOj to a kind of lake made either of the gum of the ivy ground with vinegar and mixed with wheat flour, or of the gum of ivy and madder.^ Sinopis is sometimes written for cinnabar, as in p. 68, where it is said to be made of mercury. The term Vermiculiis is used by Le Begue^ to denote the red colour called " coccus,** which was undoubtedly the coccus of the ancients. It is synony- mous with kermes.^ In the Bolognese MS. it is put for vermilion.* Cinnahary or vermilion^ is of two kinds, natural and artificial. Both are stated to have been used by the Italians and Spaniards in painting, but the former was preferred for fresco-painting, although the latter was of a much finer colour. If we may judge from the recipes in old treatises, the medieval 1 Le Begue, p. 145. < Table of Synonymes, p. 38. 3 Matth. 1086. 4 P. 449. clxxii INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. artists employed the latter only. Directions for re- fining and purifying it are given in the Bolognese MS^ the Faduan MS^^ and in the recipes at the end of the Abecedario Pittorico. Lebrun observes,* that vermilion is frequently adul- terated with lime ; to detect this he recommends that some should be put on the blade of a knife and heated ; if good, it would, when cold, be of the same colour as before ; but if one side of the knife remained black, and then became brown and dark, this would be a proof of its impurity. Native cinnabar does not appear to be mentioned by writers on art previous to the latter part of the 16th century, when it is spoken of together with the artificial by Lomazzo* and Borghini.* It is also mentioned and described by the Spanish writers Cespides, Pacheco,* and Palomino,* and by F^libien."' I was informed by a Venetian artist that both native and artificial, or, as he called the latter, Dutch cinnabar, had been found among the colours of Venetian pictures which he had pro- cured to be analysed. It is difficult to imagine how native cinnabar can be distinguished by chemical analysis from artificial, since mercury combines with sulphur in two proportions only, forming the protosul- phuret which is black, and the bisulphuret (vermilion or cinnabar) which is red.® The difficulty may perhaps be explained by a knowledge of the fact that the name of " mineral cinnabar" was given by the Italians to the hard red haematite. Agricola says, that the stone 1 See pp. 500, 660, and 664. 2 Brussels MS., p. 814. « Trattato, p. 191, 192. * Riposo, p. 167. ft TraUdo, p. 842. ^ Museo Pictorico, vol. i. p. 359 ; vol. ii. pp. 53, 149, 340. f De la Peinture, p. 299. 9 The atomic composition is stated to be as follows : The protosulphuret— 1 atom mercury 200-f 1 atom sulphur 16ss216. The bisulphuret — 1 atom mercury 200+2 atoms sulphur 32=232. According to Phillips (Min., p. 358), the composition of native cinnabar is quicksilver 84*5 — sulphur 14*75. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxxiii which he calls schist (after Pliny) resembled in appear- ance miniunij and that the painters called it cinnabar ; that when calcined it imitated the colour of cinnabar. This is confirmed by Borghini,^ who states that lapis amatita (the haematite) is called by some persons "mineral cinnabar." Baldinucci* and Alberti' make the same remark ; and Fungelone^ mentions a design by Corre^o, in which . may be seen several " pen- timenti" drawn with "matita, comunemente detta cinabro minerale." It is not, therefore, unreasonable to conclude, that the mineral cinnabar said to have been found on Venetian pictures may have been the colour procured from the hard red haematite burnt ; at the same time it must be acknowledged, that if the pigment so called had actually been subjected to analysis, its composition must have been settled beyond a doubt, since no chemist could have mistaken a combination of mercury and sulphur for an ore of iron. Vermilion has been used by all Italian and Spanish painters. Lomazzo^ and Pacheco • direct it to be sometimes employed in flesh tints. Its use by Flemish writers in painting has been mentioned by Mr. Eastlake.^ Cennini recommends ® that cinnabar should be purchased in the mass and never bruised or ground, because it was frequently adulterated with minium or pounded bricks. Lakes. — The red lakes used by the Italian painters were either of animal or of vegetable origin, or a mixture of both kinds. To the first class belonged the lake produced fi:om kermes or grana, the most common form of which was the lacca di cimatura, lac lake, and cochineal lake. To the second class belonged the lake made from Brazil 1 Riposo, p. 168. « Voc. Dis. s Diz. Enc, tit. Cinabro mineralef and Lapis. * Life of Correggio, vol. i. p. 174. » Trattato, p. 312. • Tratado, p. 386. ' * Materials/ &c., p. 443. ^ Trattato, cap. xl. clxxiv INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. wood or verzino. The third description was composed of a mixture of the first and second kinds of lake. Kermes or Grand. — The dead bodies of the female insect of the coccus ilicis, which lives upon the leaves of the prickly oak. It appears to have been known from the time of Moses, and has been employed from an early period in India to dye silk. It was called by the Greeks coccus baphicc^ by the Latins granum in- fectoriumy by Pliny coccigranum, by the Arabs charmen, kermeSj and chennes^ by the Germans scharlack her^ by the Spaniards grana para teHir and grana in granOj by the French vermilion^ and by the Italians grana or grana da tentori} The kermes grains or berries, whence the name grana, are mentioned (probably as a dye) in the Lucca MS. and the Clavicula* under the name of coccarin, and in the latter MS. they are identified with cinnaberin and vermiculum : " Vermiculi tereni qui in foliis ceri nascitur — coccarin nascitur, sicut supra dictum est, in foliis ceri.'* They are constantly to be traced as a dye during the middle ages in the South of Europe, and are noticed in a commercial agreement between Bologna and Ferrara as early as 1 193, and in the Statutes of Marseilles for the year 1287. At Montpellier no other dye was permitted to be used for the finest red stuflBs.' In the fourteenth century Florence * and Venice * were celebrated for their red stufis dyed with kermes^ which the latter city exported to other parts of Italy. The » See Matthioli, p. 1085. « See Mappee Clavicula, p. 41. 8 Depping, vol. i. pp. 241, 293, 800. * Ibid., vol. i. pp. 284j 285. » Filiasi, Saggio, &c., pp. 153, 154 n. Hellot (L*Art de Teintore, Paris, 1701, pp. 244, 264) said this red colour was called " Ecarlatte de graine,*' formerly ** Ecarlatte de France," and now " Ecarlatte de Veniae," because it was much used there, and more was made there than any other place. He adds, *' the red draperies of the figures in the old Brussels tapestries were dyed with this ingredient, and their colour, which in some of these tapestries is 200 years old, has lost nothing of its vivacity.*' In his time kermes was only used to dye wool for tapestry. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxxv red stuffi dyed with kermes or grana found their way into the towns of the North of Europe. Pierce Plow- man (whose * Vision ' is supposed to have been written in 1350), in describing the dress of a lady richly clad, says that her robe was of ^^ scarlet in grain ;" that is, scarlet dyed with grana, the best and most durable red dye. The import of the words " in grain " was after- wards changed, and the term was applied generally to all colours with which cloths were dyed which were con- sidered to be permanent ; in this sense it is still used. The idea of preparing a pigment directly from the kermes grains appears not to have suggested itself to the early painters, who employed the rather indirect process of boiling the clippings or shearings ^ of cloth dyed with kermes in ley, and then precipitating the colour with alum« The colouring matter, combined with alumina, was well washed to remove the salts, and after being dried on a porous stone or brick was pre- served in small cakes. The pigment so produced was the ^^ lacca di cimatura di grana da rosato,** commonly called " lacca di cimatura," which appears to have been in common use as a red pigment until the seventeenth century.* Neri is probably the first author who gives a recipe for a red pigment prepared directly from the kermes. The method he recommends was, he said, invented by himself at Pisa.'* Other recipes for lake from the kermes berries are contained in the Paduan MS.* Lake from " quermes " was used in France for oil and miniature painting in 1 682.^ As a dye the kermes was considered among the most durable of all colours. M. Hellot says,* " From the 1 These consisted of the loose wool, which was remoyed from the face of the oloth, in order to produce a smooth surface. s See Cenuini, Trattato, cap. 44; Le Begue, p. 91 ; Bol. MS., p. 433, &c. ; Secreti di D. Alessio, part i. p. 103 ; Canepario, p. 336. 3 Arte Vetraria, lib. vii. cap. 119. * P. 70S. » See Traits de Miguature de C. Ballard, p. 14. • L*Art de Teinture, p. 264. clxxvi INTRODUCTION* [chap. vi. experiments which have been made with the scarlet dye from kermes, as well by exposure to the sun as by different re-agents, it has been found that there is neither a better nor more durable colour, and yet it is used nowhere but at Venice/' This author attributes the solidity of the colour of the kermes to its being nourished on a shrub possessing astringent properties, which have been communicated to the insect ; for he remarks " that all barks, roots, woods, fruits, and other substances of an astringent nature, furnish durable colours for dyeing."* The Italian painters were aware of this property possessed by astringent substances of rendering colours more durable, and we find accordingly that assafoBtida,* a handful of the bark of the white beech, or three or four small branches of the Lombardy poplar, were boiled with the lake in order to make the colour more permanent' The bark of the white beech was considered best for rose colours ; the practice was not confined to the red from kermes, but extended also to madder lake. Cremisi^ Cremisino. — Although there appears to be no doubt that chermes and grana were really synony- mous, yet it also appears that the term cremisino was applied in Italy during the time of Matthioli to the colour procured from certain berries or grains attached to the roots of the pimpinella,* as well as to cochineal. Matthioli adds,* " There is now brought from the West Indies by way of Spain a new kind o^ cremisino; and as great quantities of it are made in Italy, it has lowered the price of silks of this colour." This cremisino from the West Indies, brought by way of Spain, can be no other than cochineal ; it is therefore certain that it was well known and abundant in Italy at least as early as 1 L'Art de Teinture, p. 271. « Bol. MS., pp. 486, 442. 3 Traits de la Feinture au Pastel. Paris, 1788. 4 Poterium sanguisorba. The Burnet, probably the Bruneta ortheSlaane MS. No. 1754. a Matt., p. 1085. CHAP. VI.] CX)LOUBS USED IN PAINTING. clxxvii 1549, the date of Matthioli's work. This may also be considered to be proved by the *Tarifl&i Perpetua di Zuane Mariani,'^ in which cremese is mentioned as well as ^ grana " and " polvere di grana/' Both are also spoken of in the * Plicto.'* These notices are certainly evidence that the terms were not synonymous. Matthioli further states that at the time his work was written a lake was made for painters from the cremese or cremisino, and Canepario " carefiiUy distinguishes grana from harhisini or cremesi. Cochineal lake is mentioned in the Paduan MS.^ In this treatise it is stated to have been pre- pared for painting by boiling it with lemon-juice, garlic- juice, and burnt alum ; this treatment would probably communicate to it a scarlet tint. The anonymous author of the ^ Trattato di Miniatura '^ states that the colour called ^^ lacca fina di Yenezia ^ was made from cochineal after the carmine had been extracted, and that this pigment was made at Paris. The cochineal insect is produced on different species of cactus. The most perfect variety is that which breeds on the cactus coccinillifer. When the Spaniards first arrived in Mexico they saw the cochineal em- ployed by the native inhabitants in communicating colours to some ornaments and in dyeing cloth. Struck with its beautifiil colour, they transmitted accounts of it to the Spanish ministry, who, about the year 1523, ordered Cortes to direct his attention to the propagation of this substance. The pigment prepared from cochi- neal, though extremely beautiful, is not so durable as those from lac and kermes. It is, however, worthy of trial whether it may not be rendered more durable by 1 Published at Venezia, 1667. « Venice, 1657. > Pe Atramentis diverei Coloribus, pp. 326, 336. * Pp. 661, 699, 708, 709. & This work, which was published at Turin in 1768, appears to be a translation of Ballard's Traits de Mignature. In this last work, carmine is stated to be made of cochineal and rocou (Bixa orellana, an American plant). VOL. I. m dxXYiii INTRODUCTION. [cbap. ti. boiling it with some astringent bark, as recommended with regard to kermes lake. Lac^ Ldcca. — The term lacca occurs in the Lucca MS., and also in the Clavicula ; but it does not appear whether it is used to signify gum lac or the juice of the ivy, which is described by Eraclius in the chapter en- tiUed "De Edera et Lacca.*' These notices appear rather to refer to a dye than to a colour for paintmg. In 1220 the Catalans and Frovengals imported lac into their ports for the purpose of dyeing.^ As a pigment lac was known in Italy at least as early as 1409, since recipes for making lake from it are given in the book lent by Era Dionisio to Alcherius. Other recipes are contained in the Bolognese and Paduan MSS. and in that of Era Eortunato of Bovigo. Lac does not appear to have been mentioned in the * Tariffa Ferpetua ' of Mariani, but it was used in dyeing at Venice in 1557, when the *Plicto' was published; and it is among the articles enumerated in the ^Tariffii' of Bartolommeo del Paxi de Venezia.* Lac lake was in use at Venice in Matthioli's time, and even as late as that of Caneparius.' It was also in use at Naples in 1733.* Madder, Rvbea Tinetoria, RohUa overo Roza di FiandrOj Sandis, Granza, Garancioj WdrantiOf " Rubea Major ^ id est Waranz!* — ^A red pigment pre- pared from this root is mentioned in the Sloane MS^ No. 1754, and in that of S. Audemar,'^ the same recipe being introduced into both treatises. In the former work it appears also to be alluded to under the term gorma : — " Gorma quedam herba est que trahit in pur- puram et affertur de quadam regione et hec roaa dicitur.** Bosa, as has been already mentioned, is sy- 1 Capmany, Memorias, &c. ; and Statute de Marseille, dted by Dep* ping, vol. i. p. 144. s Yenezia, 1503. 3 De Atramentis, p. 331. This work was published in 1660. 4 See recipes at the end of the Abecedario, published at Naples. B Le Begue, p. 145. CHAP, in.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxxix nonymous with Bobbia.^ It is possible that the menesch of Theophilus may have been madder, since mnitsch is the Indian name for this plant.' In the third book of Eraclius^ madder is enumerated among colours for paint- ing ; it is also mentioned in the Table of Synonymes/ From the time the latter work was written until that of Neri all traces of madder as a pigment seem to be lost. This autibior gives* a recipe for madder and verzino lake ; he remarks that in making these lakes a latter proportion of madder or verzino must be allowed than of the eimatura, because the colour aflbrded by the two former is not so deep as the latter. He concludes by observing, " In this manner you will obtain very fine lake for painters at less expense than that made from ^ chermisi ;' the madder lake especially is very beau- tiful and pleasing to the eye." From these expressions it may almost be inferred that Neri was recommending what he considered to be a new pigment ; had it been known to painters, it would have been unnecessary to advert to the beauty of the colour. With the exception of Neri the pigment does not appear to be mentioned by Italian writers until 1733, when madder lake is no- ticed among other lakes in the recipes for colours at the end of the * Abecedario Pittorico.* The French writers are equally silent on this subject until 1788, when the anonymous author of the ^ Traits de la Feinture au Pastel * observes, " Madder is, of all the plants known in our climates, that which yields the most durable red, and the addition of the juice of the poplar makes it still more permanent. The juice of the bark of the white beech is still better for rose colours." Constant de Massoul ' also mentions madder lake, which he says is less likely to change than any other. 1 S^ the ' PHcto.' ^ Nemaich, Polyglotten Lexicon. » P. 249,261. Histoire Gdndrale des Drogues, yoI. i. p. 33. 3 Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 340. * Arte Vetraria, lib. vii. c. 116. ft Dizionario delle Drogbe, di Chevalier e Bicbard, Tradizione da F. du Prd, Venezia, 1830. clxxxii INTRODUCTION. [chap, tl Lake from Ivy. — The medieval painters were acoiift- tomed to prepare a red colour from the juice or gum which in warm countries flowed from the ivy in the month of March* This colour differed from die lakes before described, inasmuch as the juice or gum was in- spissated by boiling, and not precipitated upon a white earth. The Purple of the Ancients is mentioned in the Table of Synonymes*^ It is also mentioned in the passages borrowed from Yitruvius in the third bo(^ of Eraclius.' It has been observed that the characteristic of the Venetian school was the free and unsparing use of a powerful blue, I would add of a very beautiM and cool lake colour also, which in all pictures of the Venetian school, fipom the Vivarini to Tintoretto, invariably re- tains its colour. The Venetian lakes always incline to blue — an effect which was probably produced by ike mixture of blue with the lake. Tassi, in his ^ Lives of the Bergamasque Painters,' speaking of the ^beautifiil blues and lakes found on the ; cinque-cento pictures, says: "Where will you find such colours now?'*' These considerations make it most important to ascer- tain, if possible, what kind of lakes were used. The lakes of Florence and Venice were particularly celebrated. We have seen that in both cities the laeca di cimatura was most common. Cennini^ gives the preference to the pigment prepared from gum lac, and it is generally believed that the latter was the lake most frequently employed by the old masters, especially by those of the Venetian school :* the colour of the lake in pictures of this school favours this supposition. Pacheco, on the contrary, prefers the Florentine to 1 P. 26, 33. 2 p. 251. 3 He published in 1793. « Trattato, cap. 44. ^ Note by Tambrbni to Cennini, Trattato, cap. 44. CHAP. Ti.] COLOUKS USEa> IN PAINTING. clxxxiii the lac lake, as more durable, but he says lake of Honduras is not bad. By the last term he probably meant the lake from cochineal or American Brazil wood. Matthioli states^ that in his time four kinds of lake were made; namely, Ist, that from cremesi or cremisinOj which was undoubtedly cochineal ; 2nd, that made from grana or kermes ; 3rd, that from gum lac; and 4th, that from verzino, which was the worst and least valued of all the others. Lomazzo mentions more than once, in enumerating the colours used, ^^ le lacche tutte," which is a proof that several kinds of lake were used in his time ; and in another place he speaks of '^ grano," whence we may infer that the kermes lake was among the number. Florentine lake must have had considerable reputa- tion in Venice, since Leandro Bassano contracted to employ it in his picture of the ^ Combat of^ the Angels,' painted for the church of S. Giorgio Maggiore at Venice in 1597.^ A Venetian artist told me that the Venetians used kermes (grana) and madder lakes, and that verzino lake was employed by Tintoret only. Another artist^ on the contrary, said that the Venetian painters used chiefly verzino lake. A painter and restorer of pictures at Verona believed they used cochineal lake, and, as we have seen, he may be right as far as regards the painters who lived after the middle of the sixteenth century. From the preceding authorities it will be seen that previous to the middle of the sixteenth century the best lake pigments employed by the Italian painters must have been either the lacca di cimatura or lac lake, or a mixture of one of these with verzino, and that after this period cochineal lake might have been in use. At present there is no evidence which of the two 1 Malt. 76. * Iscriz. Venet, vol. iy. p. 349, clxxxiv INTRODUCTION. [chap. te. former was generally preferred: judging from the greater number of the recipes for lacca di cimatura, we should perhaps decide that this was the pigment gene- rally adopted ; but if an opinion may be formed from the colour of the lake on Italian, and especially on Venetian pictures, we should say that the lac lake was preferred. Chemical analysis does not diminish the difficulty ; the lake-coloured pigments of a miniature of the end of the fourteenth or beginning of the fifteenth century have been analysed by Dr. Antonio Fabroni of Arezsso, who, after stating^ that the tint where it was mixed witli white was of a bright blood colour, draws the following conclusions from his experiments: "The behaviour of this pigment with re-agents proves that this colour is a combination of a terrene base, and probably of very fine white chalk with a red juice, or perhaps with several juices, either of a vegetable or animal nature. It is, in fact, a composition analogous to our modem lakes, or rather to the * slils de grain * of the French. . . . From chemical experiments I should be inclined to believe that the dark red colour of the miniature was produced from verzino, ifj besides the chronological difficulty,* the depth and inalterability of the colour, which are incom- patible with the nature of Brazil wood, did not oblige me to abandon this conjecture. " Carthamus, gum-lac, and madder appear to me excluded by experiment, and by the appearance of the colour to the eye. I think then, that this lake colour can only be attributed to the kermes (the coccus of the ancients) modified by some indigenous vegetable juice.** Perhaps it may be safe to conjecture that where lake-coloured draperies are of the colour of blood they 1 Ricerche Chimiche sopra le Miniature di un Manuscritto. « Sig. Fabroni probably considered that Brazil gave its name to the wood, whereas it is supposed that the name of the wood was transferred to the country. CHAP. VI.] COLOUBS USED IN PAINTING. clxxxv have been painted with kermes, and where they incline to the rose-colour, or pink, that lac-lake has been used for them, if painted previous to the middle of the sixteenth century ; but if after that period, that either lac, cochineal, or madder may have been employed. The price of lake does not often appear in old docu- ments, although it is frequently stipulated in contracts that it should be provided by the person who ordered the picture. It is however stated^ that the lake supplied for the altar-piece, painted in 1521, by Fra Marco Pensaben, at Treviso, was 6 lire the ounce, exactly double the price of the azzurro. When Guercino was painting the picture called " L'Amore Virtuoso,*' 25 oz. of lake, besides 21 oz. of lapis-lazuli to make ultramarine, were given to him.' Yolpato remarks' that lakes should not only be of beautiftil colour, but in grinding they should have body, and not become liquid; and De Mayeme observes,^ ^^ Lake for glazing should be mixed with but a small quantity of oil, and should be ground as thick as butter, so that it may be cut, otherwise it will have no body, and be good for nothing." Lake that is left on the palette cannot be preserved, like other colours, by placing it in water, for that would spoil it.^ Lakes being slow dryers, the addition of boiled oil or pulver- ized glass is necessary to promote their desiccation.* Palomino^ observes that the colour which in Spain is called ^ Laca de Francia,' and in France ' Carmin,' although very beautiftd for illuminations and minia- tures, is not durable in oil ; for besides losing its beau- tiful colour, and becoming dark, it dries so badly, 1 Memorie Trevigiane. * See the Account Book of Guerdno, published in the new edition of the Felfina Pittrice. ' P. 745. * MS., quoted by Mr. Eastlake, * Materials/ &c., p. 451 n. » Volpato, p. 741. < Bald., Yoc. Dis., Tit. OUo eatto. Paduan MS., p. 666. Pacheco, p. 390. '^ Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 53. clxxxvi INTRODUCTION. [chap, vi. that after being to all appearance dry, if the pictuni washed even six years after it has been painted, the lake will wash off." It was remarked to me at Venice that verzino lake was always applied as a glazing colour, and with varnish. In painting lake or rose-coloured draperies^ the Venetians generally painted the lights with pure white, and glazed with lake until the colour was sufficiently dark. With lac-lake this was a wise precaution ; fw Mr. Field remarks,^ that white-lead destroys this colour. We find that it was sometimes the practice to mix the bone of the cuttle-fish, or white chalk, with lake, in order to give it body. The peculiar kind of lake now made at Venice is an example of this.' 2>ra^(?n^'-blood, a resin of a dark red colour, which drops in tears from the tree called Pterocarpus draco. It has been used from a very early period in miniature painting, but is not considered a durable colour. Its tint was varied by adding to it an alkali, or soap, when it was called " carmine,*' or " ponso.** When a large quantity of soap was added, it was called ^' cremesino." Pavonazzo, Purple, and Mulberry colours. MoreUo diferro. — Probably some ore of iron, burnt until it assumes a morello or murrey colour ; or it might have been the hard red haematite, ground without being calcined. It was used for painting in oil/ Vitriuoh Romano abbrudato. — Burnt Roman ViirioL — An artificial pigment, prepared by calcining sulphate of iron, by which process it acquires a red colour. Morello di Sale. — The nature of this pigment has not been well ascertained. It is distinguished by Lomazzo^ from morello di ferro, and from burnt Roman 1 Chromatography, p. 186. s And see Fdlibien, de la Peintorc, &c., p. 299. 3 Lomazzo, Trattato, p. 192. 4 Ibid., p. 19), *' 11 morello di ferro, e quello di sale, fanno il morello, e oltre di cid il vetriuolo cotto/' &c. CHAF. ▼!.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxxxvii vitriol. The same author also places it among the colours used in fresco painting. Borghini calls^ it Pagonazzo di sale, and says it was used for painting in fresco and in tempera. Haydocke, the translator of LfOmazao, took much pains to ascertain the nature of t^is pigment He says,* ^^ But as for morello di sale, it must needes be the rust of salte, called flos salis, whereof Mathiolus, 1. 5, c. 88, uppon Dioscorides writing saith, that it is of a saffiron colour, in these words : ^ There is a reddish colour, like unto rust, digged out of the Ger- man salt-mines, much desired of the painters, which, peradventure, is ipse flos salis, the flower itselfe of salt ; for it is like it in colour and tast ; and is com- monly called morello di sale.' Wherefore I rather think that it is the rust of iron, and the rust of salte, making naturally a bay colour ; for which cause I have still translated them the rust of iron and salte ; though in some places they agree not in colour as they are named in the mixture. So that I imagine there is some errour crept into the booke, which by mine owne paines I cannot yet finde, nor by my conference with many good painters and chemists.'' I have been unable to find the passage quoted by Haydocke in Matthioli's translation of Dioscorides, lib. 5, cap. 88, or cap. 87, in which he treats of the various kinds of salts. Matthioli says, in speaking of ^^ fiore di sale," that ^^ it is of a red colour, like rust of salt — ^that it is very deliquescent, and that by suffering it to repose, the sediment subsides, and the upper portion remains liquid." This description agrees somewhat with the information I received at Venice, namely, that morello di sale is die sediment which subsides from rock-salt when it is purified. Phillips' describes rock-salt as of various colours, 1 Riposo, p. 174. s TraDslation of Lomazzo's Treatise on Painting, p. 100. 3 Mineralogv, p. 193. clxxxviii INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. namely, white, grey, reddish-brown, brick-red, violet, and green; when coloured it is always more or less impure. He says that red or greyish clay frequently alternates in beds with rock-salt It seems probable that morello di sale was the same as the morellen salz of the Germans. From an ana- lysis, made by a friend, the latter pigment is found to consist of peroxide of iron, with a small quantity of silica and alumina. I am informed that there is notliing in these ingredients which militates against the opinion of the Venetians that morello di sale is the sedim^it formed in the purification of rock-salt. This purifica- tion generally takes place in iron vessels, some portions of which may be dissolved and precipitated together with the clay which usually accompanies the salt. Vasari, it seems, did not approve of this colour in fresco-painting. Speaking of the frescoes of Buffiil- macco, he says,^ " It was the custom of Buffalmacco, in order to paint the flesh with greater facUity, to spread a coat of morello di sale over the whole, -which in time caused a salt to form, which consumed the white and other colours; whence it is not surprising that these works are spoiled and destroyed, while others which he painted long before are in good preservation. And I, who thought that these pictures had been injured by the damp, have since proved by experience, and by com- paring them with other works of this artist, that the injury did not arise from damp, but it was entirely owing to this habit of Buffalmacco that some of them are so ruined, that not even the design is visible ; and where the flesh tints were formerly, nothing now remains but the pavonazzo. This method of painting should not be adopted by any one who wishes his pictures to last.** Folium^ Tumsol. — Theophilus* and S. Audemar* describe three kinds of folium, namely, red, purple, 1 Vita di Buffalmacco. s Thcoph. lib. i. cap. zxzv. > P. 132. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. clxxxix and blue, which were prepared from a plant used in England to dye wool. According to these authors, the purple folium was procured artificially by the addition of other ingredients to the red folium. S. Audemar gives the English name for the plant from which folium was produced ; but the word appears to have been so disguised by the French transcriber, Le Begue, that it is quite unintelligible. Fortunately, however, Mr. Hendrie has ascertained^ that the name of the plant from which folium was pro- duced, has been preserved in two MSS., one of which is of the fourteenth century, and the other of the fifteenth. In the first of these' the plant which is called ^^ morella " is described as growing in the country of St. Giles, and as producing seeds consisting of three grains or berries, with the juice of which were dyed pieces of cloth, which yield a mulberry colour called folium. The second description of folium, which differs but little from the first, is from a MS. belonging to the Biblioth^que Boyale at Montpellier. The directions for the preparation of the colours resemble those in Theophilus and S. Audemar. From these MSS. it appears that the colour called folium was produced from a plant called ^^ morella," the seeds of which were formed in groups of three berries in a cluster, and that the plant grew ^^ in terra Sancti Egidii."' The Venetian MS. in the Sloane Collection (No. 416) describes a plant,' from the pulpy 1 Theoph., p. 59. * Sloane MS., No. 1764. * A fare pe9oUa azum la quale e molto fina. R. una erba la quale se chiama torna sole che e grande uno bra^o e la foia sua e fatta chomo lortiga e da il colore a modo de tera vHie de quela che vende i spi^iali e le semen9e 8oe sono &te al modo che e el mira— soHe el so cholore de le dite semen9e e verde schuro e la gamba sie biancba^a^ e se voi a chognossiere la dita eba tola i manoe tochate el chollo fContinente te bruxa e pi9ara e queste semen^e sono quele de le qule se fa el color arecholgi queste semen^e la maitina P tempo inati che lo sole se lieva e volsse arecholgiere a la ussita de Zug*", &c. CXC INTBDDUCTION. [chap, ti: seeds of which blue and purple colours were ob- tained ; but this plant is called ^^ tomasole," and not " morella. " The description^ is accompanied by a drawing of a plant which bears three berries^ and it is followed by an account of the process of preparing the colour, which corresponds with those given by Theo- philus, S. Audemar, and the Montpellier MS. Now there are two plants mentioned by medieval writers under the name of " morella,** one of which is the solanum nigrum, the solatro nero, or ortense, the morella, or herba morella of the Italians, the morelle des jardins, morelle au fruit noir of the French, the black nightshade of the English.' Red, green, and blue dyes were prepared from the seeds of this plant, as we find from the MS. of Le Begue, Nos. 94, 338 ; the Bolognese MS., No. 9 1 ; and Paduan MS., Nos. 35 and 100 ; but on referring to the figure of this plant in Matthioli, we see that the berries grew in bunches of four, and not in three, and that in other respects it differed from the description of the plant in the Venetian MS. The other plant called " morella ** is the croton tinctorium, or crozophora tinctoria, the heliotropium minus tricoccum, which is called in French toumesole, but at Montpellier "maurelle."* The term tricoccum will not escape observation as agreeing with the old descriptions, and the name ^^ tomasole *' given to the acrid plant described in the Venetian MS. sufficiently identifies it with the croton tinctorium, the corrosive properties of which are well known. And now with regard to the place where it grows. The heliotropium tricoccum grows in marshy places, and is a native of the Levant and south of Europe, Provence and Languedoc, especially of Gakrques, ^ For this recipe from the Venetian MS. I am indebted to Mr. Eastlake^ 2 Nemnich, Polyglotten Lexicon, s Ibid. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CXCl ^here a colour is still prepared by steeping rags in the juice of this plant,^ and the neighbourhood of Nismes and MontpelUer. The Montpellier and Sloane MSS^ it will be recollected, state that it grew in " terra Sancti Egidii," and Egidius is the Latin name for Gilles, or Giles : now about thirteen miles due south of Nismes is Sl GUles, a town of great antiquity, the Bhoda Rhodi- orum of Pliny, chiefly remarkable at present for its magnificent abbey (which dates from the twelfth cen- tury), and other medieval remains. This then is the "terra Sancti Egidii" of the MSS., and the plant morella is the " maurelle " of Montpellier, the modern turnsol. Montpellier and its neighbourhood have always been celebrated for the dyes prepared there, and this city was at one time the centre of the commerce of Languedoc.' At the present time it carries on exten- sive dye and chemical works, and manufactories of colours, some of which are nearly peculiar to itself and neighbourhood. Having now determined the name and species of the plant from which folium was procured, and the country where it grew, it remains to account for the appellation folium, which, at first sight, appears inapplicable to the juice of a berry. I consider that this is explained by the Montpellier and the Venetian MSS. The directions in the former for preparing the colour are rather inde- finite, but the Venetian MS. is more explicit. It directs' that pieces of cloth or rag are to be dyed with the juice pressed from the pulp surrounding the seeds ; and then dried in the shade, and preserved by laying them between the leaves of a book, like leaves of gold, 1 Marcuoci, Saggio, &c., p. 132. * Depping, Histoira da Commerce, &c., vol. i. p. 802. s — *' e quando serano seche le dite pe9e mitele 7 uno Hbro de charta Sobazina e tine lo libro soto lo chavezale a<^ che no pia umiditad e quando ne voi adoverar taiane uno puocho e mitelo amoio la sira T uno chapara^o con uno puocho de aq^ la maitina sera fato e lo cholore foro de la pc<;;a.*' cxcu INTRODUCTION. [chap. ti. and when required for use, the colour was disdiarged from the rag by steeping it in water. I imagine the dye derived its name of " folium** from this practice of preserving the pieces of cloth in books. Some little difficulty has been thrown on this subject, fix>m the statement of Theophilus and S. Audemar, that red, blue, and purple colours were obtained from the same plant. In the Sloane MS. the colour is said to be mulberry. Pierre Pomet says that turnsole en drapeau consists of nothing but rags dyed red with the juice of the heliotropium tricoccum, or tornesol, the fruit of which makes a very fine bluCj but that the least acid turns it red. In the Table of Synonymes it is mentioned among the red colours. Nemnich,^ De GandoUe,' L^m6ri,^ the author of the Paduan MS., and the translators of ^ Beckmann's Inventions,' speak of it as producing a blue dye. Clusius,^ De T Abel,^ and Merret,* who follows Libavius, say it dyes cloth a bright green^ which changes to blue and purple. Gerarde'^ mentions a purple colour only. Constant de Massoul ^ says, a paste is prepared from the fruit of the heliotropium tricoccum, that grows in gardens in France. This paste being steeped in water, takes a beautiftil blue tint It will sometimes appear of a red colour, but by adding a little lime-water it will return to its blue colour. All these authors speak of the colour being preserved by dyeing rags in it. It may be considered then that the colour, when fresh, was green, that it became blue on drying, and afterwards purple and red, according to the ingredients used in the preparation. The rags thus tinged with the juice of the Croton 1 Polyglotten Lexicon. * Flore Fran^aise. 8 HUtoire des Drogues. < Rarionim Plant. Hist, 1601. ft Flantanim seu Stirpium Hist, 1576, and Advenaria, 1576. ft Notes to Neri, cap. 110. "7 The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes, 1597. ft Treatise on the Art of Punting, London, 1797, p. 186. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. cxciii Tinctorium or Turnsol were called in Italian Pezzette, literally, small pieces, or as we should say, rags ; for soft, fine, and worn-out linen cloth was used lor this purpose. In Italy the pezzette were of various colours. Cennini speaks * of " pezzette di Levante." Don Alessio states, that they were made from " cimatura di grana," or verzino ; Pomet and L6mferi say that the " tourne- sole en drapeau '' of Constantinople was fine linen or crape, dyed with an acid preparation of cochineal. " Pezzette morelle " were made from the juice of the wild elder ; " pezzette pavonaze " from the juice of the myrtle. " Pezzette " of diflcrent colours are described in the Bolognese MS.* I have little doubt that the bezette of the Germans was the pezzette of the Italians, and the bisetus of the middle ages. The folium of Theophilus and S. Audemar must not be confounded with the folium described by St. Isidore, in the passage quoted by M. de FEscalopier in his * Theophilus,' p. 293^ — "Folium dictum, quod sine ulla radice innatans in Indise litoribus colligitur. Quod lino perforatum, siccant Indi, atque reponunt. Fertur autem Paradisi esse herba, gustu nardum referens.** The Catholicon gives a nearly similar description of folium, and adds, that the precious ointment called " foliatum " was made from it. The passage evidently relates to the Malabathrum of Dioscorides, which Mat- thioli * says was called ** Folio Indiano," and which was valued for its perfume, and not for its colour. Indigo appears also to have been called "folium In- dicum,'' as may be understood from the following passage firom Du Cange, also quoted by M. de I'Escalopier :* — " Peto, ut nobis mittas ad decorandos parietes colores diversos, qui ad manum habentur, videlicet auripigmen- tum, folium Indicum, minium, lazur.*' > Cap. X. s Pp. 443, 427, 439, 443. < Matt., p. 47. < Thdophile, p. 293, n. VOL. I. n cxciv INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. BisetuSj or Biseth FoUL — There is some difficulty iu reconciling the few notices I have been able to collect respecting this pigment. It is mentioned in EracliuSi^ who says " Folium incide de bruno ; matiza di biseto foiar Again, " niisces brunum cum albo, fietque pulcra rosa; incide de bruno, matiza di albo vel de Inseto foiar " Viride incide de nigro, et matizabis de lisetor ^' Indicum incide de nigro ; matiza de azurio, vel de vei^aut, aut biseth^ " Misce auripigmentum cum azurio vel indico, aut ocrum cum indico, vel viride, et erit bonum vergaut ; inde de bruno, aut di nigro, undabis ; auripigmentum aut de biseth matizabis/' The only information to be collected from these pas- sages is, that it was a colour which served for heighten- ing the others, consequently that it was lighter than they were. In the first case, it was used for the lights of a red, purple, or blue drapery ; in the second, of a red drapery ; in the third and fiflh, of a green drapery ; and in the fourth, of a blue drapery. These passages, therefore, are no guide to the colour; and as Eraclius gives directions for painting changeable draperies in this chapter, it is by no means necessary that the lights should be of the same colour as the shades. The next notice of bisetus is in the Table of Sy- nonymes,' where it is described as being less red than folium, and is said to be taken from that portion which swims on the surface. Le Begue adds, ^^ I believe that this term is applicable in the same sense to the lighter tint of any colour, when tempered in shells (such lighter tint rising to the surface), after the colour has settled a little."' Merret, in his notes to Neri's ' Arte Vetraria ' (cap. ex.), mentions bezetta as a synonyme of turnsol, ^^ bezetta seu tornasolis ;" this, it will be observed, agrees with the description in the Table of Synony mes. In speaking of this 1 p. 253. « p. 21. s I have adopted Mr. Eastlake's translation. See * Materials,* &o., p. 425. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CXCV colour, Merret quotes a passage from the * Wormianum/ in which Worniius relates that a piece of cloth tinged with a bright and beautiftil red colour was given to him by Christopher Herfert- (apothecary to Christian V.), who did not know how it was produced ; that it ap- peared to have been coloured with red sandal wood, and was used to give a red colour to food in the same way as the common turnsol ; but that it was far superior to it ; that it was fit for rouge, and had this peculiarity, that it communicated its colour to water, and with some difficulty to wine, but not to spirit of wine. From this it would appear that Merret considered this piece of red cloth might be included under the general term bezzetta, and that the term was not applicable solely to cloth dyed with turnsole. My opinion is strengthened by a remark of Nemnich, who says^^ that cloths dyed with the juice of the turnsol were called in the Levant and at Venice " pezzette," and not "bezzette," as it is usually written. An eminent German chemist informed me that in the laboratory in Berlin, where he studied chemistry, there were several old boxes marked with the word "bezzette," which contained coloured rags. It is probable, therefore, that bisetus or biseth is a Latin term for bezzette, which is a corruption of the Italian pezzette ; and that these pezzette might be of diflFerent colours; hence the opinion expressed by Le Begue in the Table of Synonymes was probably correct. Whether it is practicable to obtain two tints from folium, that is to say, one from the juice itself and another from the scum which arises on it, and whether this lighter tint was of a pale red only, or sometimes purple or blue, can only be determined by experiment. With regard to the use of bisetus on the lights in the manner mentioned by Eraclius, it must be observed, ^ Polyglotten Lexicon, tit. Croton Tinctorium. w2 0XCV1 IN rRODUCTION. [chap. VI. that the colour with which the rags were saturated being transparent^ might be made to appear as light as it was necessary, by being much diluted, and that the strength of the colour would depend on the quantity of water with which it was mixed, and the repetition of the colour. Palomino mentions a colour which he calls ^^ur- chilla ;" * he states that it is of a morello colour, and known only to a few persons ; that it is excellent for illuminating and for shading sketches (or subjects in chiaroscuro) ; he adds, that although he "could describe the mode of preparation from the juice of morello- coloured lilies and alum, it was not his intention so to do, but merely to mention a beautiful transformation which it undergoes, for by throwing into it lemon-juice instead of water, it changes its colour to that of carmine or dragon's blood ; so that, from being one colour only, it becomes two, and both may be used for illuminating, for miniatures, and for sketches." It is unnecessary to observe that if this colour were really made of the juice of blue lilies, it could not have been the oricello of the Italians. Pacheco says* that in illuminating, blues were shaded with this colour. J3lue Pigments. AzzuRRO. — By this term the early Italian painters appear to have understood Az^urro della Magna. Azzurro della Magna, Azzurro TodescOy Azzurro Spagnuolo^ Azzurro de Anglia^ Azzurro de Lorn* bardia^ Lazursteiiiy Citramarinum. — I have stated my opinion (supported by what appeared to me satisfactory evidence) in a former work,* that this German azure was a native blue ore of copper. I 1 Vol. ii, p. 343. « Tratado, p. 864. 3 Cennini states (cap. Ix.) that Azzurro della Magna was found near Siena. It is also stated to be produced at Striscia, in the district of Vol- ^rra. See Ricett. Fiorent. « Art of Fresco Painting, p. zzxir. — Ii. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CXCvii have since ascertained that the fact has been settled beyond a doubt by Professor Branchi of Pisa/ This gentleman analysed a portion of the blue pigment from one of the pictures formerly in the chapel of S. Jacopo di Pistoia. For this purpose he poured a sufficient quantity of concentrated sulphuric acid on the blue pigment, which he afterwards evaporated to dryness ; the residue then being dissolved in distilled water, gave a blue colour with ammonia, and a bluish-green precipi- tate with carbonate of potash. An iron knife-blade being immersed in the liquor, metallic copper was deposited on it. The Professor also obtained the same results from the analyses of the blue pigments of other ancient pictures, especially that from the ground of the very ancient Madonna in the Lunette of the lateral door of the Duomo of Pisa, for which, as appears from the account-roll preserved in the archives, azzurro d'Ale- magna was provided. Dr. A. Fabroni, of Arezzo, also analysed a portion of the blue colour of a MS. of the beginning of the fifteenth century. After describing * the eflPects of different chemical re-agents on this pig- ment, he observes, " At first sight this colour resembles ultramarine, or at least the finest smaltino. Neverthe- less it is clearly shown by analysis to be an oxide of copper, and I have satisfied myself by ocular examina- tion, as well as by the comparative eflects of re-agents, that it is identical with our biadetto (cendre bleue of the French), although it is much deeper in colour. It is to be observed that I have seen the same colour on some ancient fresco paintings which existed in the sup- pressed monastery of S.S. Flora and Lucilla in our city* which for some centuries have been exposed to the injuries of the air, and yet the colour is very bright.'* Sig. Fabroni conjectured that the colour was " moun- ^ Lettera di Branchi, &c., pp. 7,8, 9. s See Riccrche Chimichc aopra le Miniature di un Manuscritto, pub- lished in the Acts of the Soc. of Arts, &c., of Arezzo, 1843, vol. i. p. 3. cxcviii INTRODUCTION. [chap. ti. tain blue heightened by some acid or saline preparation." But it appears quite possible for the colour to have been produced by the indurated blue carbonate of copper, which is of as deep and fine a colour as ultramarine when first prepared and used, although it differs firom the latter in being more easily affected by re-agents, and in fact by being generally less permanent Professor Petrini has written several articles in the * Antologia * * respecting the pigment azzurro della magna. In one of these, dated August, 1821, after mentioning the experiments of Branchi on the old pictures in S. Jacopo di Pistoia, he says, " the same experiments have been tried with similar success on a great number of pictures of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, whence it appears that the painters of that period knew no other mineral azures than ultramarine and azzurro della magna.** De Boot* distinguishes two kinds of azure, that which was fixed in the fire, and that which was not fixed. The former was the real ultramarine, which was always brought firom the East ; the latter was found in Grer- many, and was commonly called lazursteiuy and this^ he observes, " occupies a mean place between the Arme- nian stone, which is friable, and the lapis lazuli, which it resembles in hardness. The colour prepared firom the lazurstein is called asurhla% but many painters do not distinguish between this mineral and the Armenian stone, which they confound together, because the colours extracted frotn,both are alike. Nevertheless, the stones differ in hardness, and the colour prepared from that which is not fixed in the fire is generally more beau- tiful than that prepared from the Armenian stone. I possess colours prepared by my own hand, which are so fine that they bear comparison with ultramarine." The above description, as well as those of Gennini ' 1 Published at Florence. * Le jjarfaict Joaillier, p. 351. 3 Trattato, cap. iz. CBiP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CXtlX and the Bolognese MS.,' corresponds with the charac- teristics of the indurated native blue carbonate copper. The difficulty of distinguishing hetween tl two minerals has always been felt, and there appi to be no test but that of fire, which was known i very early period.* The mode of preparing this mineral as a pigmeii described by Cennini, and in the Bolognese i Having shown that the blue pigment in several paintings, both mural and on miniatures, has been as tained to be copper, I shall now give a few extr from documents, proving that it was used on picti also. The stipulation in the contract to use azzi della magna must be considered evidence of the esb in which it was held. •' 1463, 10 Anpitt Pkdoa. " Agreement made between the monaster; of Sta. GiuEtina me, Andrea Mantegna, painter, relative to the painting of an a piece to be placed over the altar of S. Luca In the chnrch of Giuatina, by which I, Andrea Mantegna, agree to paint all figures at my own expense, including the coloun, for the prtc 50 ducats in Venetian gold, and to inlay with azzurro Tadesc the carvings and ornaments of the said altar-piece," &c.* This picture, observes Moschini in 1826, is i fresh and intact at Milan. On my second visil Milan, Conte Fompeo Litta obligingly procured m< order, which enabled me to obtain a private vie^ this picture (which, with many others, had been remo 1 P. 343. Both kinds ofcarbooata of copper appear to be deicribi this chapter. 'Sue pp. 247, S41, SSG. > P. 366. « " 1453, «di loAgostO t^dova. " Pati fkd con el Monutero di St*. Giustlna e mi Andrea Maniegna tor cerca el penger de una so pala da altare da cater mesa a I'alUr de Luca in la dita Gesia di Sta. Giustina soe de depenger tutte le figure t ipcse e color! per prexio de dacati dnquanta doro veniciani con qnesti debo cawpizar daturo todetco tati li iotagi e adornameoti de la dita p &c. Copied rroni the orignoal contract in the poasessiun of the ( Francesco de' Lszara, at Padua. The contract haa been published by chini in hia work entitled < Dell' Origins e delie Vicende della Pittu PadovB,' p. 34 n. CC INTRODUCTION. [chat. vi. from the gallery of Brera, for the purpose of re-laying the floors). The picture is divided into twelve com- partments, separated by columns. In the centre is an evangelist, and in the other compartments are saints ; those in the upper row are half-figures, while those in the lower are whole lengths. The figures are painted on gold grounds, and there are several dark^blue draperies, but the blue has turned black. All the colours appear to have darkened, 'except the lakes, which are as good as ever. The carvings and ornaments inlaid with blue are no longer with the picture. Andrea Mantegna was in his 22nd year when he painted this altar-piece. By a contract, dated 22nd February, 1474, Giacomo Filipo, a painter of Ferrara, agreed with Fra Ludovico da Forli, Prior of the old Church of S. Salvatore at Bologna, to paint certain pictures, " de boni coluri a modo stia bene," on a ground of " azuro todesco," of the price of 10 bolognini the ounce.* In the documents respecting the celebrated altar- piece by Fra Marco Pensaben at Treviso, published in the * Memorie Trevigiane,* a blue colour, which from its price could not have been ultramarine, is mentioned in the following terms: — "1621, 13: Ott. Dati per oncie 10 e mezza d'azzurro, a lire tre Tonza." Azzurro di Terray Azzurro di Spagna, Biadetto, Cenere Azzurre, Ceneretta, la Cendree^ Cendres bleues, Cenizas azuks, Bleu de Montague^ Bice, Terra biaua, Sanders bliLe, OngarOy Bleu mineraley Turchino^Berglbhu. — A blue pigment, prepared from carbonate of copper, has been known to artists under the above names fix)m a very early period. It appears to have been of a paler colour than the pigment called azzurro della magna,* and in fact not to have exceeded in depth of colour the blue of the sky. It is probable that the azzurro di terra was produced from the earthy blue 1 Gualandi, Memorie di Belle Arti, Ser. iv. p. 91. s See Caneparius, p. 360. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCl carbonate of copper; but when the latter was of a bluish-green colour it was employed for preparing the pigment called verde azzurro. It will be seen from the following MSS., that arti- ficial blue pigments prepared from copper were common at an early period. As these azures were easily and cheaply made, and as they were, when freshly pre- pared, but little inferior in colour to the natural pig- ments, they found a ready sale, and were not easily distinguishable from the native pigments ; indeed it appears from more than one writer of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, that it was not generally known whether " cenere azzurre '* were natural or arti- ficial productions. The author of the ^ Trattato di Miniatura ' remarks (p. 52), " It is not known exactly what the * cenere azzurre ' of England really are, or how they are made. They are brought from Dantzic by the English and Dutch, who export them to France and other places, whence they are called * cenere dTnghilterra.' ** Pierre Pomet says * that " cendre bleue " is a composition, or pulverized stone, brought from England or Rouen, whence it is imported into France by the Swedes, Hamburghers, and Danes. Notwithstanding the diligent inquiries I have made, I have found it impossible to ascertain the nature of the "cendre bleue :" some tell me it is a composition made at Roueti ; but as those who make it keep it a secret, I could not learn how it is made. The author of the * Traits de la Peinture au Pastel ' appears to have been better informed ; he says, " a Tfegard de la cendre bleue, c*est une terre charg^e d'une certaine quantity de chaux minferale de cuivre ; le ton de ce mineral est d'un bleu naissant tres agr&able." It is almost unnecessary to observe that sanders blue is a corruption of " cendre bleue." A blue pigment prepared from the native ore of ■ . ■ J J J ■ _ I * ■ — _^ ^- ^ 1 Hist. G^dnile des Drogues, vol. ii. p. 386. ceil INTRODUCTION- [chaf. ti. copper was in use in Italy at the time of Lomazzo under the name of " Ongaro/'* This is the pigment which, it is stated on the auAority of Pacheco, Michael Coxie obtained from Titian for the purpose of painting the mantle of the Virgin in the copy he was making of the celebrated altar-piece of the Van Eycks at Ghent* Ongaro is mentioned in the Faduan MS. Biadetto, — This term, which occurs so frequently in technical works on painting, has been applied both to the native and to the artificial pigment prepared from copper. There is no doubt that at an early period of art the natural pigment (which was of a much finer colour than the factitious) was much used.' Mr. East- lake * has discovered the true derivation of the term " biadetto " in the * Bladetus de Inde ' of the Venetian MS., which is identified by De Mayerne with "la cendrfee,** and beia or bice. " La cendr^e*' is described to be " made of the blue stone which comes firom India, and which is found in silver mines.'* The "azzurro di biadetti" of Borghini and Baldi- nucci was the artificial pigment. The native mineral pigment is mentioned under the term azzurro di vena naturale, and both these are distinguished from azzurro della magna. The biadetto now sold in Italy is the artificial pigment which is imported from England ; but I could not ascertain the commercial name. The modern biadetto is described in the * Secreti ' of Era Fortuoato to be composed of verdigris, sal-ammoniac, and tartar. The name turchino is stated to have been applied to this class of pigments in consequence of their being imported at one time into Italy in large quantities by the Turks ;^ others trace the name to the resemblance of the colour of the pigment to the blue stone called turquoise, a mineral which also owes its colour to copper. 1 SeeTrattato, p. 191. * See Pacheco, p. 373. > Lettera di Branchi. * Materials, &c., p. 121. * See Ciampi, Notizie, &c., p. 67. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. cciii A modern blue pigment, known under the name of copper, mountain^ English, Hambro\ limey kassler^ mineral, and Neuwieder blue^ is prepared Irom carbo- nate of copper, with hydrated oxide of copper and lime. " It is obtained by a particular process (which at pre- sent is kept in part secret), by decomposing subchloride of copper by a solution of caustic potash, and afterwards mixing the mass with caustic lime, and exposing the mixture for some time to the air. When the greenish* blue colour has become a pure blue, the mass is dried and ground into a rather coarse, crumbling, or dust-like powder. The darker sorts contain only a small per- centage of quick lime ; but the lighter sorts, on the con- trary, from 20 to 70 per cent. Mountain blue is used as a lime colour, but chiefly for colouring rooms, on account of its unchangeability on lime grounds ; some- times as enamel colour instead of oxide of copper." * Although Boschini affirms that biadetto was one of those colours which the Venetians " abhorred like the plague," there is evidence to show that blue pigments from copper were used by Venetian painters. The fact of Titian having in his possession some of the colour called "ongaro" has been already mentioned. Paolo Veronese is stated by Signor Pietro Edwards to have employed " a certain mineral azure which is no longer in use ;" and Paolo's well-known practice of mix- ing his blues with size may be considered a confirmation of this assertion, since the copper blues if used with oil were certain to change. A Venetian artist, whose family have always been painters, and who doubtless possesses much traditionary knowledge, also stated that the Venetians used a " terra azzurra ** * which is now lost ; but he added, that on analysis biadetto had been found on the pictures of Tintoretto only. The * Tarifla' - - ' — .- -■ ^ Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. vi. p. 82. s Caneparius also mentions (p. 360, 362) a ** terra ccrulea.'* CCiv INTRODUCTION. [chap, ti. of Zuane Mariana proves that a terra biaua was in 1567 imported into Venice in such quantities as to be sold by the peso grosso; and when we consider the immense quantity of blue found on the paintings of the Venetian school, we are obliged to conclude either that ultramarine was much more plentiAil than it is at present) or that some other blue pigment has been used. To the above instances must be added the opinion current in Venice that biadetto is the pigment which best matches the blue found in Venetian pictures. The use of blue pigments from copper appears to have prevailed in other schools of the North of Italy. I was informed at Milan that the blue in the drapery of the Virgin in the St. Jerome of Correggio, at Parma, was painted with biadetto. It appears, that either biadetto or azzurro della magna was used by Lionardo da Vinci, since there are the following entries in his MS. book of drawings in the Ambrogiana Library at Milan : ^^ di spesa tra azurro, oro, biaca, giesso, indacho, et choUa ; lire 3 . . . . fra smalto, azurro, e altri colori, lire H, fra azurro e oro, lire 3i, un' oncia d'azuro, soldi 10." Here we have the exact price of the "azuro," which could not have been ultramarine, and which appears to have been too cheap for azzurro della magna.^ With regard to the manner in which these pigments were employed — in the first place it is clear that they cannot be used with oil without turning green.* It is true that Borghini, Baldinucci, and Lomazzo state that they may be used with oil; but Bisagno remarks "la .ceneretta is but little adapted for painting skies, be- cause it becomes green in time :" and the author of the * Traite de la Peinture au Pastel ' observes that cendres bleues might be employed in tempera painting and in I The price of this pigment at Florence, in 1459| was 3 great florins the oz. ; see a letter from Benozzo GozzoH in the Carteggio luedito, vol. i. p. 193. The author of the Bol. MS. states that azzurro della magna was sold from 10 to SO bolognini the oz. * See Palomino, vol. ii. p. 52. CHAP.Ti.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCY unimportant works, that cupreous earths might be used for peinturage (by which ' he probably meant common decorative effects), but never for painting, even in fresco. Paolo Veronese is stated to have generally painted the blues in his pictures with size ; Signor Pietro Ed- wards mentions ^ that in the picture by Paolo in the ceil- ing of the CoUegio in the Ducal Palace at Venice, the blue sky was painted in tempera, and the clouds with oil. As the grounds employed by Paolo consisted gene- rally of a thin coating of glue and gesso only, no prepa- ration was necessary before applying the blue of the sky with size. But when the blue was required to be laid upon oil colours, it was necessary to apply a thin coat of varnish, or to rub the surface with juice of garlic.^ The colour was afterwards varnished. Fra Fortunato of Rovigo states, that to prepare biadetto for miniature painting, so that it should spread well, it should be ground with burnt roche alum, or with a little tartar or sandarac. He adds, biadetto should be ground very fine, and used with varnish made of spirit of turpentine and clear mastic ; it will then spread well, glaze bril- liantly, and be of a beautiful colour. Blue was some- times applied in powder. De Boot mentions* that " on account of the excessive price of ultramarine, painters were accustomed to dead colour the parts of their pictures intended to be blue with Armenian stone, or a blue glass called smalt, to which white was added for the lights. When this preparation was quite dry, ultramarine, mixed with nut oil and spirit of turpentine, or varnish, was glazed over it By this means the colours spread beneath, as if under a glass, became brilliant and splendid, borrowing through this veil from the ultramarine, not only beauty but durability; so > In a document addressed to Sig. Savio Gassier, dated the 25th of Aug., 1780, and now preserved in the Academy at Venice, where I saw it. » See Mr. Eastlake's * Materials/ &c., p. 455. 3 Le parfaict Joaillier, &c., p. 372. CCVi INTRODUCTION. [chaf. vi, that in two hundred years they lost but little of their brightness and beauty/* Yolpato directs ^ that aszurro di Spagna should be tempered as firmly as possible with nut oil, and that it should be made to flow with spirit of turpentine. Bisii^no remarks that ceneretta must not be mixed with smaltino, because these colours are inimical to each other,* and Constant de Massoul ' makes the same remark with regard to cendre bleue and orpiment. There is one peculiarity attending the blue pigments in Italian pictures, which was first pointed out to me by a Milanese artist, and this is that the blues invariably are raised above the surface of the other colours, and that in some cases (and he particularly instanced Correggio's S. Jerome at Parma) they stand up as high as a five franc piece above the canvass. I have myself seen them on some pictures raised to the height of an English shilling. This artist ascribed the effect to the diflSculty of using thfe blue, and to the necessity of repeating the colour several times. Facheco's method of using blue pigments has been described briefly by Mr. Eastlake.* Smalto and Smaltini, JEmaily Azur h poudrer. — There were two kinds of pigment of this name, one of which was a preparation of zaffre, the other was a glass composed of sand, nitre, and copper filings. The latter is the Vestorian azure described by Vitruvius, which was called also azzurro di Pozzuoli. It was chiefly used in fresco painting.* The smalto made at Venice in the time of Caneparius seems to have been of the latter kind, since this author describes the first under the term zaphara. 1 P. 747. ^ Pacheco, however, reoommends that azul de Santo Domingo should be shaded with good smalti. Tratado, p. 391. » Art of Painting, p. 176. 4 Materials, &c., p. 431 ; and see Pacheco, p. 361. & See translations of Vitruvius by Orsini, published in 1822 ; and bjGal- liani, published at Naples in 1758. CHAP. VI.] COLOUKS USED IN PAINTING. CCVli It is not always easy to decide which pigment is intended when these terms are employed, for there is evidence that they were both in use at the same time in Italy. Lomazzo mentions ^' gli smalti, come quello di Fiandra che ^ il migliore de gl' altri tutti ;" from the last words it might almost be inferred that other vitri- fied pigments of this kind were known, besides the two above-men^oned. There is little doubt that the " smalto di Fiandra " was zaffre^ and that it was very similar to the pigment we now call "smalt" The smaltino of the ' Abecedario * was also a preparation of zaffre. One kind of azzurro di smalto only is mentioned by Borghini;^ this he states was composed of glass, and w^as used in fresco, in tempera, and in oil. Lionardi da Vinci mentions " smalto " among the colours provided for the decoration of the apartments in the casde in which Lodovico il Moro resided ;* but at the period when these paintings were executed (1492), it is scarcely probable that zaffre was known in Italy. In the absence, therefore, of evidence to the contrary, we must believe that the smalto mentioned by him was of the same nature as the smaltino used by his contemporary Pietro Perugino for the mantle of the Vii^in in his picture at Montone. Baldassare Orsini states that the smaltino in this picture was painted in distemper on a ground of black; and to modify, the brightness of this blue Pietro had stippled the whole drapery with lake. With regard to the composition of the smaltino, Orsini states that he had analysed this colour, and had found that it was a vitrified pigment like that described by Yitruvius in powder, and that it was tempered with flour paste.' Smaltino appears also to have been occasionally em- ployed in oil-paintings, as we learn from Borghini, and from Bisagno; the latter says it should not be mixed I Riposo, p. 173. * Amoretti, Meinorie Storiche di L. da Vinci, p. 38. 3 Elogior e Memorie di Pietro Perugino, p. 208, and n. ccvin INTRODUCTION. [chap, vl with " ceneretta," . and that for painting skies it should be mixed with white lead, and tempered with nut oil. This pigment is called ^^cenUee" in the Brussels MS.* Lebrun states * that very beautiful blue draperies are made with " azur a poudrer ** (smalt) :* they must be first painted with black and white, the lights being bright (that is to say, very white), and the shades being very dark, and then sprinkled with " azur a poudrer." Mr. Eastlake gives* several instances of blue being painted in this manner. Christophe Ballard recom- mends* that email (smalt) should be mixed with oil of turpentine, in order that it may dry and not flow, email, he states, " being very difficult to use ; for if it be made too liquid it will flow ; and if too thick and firm you will not be able to use it ; but by mixing it with spirit of turpentine it may be easily used ; for the oil of turpentine evaporates in the air.** This author gives the following directions for preventing the colour from flowing (qu'elle ne coule) : — "When you have painted your drapery, you will place your picture upon the ground, or upon a table; then you will take some crumpled paper, such as the grey paper used by mer- chants, tear it into small pieces, and let it fall upon your work. The paper will absorb all the oil; and when the blue is nearly dry, and, as we say, * embu,' even although it should not be quite dry, the paper will prevent the colour from flowing. To remove the paper, you must strike the picture upon a corner, and all the paper will fall off: and note, that you must not suffer it to dry, or you will not be able to remove the paper ; neither must the pieces of paper be too large, or they will mark the drapery."* IP.804. «P. 821. « Pierre Pomet, Hist, des Drogues, vol. i. p. 192, 193. * Materials, &c., p. 431, 466. » Traits de Mignature, p. 216, 217. * For other methods of using smalt, see also Mr. Eastlake's * Materials,' &c., p. 427—432. CHAP, vi.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. ccix In 1676, "the finest ground smalt that ever came into England " was valued at 88. a pound.^ The early history of cobalt and zaffi'e is involved in so much obscurity, and the evidence respecting it appears so conflicting, that it is considered useless to enter into the subject in the present work.* The same remark applies to the zaffirro of the middle ages, which, although it decidedly signifies in some cases ultra- marine, or lapis lazuli, is yet used so vaguely that it cannot be understood to be limited to this substance only. The diflSculty of coming to any decision on this subject may be estimated by the consideration that the term zafirro, saffiro, or saphiro, was used to denote a precious stone of a blue colour as well as a blue mineral, which from its description must be lapis lazuli; that zaflera, saphra, or zafire was a blue pigment prepared from cobalt, which is now known by the name of smalt, and that safar is the Moorish name for copper.' So little variation is there between the terms used to de- signate the three minerals from which the principal blue pigments are made. Various kinds of artificial mineral azures were em- ployed in Italy ; many of these are described in the Bolognese MS. (cap. ii.). The pigment described at p. 388 is represented to be better than azzurro della magna, and in appearance and colour to be equal to ultramarine. Another of these azures is stated to be worth four ducats th^ pound ; * and a third, five gold 1 Wa]pole*s Anecdotes, vol. iii. p. 137. * It may be observed here that the Egyptians were acquainted with cobalt, but they used it only for colouring glass. The small blue figurines are coloured with copper, and neither M. Laurent, M. Malaguti, nor M. Salvetat, have been able to detect any cobalt in them. See De Brongniart, Traits des Arts C^ramiques, p. 668, 663. The experiments of Prof. John, of Berlin, prove that the blues in the Egyptian paintings were oxides of copper, with a small intermixture of iron, and that none of them contain cobalt. See ' The Epochs of Painting characterised : a Sketch of the His- tory of Pointing, Ancient and Modem,' by Mr. Wornuro. 3 See Mr. Fords Hand-book for Spain, p. 128. < P. 391. VOL. I. O CCX INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. ducats the pound.* Borghiiii describes ^ several of these artificial azures. But of all the pigments of this class there is none which is mentioned so frequently by aH writers on colours as the azure said to be prepared from silver.' Yet, in spite of the most diligent inquiry, I have been unable to ascertain that any salt of silver is ca- pable of producing a blue colour. It is probable that the composition of such a pigment may have been suggested by the known fact, that the old bladetus de Inde before mentioned was found in silver mines ; and it is very probable that the medieval artists attributed to silver the blue colour which was actually owing to the copper with which the silver was mixed. Whenever a blue colour was really produced from the solution of silver plates in acetic acid, it may be concluded that the colour was produced by the solution of the copper with which the silver was alloyed ; and there appears to be no evidence to support the assertion found in some medieval M8S., that a blue colour could be produced from pure silver. The blue pigment composed of sul- phur, mercury, and sal ammoniac, has been called Venetian azure.* Bleu Minerale. — There is some doubt as to the nature of the pigment known in Italy by this name. Some persons consider it the same as turchino; and it seems a pigment prepared from copper and lime is still sold under this name. Other persons state that it was a preparation of cobalt, and was brought from Ger- many. In the Pharmaceutical Journal * it is stated to be a cyanide of iron, produced by mixing a solution of sulphate of iron with prussiate of potash, and carefully heating the light precipitate, which is formed with nitric acid, till it assumes a deep blue colour. The white substances used for the finer sorts are alumina, gypsum, 1 P. 403. 8 Riposo, p. 173. 3 Le Begue, p. 47, 49. Bol. MS., p. 395, 399. Theoph., £. ed., p. 422. 4 See recipes at the end of the Abecedario Pittorico. * Vol. vi. p. 82. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCXl and heavy spar ; for the more common sorts, starch or clay. The same author also mentions that Prussian blue mixed with the oxide of zinc, was formerly sold under the name of bleu minerale.^ Uliramariney Azur d'Acre. — The exact period when this fine pigment was introduced is not yet determined. There is no doubt, however, that the real lapis lazuli from Tartary was known in the thirteenth century, since it is mentioned in the work of Yousouf Jeifaschy, who appears to have been a jeweller of Cairo.* The term ultramarine must have been common in Italy at the beginning of the fourteenth century, since it occurs in the Italian MS. of Johannes de Modena,^ and in the recipe giveu by Michelino de Vesuccio to Alcherius, both of which were copied in 1410. In some MSS. it is called " azurrum transmarinum," in contradistinction to azzurro della magna, which was called azzurrum citramarinum.^ Ultramarine has always been occasion- ally used by the Italian painters, and so much was it esteemed that it was frequently the subject of a parti- cular stipulation in contracts. It was generally sup- plied by the person who ordered the picture, but in some cases the artist himself agreed to employ it. Thus in 1501, Aloese Vivarino di Murano agreed to use ultramarine in his picture painted for the guardians of the Scuola della Carita.* It was employed by Paolo Veronese in the "Nozze di Cana;"^ by Leandro Bas- sano, in his picture of the Battle of the good Angels with Lucifer, and in that of Sta. Lucia, painted for the church of S. Giorgio Maggiore at Venice ; ' by Pietro I See Traits de la Pcinture au Paste), where this colour is said not to have been affected by the strongest vapours of liver of sulphur in efferves- cence with the mineral acids. « Depping, Hist, du Commerce, vol. i. p. 147. ^ P. 96, 102. 4 P. 348 and n. * For this notice, extracted from the Venetian archives, I am indebted to the Abbate Cadorin, the biographer of Titian. « Iscriz. Venet, vol. iv. p. 263. ' Ibid., p. 349, 362. o2 ccxu INTRODUCTION. Perugmo, for his picture in the Duomo of C Palma Giovane, for the pictures he painted : at Treviso, in 1618;* by Gio. Batista Pc the Pala d'Altare in the choir of the Archi at Treviso,' in 1551 ; by Denys Calvart, in by Francesco Albano, in 1639/ for their pi church of the Servites at Bolt^na ; by Ir Imola, in his pictures in S. Michele in . Felice Damiani, in 1593 ; ' and by Ludovi^ in 1587, ' in the picture of the Conversion It appears, from various entries in the a< kept by Guercino * of the receipts for his pi he generally employed ultramarine which w by his employer. Sometimes the pigment, pared, was given to him, and sometimes the Irom which it appears he was to prepare himself. Thus, for the picture called " L'. tuoso," be received twenty-one ounces of la make ultramarine. Contrary to the assertion of some mot Pungeleone states ' that Correggio always i ultramarine, although it appears that hi " azzurro " (probably azzurro della magna), but three lire the ounce, for the decoration c del anchona de lo altare grando " at Correg Ultramarine is stated to have been found > pictures ; and although the artists of this schc the blue pigments from copper, there seems that the greater part of Uie ultramarine in I Oraini, Elc^o di Pietro Peragino, p. 194 and n. ■ Memorio Trevigiane, vol. ii. p. 59. 3 IWd., p. 76. * Gualandi, Memorie, »er. i. p. 4, 19. * Ibid., | * Ibid., ser. ii. p. 4. ' Ibid., ter. i B Tho original account book is in the Ercolani Colled It iifts been published in the new edition of tho FeUina Pit Aie^andro Calvi, at Bologna. 9 Lire of Correggio, vol. i. p. 248. i" Ibid., vo! CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCxiil Italy was introduced by way of Venice, which was the great emporium of Oriental commerce. The price of ultramarine at different periods has been preserved by several writers. In 1437 it was sold at Florence for eight ducats the ounce.^ In 1548 the price at Venice was sixty scudi the ounce.* In 1788 the price at Paris was one hundred francs, or even as much as fifty crowns the ounce.' The value of ultra- marine is not slated in the Bolognese MS., but the price of a pound of lapis lazuli varied, according to the good- ness of the specimen, from two to five ducats. De Boot mentions * that lapis lazuli was usually sold for eight or ten thalers the pound, and if the stone was good it would produce at least ten ounces of azure. One of the best specimens would yield five and a half ounces of the best colour, worth twenty thalers the ounce. The second quality was worth five or six thalers, the third only one thaler, or one and a half The price paid by Lely for one ounce of ultramarine was 21. 1 O5., but for the best kind he paid as much as 4/. lOs. the ounce.* Pacheco states • that ultramarine was not used by the Spanish painters in his time, but it was introduced at a subsequent period, since he himself mentions the colour ; ^ and Palomino gives directions ® for using it. The latter remarks that it was never used in the first painting, because, as it had but little body, it did not cover well ; and also because, as it was very dear, it would have been employed uselessly ; it was therefore either glazed or worked upon some of the other blues. When employed in glazing it was only necessary to mix it with nut-oil, and to pass it over the drapery with a soft brush, moistened with nut-oil and a few drops of spirit of turpentine, so as to leave it smooth and even. 1 Ccnnini, Trattato, cap. 62. > Paolo Pino, Dialogo, p. 18. ^ Traitd de la Peinture au Pastel. ^ Le parfaict Joaillier^ p. 371. » Walpole's Anecdotes, vol. lii. pp. 130, 132. « Tratado, p. 891. ' Ibid., p. 392. 8 Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 68. CCXiv INTRODUCTION. [chaf. tl If the drapery was to be painted with ultramarine, the light and dark tints were to be mixed with white lead and nut-oil, and the shadows heightened with indigo, and if the drapery were previously glazed with ultra- marine it would be more easy to execute. As a dryer, Palomino recommends pulverized smalt ; but, be says, it must be used cautiously or it will spoil the colour of the ultramarine/ De Piles also remarks,* that ultramarine should not be employed for the first painting, but that the lights and shades should be painted in very distinctly, the high lights consisting of pure white, with common colours ; or that the first shade tints, and even the half tints, may be painted with charcoal of the willow, which inclines to blue, or with bone black, and then finished with ultramarine ; but he adds, that this last method was not so good as the former, neither were tl)e tints so fresh. Ultramarine was employed by Simone Gantarini with terra verde in the shadows of flesh, and probably by Guido and some of his pupils,' and by Baroccio ; ^ and Padre Francesco Lana recommends ^ that it should be mixed with all the flesh tints. Blue pigments prepared from v^etables are not numerous ; the principal are those procured firom indigo and woad. Blue colours were also procured from the flowers of the cornflower,* from turnsol or folium, and other plants. The use of these pigments was limited to miniature painting. Gvato, or more correctly ffuadoj is the Italian name for the isatis tinctoria, called also glastum sativum — a plant which grows spontaneously in France, Germany, England, and other parts of Europe. It was called glastum by the Bomans, and is now 1 Museo Pictorico, vo!. ii. p. 67. • £Umen8, pp. 108, 118. « Malvasia, Fels. Pitt., vol. ii. pp. 80, 448. 4 Bellori, Vite, &c., p. 118. * » P. 746. ^ Constant de Massoul, p. 186. * CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCXV known in France by the names of Pastel, Vouede, and Gaude. There is sufficient evidence to show that indigo was known as a pigment in the time of the Romans, and that it was used as such during the middle ages in Italy, where it was sold under the name of indigo bagadel, indigo baccadeo or bandas, indacca detto buccaddeo, indaco del golfo.^ But there is no doubt that the pigment called " indigo," so frequently men- tioned by writers on colours in the thirteenth, four- teenth, and fifteenth centuries, was generally prepared from woad, and not from the real indigo. This will appear from various recipes in the Bolognese MS.»* in the whole of which woad is the principal ingredient It will be observed that the pigment is generally prepared from the blue or purple coloured scum which floats on the dyers' vats, and which is the produce of fermentation. This agrees with the account of Diosco- rides, who says there were two kinds of indigo, the first of which was brought from India, but the second, which was made during tiie process of dyeing, was a purple scum which floated on the surface of the vats. In com- menting on this passage, Matthioli observes,' ^^ the indigo generally used by the painters was that made in dyehouses, which was procured from woad with which wool is dyed." This passage alone is sufficient to prove that the term " indigo " was applied to woad. Beckmann says,^ that under the name indigo must be understood every kind of blue pigment separated from plants by fermentation, and converted into a friable substance by desiccation ; for those who should maintain that the real indigo must be made from those 1 Depping, vol. i. p. 141. See Cennini/Trattato, cap. 61. Le Begue, pp. 86, 273. * Pp. 412 — 416. See also Secreti di D. Alessio, parte ii. p. 34 ; Nuovo Plicto d'ogni sorte di Tinture ; and Paduan MS., p. 676. 3 Trans, of Dioscorides, p. 1414. ^ Inventions, tit. Indigo. CCXVi INTRODUCTION. D plants named in the botanical system Indigofera tmo- toria^ would confine the subject within too narrow limits ; as the substance which our merchants and dyers consider as real indigo is prepared in different countries from so great a number of plants, that they are not even varieties of the same species." Although indigo was not considered a durable colour, it appears to have been occasionally used in oil. The tints were made with white lead. Palomino says,^ ^^ that it is a fine colour for draperies, and works pleasantly, but that it is necessary to observe the fol- lowing conditions : 1st, That the lights should not be too light, because the colour fades — therefore the tints should be sufficiently deep ; the 2nd and most impor- tant, that the tints should not be too oily, but thick, and not tormented with the brush ; and 3rdly, that the colour should be well purified." Different modes of purifying indigo are described by Palomino,^ and in the recipes at the end of the Abecedario Pittorico, and also in the Paduan MS.^ When carefully employed, Feli- bien states ^ that it is durable if properly used, but that too much oil must not be mixed with it, and allowance must be made for its tendency to fade. Green Pigments. Mineral green pigments, both natural and artificial, are produced from copper. The native green ores of this metal have always been used in painting under the names of mountain green, Hungarian green, chrysocolla^ malachite^ cenere verde, verde de miniera, verde di Spaxjna, verdetto, s,nd green bice. To these colours must be added terra verde, which is said by some per- sons to owe its colour to copper ; * others consider that 1 Vol. ii. p. 67. * Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 67. » P. 676. * Des Principes, &c., p. 299. ^ Marcucci, Saggio, &c., p. 71. Pierre Pomet, Hist, des Drogues, vol. ii. p. 385. CHAt.vj.] COLOUBS USED IH PAINTING. Oat it is a bluish or grey coaly clay, combined with yel oxide of iron or yellow ochre.' It was someti called Prasino and Theodote. Pierre Pomet? states I mountain green was a greenish powder in small gri like sand, and that it was distinguished by this sa appearance from the artificial, which consisted of ] verized verdigris mixed with a little white lead. It also sometimes adulterated with cendre verte, of wl there were many varieties.' Mountain green app* to have been but little used in oil painting. Native carbonate of copper, although sometime pure blue and sometimes pure green, was irequentb a mixed colour, when it was called tjerde azzurro. Prasino or Prasminum. — Isidorus gives this nami green earth* (terre verte). But in some cases name has been applied to a white earth saturated y a vegetable juice of a green colour, as in the Bologr MS., No. 88. Vm-de Porro — Perhaps the same as the Prasinc the middle ages. It is mentioned in the Paduan JV also by Pozzo in his instructions for painting in frei and by Baldinucci '^ the latter states that it wa pigment of a whitish green colour, like that of the h whence it takes its name. It appears that during middle ages the juice of the leek was actually usee a pigment.* Various artificial green pigments were prepared ft copper which were known to medieval painters un the names of viride salsum, viride Hispanicum, mi Rothomagense, and viride Grcecum. In the last e be traced the verdigris (verd de Gr^ce) ' of the mode The best kind of verdigris was prepared at M seiltes by a process which has been ft-equently descril 1 Field, Chramatography, p. 233; and see Merim^, p. 191. » Hbt. des Drogues, vo), ii, p. 286. » Ibid., p. 385. * See p. 244, n. 4 ; and Theopbllus, E. cd., lOl. d Voc Dis. • See p. 156. '' Sec Mr. Easlbkc's ' Materials,' &c., p. HE CCXVIU INTBODUCTION. [chap, vl This pigment was known to the Spaniards by the names of verdete and cardenillo. Verdigris was generally purified by redissolving It in vinegar, and then suffering it to crystallize in large crystals, by the evaporation of the vinegar, when it was sold under the name of " dis- tilled " or " crystallized verdigris " and " verde etemo/* Verdetto. — There are several pigments of this name. 1 . A mineral green pigment which, according to Bor- ghini and Baldinucci, is found in the mountains of Ger- many ; this probably was mountain green or malachite, the green carbonate of copper. 2. A vegetable pig- ment mentioned by Lomazzo and in the Paduan MS., which was of a yellowish colour, apparently of the nature of brown pink; Haydocke called this colour holy green. 3. An artificiid green pigment prepared fi:om copper, called " Verdet " in tibe Brussels MS.,* and Verdete by the Spanish. These two pigments differ in the mode of preparation. Verde etemo. — Another name for distilled or crys- tallized verdigris.* It is a neutral acetate of copper, prepared by dissolving verdigris in hot acetic acid, and leaving the filtered solution to cool. It forms beautifiil dark green crystals. It is said to have been much used by the Venetian painters. This colour is mentioned by Volpato, who remarks,* " II verde etemo si cristalino chiaro e di color vivace." Baldinucci says* it was so called because it never lost its brightness, as all other greens did. He adds that this was nothing else but a glazing of purified verdigris spread thin over silver leaf.* Green pigments prepared from vegetables are name- rous. The principal of these are sap greeriy the verde di vesicha and pasta verde of the Italians, prepared fi'om the berries of the buckthorn (Spincervino — Rhamnus 1 P. 806. 8 Marcucci, Saggio, &c., p. 74. » P. 744. 4 Voc. Dis. » Sec also Mr. Eastlake's < Materials/ p. 458. 1 CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. ccxix catharticus). The juice being boiled down was inspis- sated, and when dry was preserved in bladders. Lily or Iris green (verde giglio). — This pigment was sometimes prepared for use by dipping pieces of linen (pezzette) into the juice and then preserving them dry. Green pigments were also prepared from rue, parsley, columbine, and from the black nightshade (the herba morella of the Italians, which must be distinguished from the "maurelle" or Croton tinctorium). The juice of this plant was incorporated with green earth ; in this respect it resembled the pigments called by the French stils de grain, prepared from the berries of the Khamnus infectorius (grain d' Avignon). The colour of these pigments varied from a brownish green (brown pink) to yellow. It was generally considered that mixed greens, com- posed of blue and yellow, were more permanent than any of the before-mentioned green pigments. They were frequently compounded of ultramarine and orpi- ment, of azzurro della magna and giallolino, of indigo and orpiment, and of one of the mineral blues with a yellow lake.^ Verdigris, and especially distilled verdigris, or verde eterno, was extensively employed by all the Italian schools for glazing, and especially by the Vene- tian, and the brilliant green draperies on the pictures of this school were produced by this colour. Verdigris was sometimes added to black to make it dry," but Le Brun remarks ^ that it must only be used in the shadows, for it is a poison in painting, and kills all the colours with which it is mixed. It appears, from the Paduan MS.^ to have been sometimes mixed with vegetable greens and yellows, and also with umber 1 See Cennini, cap. 63, 64, 66 ; Borghini, p. 170. « Volpato, p. 747. 8 P. 823, and see De Piles, Elemens, &c., p. 124. F^libien, Princjpes, &c., 300. * P. 652. CCXX INTRODUCTION. [cbap. ti. and indigo for making dark green. It should, however, be used alone; and De Piles observes^ that if the smallest particle of it enter into the priming of a pic- ture, it is sufficient to ruin it It is even necessary, he adds, to avoid using with other colours the brushes which have been employed for verdigris. Lionardo da Vinci remarks* that it was liable not only to fade, but to be removed from the picture by washing it with water, unless a coat of varnish was passed over it. Volpato also notices the solubility of this colour in water, and remarks that it must be removed from the palette before the latter is put into water to preserve the colours when the day's work is over. In the Venetian school it appears the colour was usually laid on with varnish. Pacheco directs^ tiiat purified verdigris should be ground in oil for the first painting, but for the last glazing varnish should be added. Lebrun says * that to make a very beautiful green" for glazing, verdigris should be used with varnish ; it will then be very beau- tifiil, and will not fade. In another place he observes,* " Verdigris is very good, if employed with fat oil." Verdigris is liable to turn black in time, and when in Ais state the surface has been removed by a pen- knife, and the colour beneath was found to be per- fectly fresh and bright. Borghini states* that terra verde was used in all three (fresco, oil, and tempera) kinds of painting. Le- brun remarks f " Verd de terre is used in the shades of flesh-colour, but it must be employed sparingly, for with age the colour appears crude, which would produce a bad effect." Merim^e observes® that Rubens had made great use of this colour, not only in landscapes but 1 Elcmens, &c., p. 124. * Trattato, cap. xcix. • 3 Tratado, p. 389. * P. 813. » P. 816. « Riposo, p. 169. 7 p. 813. » De la Peinture k rHuilc, p. 102. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCXXl in his carnations. He concurs with Le Brun in the fact of the colour deepening in time, and states that for this reason terre verte should be employed cautiously. There are frequent notices in Italian writers of terre verte being employed in painting the shades of flesh, but it is not always clear whether the pigment was used raw or burnt. Thus Malvasia,^ in speaking of Simone Cantarini's method of painting flesh, remarks, " He was therefore as partial to white lead as he was inimical to lake and umber for his outlines and shades ; in which he used to employ plenty of ultramarine and terra verde, learning from Guido the value of these two colours in painting delicate shadows." It is very possible that as the terra verde was used for the sha- dows, it might have been burnt. Lomazzo directs* that the shadow colour for flesh should be made with nero di campana and burnt terra verde, or with umber and burnt terra verde ; and the Paduan MS.' states that umber, burnt terra verde, and asphaltum were used for the same purpose. Brown Pigments. The brown pigments used in the middle ages were very few; those employed by the Italians were not numerous, and they are frequently classed with black pigments. The principal were bistre, which is men- tioned by medieval writers under the name of fuligo and by Lomazzo under that of ftdigine ; umber, raw and burnt; Cologne earth, burnt terra verde, and asphaltum. Umber is a hydrate of oxide of iron mixed with a variable quantity of oxide of manganese and a small proportion of clay.* Merimee says it contains silica and alumina also. The best is reputed to be brought from the Levant, although it is really the produce, of 1 Fcls. Pitt., vol. ii. p. 448. » Trattato, p. 302. 3 p. 660. * De Brongniart, Essaie des Arts Ceramiques, p. 539. CCKXil INTRODUCTION. [chaf. ti. Cyprus.^ This was probably imported into Venice, and thence to other parts of Europe, particularly to Spain, where the Venetian umber was sold under the name of sombra di Venezia.* Besides its use in painting as a shadow colour both in flesh' and yellow draperies* and for all colours lighter than itself,* it was sometimes boiled with oil as a drier both for painting and mordants/ It was also occasionally added to grounds,'' but for this purpose it was not generally approved.* Umber was some- times called falzalo by the Italians.' Mixed with fine lake, it was used as a glazing colour for shadows. Cologne earth, a bituminous earth, which, although a powerful colour, has the disadvantage of fading and of drying very slowly. The former, according to Merimfee, is prevented by mixing it with very durable pigments, the latter can only be remedied by the addition of a drier to the oil. This pigment does not appear to have been known to Lomazzo, Borghini, or the early Italian writers. Neither does the name occur in any of the treatises in this work, nor in the ' Principes de Pein- ture ' of F^libien, nor the * Elfemens de Peinture ' of De Piles. It seems to have been used principally by the Flemish and Dutch painters.^^ It is, however, stated to have been employed by the Venetian painters, but this appears to require confirmation. When terra verde is burnt over a slow fire,^^ and the heat gradually increased until the pigment is roasted, it is converted into a fine warm brown, which was used, mixed with other colours, by the Italians for the sha- dows of flesh.** Modern writers do not mention this * Merim6e, p. 206. ^ Palomino, vol. ii. pp. 62, 149. 9 Pp. 650, 654. Malvasia, Fels. Pitt, vol. ii. p. 448. Palomino, vol. ii. pp. 62 — 64. Lomazzo, Trattato, pp. 191,312. ^ Palomino, vol. ii. p. 66. ^ Lomazzo, Trattato, p. 197. « Borghini, p. 176. Paduan MS., p. 740. ? Volpato, pp. 730, 746, n. 8 P. 813. Merimde, p. 206. » Lomazzo, Trattato, p. 191. »o Mr. Eastlake's » Materials,' &c., p. 462. ^ P. 746. i« P. 650. Lomazzo, Trattato, p. 191. CHAP. VI J COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. ccxxiii colour, but the use of it has been revived by an emi- nent English artist, under the name of " Verona brown." Asphaltum, Biiume GiudaicOj Nero di Spalto. — Several kinds of asphaltum are used in the arts. The best is considered to be the Egyptian. This will dis- solve neither in oil, water, nor turpentine, but it must be fused, and then mixed with linseed oil.^ There is little doubt from the descriptions of Borghini* and Baldinucci,^ that the old masters used the Egyptian asphaltum, since they mention that it was brought from the Lake of Sodom. Other kinds of asphaltum are brought from China, France, Neufchatel, and Naples. That brought from Naples is reputed to be next in goodness to the Egyptian. It will dissolve in oil, but never yields that intense black to the same quantity of oil as the real Egyptian. This is probably the kind now employed by the Italians, who dissolve it in oil, spirit of turpentine, and Venice turpentine. It is not always easy to procure genuine asphaltum. Watin remarks ^ tiiat it was frequently adulterated with pitch, and that what is generally sold for asphaltum in Hol- land is nothing but the residuum left after the distilla- tion of oil of amber. Mr. Wilson Neil states that a similar kind of factitious asphaltum is now made in London, which is not inferior to the best Egyptian. This consists of the residuum left from burning linseed- oil and resin. The mixture of resin with asphaltum may be detected by spirit of wine, which dissolves the resin, but not the asphaltum.^ Lomazzo says ' that it was used to give brightness to light and chesnut hair. Boschini states'' that it was much employed by Andrea Schiavone, who used it in 1 Wilson Neil on the Manufacture of Varnishes, Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. xlix. p. 67. » Riposo, p. 164. » Voc. Dis. ^ L'Art du Vemisseur, p. 216. ^ Marcuoci, Saggio, &c., p. 95. ^ Trattato, p. 198. ? Ricche Minere. CCXXIY INTRODUCTION. [chap. ti. glazing the shades of the flesh in undraped figures^ — that Giacomo Bassano (il Vecchio) employed it mixed I with lake in the ultimate retouchings, and that he ^ glazed with this colour all the shadows indifferently, whether of flesh, or drapery, or other things. In the Paduan MS. it is stated to be used for the shadows of •flesh mixed with umber and burnt terra verde.^ Palomino^ classes asphaJtum among the useless colours, and says its place may be supplied with bone black, mixed with fine carmine and ancorca ; that it is a bad drier, and requires the addition of a mordant to make it dry : he adds, that there is no doubt it was used by the great colourists, especially in Seville and Granada, although one may do miracles without it. Volpato directs * that it should be mixed with boiled oil and verdigris to make it dry. The evidence of a modern Italian writer* and of several restorers of pictures is decidedly in favour of its having been used as a glazing colour only ; according to the latter it was dissolved in oil or spirit of turpen- tine, and applied, like other glazing colours, with the hand, which insured its being thinly and evenly spread. But even as a glazing colour, it grew darker in time,* and the obscurity, so frequently observed and regretted, of many Italian pictures, is attributed to the excessive use of asphaltum. The fact that the Neapolitan as- phaltum does not yield so intense a black to the same quantity of oil as the Egyptian, with its known property of darkening with age on paintings, would seem to suggest the propriety of ushig the Egyptian asphaltum, which being intensely black at first, would probably be less likely to increase in colour. Its extreme blackness would at least cause it to be employed sparingly and very thinly as a shadow colour. 1 p. 650. 2 Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 63. s p. 747. -• Marciicci, pp. 95, 208. » Bald., Voc. Dis. CHIP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCXXV Marcucci describes a liquid preparation of asphaltum composed in the following manner : one part of Venice turpentine and one and a half part of spirit of turpen- tine are put into a bottle which is to be placed in a sand-bath to liquefy ; two parts of asphaltum are then to be added in powder, and the whole is to be stirred and left over the fire until it boils. When it has boiled for one hour, it is to be removed from the fire, and before it cools a little nut-oil is to be added to give it a proper consistence, and when it is used a small quantity of mastic varnish and some kind of drier are to be added. This, he says, is an excellent colour for glaz- ing, but it must be used sparingly, as it deepens its colour with age. Mummy is by some * considered to be the same as asphaltum, but Marcucci ^ states that the colour of the former is warmer, and the smell more aromatic, and that its external character is diflerent. He remarks that it is a fine colour for glazing oil-paintings, espe- cially in the carnations ; it is ground with nut-oil, and is used with varnish and a drier. Black Pigments, The principal black pigments were terra nefa, coal, terra nera di Campana, nero di schiuma di ferro, and charcoal of various kinds; namely, burnt ivory and bones, oak and vine branches, stones of peaches, shells of almonds, paper, smoke of resin, and of nut-oil. Terra nera^ which may certainly be considered sy- nonymous with terre noire, is identified by De Mayerne with " crayon noir^ or " black chalked ' The Italians procured terra nera from several places. Cennini* mentions a black stone brought from Piedmont, used for drawing and painting, which he describes as soft and unctuous. Later Italian writers mention terra 1 Palomino, yoI. ii. p. 53. ^ Saggio, &c., p. 95. s Mr. Eastlake's ' Materials/ &c., p. 466. < Cap. 34. VOL. I. y> CCXXvi INTRODUCTION. [cha^. ti. nera di Roma and terra nera di Venezia; the latter was procured., from Verona. Borghini says * that aero di terra is a native unctuous pigment, which may be used in fresco, oil, and tempera painting. The name of this pigment occurs in the Paduan MS.* Lomazzo * does not appear to distinguish it from hero di scaglia. A black pigment from common coal (charbon de terre) does not appear to be mentioned by Italian writers, although it is said, on the authority of Lebmn,* to have been much used in Italy for external painting, because it was more durable than any odier. Mr. Eastkke has shown * that it was frequently employed by the Flemish and Dutch painters. The tint furnished by coal mixed with oil is stated to be brownish. Terra nera di Campana is made from a certain crust which forms on the moulds in which bells and artillery are cast It is used in all three kinds of painting, but in a short time it fades and spoils the pictures. It is mentioned by Borghini,' by Baldinucci,"' and by Lo- mazzo.^ Nero di Schiuma di Ferro was composed of scales of iron mixed with terra verde and finely ground. Bor- ghini, Lomazzo, and Baldinucci mention this colour. Ivory Black is distinguished by many writers from bone black. It is described as being intensely black, and very transparent. Lebrun remarks that if it is steeped in vinegar and dried in the sun, it cannot be effaced. Bone Black was prepared from the bones of various animals, but Palomino states ^ that the best kind was prepared from the bones of pigs, although the bones of stags and oxen were sometimes used. Others employed mutton bones. It is represented to be of a reddish colour, which may even be converted into brown by > Riposo, p. 164. « P. 650. s Trattato, p. 192. * P. 812 and n. ^ Materials, &c., p. 467. * Riposo, p. 164. ? Yqc. Dis. B Trattato, p. 193. * Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 63. CHIP, vij COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCXXVll arresting the carboniasation before it is complete, and to dry very slowly. In grinding it with oil it is necessary to use more force than with any other colour, iir order to add with more facility the necessary quantity of fat or drying oil/ The blacks made from vegetable charcoal are not of so intense a black as those of ivory and bone ; * of these some painters preferred the black made from burnt vine-branches, sometimes called blue blackj^ which Bor- ghini says ^ is excellent for painting in oil. Other authors mention the charcoal of burnt oak stripped of the bark,* of the stones of peaches, and of the shells of almonds/ The black of peach stones when mixed with white has a blue tint. Lamp black is used in oil painting, although not approved of by many writers.'' It is always necessary to calcine it before it is used in oil painting.^ Ink, and especially printing-ink, was formerly made of the soot collected from burning resin or oil in a paper lantern. This is the ink of which Cennini speaks in the early part of his book. It was also used by Lionardo da Vinci • mixed with lake for the darkest shades, and Va- sari relates that Fra Bartolomeo wishing to imitate the colouring of Lionardo on a certain picture, also em- ployed this colour and burnt ivory, and that the picture had darkened much in consequence. To the same cause Vasari attributes the darkening of the colours in the * Transfiguration ' of Raphael.^® Another charcoal black was procured from the ashes of paper, burnt in a closed iron tube and afterwards ground with water." This black pigment is mentioned 1 Constant de Massoul^ p. 215. * Merim^, p. 208. s Constant de Massoul, p. 215u 4 RipoBO, p. 164 ; and see Cennini) Trattato,. cap..xzzvii» ^ Palomino, toI. ii. p. 54. Borghini, p. 164. • Cennini, cap. 37- Borghini, p. 164. Baldinuoci, Voc. Dia. •^ See p. 823. « Marcucci, p. 167. Merim^e, p. 209. » Trattato, c. 353 ; and see Vasari, Vita di Fra Bartolomeo. 10 Vasari, Vita di RaflSiello da Urbino. i^ Marcucci, p. 167. P 2 CCXXViii INTRODUCTION. [cbap. ▼!. by Borghini * and by Baldinucci, and appears to be stiB made in Italy. Marcucci * states that he had found it a very good black, and that it did not deepen in colour like some other blacks. Black pigments are considered slow in drying. Vol- pato directs ^ that boiled oil and verdigris should be added to lamp-black to make it dry.* The Paduan MS.* recommends the addition of ground glass, which it is stated will make the colour dry in twenty-four hours. Baldinucci ^ says black earth, bone black, and lamp black require the addition of litharge or ground glass to the boiled oil. From the preceding account of the principal colours used . in painting it will be seen that, notwithstanding the numerous names by which pigments were known in different countries and at different periods, the real number was not in fact so great as might be at first imagined. This is exemplified in the various names by which the blue carbonate of copper and the red ores of iron were formerly known. It will also be observed that the colours lost or fidlen into disuse are the native mineral pigments, for which artificial preparations of a similar nature have been sub- stituted. Thus the native yellow and red orpiment have been superseded by the artificial pigments which bear these names, and which, besides the usual defects of artificial as compared with natural pigments, have the additional disadvantage of being more poisonous. Instead of the native giallorino, or Naples yellow, we have the modern pigment composed of the oxides of lead and antimony, known under the name of Naples yellow. Instead of the native carbonates of copper we have the artificial preparations. Native minium and native cinnabar have also fallen into disuse. The only — ^-^^^^-^^-^^^-^-^^^ - - - ■ ■ — ^^ — — — — ^ 1 Ripo«), p. 164. « Saggio, p. 208. » P. 747. -* P. 822. » P. 666. « Voc. Dtf. CHAP. VI.] COLOURS USED IN PAINTING. CCXXiX exception, perhaps, besides the natural yellow and red ochres, is ultramarine, for which no perfect substitute, possessing properties in every respect equally eligible, has yet been discovered. With the exception of these natural pigments, the colours lost are of little value. It will be also observed that the more durable lakes prepared from kermes and lac have been superseded by the more brilliant, but less permanent, lake from cochineal. Another source of confusion, and which has much in- creased the difficulty of identifying pigments, has arisen from giving the name of a well-known pigment to another which resembled it in colour, but which in other respects differed essentially. Among pigments of this description may be enumerated sandarace^ san- daraca, which has been used to denote red orpiment, red lead, and massicot ; minium^ the ancient term for vermilion, and the modem term for red lead ; cinnabar^ used to signify a red earth and vermilion; smaltOy smahinOy sometimes applied to a vitreous blue pigment coloured with smalt, sometimes to one coloured with copper ; indigo^ used to denote both woad and indigo ; arzicOj which signified both a yellow lake and a native ochreous pigment; verdettOj which denoted sometimes a native mineral green pigment, sometimes an artificial mineral pigment of the same colour, and sometimes a vegetable green pigment Finally, the confusion has been increased by adopting foreign names instead of the original term ; thus one of the old pigments called giallorino is now known in Italy under the term massicot, and the original appellation is almost lost. CCXXX INTRODUCTION, [chap. ti. Of Grinding and Dilviing the Colours. The universal testimony of* all writers who have treated on the tedinical part of painting establishes the fact that lihe colours (excepting some which were kept in powder) were ground in oil.^ Vasari, Armeoini, Bisagno, Borghiiri, and Gasparo Colorabino * give the preference to nut-oil, which, it is stated, is less apt to become yellow- Bor^ini says,' " Let him who would paint in oil on panel . . . • colour it with colours tern- pered with nut-oil only, and nothing else '* {senza piu), Volpato directs * that white lead should be ground with nut-oil ; verde eterno, indigo, and all other blues, char- coal, and other colours with linseed oil. The Marciana MS. also directs * that all the colours were to be ground with oQ as stiffly as possible, that is. with very litde oil. and that they were to be ground so fiaely that on being felt with the fingers no hard grains could be perceived. This is in accordance with the old Italias practice^ as described by Cennim, who repeatedly inculcates the perfect levigation of the colours ; and with the example of Michael Angelo, who is said to have ground his own colours,* and also with the practice of the Flemish school.'' But it appears that the later Italians, and especially the Venetians, did not consider this point of importance as far as regards the under colours. If there were any doubt of the colours of the Venetians being coarsely ground, it would be sufficiently proved by the assertion of a professor of painting at Venice that he had with his penknife picked out of Venetian 1 F61ibien, Principes, &o., p. 296. Balengerns, De Pictura, &c Bald., Voc. Dis. Lebrun, p. 771. ^ Discorso del Disegno, &c. Padova, 1623. 8 Riposo, p. 138. * P. 739. • P. 627. ^ See Lanzi, Storia Pittoriea, yoI. i. p. 114. 7 << Lga peintres Flamands ne prennent que la cr§me des coidenrs, apr^ les avoir d^Iaydes et noy^es dans une grande quantity d*eau.'' — Tnat6 de la Peinture au Pastel, &c. CHAP. VI.] GRINDING AND DILUTING THE COLOURS. CCXXXl pictures of the best period grains of colour sufficiently large to have them analysed. The recommendation in the Marciana MS. before mentioned to grind the colours with as little oil as pos- sible is insisted upon by most writers on art.^ Borghini gives ' as a reason for this practice that the oil in drying would become dark '(nero). Again, he remarks, **If the colours are made liquid with too much oil, it lessens considerably their brilliancy." The use of too much oil is frequently condemned by Malvasia ' and by Lanzi. The latter attributes ^ to this cause the ruin of so many paintings by the Carracci, by Lo Spagnuolo, and by Fasignano. Armenini also concurs in stating that oil renders the colours dark. After directing how the colours are to be ground the Marciana MS. continues, " Also, while you are painting, if you find the colours too stiff, dip your pencil into a little oil and stir it well into the colour." The same MS. also directs that the " vernice comune," which might be mixed with colours, was, when too thick, to be diluted with oil. It may be considered certain, then, that during the first half of the sixteenth century it was the practice in Italy to dilute the colours with nut or linseed oil, and not witJi an essential oil. The anecdote related by Kidolfi, who wrote a century later than this MS-, proves that this practice was preserved, tradition- ally at least, in his time. But although this may have been the general practice, it by no means follows that all colours were thus diluted ; and the specification that certain colours were to be made to flow by dipping the brush in an essential oil, is at once an admission that it was the general custom to use linseed or nut oil for this purpose, and dso that these oils were not equally adapted 1 F^libien, Principes, &c.,p. 298. Requenos, Saggio, &c., vol. i. p. 163. Verri, Saggio Elementare, &c., p. 116. Marcncci, Saggio, &c., p. 201. » RipoBO, p. 176. « Fels. Pitt., vol. ii. p. 460, 4 Storia Pittorica, vol. v. pp. 70, 161 ; vol. i. p. 196. CCXXXli IJrrRODUCTION. [ghat. VI. for all colours. Thus Volpato observes ' that painters were accustomed to make Spanish blue flow by dippiog their brushes in spirit of turpentine, and ultramariDc with naphtha. Facheco, whose whites and blues were the admiration of Cespedes, and of those Italian painters who had seen them, relates* that he dipped his brush in oil of spike when painting to make the colours flow. It appears, however, that 'the practice of diluting the colours with naphtha was sometimes carried to excess by the Bolognese painters; this was the case with Flaminio Torre, the irrecoverable decay of whose pic- tures is attributed by Malvasia' and Lanzi^ to the constant use of naphtha. F^libien,^ who appears to have been well acquainted with the Italian practice, remarks that " those who wish their pictures to remain fresh use as little oil as possible, and keep their ooloors firmer by mixing a little oil of spike with them ; this soon evaporates, but it makes the colours flow and work more easily.'' From a passage in the Brussels MS.* it may be concluded that oil of chamomile was sometimes used for the same purpose. On the Purification and Bleaching of Oil. There appears to be no doubt that oil was always purified and bleached before the colours were ground with it. It is, however, somewhat extraordinary that neither Armenini, Vasari, Borghini, nor Bisagno allude to this fact. The precautions taken by Lionardo da Vinci' for the preparation of his oils are, however, well known, and incidental allusions to the purification of oil may also be found in Vasari * and other authors. The remark of the Gesuato, at the end of his directions 1 P. 749. « Tratado, p. 392. s Fels. Pitt, vol ii. p. 460. * Storia Pittorica, vol. v. p. 105. * Principes, &c , p. 297. « P. 814. "^ Ainoretti, Memorie Storiche, &c., di Lionardo da Vinci, p. 149. * See account of GioTan Francesco Caroti, in the Life of Fra Giocoado. CHAP. VI.] PURIFICATION OF OIL. CCXXXIU for purifying oil — " Observe that, whenever you find oil mentioned, this purified oil is meant" — may be con- sidered proof of the importance attached to this fact. The recipe of the Gesuato forms part of the directions for preparing ultramarine,^ and the oil was used in making the resinous pastille into which the powdered ultramarine was kneaded, and the colour worked out into the water. If it was necessary to employ purified oil for this purpose, it was much more important to procure such an oil to mix with colours. The Marciana MS. directs' that purified oil should be used for mordants, and at the end of the recipe gives the following directions for purifying it: — " Boil it over the fire with water for three or four hours, then let it settle, and separate it from the water." In another recipe it is said," — " Take linseed-oil, boiled in the usual way ;" from which it appears that the method just described was that which was usually adopted. In the same MS. it is remarked,^ that if the nut or linseed- oil is inspissated by exposure to the sun, the varnish made with it will be clearer. Palomino states'^ that all colours were generally ground with linseed-oil, because it was more drying than nut-oil, which was reserved solely for the blues and whites in finishing, and especially for ultramarine ; " but," he adds, " if nut-oil cannot be obtained, linseed- oil may be clarified by putting it into a vessel with white-lead in powder, stirring it well until it is quite white, and exposing it to the sun and dew, stirring it up every day, for three days, then let it be used, because if it is kept longer, it will become fat. Pacheco's method of preparing bleached linseed-oil, which might be used with white and blue, was as follows :* — " Take a glass vessel, and to one pound of limpid and clear 1 Secret! di Don Alessio, parte ii. f. 62 ; and aee Mr. Eastlake's < Mate* riak,' p. 827. « P. 621. » Ibid. «P. 636. • <^ Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 56. « Tratado, p. 393. CCXXXIV INTRODUCTION. [cbaf. ▼!. linseed-oil, add three ounces of spirit of wine, and two ounces of lavender flowers, place it in the sun for fifteen days, shaking it twice every day, and in this maimer it will be purified and clear. Then pouring it into another vessel, it may be used for whites, blues, and flesh tints.** Some time since I tried this recipe, and found that in proportion as the oil lost its colour, the spirit of wine acquired it, and the mucilage separating, was carried to the bottom of the bottle with the lavender flowers. The yellow colour of the spirit of wine may, perhaps, be accounted for by the fact, that a small quantity of linseed oil is soluble in spirit of wine; four ounce measures of spirit of wine dissolve one drachm of linseed-oil.* Joannes Zahn recommends* the following process for the clarification and bleaching of oil for painting: — " Take the acetous herb, whidb in German is called * Sauerampffer ' (sorrel), cut it into tolerably sized pieces, and boil it in water over die fire ; then strain it through a linen cloth, put it into a tin vessel, or into a vase made of iron, tinned, whidh must be prepared so as to be long and broad, but not deep. This being done, pour on to this water the oil which is to be clari- fied and bleached, and then put t^e vase, with the water and supernatant oil, into a place fi*ee from dust, and exposed to the hottest rays of tihe sun in summer for a few days ; in a short time the oil will deposit all its impurities, and be wonderfiiUy clarified and bleached by this process, in the same manner as wax and linen are bleached. The oil thus prepared may be used by painters, not only for making their colours more lively, but also for the preparation of the clearer and more brilliant varnishes." This method of purifying linseed- oil I have also tried, and found it very successfiil in removing the mucilage, which is thrown down in a few 1 Henry's CbemUtry, vol. ii. p, 226. > Ocolus Artiflcialis, p. ^5. CHAP. VI.] PUBIFICATION OF OIL. CCXXXV days, and the oil remains very clear and bright, and of a golden colour: it may afterwards be bleached by exposure to the sun. The purification and preparation of oil for painting, by exposure to heat and washing with water, has been so fully treated by Mr. Eastlake, that it will be unneces- sary to cite the authorities or repeat the processes he has described. It may, however, be interesting to state, that I have bleached and clarified linseed-oil by the following process, suggested by tlie directions of the Gesuato ^ and those of Dreme.^ A bottle was fiHed, about one fiiird with oil, another third with water ; it was then corked and shaken, until the water and oil were mixed like an emulsion, when the cork was removed, and a piece of muslin tied over the bottle, which was placed on the boiler of a kitchen-range,' and kept in a moderate heat day and night. The oil was shaken every day (the muslin being first removed and the cork inserted in the bottle) for a few days, and then suffered to clear. In about a week the oil was removed from the water into another bottle, and the process was repeated for several weeks until the water below the oil ceased to appear milky, and the oil itself was clear and colourless. During tliis experiment I observed that the mucilage was thrown down sooner if warm water was added to the oil instead of cold, and that the oil separated more rapidly from the water when the bottle was exposed to a gentle and regular lieat, although in a dark situation, than when dt was placed in the variable warmth of a sunny window. The addition of salt or sand accelerates the clarification df the oil. Many weeks are necessary to complete the process of bleach- ing and purification. If the oil is intended to remain fluid, it should be preserved in bottles well stopped.* ^ See * Materials,^ &c., p. 327. ^ Der Virniss-u Kittmachcr, &c. 8 Dreme recommends that the bottle -ehould be suspended in an oven moderately heated. < See Mr. Eastlake*8^ Materiidf/ &e., p. 341. f ccxxxvi INTRODUCTION. [chaf. tx. The purification of oil will always be attended with much waste. It may be considered that, with the greatest care, nearly half will be lost in the process. The mucilage alone frequently forms one-third of the ofl. Dryers and Drying Oils. The necessity of the colours drying quickly, and die circumstance of some drying more rapidly than others, led to the addition of other ingredients to the oil. The following observations will be limited to the drying ingredients mentioned in the Treatises contained in this work, and to those adopted by the Italian and Spanish painters* The earliest notice of drying oil which occurs in the following works is to be found in the MS. of Eraclius.^ In this recipe the oil was boiled with lime,' and ceruse being then added, it was placed in the sun for a month or more, and frequently stirred. The use of white-lead as a dryer has been continued to the present day. It was sometimes stirred into the oil, which was then exposed to the sun and dew, and well stirred every day for three days, when it was ready for use.^ If suffered to remain longer than the time specified, it would become fat. By some modem Italian artists white-lead 1 P. 282. s The most powerful of all diyera is perhaps chloride of lime in a dry state : a small quantity of this added to clarified oil will convert it into a solid ; for this reason it must be employed very cautiously. If too much be used, it may bum the brushes, and injure the colours. It has the ad- vantage of not darkening the oil, and its drying property appears to arise from its absorbing the watery particles of the oil. Chloride of calcium is equally efficacious as a dryer ; but the small quantity of iron which it con- tains dissolves in the oil, and darkens it It seems probable that if i}» chloride of lime were judiciously employed, it might prove serviceable as a dryer ; but as I am not aware that it has been tried as such by any person but myself, the utmost caution would be required, and some expe- riments would be necessary in order to ascertain the smallest possible quantity which would answer the purpose intended. As a dryer for house paint it may perhaps be found useful. ' Palomino, vol. ii. p. 55. CHAP. VI.] DRYERS AND DRYING OILS. CCXXXVU IS placed on a strainer, and the oil is suffered to filter through it, when it is ready for use. The preparation of oil for painting is not mentioned in the Bolognese MS.; but in two of the recipes for making " vernice liquida " directions are given for rendering the oil dryinig previous to the addition of the resin. In No. 207,* the oil is directed to be boiled with burnt roche alum in powder, and minium or ver- milion ; and after boiling a proper time it is to be set fire to, and allowed to burn for a short time, when it is to be extinguished, and again placed over the fire and burnt as before. This is, probably, the only recipe for drying oil in which vermilion is mentioned ; but as that pigment is not known to possess any peculiarly siccative properties, it may be supposed that it was considered by the writer as synonymous with minium (the cinnabar of the ancients), the term applied to red-lead during the middle ages throughout Europe, and from that time to the present in Italy. The burning of the oil, recommended in this recipe, was for the purpose of depriving it of its unctuosity, and with this view it is still resorted to by the makers of printing ink. In the recipe No. 262, in the Bolognese MS.,* 2 lbs. of common oil, that is, olive-oil, and 2 lbs. of linseed- oil are boiled with 30 or 40 cloves of garlic, until, on dipping a hen's feather into the oil, it is found to be burnt. This trial with the feather is still the common test of the oil's being sufficiently boiled. The use of the garlic was probably to supply moisture to the oil, and thus prevent its carbonization. Garlic is mentioned as an ingredient in drying oil or fat oil by Pacheco and Palomino; and according to the former the oil was boiled until the garlic was burnt or toasted.' 1 P. 489. « P. 621. « Tratado, p. 404. CCXXXVlil INTRODUCTION. [c«ap. ti. Garlic yields a gelatinous juice, which does not appear to be miscible with oil. Paeheco also mentions as dryers, minium and white lead, which if added to oil^ and placed in a glass vessel in the sun in summer, for fifteen days, stirring it every day, and then straining it, would be very good. According to Lebrun,* drying oil was prepared by suspending a piece of rag containing umber and minium in a vessel with nut-oil, and boiling it The mordants described in the Faduan MS.,' and in the * Riposo' of Borghini (p. 176), greatly resemble this drying oil. In the first, ochre is added to the other ingredients ; in the second, giallorino, calcined bones, and burnt vitriol ; which Borghini says is to be ^^ calcined in the fire until it is red ; and this vitriol makes all colours which are natu- rally bad dryers siccative, although it discolours them."' Besides white-lead and minium, litliai^e, the semi- vitrified oxide of lead, was employed as a dryer for oil. Volpato gives* directions for preparing oUo cottOj by boiling it on litharge, but he does not specify the propor- tion of litharge. The Jesuit, Father Lana,^ recom- mends, for this purpose, two ounces of litharge for each {)ound of oil. Lebrun calls* this preparation "huile grasse," fat oil, which he distinguishes from drying oU. Lebrun also remarks, that the litharge might be ground on the porphyry with oil, made into a little ball and dried When required for use it was to be boiled until the litharge was dissolved, and, when cold, the oil was said to become as clear as rock-water. This oil was considered very good as a siccative for diose colours which did not dry well, such as lakes, black,^ &c. When used for painting on glass, the proportion of litharge was much increased t thus the Paduan MS.^ I P. 816. « P. 692. 3 Burnt vitriol is sulphate of iron calcined. Iron is to a certain extent soluble in oil, which it renders dark. < P. 741. & P. 746, n. « P. 816. ^ P. 818. 8 P. 692. CHAP. VI.] DRYERS AND DRYING OILS. CCXXXlX prescribes half a pound of this ingredient to a pound of oil ; but for pictures this cannot be recommended. The recipe for " olio cotto," given by Fra Fortunato, differs from these recipes in directing the addition of water, which is to be boiled with the litharge and oil, which he says will cause the oil to become as clear (colourless) as water itself.* In the appendix to the Italian edition of * L'Idfee du Peintre Parfait ' of De Piles, drying oil is described as coniposed of nut-oil boiled with litharge and sandarac. This composition is in fact identical with the old " ver- nice liquida.*' It differs but little from the mordant of Cennini,* which consisted of linseed oil, vernice (dry sandarac), and white lead. In the former, the dryer was litharge ; in the latter, white lead. In the time of Baldinucci, olio cotto was prepared by boiling linseed or nut-oil, either alone, or with litharge or glass, finely ground with water. It is stated by this author to have been used to temper those colours which are slow in drying, such as lake, terra nera, bone, and other blacks, because both litharge and ground glass have the property of making them dry quickly. Oil, boiled without either of these ingredients, was used to accelerate the drying of those colours, which dry well of themselves, such as white lead, minium, terra verde, umber, cinnabar, smalti, and others ; but if used with white lead it would become yellow. " Pure boiled oil,** continues Baldinucci, " when it is prepared with very clear oil, is also used by painters instead of varnish in the darkest shades, and wh^ire the colours have sunk in. And remember, that raw nut and linseed oil are by nature drying, but they do not dry so soon as when 1 " Per far 1* olio cotto da Pittore, che sia chiaro, come acqua. Metti il solito piumazzolo col lifargirio, et altro come si usa dentro I' oglio di noce, o di lino, a bollire, e con esso mettin seco dell' acqua a boUire, che questa la fara rimaner chiaro, come V acqua medeaima." s TratUto, cap. 151. r ccxl INTRODUCTION. [chap.vi. boiled, and especially as when mixed with ground gla^ and litharge/' ^ Volpato also recommends * that " olio cotto " and verdigris should be mixed with asphaltum and black to make them dry. An eminent professor of painting at Venice stated that Chilone, an old Venetian painter, who died about the year 1834 or 1836, was acquainted with Canal' and Canaletto,^ and that Chilone said these two artists used oil boiled on litharge, which they recommended him to use also, and that they frequently spread it over the whole picture. It appears certain then from the above evidence, tliat the preparations of lead were the dryers most approved in Italy, but it may be collected from an expression of Padre Lana's that some doubts had been raised as to their eligibility for this purpose. Speaking of oil boiled on litharge, Lana says, ^^This application is not so in* jurious as some persons have imagined ; and the advan- tage is, that it dries quickly, for raw oil is a long time in drying." There can be no doubt, however, tibat litharge is injurious to those colours which are incom- patible with lead, such as Indian lake and orpiment The mixture of ground glass with colours as a dryer is not, that I am aware of, mentioned in Italian works written earlier than the seventeenth century : the Faduan MS.* and Baldinucci's * Vocabulary of Design ' appear to be the only Italian authorities for it, although it may have been common at the time these works were written. The practice probably originated in the ancient custom of mixing pulverised glass with orpi- ment, with the object, as some authors say, of making it grind more easily; others say, of making it dry 1 Vocabolario del Disegno. » P. 747. s Fabio Canal was bom in 1703, and died in 1767. ^ The real name of Canaletto was Antonio Canal. He died in 1768, aged 71. »P.666. Ibid., p. 390. s Vol. ii. p. 56. * Vol. ii. p. 65. s Sec an article in the Magazine of Science, vol. iv. p. 67, " On the action of water on powdered glass.*' VOL. I. q ecxlii INTRODUCTION. Icbab. ti. liable to ensue from the presence of salts in pictures have been described by Mr. Smith in the First Report of the Commissioners of the«Fine Arts: they are also alluded to by De Piles/ by Lanzi^ in a note on Cor- reggio's method of painting, and by Mr. Eastlake.' The glass made in Venice contained lead ; when this glass was ground and mixed with colours, the lead probably acted on the oil as a dryer, and would affect the colours in the same way as other preparaticms of lead. In this point of view, therefore, glass can scarcely be an eligible dryer for orpiment^ which is decomposed by lead. Manganese was another ingredient in Italian glass; but as the native oxide of manganese is not found pure, but is contaminated with iron, lead, and copper, it may be conjectured that these metals formed part of the glass. The manganese of Piedmont was considered by Neri to be purer than that of Tus- cany and Liguria; the latter contained much iron, which gave the glass a dark hue, but it is still probaUe that the manganese of Piedmont contained the other metals, which cannot be a desirable addition to colours^ especially as oils are known to act on copper and iron. If pounded glass has really any drying property (and it must be supposed that it was not classed among dryers without due consideration), this property may be attri- buted to the metals it contains, which are in the state of oxides. There is good reason to suppose that white copperas (sulphate of zinc), which is mentioned as a dryer by Flemish and German writers of the fifteenth century, was the dryer of Van Eyck. We owe this discovery to the research of Mr, Eastlake.^ With the exception of Padre Vincente Coronelli, white copperas does not appear to be mentioned by any ^ El^roens, p. 141 . > Vol. iv. p. 7 1 , n. > Materials, &c., p. 424, n. « See Materials, &c., p. 130, 136, 284, 299, 311, 366-367. Elemens, p. 125. 3 P. 747. * Vol. ii. p. 66. f^ Eldmens, p. 124. « P. 732. •' P. 770. 8 Riposo, p. 176. » Ibid., p. 176. 10 Materials, &c., p. 172, n. CHAP. VI.] ESSENTIAL OILS. CCxlv which is from the Lucca MS., the other from the Ve- netian MS. A solution of mastic in nut oil is recom- mended by Errante ^ as the only eligible dryer. This fact naturally leads to the consideration of the varnishes used with colours in Italy, and of the resins of which they were composed. Before entering on this subject, I shall ofPer a few observations on some of the essential oils used in painting. Essential Oils. The purity of the essential oils is not less requisite than that of the other materials. Mr. Eastlake ob- serves " that " their drying property is in proportion to , their rectification, and that the lasting purity of their tint may partly depend on the same circumstance." Essential oils should be kept in close vessels, *and excluded from light. By long exposure to air and light, volatile oils become thick, and darker in colour, and assume the appearance of resins. The essential oils commonly used in painting were naphtha, spirit or oil of turpentine, and oil of spike. The first of these is considered to have been employed in painting by the ancient Egyptians.' Oil of spike should be the foreign oil of lavender ; but what is usually sold as such is a mixture of three parts oil of turpentine and one part oil of spike.* These ingredients are sometimes rectified together. English oil of lavender is sold for a guinea a pound, while oil of spike may be purchased for twelve or fourteen shillings the pound. The naphtha, used by the Italian painters for dilut- ing their colours and varnishes, was a natural produc- tion of many parts of Italy, particularly of the territo- ries of Modena and Parma. It is also found in 1 Saggio 8ui Colori, &c. > Materials, &c., p. 313. 3 See D'Agincourt, vol. ii. p. 2. 4 See Rennie'fl Supplement to the Pharmacopoeias. ^ ccxlvi INTRODUCTION. [cmap. \-u Bohemia, Persia, and in Colebrooke Dale in Shrop- shire ; but the finest specimens are famished by Italy. Naphtha, like turpentine, should be rectified before it is used for painting or varnishes,* The naphtha of Ae shops is distilled from wood; but it probably diffsrs considerably from the native naphtha, which is used by chemists fi>r the purpose of keeping potassiuniy ibr which the wood naphtha is entirely unfit The native naphtha, therefore, should be procured for painting. It is said to be the purest and most unchangeable of the essential oils.* While mentioning essential oils, it will be proper to allude briefly to the volatile oil of linseed or nuts, which was occasionally used in diluting varnishes. The earliest notice of distilled linseed oil is probably that which occurs in the old part of the Bolognese MS.," (written previously to the introduction of the Flemish process of oil-painting into Italy,) in a recipe for making artificial stones for rings. It will be ob- served that although the distilled oil in this case was not used for painting, yet it is stated by the author that any pigment put into It will retain its colour for ever. Vasari's account of the singular experiments, as he calls them, of Lionardo da Vinci on oils and varnish, is not conclusive evidence that he distilled linseed and nut oils, or either of them ; he merely states that he distilled oils and herbs to make varnishes ;^ and this may be true with regard to the olio di trementina and olio di spigo, as well as to linseed and nut oil* The passage in Lomazzo's *Tempio della Pittura'* is rather more definite ; but even this is not conclusive. In speaking of Lionardo, he says, " della tempera, passo alF oKo, il quale usava di assotigliar con i lambicchi, onde ^ 1 Verri, ^aggio, &c., p. 138. « Mr. Eastlake's * Materials,' &c., p. 314, » P. 607. 4 ** Cominci6 a stUlare oli ed erbe per fare la veniice." See Life of Lionardo da Vinci. ^ P. 49. CHAP. VI.] ESSENTIAL OILS. ccxlvii causato che quasi tutte le opere sue si sono spiccate dai muriy siccome fra V altre si vede nel consiglio di Fio- renza la mirabile battaglia, e in Milano la Cena di Christo in Sta. Maria delle Gratie che sono guaste per r imprematura che egli gli diede sotto." Besides the passages in Vasari and Lomazzo, which attribute to Lionardo the use of distilled oil, there is the recipe in the * Secreti * of Alessio,^ which is con- clusive as to the fact that linseed oil was distilled and used to dilute amber varnish. This recipe has been copied by Wecker,* by Bonanni, and by Salmon in his * Polygraphices.' It is stated that this varnish was to be applied on pictures or figures, " sopra alle figure/' Another notice of linseed oil, distilled with other ingredients, occurs in the *Nuovo Plicto/' In this recipe linseed oil, vernice liquida, roche-alum, nitre, Boman vitriol, and mastic are boiled together, and afterwards distilled. The water which comes over is said to be good for tempering colours in miniature- painting, and for staining or dyeing linen and other things. It must be kept closely corked, otherwise it will evaporate. The fact, therefore, of linseed and nut oil being used in painting, except for miniatures, appears to rest on the inconclusive testimony of Vasari and Lomazzo that it was used by Lionardo da Yinci ; at the same time it will not escape notice that both these authors, who were painters, and undoubtedly acquainted with the method practised at the time they lived, disapproved of the processes of Lionardo, which they evidently considered unusual. As a mere diluent, distilled lin- seed or nut oil when rectified, and no longer subject to crystallise at a low temperature,* may not be more objectionable than spirit of turpentine, oil of spike, or 1 Part ii. p. 74. « De Sccretis, lib. xvi. p. 643. « P. 76, 77. 4 At the temperature of 40^ of Fahrenheit distilled linseed oil is con- verted into a mass of needle-shaped crystals. 1 ccxlviii INTRODUCTION. [cmai^. ti. naphtha ; but the circumstance of its being so rarely mentioned by writers on painting, when so many mast have been acquainted with it, suggests the idea that it was not in general use. Some caution is necessary in using these essential oils either with varnish or colours upon paint that is not thoroughly dry, lest they should disturb the colours,^ for they are all powerful solvents. Oil of spike and oil of turpentine are frequently used by picture cleaners to dissolve dirty varnishes, and they often bring away the glazings which have been applied with an essential oil varnish, as well as the varnish itself. Resins. Turpentine and Resin. — By turpentine, trementina, and terebinthina is understood Ae resinous liquid which flows from many kinds of trees ; when this liquid is hardened by the sun, or by fire, it is called resin^ ragia, or colophony. The turpentine of Dioscorides appears to have been what is now called Chio turpentine, the produce of the Pistacia terebinthus of Linnaeus ; the Terebinthina pistacina, Offl We have no means of ascertaining whether this was the turpentine mentioned in mediaeval MSS., for Matthioli relates * that in his time the im- portation of it had ceased for so long a period that the remembrance of it was almost lost, and the resin of the larch had been introduced in its place, and had usurped its name. This author, however, states that the real turpentine tree grew plentifully at Trent, and in several parts of Italy. He also remarks that, although this was the best kind of turpentine, it had only recently (Matthioli's work was published in 1549) been brought to Venice. It was first imported in the dry state, but it was afterwards brought in abundance liquid as it 1 See De Piles, El^mens de Peinture, p. 167. De Massoul^ Artof Paiut- ing, p. 25. * Diosc., p. 126. CHAP. VI.] BESINS. ccxlix exuded from the tree. Laguna mentions ' that Venice was supplied with the best kind of turpentine from Cyprus ; but it was so much adulterated that out of one barrel were made twenty. When, therefore, turpen- tine and larch resin are both mentioned in early me- dieval MSS., as in the chapter de Lucide ad Liuddas in the Lucca MS., the turpentine may be considei'ed to have been of the kind mentioned by Dioscorides ; but where turpentine only is spoken of, the point is doubt- ful. At a later period, and until a few years previous to 1549, trementina may be understood in the works of Italian writers to signify the turpentine of the larch. In this sense, perhaps, the trementina and terebinthina of the Bolognese MS. (in which larch resin is not mentioned) are to be understood. Venice Tmyentine. — Matthioli states that the produce of the Pinus larix (larice of the Italians, mfeleze of the French, the larch), called turpentine of the larch and Venice turpentine, was formerly called ^^ laricinaJ^ His account of this resin is as follows : — " There is also extracted from the larch that liquid and excellent resin which is called * terebinthina ' in all the druggists' shops in Italy, because it superseded that which is extracted from the terebinthino ; for the merchants having ceased to import the terebinthina, the physicians brought into use instead of it that which is produced by the larch, whence it acquired the name of turpentine (terebinthina). Nevertheless Fuchsio, in his last book on the Composition of Medicines, was mistaken when he wrote that the apothecaries now use instead of the true terebinthina nothing but the liquid resin of the abeto (Pinus picea of Linnaeus), which we call tears (lagrime), for it is known to all the world that the common terebinthina now in use is not ex- tracted from any other tree but the larch The 1 Diosc. ilustrado porel Doct. Laguna. Salamanca, 1570. n ccl INTRODUCTION. [ peasants inhabiting those mountains call this liquor larga^ from the larch (larice), whence it exudes. ' This kind of tmrpentine is called " largata ** by Zuane Mariani,* and it appears to have been the only scwrt of turpentine imported into Venice in 1567.- The liquid resin which was sold in France under the name of t^rfebenthine de Venise, was procured in the neighbourhood of Lyons; and Pomet says* that it should rather be called *• tferfebenthine fine du bois de Pilatre ou de Lyon." The Lyonnais called it hijon ; but at Rouen it was called herniz. At the present time much of this resin is brought from the confines of Brian^on/ Olio di Ahezzo, Strasshurg Turpentine^ Goniine du Sapin. — The resin which exudes from the Terebinthina abietina, Off., the Pinus picea of Linnseus, the abete of the Italians, the sapin of the French, is the Resina sapini of the Lucca MS. and Clavicula (p. 54). "The abete produces that most excellent liquor commonly called tears (lagrime), or olio di abezzo It is frequently adulterated with the resin of the larch, which is not so dear as the olio di abezzo, and some- times when the larch resin is very clear and limpid it is sold for the real olio di abezzo ; for few apothecaries know one from the other. But the fraud mav be • detected, first, because the olio di abezzo is much more liquid, and also because it has an agreeable odour, and is much more bitter to the taste than the larch resin ; and when it is more than a year old, it acquires a yel- lowish colour, and becomes somewhat solid.*'* The Marciana MS. mentions ' that genuine olio di abezsso may be distinguished by its drying rapidly ; but when it is mixed with turpentine it dries very slowly. 1 Matthioli, p. 118. 2 See Tariffa Perpetna di Zuane Mariani, Venetie, 1667. 3 Histoire des Drogues, vol. ii. p. 62. * Diz. delle Droghe di Chevalier e Richard. Yenezia, 1881. » Matlhioli, p. 120. « F» 635. CHAP. ▼!.] RESINS. ccli Hesitiy Resin of the Pine^ Gomme de Pin^ Bordeaux Turpentine. — This is the produce of the Terebinthina pinea, the Pinus maritima, a variety of the Pinus syl- vestris, the Pinus abies of Linnseus.^ Whenever the vrord " ragia " occurs in Italian writers, the resin of the pine is always to be understood.' This resin is firmer and more solid than that of the larch or the abete. Whea this resin has been purified by melting it in the sun, and suffering it to run through the small holes perforated in the bottom of the vessel containing it, it is considered equal in quality to Strassburg turpen- tine. When it is purified by melting it over the fire, and straining it through straw, it is called ^^ yellow pitch or resin," " white pitch," and " Burgundy pitch.'* If the residuum left after the distillation of spirit of turpentine be stirred briskly with water, it loses its transparency, and acquires a dark yellow colour. In this state it is called "yellow resin or pkch."' Pierre Pomet states that it was called in France " barras," or " galipot," and that there were two kinds, one of which was called " encens blanc," the other " encens marbr6." The incense usually burnt in churches is the produce of the Pinus abies.^ Pece Greca, or Greek Pitchy Pece Spagnuola, or di Spagna, Pegola di Spagna, Colophony. — The signifi- cation of these terms cannot be better explained than in the words of Matthioli:* — "What is commonly called pece di Spagna, pece Greca, and colophonia by the apothecaries is nothing but resin boiled in the man- ner described by Dioscorides. These names were de- rived from the places whence they were brought. But there was another kind of colophonia described by Dioscorides, which was liquid, and which was called, par excellence^ colophonia. This was very scarce and 1 Trattato delle Droghe Seraplici, da Guibourt, iii. p. 41 2. « Ricett. Fior. 3 Trattato deUe Droghe, da Guibourt, p. 415. * Humboldt's Koemos, ii. 441. » Trans, of Diosc, p. 126. n cclii INTRODUCTION. [cbjlf. vi- dear." Matthioli thinks that the latter was the olio di abezzo, which is not mentioned either by Dioscorides or Pliny. The hardest of all the resins is colophonia;* the terebinthina continues liquid a long time, and the olio di abezzo remains in a moderately liquid state. The best " pece di Spagna " was brought from the island of Pityusa, on the coast of Spain. In the Greek MS. of Mount Athos, pece Greca is called Pfegoula.* It appears that it was also known by this name in Italy. Thus Fioravanti states,' in his *Secreti,' "La vernice commune ^ una compositione, la quale si fa di olio di lino e di pece Greca, con una parte del olio, e tre dipegohy*' &c. Olibanumj Thus aUmm^ IncensOj Frankincense^ are synonymous terms in works on art Under the first name this resin appears to be included among the ingredients in the chapters of the Lucca MS. and Mappsd Clavicula (p. 54, 55), entitled " De Petalo Aureo," and " Lucida quomodo fiant super Colores.** This resin is mentioned in the commercial treat>' between Bologna and Ferrara in 1193.* The best kind was formerly imported by way of Tauris (now Tabreez), whence it was called " Torisino.'* * The tree which produced the Arabian frankincense of Hadhra- maut, so famous from the most ancient times, has not yet been discovered and determined by any botanist There is a similar product in the East Indies, which, according to Colebrooke, has been obtained from the Boswellia thurifera, or serrata. The olibanum of our druggists is the produce of an American plant, the Icica guyanensis, of the same family (Bmrseraceae) as the Boswellia.* Frankincense was used by the old > Trans. ofDiosc., p. 127. * Manuel d'Iconographie, p. 40. 8 Secret! di S. Leonard. Fioravanti, lib. iii. cap. 96. * Depping, i. 241. * See the work of Pegoletti and Uzzano, cited by Depping, i. 142. 6 Humboldt's Kosmos, Sabine's translation, London, 1848, vol. ii. p. 440. CHAP. VI.] RESINS. ccliii painters in the composition of the pastille with which ultramarine was mixed, as well as in varnishes;^ and we learn from the Bolognese MS.* that when it was dissolved in linseed-oil^ the composition was sometimes called " vernice liquida." From the scarcity of ori- ental olibanum, it was frequently adulterated with gum and resin. The resin held in most esteem in the East for burning as incense was, according to Agricola,* amber ; but it is probable that for amber we should read oriental copaL* Sandarac. — This resin is brought from the southern provinces of Morocco. In the language of the country it is called " el Grassa ;" * and by this name it has always been known in Spain. Thus Pacheco says, " Grassa which is the gum of the juniper, which the Arabs call sandarac."' Palomino mentions this resin under the name " grasilla." It was generally believed that sandarac was the gum of the juniper, and as such it is described by Matthioli, Laguna,^ Bulen- gerus,* and other writers ; but it is now known to exude from the Thuya articulata (African arbor vitae), a dwarf tree somewhat resembling the juniper.* In its dry state, sandarac was called vernix, vernice grossa,^® vernice in grana,^* vernice da scrivere.^* The last name was derived from the pulverized sandarac being formerly rubbed over cotton paper to prepare it for writing. I Pp. 166, 630. » P. 489. » De Metallicis, p. 243. * See Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. v. part iv. ^ Encyc. Brit., tit. Sandarac. * " Grassa, que es la goma del eneproque los Arabes llaman Saodaraca." Tratado, 410. "^ Diosc. iltjstr. por el Doct. Laguna, p. 62. ^ De Pictura, &c. » Mr. Eastlake's ' Materials,' &c., p. 232. 10 Borghini (Ripoao, p. 175) sajs ^^ sandaraca ovvero vernice grossa." II *^ Vernice di sandaraca o vernice in grana,'' Secreti di S. Leonard. Fioravanti, Torino, 1580, lib. iii. cap. 68. Marciana MS., pp. 609, 621, 631. IS u Veroioe dascrivere, cio^ sandracha, ciod gomma di ginepro." Secreti di D. Alessio, part ii. f. 57. 1 ccliv INTRODUCTION. [chap. ti. When sandarac was dissolved in linseed-oil, it consti- tuted the " vernice liquida " of the Italians,^ Mastic. — This is a resin obtained from the Fistacia lentiscus, a tree which grows in the Levant, and parti- cularly in the island of Chios. Mastic appears to have been always used in the arts as a varnish ; and in the Lucca MS.^ it is recommended to be added to a varnish or mordant composed of linseed-oil, with resins and gums of various kinds, as a dryer. Mastic and mastio- varnish are also mentioned as dryers by Italian writers on art.^ Amber^ Siiccinum, Carabe, GlassOj Glas. — The vege- table origin of amber is now universally admitted. On this subject Humboldt remarks :* — " Goeppert's excel- lent researches, which, it is hoped, will soon appear illustrated with plates, inform us ^ that all the Baltic amber is derived from a coniferous tree, which, as proclaimed by the extant remains of the wood and bark, were obviously of different ages, came nearest to our white and red pine timber, but still constituted a parti- cular species.' The amber-tree of the former wcwpld (Pinites succifer) had a richness in resin with which none of the coniferous tribes of the present world will bear comparison, inasmuch as great masses of amber are contained not only within and upon the bark, but also between the rings of the wood, and in the direction of the medullary rays, which, as well as the cells, are seen under the microscope to be filled with ambreous resin, of a whiter or yellower colour in different places. Among-st the vegetable matters inclosed in amber we find both male and female flowers of indigenous, aci- 1 Bol. MS., pp. 489, 621. Secreti di D. Alessio, part ii. f. 57, 160. Caneparius, de Atramentis, pp. 260, 341, 378, 379. Bulengerus dc Pictura, &c., lib. ii. cap. ii. Other authorities are cited by Mr. Eastlake, ' Materials,' &c., p. 238. ^ De Confectio Lucidee ; and see Clavicula, p. 53. 3 See Brrante, Saggio sui Colori ; Armentni, de' Vcri Precetti j and Bi- sagno, Trattato, &c. ^ Kosmos, vol. i. p. 303, and see \o]. ii. p. 412. CHAP. Ti.] RESINS. cclv cular-leaved, and cupuliferous trees; but distinct frag- ments of Thuja, Cupressus, Ephedera, and Castania vesoa, mingled with others of junipers and firs, indicate a vegetation which is different from that of the present coasts and plains of the Baltic." Amber, according to Berzelius, ** contains five substances: — 1. An odoriferous oil, in small quan- tity.— 2. A yellow resin, intimately combined with this oil, dissolving freely in alcohol, ether, and alkalis, yery fusible, and resembling ordinary vegetable resins. — 3. A resin soluble with diflSculty in cold alcohol, more freely in hot alcohol, from which it separates on cooling, as a white powder soluble in ether and alkalis. These two resins and the volatile oil, if removed from amber by ether, and then obtained by evaporation of the latter in water, form a natural viscid balsam, very odorous, of a clear yellow colour, and which gradually becomes hard, but retains some odour. There is every reason for supposing this to be precisely the substance from which amber originates, but rather poorer in es- sential oil than at first; and that the insoluble substances in amber have been gradually formed by a spontaneous alteration of this balsam, but at the same time have enveloped one part of it, and so preserved it from entire decomposition or change. — 4. Succinic acid, dissolved with the preceding bodies by ether, alcohol, and alkalis. — 5. A body insoluble in alcohol, ether, and alkalis, analogous in some points to the substance found by Dr. John in lac, and called by him the principle of he. This is formed in large quantity when a solution of lac in alkali is precipitated by chlorine."^ Amber was formerly found on the coasts of the Baltic, also near the Fo and Adriatic : and it is stated by Depping* to have been imported from the Maldives. 1 Ure's Dictionary of Chemistry, p. 147. * Histoire du Commerce, vol. i. p. 142. cclvi INTRODUCTION. [chap. vt. The amber found on the shores of the Baltic was known to the inhabitants of those countries under the name of glessum, whence glasse, glassa, glas. The fact of amber having been found near the Po, and on the shores of the Adriatic, is mentioned by Agricola,* and by Matthioli, merely as a report, which they considered to have originated from the circumstance that amber necklaces were commonly worn by the peasant women of these countries;* and both authors carefully dis- tinguish amber or succino from the gum or resin which exudes from the black and white poplars growing on the banks of the Po. The latter writer, especially, is very precise in this respect. In quoting the following passage from Serapion, " Et dicitur quod gummi Haur Romi,' quod nascitur circa fluvium, qui dicitur Eri- danus, quaudo distillat in flumine illo, coagulatur ibi, et est illud, quod dicitur Alipton, id est electrum; et sunt qui nominant ipsura Arsopodon, et est charabe,*' and a similar passage from Avicenna, he remarks, they do not affirm that charabe is the gum of the black poplar, but merely that it is said to be. Conder,* how- ever, mentions that amber is found in earth impregnated with petroleum, beneath the vineyards and corn-fields in the territory of Modena ; and it will also be recol- lected that in the book lent by Era Dionisio to Alcherius, a certain gum, Andrianum, which had attrac- tive powers similar to those possessed by amber and resins generally, is stated to have been found on Monte Buono ( Bene).* Phillips® states that amber is actually found in Italy and on the coast of the Adriatic. 1 De Metallicis, f. 238. Trans, of Diosc, pp. 156, 166. ^ '^ The Etrurians carried on considerable trade through the north of Italy and across the Alps, where * the Sacred Road' led to the distant amber countries.** (See Humboldt's Kosmos, vol. ii. p. 164.) These traders pro- bably supplied the Italian women with amber. 3 Haur Romi is the Arab name for the black poplar. See Matt., p. 155. * Italy, vol. ii. p. 46. » Sec p. 82. « Mineralogy, p. 878. CHAP. Yi.l RESINS. cclvil It may be considered questionable whether the sub- stance reputed to have been imported from the Maldives during the middle ages, under the name of amber, was really amber or oriental copal. Mr. Eastlake has shown* that these substances were scarcely distinguished in ancient recipes. Old writers mention two kinds of amber, the white and the yellow ; and the only distinctive property they assign to amber is, that of attracting straws, which proves to be common to resins generally, and cannot therefore be considered as decisive. Agri- cola asserts* that amber was certainly found in Africa, but he knew not in what parts : he says it was also found in Syria, in India, and, according to Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, in the Island of Mada- gascar. It appears that copal is found in Abyssinia, in Palestine, and in the East Indies ; and it is sold in the bazaars of Jerusalem, Mecca, and other places, as a choice specimen of incense.' In this respect it agrees with what Agricola says* of amber; namely, that the odour of the smoke of amber was more agreeable to the Indians than that of incense. Copal is also brought from Madagascar.^ There are some grounds then for considering that the amber stated to have been procured from Africa and Asia may have been oriental copal ; and that although amber was actually found in some parts of Italy, European nations were principally sup- plied with it from Germany. There are two kinds of amber : the best, which is imported from Prussia and Poland, is hard and trans- parent, and the surface is frequently marked in a pecuKar manner, as if, when in a fluid state, it had been enclosed in wood, and had then taken and retained the impression of the fibres of the wood and bark. This kind i Materials, &c., p. 233, 234. > De Metallicis, f. 243. 3 Pbarinaoeutical Journal, vol. v. No. iv. « De Metallicis, f. 243* ^ Guibourt, HistCNre des Drogues, vol. ii. p. 626. VOL. I. r cclviii INTKODUCTION. [chip. ti. of amber makes the best varnish, and disserves perfectly in oil. The other sort of amber is called sea-amber, and is of the size of coffee-beans, but inregular in shape, darker than the first kind, and much less transparent. Mr. Wilson Neil says,^ " it is harder to fiise, has less fluidity, and contains more salt, gas, and impurities.^ CopaL — A very white transparent resin, used for- merly by the aborigines of Spanish America as incense. In the language of these people it signified all kinds of resin exuding from trees.^ Under the name of copal, therefore, it is useless to look for this resin in works Vnritten previous to tlie period of the introduction of American produce into Europe. At present three Varieties are known in commerce, viz., Brazilian, We^ Indian, and East Indian or Levantine copaL The former, which is called soft copal, exudes from one of the HymensesB ; the latter, or hard copal, is the produce of the Vateria Indica.* The last variety was pro- bably the same substance which was called amber by the Italians, and which was stated by Agricola and Matthioli to have been imported from Syria and India, and by Marco Polo from the Island of Madagascar; and this supposition is rendered more probable by the fact that the Levantitie copal is now brought from Palestine, Abyssinia, and Madagascar. The South African copal is considered the finest in quality, and the best samples which sometimes reach Europe from India were originally procured from Africa.* The white resin of Arabia, mentioned in the Paduan MS.,* was perhaps African copal, which it appears is sold in the bazaars of Jerusalem, Mee4sa,'and other places, as a species of choice incense, and is at the 1 On the Manufacture of Varnishes, Trans. Soc Arts, vol. xlix. part' 2. « Ray's History of Plants, p. 1846. » Pharm. Times, vol. Hi. p. 608. < See Mr. Eastlake's 'Materials,' &e., p. 284, citing Tripier-Deveaux, ' Tr«t^ Th^rique et Pratique sur TArt de fSaire ks Vernls,' Paris, 1845, p. 40 ; and Guit)ourt, Hist, des Drogiiw, rol. ii. p. 626, on the Copal of Madagascar. ^ P. 696. CHAP. VI.] BESINS. cclix present time chiefly employed for this purpose on the altars of Mahomet.^ The earliest writer who uientions copal by this name as an ingredient in varnishes is probably Fra Fortunato of Bovigo, the recipes in whose * Secreti ' date from 1 659 to 1711. The next author is Palomino, who gives ^ a recipe for varnish composed of copal dissolved in spirit of turpentine. As the solvent in both recipes is the same, it Biay be concluded that copal was at this period usually dissolved in spirits of turpentine. I have ascer- tain^ that copal is perfectly soluble in cpld oil qf spike, but the solution is not effected in less than five or six yeajTS. I possess a specimen of copal varnish prepared in this way, which is very clear and pale. JBlack Poplar Resin. — It has been observed that this resin was considered by Serapion, Avicenna, and other writers as synonymous with carabe or amber, and that Agricola and Matthioli had shown that a resin actually exuded from both kinds of poplar, and that the black poplar was the tree known to the Arabs under the name of ** haur Romi." Schrceder has, however, the reputation of having been the first who pointed out this resin, which he obtained not from the bark in the manner described by the ancients, but by boiling the buds of the black poplar in water and afterwards pressing them. The buds yield about one-fourth of their weight of resin, which is said to resemble Botany Bay resin.* But although new to the moderns, this resirv was appa- rently not unknown to the medieval writers, since we find ^^ flores populi " among the ingredients in two kinds of varnish, for which there are recipes in the Lucca MS., which are copied in the Clavicula.^ Lac* — There is some doubt whether the " lacca " of the Lucca MS. and the Clavicula was gum lac or the 1 Pharmaceutical Journal, rol. iv. p. 4. > Museo Pictorico, vol. ii. p. 328. sjSee London Encydop., art. Chemistry, p. 494. ^ Mappee Clavicula, p. 53, 54. r 2 cclx INTRODUCTION. [chaf. vi. gum of the ivy, but it is certain that Indian gum lac was imported into Spain and Provence as early as 1220.^ Although the art of preparing a red pigment from this resin was known at an early period, the resin itself appears to have been considered useless, and it was probably only towards the close of the seventeenth century that it came into use as an ingredient in var- nishes. The Paduan MS.* contains directions for sep«r rating the red colouring matter, so that the gum might be used in japanning as a varnish with or without colours. Lac varnish does not appear to have been used for varnishing pictures or in painting until very recently. Benzoin. — A solid balsam,' extracted from incisions made in the Storax benzoe, a tree which grows in Su- matra. According to Depping ^ it was imported at an early period into Europe; but as an ingredient in varnish it does not appear to have been used until the middle of the sixteenth century. It was employed for this purpose by the Italians and Spaniards, and the earliest notices of it probably occur in th^ Marciana MS.* and in the * Secreti ' of D. Alessio.* Varnish of benzoin is also mentioned by Armenini,^ and in the Paduan MS." The benzoin was dissolved in spirit of turpentine or spirit of wine. Benzoin appears never to have been an ingredient in oil varnishes. Palomino and Pacheco mention this balsam under the name of meiytd. 1 Capmany, Memorias, &c. ; and the Statutes of Maneilles, quoted by Depping, vol. i. p. 147. « P. 686, 688. « " Balsams are mixtures of resins and volatile oils. They differ veiy greatly in consistence, some being quite fluid, others solid and brittle. By keeping, the softer kinds often become hard. Balsams may be conveniently divided into two classes, viz., those which, like common and Venice turpen- tine, Canada balsam. Copaiba balsam, &c., are merely natural varnishes, or solutions of resins, in volatile oils, and those which contain benzoic or cin- namic acid in addition, as Peru and Tolu balsams, and the solid resinous benzom, commonly called gum-benzoin." — Fownes, Manual of Elementary Chemistry, p. 501. ^ Hist, du Commerce, vol. i. p. 142. 5 p. 629. « Secreti, part i. f. 1 1 6. ^ De' Veri Precetti, lib. ii. cap. ix. « P. 698. caiAP. VI.] VARNISHES. <^clxi Copaiva is obtained from incisions made in the trunk of the Copaifera officinalis, a tree which grows in South America and some of the West India islands. It is mentioned as an ingredient in amber varnish, in the Paduan MS., and appears to have been used by the later Venetians' both in varnishes and in painting.^ Damara Resin. — Terebinta di Dammara is the produce of the Pinus dammara (Lambert), Agathis dam- mara (Rich., ConifSre, tav. 19), a tree which grows in the Indian Archipelago. Its odour is strongly resinous and its taste very bitter.* At the present time this resin is mueh used in the Venetian territories as a varnish, and it is currently reputed to have been employed by the old masters ; but this opinion appears to be unsup- ported by evidence — indeed, its uses are described by Chevalier and Richard as being unknown. It has, however, been recently employed at Munich as a vehicle for painting, for which purpose it was dissolved in spirits of turpentine with a certain proportion of bleached wax.' For the following recipe for damara varnish for pictures, I am indebted to a painter of Verona : — Put two and a half ounces of damara resin finely powdered and six ounces of spirit of turpentine into a bottle ; shake occasionally until the resin is dissolved, and it will be a strong varnish. No heat is necessary. Varnishes. The earliest varnish and that which was most univer- sally adopted in Italy was unquestionably the old vernice liquida, which was composed of linseed oil and pulverised sandarac, commonly called " vernice," *' ver- nice da scrivere," and '' gomma di gineparo." The varnishes of Theophilus are referred to under the name 1 See Mr. Sheldrake's Essay, Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. xiz. ; and Mareucci, p. 222. s Diz. delle Droghe di Chevalier e Richard, &c. 3 See Appendix to the Third Report of the Commissioners of the Fine Arts, p. 52. cclxii INTBODDCTION. [chap, vt of vernice liquida in the Tabula Imperfecta prefixed to the Le Begue MS. In this table and under the same head is another reference to the recipe of JUe Begue : " A faire bonne vernix liquide pour peintrea,"* which appears to have been compiled by him from the two recipes of Theophilus, with a few additkms of his own. From this recipe it may be inferred that Le Begue considered the materials in both the recipes of Theophilus as identical, but a comparison of these chapters of Theophilus with the three recipes in St. Audemar, Nos. 207, 208, and 209, and that in Eraclius (p. 24 1), make it highly probable that the resin in one case was sandarac and in the other amber.^ In addition to linseed oil Le Begue mentions hemp-seed and nut oils, which, he says, might be used instead of linseed oil ; and it may be remarked that in making varnishes linseed and nut oils were used indifferently. There is still another reference in the Tabula Im- perfecta to a recipe in the Le Begue MS. for " vdhiice liquida, ** but as No. 2 10, the recipe referred to, does not describe a varnish, one of those described in Nos. 207, 208, and 209, and probably the first, must be in- tended. The term " vernice liquida ** occurs frequently in the early Italian recipes copied in 1409 from the book of Fra Dionisio, and also in the treatise of St Audemar. It is also frequently mentioned in the Bolognese MS., which contains no less than three recipes for making it The first of these,* the old " vernice liquida," consisted of linseed oil and sandarac, under the name of '^ gomma di gineparo.** The varnish described in the second recipe was composed of linseed oil and incense. This varnish was made clear by the addition of roche alum^ and was rendered drying by the addition of minium ; 1 No. 341, p. 313. s See Mr. Eutlake's ' Materials/ &c., p. 241—246. 3 No. 206, p. 489. C3KAP. vj.] VARNISHES. cclxiii the oil, moreovers was set on fire and burnt to deprive it of its unctaosity.* From this recipe it is apparent that the term ^^ vernice liquida " wa^ not always limited to the original signification, but was som^imes extended to a varnish composed of oil and incensje. When^ how- ever> the materials of which the varnish is composed are not specified, the old vernice liquida (liuseed oil and sandarao) is generally to be understood. The third varnish was, Uke the first, composed of linseed oil, sandarac, here called ^* vernice da scrivere," and thirty or forty cloves of garlic ; and when the varnish was nearly cold the whites of several eggs were added to it ^md well mixed, and t\jke bottle was placed in the sun for one day. Vernice liquida is also frequently men- tioned by Cennini not only as a varnish for pictures ' and for tin,^ but as an ingredient in cements,^ and mor- dants,^ and other works. Although vernice liquida is not mentioned in the Faduan MS. or by Volpato, Armenini, Bisagno, or Borghini, the evidence of Matthioli, Ganeparius, and others is sufficient to establish the fact that die use of it with colours was not entirely discontinued in the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries. By the Spanish painters this varnish, which is described by Facheco as that of the ^^ guadamacileros " (leather- gilders), was in his time mixed with colours in a particular kind of oil painting, which this writer calls ^ 'Mas encarnaciones de polimento." The '^ drying oil " mentioned in the appendix to the Italian edition of * L'I(lee du Feintre Farfait • of De Files consisted of vernice liquida made drying by the addition of litharge. In the course of time the old vernice liquida was n](o4ified in various ways. It was sometimes cp^ibined 1 P. 621. « Cap. 156. » Caps. 97, 98, 101. * Cap. 107. ft Cap. 161. « Tratado, p. 404. cclxiv INTRODUCTION. ' [chap. ▼!. with incense, as in the recipe in the Marciana MS., ap- proved by Sansovino,^ and sometimes with pece Greca.* Next in importance to the "vernice liquida** was the " vernice comune," or common varnish, of the Italians, which Armenini and Bisagno direct to be mixed with the priming, and with certain colours. There is no doubt that the term was first applied to the varnish of sandarac and oil, which Caneparius calls* "common liquid varnish ;" but before Armenini's time the appel- lation "common" appears to have been applied to another varnish also. Armenini and Bisagno give several recipes for varnish, and after describing one made of mastic and nut-oil, they add that " this varnish may be added to the finer kinds of azure, lakes, and other colours, that they may dry more quickly ;" but neither of them states that this is the "vernice comune." A similar varnish is mentioned in the Marciana MS/ as a most excellent varnish for lutes, leather, paintings on panel, cloth, &c In the recipe for making printing-ink the same author says,* " Take varnish made for varnishing, and the finer it is the better; but the common varnish which the apothecaries sell to varnish wood and other things will do." The composition of " the best vernice comune, which is good for varnishing whatever you please," is described at p. 637, where it is stated to consist of linseed oil and pece Greca. The statement that " ver- nice comune " was made of linseed oil and pece Greca is confirmed by Leonard Fioravanti,* who recommends one part oil and three parts pece Greca. It will be observed that the common Italian varnish corresponds with one of the varnishes in the Strassburg MS.,' with 1 P. 631. « P. 637. See also Venetian MS. in the Sloane Collection, No. 416, f. 139. » De Atramentis, p. 260. -« P. 633. » See p. 619. « Secreti, lib. iii. cape. 67, 96. 7 Quoted by Mr..£astlake, < Materials,' &c., p. 280. CHAP. VI.] • VARNISHES. cclxv one of those in the Venetian M8^^ and also with the Tarnish of " Pesferi *' of the Byzantine MS.* Another varnish described in the Marciana MS.' ^^ as a most excellent^ clear, and drying varnish, proper for colours both in oil-painting and in other kinds of painting/' consists of the "vernice comune/' with the addition of mastic. This addition was probably made with the view of rendering the varnish more siccative, since mastic was placed among dryers as early as the date of the Lucca MS. The drying properties of mastic varnish are alluded to by Armenini * and Bi- sagno, and the varnish of mastic and nut-oil is recom- mended by Errante * as the safest of all dryers. It is not therefore improbable that this varnish may have borne the name of " vernice comune ** as well as the varnish made of nut or linseed oil and pece Greca. It is probable that the varnishes composed of pece Greca, mastic, and incense were much lighter in colour than the " vernice liquida," and therefore were better adapted for mixing with light colours. It must be observed that the common varnish used by the Flemish painters em- ployed by Charles I. in England consisted of Venice turpentine dissolved in oil of turpentine.* The " vernix commun " of the French resembled this. According to Pierre Pomet ' the latter was nothing more than the turpentine procured from the pine (Pinus abies) liquefied in spirit of turpentine. The same author also calls * this varnish " le vernis gros." Pierre Pomet wrote in the eighteenth century, and as a varnish 1 Sloane MS., No. 416, p. 139. ^ Manuel d'Iconographie, p. 40. s P. 633. According to Bonanni this varnish is used by the Turks for bows, &c. ^ Speaking of the varnish of mastic and nut-oil, Armenini says ''e di questa se ne pu6 mettere negli azzurri fini, nelle lacche e in altri colori, acci5 si asciughino piu presto." » Saggio, &c. « Mr. Eastlake, ' Materials,' 471 -476. 1 Hist G^n^rale des Drogues, ii. 106. > lb., p. 71. cckvi INTIK)DUCnON. [chap. ▼!. compoeed of a balsam dissolved in an e9sential oil can be traced in Italy as early as the date of tbe Marciana MS./ and was reputed to be in general use ^rougbout Lombardy about 1580/ tbere is reason to believe tbat this kind of varnish was of Italiau origin.' That it was used in Spain is proved by Facbeco^ who remarks ^ that the Strassburg turpentine (trementina de veta de Francia) should be used. But the " gros vemis " of the IVeneh was not the ^* vernice grossa " of the Italians!, By flie latter, the term was applied sometimes to a dry substance and sometimes to a liquid varnish. When Borghini ^ says, ^^ Frendasi .... un' onoia d' olio di spigo e un* oncia di sandarae ovvero vernice grossa»" it is probable that he means sandarac in its dry state. Baldinucci defines *^ vernice grossa " to be a varnish which aerves as a pre- paration for painting in oil on walls (per intonacare a olio), and which is also used in the eonoipogitiw of print- ing-ink. D. Alessio states^ that the varnish used for the latter purpose was 'Werniee liquida,** Caneparius^ is still more precise ; he calls it ** Common liquid varnish . • . made of Arabian sandarac, which is the gum of tbe juniper, and linseed-oil.'' It appears then that the term " vernice grossa " was applied both to dry sandarac and to the old vernice liquida. In the last sense we are probably to understand the words of Vasari in speaking" of preparing walls for painting in oil : *♦ Make in a pipkin a mixture of pece Greca, mastic, and vernice grossa, and when this is boiled apply it with a large brush." • It can scarcely be supposed that the resins 1 P, 635. « See Annenini, de' Veri Preoetti, &c. Hackert states that this varnish had been in use all over the north of Europe for upwards of 200 years. See Lettera al Cav. Hamilton, sulP Uso delia Yernioe nella Pittura. Perugia, 1788. « See Mr. Eastlake^ * Materials,' &c., p. 470. -» Tratado, p. 418. » Riposo, p. 176. « Secreti, parte i. f. 118, 7 De Atramentis, p. 260. 8 Int., cap, xxii. ^ Compare with Vasari's description of Sebastian del Piombo's method of painting in oil on walls, in the * Life' of that artist. CHAP. Ti.] VARNIWES. cclxvii would spread if they were merely melted without being diluted with oil. In the * El^mens de Peintore * of De Files ^ this^ passage is translated ^* de poix Grecque, de mastic, et de gros vernis ;'* but the " gros vemis *' of the French was, I have shown, not identical with the " ver- nice grossa'* of &e Italians. At a later period, the term "vemice grosse" was also- used to denote the common oleo-resinous varnishes. Thus linseed-oil bailed with litharge is said to be of great use in house-painting and in the composition of " vernici grosse." * Amber, the prindpal ingredient in the German var- nish,^ does not appear to be noticed as a varnish by Italian writers previous to the time of Lionardo da Vinci,* who directs that a picture to be painted accord* ing to certain directions given by him, should be var- nished either with nut-oil and amber, or with nut"K)il thickened in the sun.^ As Lionardo was one of the earliest Italian artists who practised oil-painting upon its first diflusion in Italy, after its introduction by An- tonello da Messina, and as the early Flemish painters are known to have used amber varnish, it may be supposed that this varnish of nut-oil and amber was one of the recent improvements introduced from Flanders* by Antonello da Messina and the German artists, pupils and followers of Van Eyck,'' who visited Italy in the latter half of the fifteenth century. 1 Jombert's edition, p. 188. Park, 1766. 2 Diz. delle Droghe di Chevalier e Richard, Traduzione da F. du Prd. Yenezia, 1830. 3 See Mr. Eastlake's ' Materials,' p, 288. * Lionardo was a pnpil of Andrea Verrocchio, who was probably ac- quainted with the art of oil painting, unce Vasari relates that he painted certain wax effigies of Lorenzo de* Medici with oil colours. See Vasari, Life of Andrea Verrocchio. ^ Trattato, cap. 362. 8 It must not be forgotten that the Byzantine MS. of Mount Athos con- tains a recipe for varnish made of oil and " santalose," which was probably ** amber ;" amber varnish may therefore have been introduced into Italy by the Greeks ; but of this there appears no evidence. 7 Roger of Bruges, Memling, and Justus van Ghent See Mr. East- lake's ' Materials,' p. 217. cclxviii INTRODUCTION. [chap. Notices of amber varnish are not of frequent occur- rence in early Italian works on art. It appears, how- ever, to be mentioned in the Marciana MS. under the term " carbone,'* which has undoubtedly been written instead of "carabe," ^ the Arabic and Persian term for amber. The varnish made according to the recipe in question would, like all the old varnishes, be very thick, the proportions being one part of amber to three of oil. It was, therefore, diluted with naphtha, oil, or spirit of wine, and was used warm. The * Secreti ' of Alessio also describes * a varnish for pictures consisting of three parts of amber varnish and one of distilled linseed-oil; and another varnish composed of linseed-oil and amber is quoted by Mr. Eastlake from the * Secreti ' of Rossello.' It appears from the MS. of Volpato* that amber varnish was in use in his time, and that it was pur- chased ready-made at the shops, whence it may be inferred that it was in common use. In the absence, however, of any precise recipe for this amber varnish of which Volpato speaks, it cannot be determined whether amber was actually an ingredient, or whether the so-called amber varnish was the old "vemice comune" (linseed-oil and pece Greca) which was known in Bonanni's time under the name of " amber varnish."* The ingredients of this varnish were linseed-oil one part, and pece Greca three parts, so that it was, in fact, the vemice comune of the Italians, before described.' It is diflScult, indeed with- out additional evidence it is impossible, to assign any reason for the new name given to this varnish. We may, perhaps, be allowed to hazard a conjecture, and 1 See p. 628 and note. 2 Part ii. p. 67. » Publi«hed at Venice in 1676, quoted in * Materials/ &c., p. 241. * P. 743. » Trattato sopra )a Vemice detta comunemente Cinese, p. 42. The ''new" edition was published in 1786. CHAP. VI.] VARNISHiS. cclxix to suppose that on account of the high price of amb«r, and the great difficulty of making pale amber varnish, it was customary to purchase it ready made, and that the dealers substituted for it the before-mentioned thick composition of linseed-oil and pece Greca. In the before-mentioned recipes for amber varnish, the amber was dissolved in oil ; but in those which are now to be described, a balsam was substituted for the oil. Such varnishes were perhaps more brilliant, but less solid than the first, which contained oil. In the recipe for amber varnish in the Paduan MS.* the amber is dissolved in turpentine liquefied over the fire. The mixture, which when cold is hard, is to be diluted with spirits of turpentine. Another recipe, which is stated by Mr. Sheldrake * to have been brought from Venice towards the close of the last century, resembled the amber varnish of the Paduan MS.' except that copal was used in- stead of amber. He tried the recipe and failed, because, as he afterwards found, the Venice turpentine of the shops was not the natural balsam, but common resin dissolved in spirit of turpentine. He tried the experiment a second time with Chio turpentine, and succeeded. Nearly similar to this is the varnish used by Le Blond on his prints.* On this subject Mr. Sheldrake observes, " Le Blond's prints were long neglected, and are now foi^otten. Whatever difference of opinion may prevail respecting them, there can be none respect- ing his varnish, as I have seen some of these prints in 1 p. 688. * See a paper by Mr. Sheldrake in the Transactions of the Society of Arts. vol. xix. ^ P. 688. * The recipe is as follows : — " Take 4 parts of balsam of copavi and one of copal. Powder and sift the copal, and throw it by degrees into the balsam of oopavi, stirring it well each dme it is put in ; I say each time, for the powdered copal must be put in by degrees, day after day, in at least 15 different parts. The vessel must be close stopped and exposed to the heat of the sun, or a similar degree of heat, during the whole time ; and when the whole is reduced uniformly to the consistence of honey, add a quantity of warm turpentine.' >f csckx INTRODUCTION. [chai^. n. perfect condition, notwithstanding they had been thrown carelessly about for nearly sixty years. Le Blond was a pupil of Carlo Maratti. He died at a very advanced age, leaving behind him the character of an ingenious projector." Mr. Sheldrake's conjecture respecting the Italian origin of this recipe appears to be well founded. It will be observed that these varnishes contained neither linseed nor nut oil ; and ki this respeot they resembled a varnish which a profisssor of Parma con* siders to have been that of Correggio. The ingredients of the latter varnish di&red slightly from those in iiie varnish last described ; they consisted of amber di^ solved in balsam of copaiba (an American production, probably not in use in the time of Oorreggio), and thinned with oil of spike. Sometimes, as in tiie re- ceipts of the Paduan MS.,^ mastic was substituted for amber and copal, and sometimes sandarac and incense. A varnish composed of these last ingredients widi Venice turpentine is described by D. Alessio' to dry as soon as spread. The transition is easy from these resinous vacnishes containing amber and copal to those composed only of a balsam liquefied in an essential oil lake that stated by Armenini to have been adopted by Correggio, i^hich consisted of the olio di abezzo liquefied over the fire, and thinned with naphtha. Count Carlo Yerri attempted several times unsuccessfully to make this varnish ; at length, having procured genuine olio di abezso from the Yaltellina, and the naphtha having been rectified by a chemist on whom he could depend, he succeeded per- fectly.' The above varnish of olio di abezzo and naphtha is 1 Pp. 671, 673. « Secreti, pert ii. p. 67. s Verri, Saggio Elementare sul Digegno della Figura Umana, p. 138. The results of Count Carlo Vcrri's experiments with this varnish are stated by Mr. Eastlake, * Materials/ &c., p. 481. CHAP. VI.] VAiaNISBES. cdxxi mentioned in the Marciana MS^^ accompanied by a statement that the olio di abezzo may be diluted with linseed or nut oil inspissated by exposure to the sun, or with naphtha. Count Carlo Verri's failure in making this varnish was probably not the only one; for this MS. requires that the olio di abezzo should be genuine ; and in order to test its purity, directs that olio di abezzo and the oil with which it is tempered should be warmed, and then spread over the work : if the olio di abezzo was not genuine, it would be long in drying, which was a proof that it had been mixed with turpentine; but if it dried quickly and perfectly, this was a proof of its purity- From this it appears that pure olio di abezzo was a good drier. The above instances are sufficient to show the importance of procuring the best materials for varnishes. In addition to the varnishes above mentioned, those composed of a resin or balsam dissolved in an essential oil appear to have been used on pictures. Of these the favourite varnish, if we may judge by the number of the recipes, was benzoin dissolved in spirits of wine : this is mentioned not only in the Marciana MS.^ but in the Paduan MS.^ and by D. Alessio, Armenini, Bisagno, Facheco, and Palomino. On ^referring to the recipes for making the varnishes before mentioned, it will be observed that they were so thick as to be sometimes solid on cooling. They were therefore sometimes diluted, while warm, with a proper quantity of purified linseed or nut oil, spirit of turpen- tine, naphtha, or oil of spike ; and, when Uiick, they were applied on the picture previously warmed in the sun, with the hand or with a sponge. It may be remarked that the varnishes to be mixed with colours were not required to be thin, because a small quantity only was to be mixed with the colours already ground with oil. With regard to the high colour of oleo-resinous var- 1 P. 686. « P. 629. 8 P. 699. cckxii INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. nishes, it may be observed that it is the custom in Ger- many to keep these varnishes in a sunny window; amber varnish, thus exposed to the light, will, it is said, in three years become sufficiently pale for general use- The use of amber varnish as a vehicle for painting was revived and recommended as long ago as 1801 by Mr. Sheldrake in a paper published in the 19th volume of the Transactions of the Society of Arts. In these papers Mr. Sheldrake endeavours to prove that this varnish was used by the Italian painters; and as his opinion has been in a great measure confirmed by docu- mentary evidence, his papers acquire additional interest from his having recorded the experiments made by himself in painting with this varnish. The result of Mr. Sheldrake's experiments is thus stated : — ^^ I dissolved it [amber] in each of the painter's oils, by Dr. Lewis's process, without injuring its colour ; and this solution was made in the common way. It was much darker coloured in itself but produced scarcely any difference in effect when mixed with colour. By experiments with each of these solutions I ascertained the following facts, viz. : — ^^ Every colour, and all the tints compounded from it, were more brilliant than corresponding tints and colours mixed with the best drying oils to be procured from the shops. " Colours mixed with amber, after having been shut up in a drawer for several years, lost nothing of their original brilliancy. The same colours tempered with oils, and excluded from the air, were so much altered that they could scarcely be recognised. " Colours tempered with amber were laid on plates of metal, and exposed (both in the air and close boxes) for a long time to different degrees of heat, from that of the sun in summer to the strong heat of a stove, without being injured. It is needless to observe that / CHAP. VI.] VARNISHES. cdxxiii oil-colours cannot undergo the same trials without being destroyed. " These colours, when perfectly dried in any way, were not acted upon by spirit of wine and spirit of turpentine united. They were washed with spirit of sal ammoniac and solutions of potash for a longer time than would destroy common oil-colours without being injured. " They dry as well in damp as in dry weather, and without any skin upon the surface. They are not liable to cracky and are of a flinty hardness ; whence it appears that this vehicle possesses every desirable pro- perty, and it is presumed may be a discovery of some importance to artists. " Having succeeded thus far with amber, I tried the same experiments upon solutions of gum copal, which is nearly as hard and insoluble as amber itself. The result of these was the same as the former, except that with copal the colours were something brighter than with amber. As it is extremely troublesome to dis- solve the copal and amber, I tried those solutions of them in oil which are sold in the shops. When good I found them to answer as well as my own. This is a great convenience, as many might be deterred by the difficulty of preparing this vehicle, who may willingly use it, as it is thus to be procured without that trouble.** Mr. Sheldrake also observes : — ^^ If my experiments have not misled me, I am entitled to draw the following conclusions from them : — wherever a picture was found possessing evidently superior brilliancy of colour, independent of what is produced by the painter's skill in colouring, that brilliancy is derived from the admixture of some resinous substance in the vehicle. If it does not yield on the application of spirit of turpentine and spirit of wine, separately or together, or (o such alkalies as are known to dissolve oils in the same time, it is to be presumed that vehicle VOL. I. s cclxxiv INTRODUCTION. [chap, vi- contains amber or copal, because they are the only sub- stances known to resist those menstrua. " I have been told, and some experiments of my onm prove the information to be true, that the Venetian pictures, considered with respect to vehicle, are of two kinds: for some are extremely bard^ and not at all affected by any of the above menstrua ;^ others are similar in colour, but ' so tender that it is scarcely pos- sible to clean them without injury, and in that respect are little superior to turpentine colours. The firsts in consequence of the data which I have laid down, incur the suspicion of being painted with amber or copal." The correctness of Mr. Sheldrake's observations will be acknowledged on comparing them with Mr. Eastlake's remarks* on the advantages of amber varnish as a ve- hicle for painting. The firmest and most durable var- nishes were undoubtedly those composed of amber and oil ;' the next were those composed of other resins, such as sandarac, mastic, and pece Greca, with oil, or of am- ber or copal dissolved in a balsam ; and the last dass^ which consisted only of resins dissolved in essential oils^ was decidedly the least durable. ^ *'By an attentive examination of pictures which belong to the first epoch of painting in oil, one may be convinced that some of the Italiana have employed oil varnishes which are harder than those now used by the Flemings, since they offer greater resistance to solvents/'— Merimde, &c,, p. 30. s Materials, &c., pp. 290, 303, 303, 304 n., 306, 316, 486. s See Mr. Wilson Neil on the Manufacture of Varnishes, Trans. Soc Arts, p. 69. Dreme, Der Vimiss-u. Kittmacher, &c. Marcuoci, Sag^o, &c., p. 163. Merim^, p. 43. Dr. Lewis, after describing the experiment of Hoffmann raeotioned by Mr. Eastlake,* shows that perfect solutions of amber in drying and other oils may be obtained in the following manner : — '* In Dr. Stockar's very curious Spccvaun Inaugurale de Sucdno, printed at Leyden In 1760, there are sundry more important experiments on the subject, made by himself conjointly with my worthy correspondent Mr. Ziegler, of Win- terthur. They fbund that by continuing a simmering heat twelve houn, * Materials, p. 318. CHAP. VI.] USE OF VARNISH IN PAINTING. cclxxv On the use of Varnish with Colours in Painting. It has been mentioned that in glazing, vamish was generally mixed with the colours. The practice, how- ever, does not appear to have been universal, and the same artist is reputed to have employed diflPerent ma- terials upon different pictures. Sometimes it is said that oil only was used to paint with, and sometimes the and confining the rapour as much as stone- ware vessels would bear with* out bursting (the danger of which was avoided by making a small notch in the copk stoppers), powdered amber dissolved perfectly in expressed oils, in turpentine, and in balsam of copaiba. A strong copper vessel, with a cover screwed on it, seemed most eligible ; and for the greater security a valve may be made in the cover, kept down by a spring that shall give way before the confined vapour is of su£5cient force to be in any danger of burst- ing the vessel. Though such a heat as converts part of the oil into strong elastic vapours, and the forcible compressure of the vapour, are expedient for hastening the dissolution, they do not appear to be essentially necessary ; for, by digestion for a week in close stopped glass vessels, in which the com- pressure could not be very great, solutions equally perfect were obtained. '* The solution in rape-aeed oil, and in oil of almonds, was of a fine yellowish colour ; in linseed oil, gold coloured ; in oil of poppy-seeds, yel- lowish red ; in oil of olive, of a beautiful red ; in oil of nuts, deeper co- loured ; and in oil of bays, of a purplish red. It is observable that this last oil, which of itself, in the greatest common heat of the atmosphere, proves a thick butyraceous consistence, continued fluid when the amber was dissolved in it. The solutions made with turpentine and with balsam of copaiba were of a deep red colour, and on cooling hardened into a brittle mass of the same colour. All the solutions mingle perfectiy with spirit of turpentine. Those made with the oils of linseed, bays, poppy- seeds, and nuts, and with the balsam of copaiba and turpentine, being diluted with four times their quantity of spirit of turpentine, formed hard, tenacious, glossy varnishes, which dried sufficientiy quick, and appeared greatly preferable to those made in the common manner from melted amber. *^ My worthy friend Mr. Ziegler, in an elegant German translation with which he had honoured this work, described a vamish, with the method of using it, which appeared from his experiments to be the best. Fine trans- parent amber reduced to powder b boiled in a brass vessel having a valve in its cover, with as much drying oil as will just cover it ; generally in 6 or 6 hours the amber is perfectiy dissolved. Dilute the solution with four or five times its quantity of oil of turpentine, and let it stand some days, thataU the impurities may settie to the bottom." — Commercimn Pbiloso- phico-Technicum, or the Philosophical Commerce of Arts, by W. Lewis, London, 1763, 4to., p. 366, &c. s2 cclxxvi INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. colours are stated to have been mixed with varnish. The following instances and observations, referring chiefly to the Italian schools, will show that varnish was frequently used, not only in glazing, but in the priming, and with the shadow colours. Armenini and Bisagno recommend the addition of common varnish to the priming, to those colours which dried with difficulty, and to the glazing colours. Bal- dinucci states * that boiled oil (olio cotto) was sometimes used in the darkest parts instead of varnish, and in other parts where the colours had sunk in. From this it appears that it was usual to mis: varnish with the dark shades. As an additional proof of the use of varnish in the dark parts of the picture, may be quoted the following description given by Vasari* of the method adopted by Giovan Francesco Caroti : — " He was of opinion, and in this he was not far from the truth, that varnishing was injurious to pictures, and that it caused them to appear old sooner than they would do otherwise ; and for this reason, he used varnish and certain purified oils in the shades when painting." This is certainly an admission that varnish was necessary either in the pic- ture or on the surface, and that the former was, by Caroti at least, considered preferable. De Piles mentions that in painting on walls, varnish was mixed with the colours to prevent the necessity of varnishing afterwards;'* and in the Italian edition of this work^ it is stated that painting on wood was executed in the same manner as on walls ; whence it may be inferred varnish was mixed with the colours. Canepario, the Venetian physician, says,* ** others are accustomed to mix colours with liquid varnish and 1 Voc. Dis., tit. Olio Cotto. » Vita di Fra Giocondo ed altri. 3 These instructions are as old as Vasari. See Int., cap. xix. 4 Published at Turin in 1769. ^ De Atramentis, p. 304. CHAP. VI.] USE OF VARNISH IN PAINTING. cclxxvii linseed or nut oil, instead of white of egg and gum- water ; for a liquid and oily varnish binds the colours better together, &c.*' The Marciana MS.^ describes ** an excellent clear and drying varnish proper for colours, both in oil-painting and in other kinds of painting." These direct proofs of the mixture of colours with varnish are from the works of authors describing the processes of their contemporaries.* As an indirect proo( but not the less valuable on that account, is the following anecdote related by Luigi Crespi^ of his father Giuseppe Maria Crespi, called " Lo Spagnuolo.'* " One day Cardinal Lambertini was in our house fitting for his portrait, which my father was painting, when one of my brothers entered the room, bringing a letter, just arrived by post, from another brother who was at Modena on business* The Cardinal took the letter, and, on opening it, said to my father, ^ Go on painting, and I will read it* Having opened it, he began to read quickly, inventing an imaginary letter, in which the absent son, with the greatest expressions of shame and humiliation, prostrated himself at the feet of his father, begging his pardon, and saying that he had found it impossible to disengage himself from a stringent promise of marrying a certain Signora ApoUonia, whence but he had hardly proceeded thus far when my father leaped on to his feet, knocking over palette, pencils, and chair, and upsetting oilj varnish^ and everything else which was on the little bench^ and uttering all kinds of exclamations. The Cardinal jumped up at the same time to quiet and pacify him, telling him as well as he could for laughing, that it was all nonsense, and entirely an invention of his own. Meanwhile my father was running round the room in despair, the Car- dinal following him ; and thus pleasantly ended the I P. 633. * For additional proof see the work of Grerard Lairesse, cap. V. ^ Lives of the Bolognese Painters, p. 220. cclxxviii .INTRODUCmON.' [chap. vi. morning's work. After this time, whenever his Eminence came to see my father, before getting out of the car- riage, he would whisper, ^ that he had no doubt Signora ApoUonia was at home with him.' " It is apparent from this passage, that Lo Spagnuolo was accustomed to use varnish in painting, or the varnish would not have been placed with the oil on tiie low bench by his side while painting a portrait, for which the Cardinal was actually tihen sitting ; it may also be inferred that varnish was still used in painting by Luigi Crespi, his son, who related the anecdote The period when this scene took place was between 1717 and 1732. Lo Spagnuolo studied first under Angelo Michele Toni, afterwards under Domenieo Maria Canuti (who was a pupil of Guido), and lastly under Carlo Cignani ; and it is fair to presume that he employed their technical processes. The use made by Sir Peter Lely of varnish mixed with colour, when painting the portrait of Tillotson,^ may be considered another incidental proof of the use of varnish with colours. To these proofs from contemporary writers may be added the evidence of those who have cleaned and experimented on old pictures. Among the earliest may be reckoned the declaration of Bequeno ' that some of the pictures of Guercino were painted with oil mixed with pece Greca (the vernice comune of the sixteenth century), others with gums and resin% and some with oil only ; and the letter written by Hackert,* advocating the use of varnishes in painting. The reply to this letter * by a gentleman who at that period possessed the finest collection of Flemish pic^ tures in Bome is equally conclusive. This gentleman 1 WalpoJe'a Anecdotes, vol. iii. p. 129. > Saggi sul RistabUimento, &c., vol. i. p. 169, n. s Publwhed at Perugia, 1788. 4 Inserted in the Gbrnale di Roma, 20th December, 1788, X3HAP. VI.] USE OF VARNISH IN PAINTING. cclxxix states that varnish was always used by those Italian schools most distinguished for colouring, and that the works of Domenichino, who used varnish, were in better preservation than those of other pupils of the Carracci. We may also mention the certificate, dated 1754, by Carlo Cesare Giovannini of Bologna,^ re- specting the state of preservation of the celebrated pic- ture by Raphael called the Madonna di S. Sisto, which he says was until that period intact, and had never been touched with varnishes, or otherwise, since the day when it had been placed over the altar of S. Sisto, perhaps by Raphael himself, and on which the varnish used in retouching by Raphael is now visible on close examination in some rancid-looking spots on the body of the infant Jesus, where the varnish had accidentally been left rather thick by the pencil of the master. To these instances may be added the evidence of Mar- cucci,* of Palmaroli,' of Requeno,* of Merim6e,* of Sampieri,' of the professor mentioned by Lanri, who restored a picture by Correggio, and of the other pro- fessors now living who have been already mentioned in this work. While, however, these authorities appear to leave no doubt as to the adoption by the Italians, during the best period of the art, of varnish with colours on certain parts of the picture, the assertion of Boschini,'' that in painting flesh the Venetians abhorred like the plague all lustrous or shining surfaces, must not be ^ Gtialandi, Metnorie, ser. 1. p. 29* This picture was purchased, with 62 otfaer celebrated paintings, by Auguetoe III., King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, for 40,000 Roman scudi, and was taken to Dresden by Giovannini. It was restored by Sig. P. Palmaroli, the author of the Notes to Marcucci*s Observations on the Practice of Painting in Oil of the Floren- tine, Venetian, end Flemish Schools of Painting in their best time. ^ Saggio, &c., p. 222, &c. ^ Notes to Marcucci, Saggio, &c. * Saggio sul Ristabilimento dell* Antico Arte de* Greci e Romani Pit- tori, vol. i. p. 169, n. * De la Peinture k THuile, p. xvii. n. xx» ^ See Lanzi, Storia Pittorica, ed. of Pisa, 1823, note 15 by Boni. '' Ricche Minere. cclxxx INTRODUCTION. [chap. vi. overlooked. This assertion, as far as regards the solid painting, is generally supported by the direction in die Marciana MS.,^ to grind and temper the colours with oil as stiff as possible, and if they were too stiff to dilute them by dipping the brush in oil, as well as by the evidence of the professors of the art now living at Venice, The latter appear to consider that oil only was used in the solid painting, and that the varnish was reserved for the glazing and finishing colours, and es- pecially for such as would be injured by admixture with oil, such as red lead, cenere azzurre, and oliiers. The same may also be observed with regard to the later Bolognese school ; and this appears to have been the opinion of Lanzi, who, in describing the manner of Lo Spagnuolo, says that ^^he used gums in painting (per colorire) in the same way as others used them in glazing." The Farmasan school are also stated to have painted in the same manner — namely, the solid colours with oil, and the glazing colours with varnish. The present state of a picture by Tintoretto in the Casa Barbarigo at Venice is instructive as to the practice of this artist The surface of the picture alluded to is generally dull, as if the varnish had been removed or worn o^ with the exception of certain dark parts, and of the foliage, which are glossy, as if these colours had been mixed with varnish. Of Varnishing Pictures. Pictures painted in the Flemish manner, or finished with colours mixed with varnish, did not require the superposition of varnish when complete, and we find that even in the time of Lebrun and Lana the cus- tom of varnishing finished pictures was not universal. The latter remarks (p. 165), " when the painting is finished, some painters are accustomed to varnish it, in I P. 627. CHAP. VI.] PREPARATION OP GROUNDS. cclxxxi order that the work may appear more smooth and brilliant.*' And Lebrun/ after directing white of egg to be spread over the picture to preserve it from dust and fly-marks, adds, " when necessary, the picture may be cleaned by passing a wet cloth over it, which easily removes the white of egg, with the dust attached to it.* This," he adds, *^ could not be done with varnish.** These passages, therefore, may be considered evidence of the truth of V asari's statement that pictures painted according to the process invented by Van Eyck re- quired no varnish. It may also be collected from an expression of Vasari's, in his account of Giovan Fran- cesco Caroti,* that the biographer disapproved of varnishing pictures ; he says, " Caroti was of opinion, and in this he was not far from the truths that var- nishing pictures spoiled them, and made them appear old sooner than they otherwise would do." The fact that pictures were generally varnished is, however, too well authenticated to require any proof. On the Preparation of the Grounds. There is nothing, perhaps, on which the durability of a picture so much depends as on the goodness of the ground ; and at the same time there is, perhaps, no part of a picture on which the opinions of artists have been so much divided as on the manner of preparing the grounds ; some painters preferring white grounds, others dark grounds ; some electing to /paint on absorbent grounds, others on non-absorbent grounds ; while others reject all preparations but a coat or two of size to fill up the pores of the wood, or the holes of the canvass. The subject of the preparation of panels and canvass forms an important part of most of the old treatises. The earliest paintings in oil were generally executed 1 P. 816. ' See the disadvantages of white of egg as a varnish described in a letter by Hackert, 1788. ^ Vita di Fra Giocondo cd aitri. cclxxxii INTRODUCTION. [cha^. ▼!* on panels. The panels were composed of various pieces of wood cemented together with cheese glue, and this glue caused them to adhere so firmly together, that such panels were considered stronger than those which consisted of one piece of wood only. Strips of linen were usually glued over the joinings of the panels, and in some cases the panel was entirely covered with linen. Animal glue was used for this purpose. Several coats of warm glue, which filled up the pores of the wood, were then to be applied. The Italian name for the next process is ingessaare} This consisted in the application of several thin coats of size * and gesso marcio^ over the surfece of the panel, which when dry was carefully smoothed with a knife or pumice stone. Upon this preparation the old tempera painters were accustomed to apply a coat of Armenian bole mixed with glue, on which they spread leaf gold ; a practice which, though gradually discontinued, was sometimes adopted in oil-painting, and was occasionally practised in Italy/ In Flanders the practice was continued to a comparatively late period. The gold ground was con- sidered to give great brilliancy to the colours.^ This practice, however, was not universal; Ac grounds were more frequently left white ; but in this state they would absorb the oil firom the colours applied 1 See Bol. MS., p. 595. Vasari, Int., cap. xx., xxi. Cennini, cap.cxT. s The darability of the painting depends mach on the glue bdng employed of the proper strength. It is better that it should be too weak than too strong. See Volpato MS., p. 728, 732; Bol. MS., p. 595; Palomino, vol. ii. p. 47. 3 Plaster of Paris stirred with water until it loses its power of setdng.— Third Report of the Commissioners on the Fine Arts, p. 47, n. CenDioi, cap. cxvi. Other writers call the plaster " gesso sottile.** 4 Zanetti states (Delle Pittura Veneziana, p. 194) that some pictaresby Paolo Veronese, in the Fondaco de' Tedeschi at Venice, are executed on gilt leather. » See Baldinucd, Vite de' Pittori, vol. vi. p. 202. CHAP. Ti.] PREPABATION OP GROUNDS. cclxxxiii on them, unless prevented by the application of several coats of size, varnish, boiled oiV or of colour mixed with oil * — practices which prevailed generally in Italy during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth cen- turies, except in Venice, where some artists used ab- sorbent grounds, as will be hereafter noticed; the painters of the other schools, however, adhered to the general practice of employing white and non*absorbent grounds. The use of linen for grounds is considered to have been an invention of the Germans or Flemings, and by them introduced into Italy.' The canvass prepared by the Flemings was in great repute in the time of Bor- ghini, for the facility with which it could be rolled without cracking.* The Venetians are generally considered to have been the first among the Italians who adopted the custom of painting on canvass, on which they were able to execute larger paintings than they could on wood, and which combined the advantages of lightness, cheapness, and portability. The practice, however, necessarily caused an alteration in the nature of the ground, which on canvass was required to be composed of pliant and elastic materials, not liable to crack or be detached when the canvass was rolled up ; and this has always been found a great difficulty. Great diversity of opinion exists among writers on } Merim^, de laPeintare k THnile, p. 15 ; Lanzi, toI. W. p. 71 n. * Vaaari, Int. , cap. zxi. Armenini, lib. ii. ctp. ix. The colour usually employed for thia purpose was a warm tint incliuing to yellow or flesh colour ; it sometimes consisted of yellow 'H;hre, or minium ground in oil. Fra Bartolomeo is said to hate used sometimes one, and sometimes the other of these colours. See Marcucd, Saggio, &c., p. 218. s Painted cloth as a substitute for window glass, and waters for painting on linen, silk, or woollen, are mentioned in the Bolognese MS., pp. 491, 493. It is probable that the latter were for articles of dress or the hanging of rooms. Riposo, p. 136. cclxxxiv introduction; [cHAy. Tt. painting as to the most eligible mode of preparing can- vass ; and several processes are recorded as having been employed by good artists. In general the coats of gesso were omitted on cloth/ it being considered that they were liable to crack when the picture was rolled. Vasari recommends that three or four coats of size should be applied, and upon them a mixture composed of flour paste with nut oil, and a little white lead, should be spread with a knife and smoothed with the hand, so as to fill up all the holes ; then one or two other coats of weak size should be applied, and lastly the priming. Armenini also recommends several coats of glue, one of which was to be applied on the back of the canvass. The same author states' that " painters were in the habit of filling up the holes of the canvass with a mixture composed of flour paste, and a third part of white lead, before the glue was applied. On this preparation the priming, which consisted of white lead, giallolino, and terra di campane, or of ver- digris, white lead, and umber, was spread. But the preparation he especially recommended was a light flesh colour inclining to the colour of flame, by means of the varnish, of which rather more than the usual quantity was to be added, because it was observed that " this added to the eflect of the colours, especially the blues and reds, without causing them to change ; for," con- tinues Armenini, ^^it is known that oil darkens and sullies all the colours, which appear soiled and dirty in proportion to the darkness of the ground beneath them." He adds that those who were desirous that the colours should not change firom the effects of time, made the grounds almost entirely of white lead, adding to them a sixth part of varnish, and a little red, and when this was dry they polished the surface, upon 1 See Vasari, Int, cap. xxiii. Armenini, lib. ii. cap. viii. s Lib. ii. cap. ix. CHAP. VI.] PREPARATION OF GROUNDS. cclxxxv which they either drew or traced the outlines. In a note to this passage, Signor Palmaroli ^ observes that he has sometimes fomid in grounds ochre or red lead mixed with the gesso, upon which was laid a coat of oil diluted with spirit of turpentine, applied with a piece of cotton or a sponge. Borghini states* that the Flemish canvass, which could be easily rolled and carried everywhere, was prepared simply with one or two coats of size, and that it was then coloured, taking care to fill the holes of the cloth with the colours. He also recommends ' one coat of size and two of priming, particularly if the canvass was to be rolled and removed to another country. He mentions that canvass was sometimes prepared by ap- plying a coat of gesso and flour, boiled in linseed oil. Other authors recommend a priming of potter's earth * mixed with oil, and applied upon a coat of size or flour paste.* Pacheco* mentions a mixture of flour paste, salad oil,^ and a little honey ; and when this application was quite dry, and had been smoothed with pumice- stone, then a coat or two of priming was applied. Other painters, he states, first apply size made firom the parings of leather, then a coat of sifled ashes instead of gesso, which after being smoothed with pumice- stone was covered with the priming of almUgra (a. red earth), ground with linseed oil ; these grounds, Pacheco says, were used at Madrid. Another kind of priming, according to the same author, was composed of white lead, red lead, charcoal black, and linseed oil upon the gesso ground. Pacheco, however, disapproved of all these methods : he says, " I know by experience that 1 Notes to Marcucci, Saggio, &c., p. 207. * Riposo, p. 136. s Ibid., p. 138. 4 This earth was called by the Italians Ter- retta, Terra di Cave, Terra da Boccale. 6 Volpato, p. 730. « Tratado, p. 883. ^ Palomino (vol. ii. p. 46) says linseed oil should be used, and not salad oil, which is prejudicial to the picture. eclxxxvi introduction: [chap. ti. flour-paste, gesso, and ashes are, in time, affected by damp, and that they decay, together with the canvass ;*' and he finally recommends the application of a few coats of size, and then two coats of priming, composed of the potter's clay * used at Seville, ground up with Unseed oil, each coat being polished with pumice-stone when dry. Upon this was spread a third coat, to which a little white-lead might be added or not, at pleasure. He observes, that although weak size made the cloth more supple, it might be omitted. This, Facheco states, is the best kind of priming, and that which he always used himself; because he had remarked that the six pictures which he began in 1600, in the cloisters belonging to the monastery of the Order of Mercy, on this kind of ground, were in good preservation when he wrote his work (which was published in 1649), and showed no symptoms of scaling off. The directions given by Palomino^ resemble so nearly those of Pacheco that it is useless to repeat them. It may, however, be observed that the former mentions that in Andalusia canvass was frequently primed with a kind of clay, washed up by the rivers when they rose; or, if this could not be had, with chalk, which was ground up with almagra : adding to it, when ground, some old colours (those which are cleaned from the palette and brushes'), if. they could be obtained, or in default of this a dark colour, called sombre del Viejo, should be added to assist the drying, the clay and chalk being bad dryers. The custom of using gesso grounds on cloth was, however, never entirely abandoned,* and, among other artists, they were used by Bassano. With regard to the _iiii. 1 ---,..- ■ .. — — — ■ — . — 1 Called at Madrid '* Tierra de Esquivias*' (Palomiao, toI. ii. p. 48), pro- bably similar to the Terra da Boccale of tbe Italians. » Vol. ii. p. 46—48. » See Volpato, p. 733. 4 See Armenini, lib. ii. cap. viii. Borghini, p. 138. Pacheco, p. 383, 384. CHAP. ¥1.] PREPARATION OP GROUNDS. cclxxxvii pictures of this artist, Yolpato mentions having re- marked that those painted on grounds prepared with a small quantity of gesso were in good condition, while the colours scaled off those pictures on which much had been used. The directions given by Volpato ^ as to the preparation of grounds need not be alluded to here, as they are contained in the work. To return to the gesso grounds : it is asserted that they were used also by the Bolognese painters, Sam- acchini, Sabbatini, and Tibaldi, both on canvass and panels. Correggio also is said to have prepared his canvass with a very thin coat of size and gesso, over which he laid a coat of boiled oil.* As to the colour of the priming, the weight of au- thority is in &vour of white grounds.^ Mr. Eastlake observes (Goethe on Colours, p. 378), " the secret of Van Eyck and his contemporaries is always assumed to consist in the vehicle (varnish or oils) he employed ; but a far more important condition of the splendour of colour of the works of those masters was the careful preservation of internal light by painting thinly, but ultimately with great force, on white grounds » As an additional argument in favour of white grounds, it may be stated that modern Italian artists are now so con- vinced of the propriety of employing them, that they have almost all returned to the use of them. When I was in Italy, I was informed that the Academy of Parma had recently decided against the authenticity of a picture attributed to Correggio, because it was painted on a red ground ; the Academicians considering that none but white grounds were in yse during the life of 1 Volpato, p. 729 — ^733. * Lanzi, vol. iv. p. 71 and n. s See Lionardo da Vinci, Trattato, cap. c. ; Du Fresnoy, Art of Paiot- ing, with the Commentary of De Piles ; Oreini, Vita di Pietro Peni- gino ; Algarotti, Lettere sopra la Pittura, vol. viii. p. 50, 51, Venezia, 1792 ; Delaval on Colours ; and Quatrem^re de Quincy, Life of Rafiaelle. cclxxxviii INTRODUCTION. [cmaf. vx. this artist. There is, however, some diversity of opinion as to the expediency of their being non-absorbent. Sometimes the grounds were prepared by giving the canvass a few coats of glue only, without other priming.* The paintings by Callot, at Venice, are prepared in this way ; and a picture by Lionardo da Vinci, or one of his scholars, mentioned by Amoretti, and in the pos- session of Signor Mussi, is executed on canvass pre- pared with size only.* Pictures so prepared stand weil« Pozzo, the Jesuit, also painted on the same grounds, but his pictures are much changed, probably from other causes ; for F^libien remarks ' that if the canvass were not primed at all, but painted on at once, the colours would bear out better and remain more brilliant Various grounds were in use in the Venetian school. A Venetian professor communicated, among other par- ticulars, the following information as the result of his experiments on the grounds of the old Venetian pic- tures : — " The grounds were made of gesso and very weak size ; sometimes a little black^ was added by Gian Bellino and others. Over this were laid one or two coats of glue to prevent the ground being too absorbent ; the glue was made of the parings of leather-'' This information was confirmed by other professors of Venice and Verona. With respect to the grounds used by Titian, I was informed that this great artist employed a ground of "gesso marcio,"* taking especial care not to use too much glue, and that this slightly absorbent ground was useful in getting rid of some of the oil. It is certain, ^ Palomino, vol. ii. p. 45. 2 Amoretti, Memorie Storiche di Lionardo da Vinci, p. 165. 3 Principes, &c., p. 297. 4 These grey grounds were also used in the Flemish school. The series of pictures by Rubens of the life of Mary de' Medicis are painted on a grey preparation. 5 Compare Merim^e, de la Peinture k THuile, p. 241 j De Piles, £1^- mens de Peinture, p. 130. CHAP. VI.] PREPARATION OP GROUNDS. cclxxxix however, that Titian sometimes employed a non- absorbent ground, since a restorer of pictures at Verona stated that he had found on the gesso-ground a coat of strong glue, made of pig's skin (much used in the Venetian territories), which was very hard and shining, and on which the picture was painted. This was pro- bably the case with Titian's picture of S. Pietro Martire, which, when at Paris, was transferred from panel to canvass. The author of the * Histoire de la Peinture en Italie,' * who was present at the operation, remarks, " I observed that the ground and the painting were not consolidated together, but were laid one upon the other." Titian is said sometimes to have used a red ground made of terra rossa with size, and Merim^e mentions that, on analysing the ground of a picture by Titian, he found flour-paste and gesso, but no glue.' Tintoretto is stated to have painted his celebrated Crucifixion in the Scuola of S. Bocco on a simple pre- paration of flour-paste, and this picture is in excellent preservation. Many painters, and especially Volpato, Pacheco, and Palomino, object to the flour paste. The reason assigned by Volpato is, that if the paste is too stifle, it causes the colour to scale off; and if too weak, the picture is liable to. decay from damp. He states, also, that it was frequently used by those who primed bad canvass, which would decay in a few years, because it was useful in filling up the threads of the canvass. Paul Veronese generally painted on a twilled canvass, 1 M. B. A. A., Paris, 1817. s Merim^, de ia Peinture k I'Huile, p. 241. On this subject Boschini (La Carta del Navegar, &c. p. 839) says — " La prontezza ze meterse davanti Una gran tela, e de farina propria Tamiaar, e impastar figure in copia, £ senza natural, iar casi tanti." VOL. 1. t ccxc INTRODUCTION. [chat, tu called in Venice " terlise,** which he prepared with a very thin coat of glue and gesso ; so thin as to show the texture of the cloth through the paint This coaf^ being absorbent,' imbibed the superfluous oil which darkened the threads of the canvass. Sig. Pietro Edwards, whose opportunities of ex- amining pictures of the Venetian school were perhaps greater than ever fell to the lot of any other person, has recorded his opinion that these grounds were best adapted to ensure the durability of paintings ; and in support of this opinion he instances the three pictures by Paolo Veronese, representing the legend of Sta- Cristina, which were executed, with very few re- paintings, either on a ground of gesso not hardened by strong size, or on canvass, with a thin coating of gesso, the colours of which were, he says, so fredi tiiat they appeared to have been painted but two days instead of two hundred years.* The same favourable opinion of white tempera grounds is expressed by De Piles ;' but he adds that they have the disadvantage of being liable to crack when rolled up. This was the case with the celebrated Nosze di Cana by Paolo Veronese, which, on its arrival at Paris, was found to be in such a state as to render it necessary to line it with great care in order to prevent its scaling entirely from the canvass. This operation, with some necessary reparations, was performed at the Louvre with all requisite care and attention. But when, in 1815, the picture was about to be restored to Venice, according to the treaty, it was perceived that tiie cdours crumbled off and fell into dust at the slightest movement To continue the operation, therefore, was to expose one of the finest works of the Venetian school to certain destruction ; and the committee decided that the picture 1 See the Dissertation of Sig. Pietro Edwards, p. 887, 888. > See p. 888. > El^mens, p. 131. CHAP. ▼!.] PREPARATION OF GROUNDS. CCXCl of Paolo should remain at Paris, and that a painting of Lebrun's should be sent to Venice in its stead.* Absorbent grounds of size and gesso are considered to have been employed by the Parmasan school. Various contrivances were resorted to in order to pre- vent the cracking of pictures when the canvass was rolled. Some artists added honey and oil to the preparation of size and gesso f but the Venetian artists are stated tradi- tionally to have used milk for this purpose. All writers speak of the necessity of the grounds on canvass being thin, as a means of preventing their cracking. With regard to the use of white lead in the priming, the general opinion seems to be that it is injurious. It has been stated that any picture in which white lead was used in the grounds would infallibly crack in less than fifty years ; and that pictures painted on a ground of white lead and oil would moreover turn brown. The pictures of Longhi (born in 1702, and living in 1762) are in good preservation, with the exception of the grounds, which are full of large cracks, attributed by the Italian restorers to the use of white lead in the grounds. Neither Palomino, Pacheco, Borghini, Vol- pato, nor Lebrun recommend white lead in the prepa- ration of the grounds. Vasari and Armenini and some few modem painters, on the contrary, are in favour of it 1 This account was given by the French painter M. Camille Rogier to Sig. Cigogna, who inserted it in his * Iscrizioni Veneziane,' vol. iv. p. 328. It may not be uninteresting to the reader to know that the sum received by Paolo for painting this picture was 324 ducats, and not 90, as asserted by Algarotti. The original contract, with the signature of Paolo, is preserved among the papers belonging to the Monastery of S.Giorgio Maggiore at Venice. It has been copied and published by Sig. £. A. Cigogna in the 4th volume of the * Iscrizioni Veneziane.' It may also be interesting to know that the date of the contract was the 6th of June, 1562; and the day on which Paolo gave his receipt for the money, on the completion of the picture, was the 6th of October, 1663 : so that the picture was begun and finished in 16 months. s Pacheco, p. 383 ; Palomino, vol. ii. p. 47 ; and see Ballard's Traitd de Mignature, p. 220. Salmon's Polygraphices, p. 80. Marcucci, Saggio, &c., p. 205, n. t2 CCXCii INTRODUCTION. [cHAy, vr. The Carracci are said to have used white lead in their grounds. " The only priming used by Ludovico was a slight coat of white lead and ochre, with sufficient oil to ensure a smooth surface, and he made use of this priming as a shadow colour. Annibale, his cousin, sometimes used a mixture of * creta ' and white lead for his grounds. Guercino instead of * creta' em- ployed marble dust ; and with this his pictures in his first manner are thinly primed ; in the second manner the priming is thicker." Some artists, and especially Guido, painted occa- sionally on silk, which was thought to be more durable than linen cloth. It was frequently prepared for paint* ing by applying a coat of size, to which a little honey was added to prevent its cracking, and on this the priming was laid.^ Pictures were frequently painted on copper, and in this case the only preparation necessary was a coat of glue, which prevented the oil from acting on the colours. The introduction of dark grounds into Bologna is attributed to the Carracci. They were introduced into Venice by Palma Giovane, who has been called the last of the good Venetian painters, and the first of the bad. On a careful examination of the different authorities, it appears that pictures painted on a ground of gesso are the most durable, but that when this material is used on canvass the greatest care is necessary to prevent its cracking. It also appears that when the surface of the gesso ground has been polished quite smooth with pumice-stone, one or two coats of glue made from pig's skin, and perhaps a coat of varnish or oil, if the picture is to be painted in the Flemish manner, should be applied to prevent absorption. But if the Venetian manner of painting is pursued, the thin distemper ground used by Paolo Veronese is considered best adapted to 1 Ballard's Traits dc Mignature, p. 229. CHAP, vi.] METHODS OF PAINTING. CCXClll promote the durability of the picture. The great re- quisites in grounds for canvass are thinness, whiteness, and flexibility, and a perfectly smooth surface. Methods of Painting. In examining the technical processes of oil-painting in the North of Italy, it will be seen that they arrange themselves under two great divisions : in the first, which may be called the Flemish process, the picture was begun in chiaroscuro, and finished with the local colours ; in the second, or Italian process, which was introduced in the beginning of the sixteenth century, the picture was commenced with the local colours painted solidly with oil, white being introduced into the cool grey or bluish shadows, and was finished with warm glazings. The former system was generally adopted in Lombardy and Bologna ; the latter in Venice, where it originated : but this arrangement was not without exceptions, and in later times the Venetian method was preferred to the Flemish, which has almost fallen into disuse and ob- livion iii Italy. Both methods, however, imderwent various modifications according to the genius or the caprice of the different professors of painting, and so great was the diversity in the technical habits of the Italian painters, that the pictures of the same artist are frequently found to have been painted in various man- ners and with diflerent materials. Thus Titian is said to have changed his method several times, and Bequeno relates ^ that he has seen pictures by Guercino in some of which oil only had been used, in others oil and pece Greca, and in others resins and gums. The fimda- mental principle in all may, however, be traced to one or other of the above-mentioned sources. In the early period of painting in oil the same pro- 1 Saggi sul Ristabilimento, &c., vol. i. p. 169, n. CCXciv INTEODUCTION. [chap. vi. cess of painting was observed throughout Italy, as well as in Flanders and Germany. The process may be thus briefly described : — The ground being properly prepared, the next process was to draw the subject of the picture. This was fre- quently done with black chalk or black-lead pencil, but in order to insure greater correctness the subject was frequently traced in the usual way from a drawing on paper. Baroccio always adopted the latter method,^ and the outlines deeply indented, as if with a style, may be seen in a large unfinished picture by him in the library of the Archiginnasio at Bologna. The outline was then secured by marking over it with a brown colour (as in the unfinished picture by Lionardo da Vinci in the gal- lery of Brera at Milan), or with a tint composed of car- mine and dark ochre." When describing the different kinds of grounds used in painting, I have mentioned that a coat of size, of varnish, or of boiled oil was applied upon the gesso ground to render it non-absorbent ;* but Mr. Eastlake has proved ^ that the outline was occasionally, at least, drawn before this last application, and the coating of size or the warm transparent oil priming was spread over the outline. It is probable that this plan was adopted in the Venetian school, and it may be observed that sketches by Tintoretto are still in existence which were begun in chiaroscuro with water colours, and then oiled, the local colours being aflerwards painted in their places with oil. To this instance may be added the passage quoted by Walpole* from the Pocket-book of Mr. Beale, in which it is mentioned that Lely " ap- 1 See Bellori, Vite de' Pittori, p. 117. Lanri, vol. ii. p. 124. > Palomino, vol. ii. p. 67, 59. 3 The present state of many of the pictures of Luini and other artists proves beyond a doubt that the ground on which they were painted was non- absorbent. The colours having in some parts scaled off, leave visible the white ground unstained with oil, and of dazzling whiteness. < * Materials,' &c., p. 384. * Anecdotes, vol. iii. p. 129. CHAP. VI.] METHODS OP PAINTING. CCXCV prehending the colour of the cloth on which he painted i^as too light) before he began to lay on the flesh colour, he glazed the whole place where the face and haire were drawn in a colour over thin, with Cullen's earth, and a little bone black (as he told us) made very thin with varnish.** The practice does not, however, appear to have been universal in Italy, especially when the priming was opaque or nearly so, since Vasari, Borghini, Armenini, and his copyist Bisagno direct the design to be traced or drawn upon the priming. Perhaps it may not be far from the truth to suppose that when the priming was transparent it was spread over the outline ; but when it was opaque the outline was drawn on it. The subject having been outlined with ink, or black and lake, or brown, the picture was begun in chiaro- scuro by washing in the shadows lightly with the same colour, like a drawing in Indian ink, and it was suffered to dry. This practice is alluded to incidentally by writers on painting, and especially by Paolo Pino,^ where he objects to painters designing their pictures with such extreme diligence, composing the whole in chiaro- scuro according to the custom of Gian Bellino, for this, he observes, was labour thrown away, as the whole had afterwards to be covered with colours, &c. Yasari mentions ' that Fra Bartolomeo di S. Marco was partial to this method of painting, and Malvasia,' speaking of Tiarini, relates that he commenced his pictures in chiaro- scuro with white lead and bone black, and then covered them with colours and finished with glazings. The custom is also mentioned by Pacheco,* who did not approve of it When the chiaroscuro had been painted with black, or when the white ground had been covered with a grey 1 Dialogo, f. 16. * Vita di Fra Bartolomeo di S. Marco. 9 Felaina Pittrice, yoI. ii. p. 206. « Tratado, p. 386. ccxcvi INTEODUCTION. [chat. vi. preparation, as in some of the pictures of Gian Bellino and Rubens, the artist proceeded to paint the flesh tints.* But where the chiaroscuro was of a rich brown, it was necessary to interpose grey tints between the shades and the flesh tints. The latter, which were made more rosy than nature, were then laid on very thinly, beginning with the lights and proceeding gradually with deeper and redder tints into the shades,* laying each tint ia its place and not tormenting it with the brush. The next tints, which were also very thin, had more yellow in them, and the last coat of colours was also thin, and contained more white, and with this the flesh was toned to match the complexion. The number of coats of colour is not to be understood as limited to three.' Titian is said to have repeated his colours nine or ten times; the same has been said of Correggio ; and it is mentioned on the authority of Mr. Beale/ that Lely said he believed Vandyck had painted over a portrait fourteen times. This method of painting keeps the flesh light and clear, because it permits the white grounds to appear through it.* Different colours were used for the shadows of flesh : some artists employed a mixed tint of black, lake, and some transparent yellow, or yellow varnish. Armenini says that asphaltum, mummy, and the smoke of pece Greca were commonly used for this purpose. Lomazzo names • terra di cam- I Even where the chiaroscuro has been dark brown, the scumbliogofthe thin flesh tints over it has produced the effect of grey. — See Mr. Sheldrake's Paper, in the Transactions of the Soc. of Arts, vol. xvi. For the eflect of darkness seen through a semi-transparent medium, see Goethe on Colours, by Mr. Eastlake, Nos. 151, 160. * See Lomazzo, Trattato, lib. vi. cap. vi. ' Vasari mentions incidentally that Pietro Perugino had laid three coats of colour on some pictures in the Church of the Send at Florence. See Life of Pietro Perugino. * See Extracts from Mr. Beale's Pocket-books, quoted by Walpole, Anecdotes, vol. iii. p. 125. ^ As to the lights in early oil paintings being semi-opaique, see Mr. East- lake's * Materials,' &c., p. 408. « Trattato, p. 191. CHAP. VI J METHODS OF PAINTING. CCXCVll pana, umber (which he calls also falzalo), burnt terra verde, asphaltum, and mummy. The Paduan MS.^ mentions umber, burnt terra verde, and asphaltum ; and in another place,' lake, minium, and umber. Other artists used for the outlines and shadows umber and lake.* Pacheco mentions * bone-black, umber, charcoal- black, or smoke [of burnt resin], asphaltum, almagra, and carmine. In this method of painting it will be ohserved that the shadows are transparent, and that the white-lead is reserved for the lights, which are semi- opaque. It appears to have been the general practice of the Italian painters, from Giotto to Lomazzo, to mix their tints before beginning to paint. The instructions of Cennini* and Lomazzo® are full and precise on this point. The custom of mixing tints on the palette was not, however, universal, and instances of the opposite practice may be found in works on art.'' The method of painting above described appears to have been followed by the Florentine, the Roman, the Lombard, the early Bolognese,® and the early Venetian schools. Titian's earliest pictures were painted in this manner, and the process may be seen on some unfinished pictures by Rubens, Vandyck, Fra Bartolomeo, and others. The beauty of this method of painting consisted in its transparency, every coat of colour being so thin as to show those laid beneath. The most perfect outline is necessary when pictures are painted in the method just described, because if a part be shaded that ought to be light, the dark colour 1 P. 660. « P. 664. 3 See MalTasia, Felsina Pittrice, vol. ii. p. 448 ; Lomazzo, Trattato, p. 19«. * Tratado, p. 886. » Caps. 67, 71—86, 98, 146. 8 Trattato, lib. vi. cap. vi. 7 See Zanetti, della Pittura, &c., p. 401. 8 See Marcucci, Saggio, &c., p. 213. Malvasia, Pels. Pitt., vol. ii. p. 206. Merimde, de la Peinturc k THuile, p. 16, 16. CCXCVlli INTRODUCTION. L^h^- will always be visible through the light tints over it, and the colour will look opaque.^ The unfinished picture by Lionardo da Vinci in the Gallery of Brera, before mentioned, shows that it was not always customary to complete the chiaroacaro before beginning the painting. In this picture, some parts are finished, or nearly so, while parts of the ground are left white.* & See Marcucd, Saggio, &c., p. 218 and n. ; and see Mr. Eastlake^a * Materials/ &c., p. 397, 398. s This very interesting picture has been mentioned by Mr. Eastlake (' Materials,' p. 392), but as I have alluded to it several times, I shall give a description of it from my own memoranda : — The picture represents the Virgin and Child with the Lamb. It is painted on a white ground, whick has a yellowish tint, apparently from being covered with varnish. The ground is full of small hair-like cracks. The subject u drawn with a black penciL The sky and distance are finished with blue and white, with a slight greenish tint There is a rock behind the igures, the colour of which, with the earth around, is of a very dark brown, probably formed of black and migorica and a little lake.* A space between the distance and rocky ground is left quite blank, the white ground appearing. The face of the Virgin is more finished than the rest of the picture ; it was ap» parently begun in chiaroscuro with the usual brown — the gray shades incline to black, tiie lights on the face to lake. The face of the Inftnt is nearly finished. The hands are just sketched in lightly with the same brown, and the first flesh tints are laid on almost as thin u a first wash of water colours. The same may be observed with respect to the toes: the black pdhciUmarks are visible on the nails. The drapery, which is scarlet, appears to be formed of earthy reds, with vermilion on the lights. The outer drapery is red also, and is lined with a yellowish green, or perhaps this was to be a changeable drapery, since the shades are red and the lights green. These were Lionardo's favourite colours for drapery. The sleeves of the Virgin, part of the mantle^ indeed all that part coveriag her knees, part of the Inftmt's drapery, and the whole of the Lamb are left quite blank, excepting that the outline of her knee is marked in pencil. This shows that Lionardo sometimes finished portions of his pictures, leaving the rest untouched, instead of beginning en all parts equally, or even d painting the subject in chiaroscuro. The darks are raised higher than the lights, and the foliage is minutely worked on the dark background. My impression is that this picture was begun upon a non-absorbant white * See Lionardo da Vinci, Trattato della Pittura, cap. 853. Vasaii shows thtt the black osed by Lionaido was tiie lamp black used by the printeni, and ivcry black. See Vita di Francesco Bartolomeo di 8. Maroo. CHAP, vi.] METHODS OF PAINTING. CCXCIX There is little doubt that the method of painting just described was discontinued in Venice in the early part of the sixteenth century. This is proved by the assertion of a professor of painting now residing at Venice, that Cima da Conegliano (of whom nothing is known after 15170 adopted the Venetian method of beginning his pictures witih solid colours, and finishing with glazings. In Florence the latter method had been introduced previous to the completion of Vasari's work.* In the earliest oil pictures, the touches of the brush are not visible, the whole being softened and blended so as to convey the idea of real shadow, except the sharp touches, which stand up crisply and distinctly in a manner that cannot be imitated with oil alone. This is particularly apparent in the pictures of Van Eyck, Lucas Van Leyden, Lionardo da Vinci, Luini, and others of that time. At a later period the touches of the brush were often suffered to remain unsoftened ; but, in both cases, it is remarkable that, on close observation, the darks will be seen to stand higher above the surface of the picture than the lights : this effect is universally attributed to the use of varnish in the shades. Four different methods of painting in oil have, at different times, prevailed in Venice. The first was that just described, which was followed by the Bellini ' and their pupils, and by Titian in the early part of his career ; the second was that adopted by Titian in his best time, and by his pupils and followers ; the third was that employed by Paolo Veronese; and the last that introduced, it is said, by Falma Giovane, of paint- ground, and that the yellowish tint is owing to the varnish with which it has been covered. i See Ridolfi, vol. i. p. 101. * See Yasari, Ufe of Fra Bartolouico. '^ s See ante, p. cxxxiii. CCC INTRODUCTION. [chai-. ▼!, ing on dark grounds, to which, as it is considered to have led to the decline of the art, it will be unnecessary to advert. The pictures of Titian are not all painted in the same manner, but the method he frequently adopted was nearly as follows : — When the subject was drawn, the local colours were laid in lightly and thinly with colours mixed with oiV the shades being left very cold. The picture was then exposed to the sun and the dew until perfectly dry and hard ; a smooth surface was then given to it by rubbing it down with pumice-stone until quite smooth. After many months the dead or first colouring or ahhozzo^ as it is called in Italian, was examined and corrected, and fresh colours were laid on;* finishing colours were then applied, and the tints were frequently repeated seven, eight, or nine times,' until the artist was satisfied with his work, always however suffering a long period to elapse between each layer of colour, and exposing the picture to the sun and dew between each painting. The coats of colour being very thin, the colours dried quickly and hard, and, as the Venetians express it, before the oil had had time to become rancid/ Titian, it is said, frequently laid on the paint with his fingers, particularly on the flesh and in glazing. 1 Lanziy vol. v. p. 89, 90 ; and see Boschini, Ricche Minere, &c. ; Yerri, Saggio 8ul Disegno, &c., p. 121, 127. Compare also Marcucd, Saggio, p. 213, n. * Boschini, Ricche Minere. ' Soleva dir el nostro gran Tician " ** Che per formar el vivo colorito, No* se possa a la prima (come h6 dito), Fenir le came con intendimento ; Ma ben con replicar diverse tente." Boschini, La Carta del Navegar, &c., p. 341. 4 It is related that Bombelli, the Venetian painter, said that he wished his pictures to dry as fast as possible, that the oil in them might not have time to rise to the surface and turn yellow. See Trans. Soc. Arts, toL zix. p. 329. CHAP. VI.] METHODS OP PAINTING. CCCi When large surfaces were to be glazed, the colour was frequently rubbed on with all the fingers or the flat of the hand, so as to fill the interstices left by the brush, and to cover the surface thinly and evenly. Another way of applying the colour with the finger, firequently used for the soft shadows of flesh, was to dip the finger into the colour and draw it once along the surface to be painted with an even movement These touches were called sfregazzij^ and were distinguished from the process first described, which was called "velatura," Trial will show that there is no other method by which soft shadows can be so easily produced. The reason given by the Venetians why the fingers are preferable to the brush for this purpose, is because the colour can be laid on thinner in this way, and it has the eflect of filling up all the interstices caused by the strokes of the brush. The thinness of the paint also contributed to the durability of the colours, because as the varnish or oil dried more quickly from the thinness of the layer of paint, the colours were preserved from being changed by the action of the air upon them. The shadows were glazed with asphaltum and lake, and Titian is said to have frequently glazed the whole surface of the picture, except the white linen, with asphaltum, or, as others say, with a yellow varnish. The glazings were generally laid on with varnish, although it is said that Titian sometimes used oil for this purpose, which is the reason that his paintings become more yellow than those of other painters. There is no doubt, however, that Titian used fre- quently an oleo-resinous varnish in glazing, and to this 1 <* Quel rossi, e macadare de colori, Quel sfregazzi co* i* dei, quel spegazzar Fk le figare vive bulegar ; Quel le fk laser con mile splendori." Boechini, La Carta del Navegar, &c., p. 340. CCCll INTRODUCTION. [ is attributed the shrivelled surface so often seen on pictures.* Paolo Veronese laid in the abbozzo with the local colours thinly on a tempera ground; some say tiie colours were mixed with oil, others that they ^^ere applied in distemper.* When these were dry and hard the surface was rasped and smoothed, so as to leave only a thin coat of colour.^ On this he painted the solid colours, availing himself of a general colour for all the half tints, as well in the flesh as in the draperies and architecture.* After this he covered the whole with a very thin coat of varnish to bring out the colours, and then retouched the lights and shades with brilliant and resolute touches, using varnish for vermilion, red-lead, 1 Merim^, de la Peinture k rHuUe, p. 81. Mr. Eastlake's ' Matcarkk,* &c., p. 37. At the public library at Brescia I was shown, among other curiosities, two small miniatures by Titian, painted one on each side of a piece of lapis lazuli, which served for the ground of the painting, a head of Christ on cne side, and of the Madonna oo the other. Two slight bjuries on the painting showed that there was no ground laid under the figures, but the surface round the parts injured looked like glue or resin semitransparent at the edges. I examined the painting with a powerful magaiiying glasa, and the surfaee, which was perfect, except in these two places, showed the oil shrivelled as in many of Titian's large pictures, the wrinkles in this picture bearing the same proportionate size to the miniature as those I have observed in his ItiTg&r pictures. I observed also in the head of our Saviour another remarkable appearanee when examined with the magnifying glass. This was the impression or ap- pearance (for we could not tell which) of threads of silk, so that 1 almost fancied it had been painted on ulk, and cut out and then fixed to the lapis lazuli. The surface of the painting had the usual yellowish brown cast, so frequently observed in Titian's paintings. * See Appendix to the Italian edition of the ' Id^ dn Feintre Fbrfait,' p. 163 ; and Fdlibien, Principes, &c., p. 297. Merimde (de la Peinture k THuile, p. 249) says that Paul Veronese, and before him other painters, who lived at the period when artists began to leave tempera for oil pamt^ ing, were accustomed to begin their pictures with size colours on absorbent grounds. All traditions of oil paintings having been begun in tempera ap- pear to be now lost in Venice. s Compare Armenini as to the general practice in Italy, lib. li. cap. ix. ; Bisagno, Trattato, &c. 4 Boschini, Rioche Minere ; Zanetti, della Pittura, &c., p. 164. CHAP, vij METHODS OP PAINTING. CCCIU blues, the tints used in painting white linen, and for the vermilion tints in flesh* He frequently painted the blues in tempera, as in the picture in the Soffitto of the CoU^o of the Ducal Palace,^ in which the blue sky was painted in tempera, and the clouds with oil. These tempera colours are said to adhere so firmly that they will bear being twice washed without being disturbed. The method of Paolo is opposed to that of Titian. The former usually painted ^^ alia prima/' seldom repeating his colours ; and with few glazings.' Titian on the con* trary frequently painted over the same part seven, eight, or nine times. His pictures are neither so fresh nor so well preserved as those of Paolo.' After the time of Titian the art rapidly declined in Venice ; lai^e pictures and rapidity of execution super- seded the more sterling qualities of the art ; and the practice of glazing to an almost unlimited extent with asphaltum (for which Tintoretto is greatly blamed), the introduction of dark grounds,^ and the excessive use of oil, caused the pictures of succeeding painters to become dark. The honour of having re-discovered and made known some of the early processes of painting in oil, and of the principles which regulated the practice of the old masters, belongs to an Englishman, Mr. Sheldrake, whose Essays,^ little known in his own country, are ^ This is proved by a document in the Accademia at Venice addressed hy Sig. P. Edwards to Sig.Savio Gassier, dated the 25th of August, 1780. s Bald., Life of Paolo Veronese ; Botehini, Ricche Minere. 3 See p. 8S8. ^ Marcucci (p. 201) attributes the darkening of the later Italian pictures to three causes, namely — ^first, the badness of the priming, either from being too absorbent or from the use of dark grounds ; secondly, the too free em- ployment of " olio cotlo ;" thirdly, the use of certain black pigments, which deepen in colour in a very short time. See alsoZanetti, della Pittura, &c., pp.374,401, 438, 628. ^ These essays were entitled * A Dissertation on Painting in Oil in a manner similar to that practised in the ancient Venetian Schools ' — ' On the Nature and Properties of Drying Oik ' — ' On the Use of Amber Var- CCCIV INTRODUCTION. [chap. ti. appreciated and quoted by foreigners. It is unnecessary to analyse these Essays ; it will be sufficient to recom- mend them strongly to the perusal of the reader, and to state generally, that Mr. Sheldrake considered that the method adopted by the Venetian masters was as follows: — The chiaroscuro was painted with umber on a tempera preparation, composed of umber, broken with red, yellow, or blue, diluted with chalk or whiten- ing to the proper degree of strength. A coat of varnish was then applied, and on this, when dry, the lights were painted solidly with pure white, scumbling it thinner by degrees until it united with the shadows. In diis manner the chiaroscuro was finished as much as pos- sible, and the local colour of every object glazed over it. The picture was then varnished. The general resemblance between this method and that first described as the Flemish or early Italian process is apparent. The principal variation consisted in the absorbent ground, and the solid painting with white on the lights, which was rendered necessary by the coloured priming. The method of Titian was, with certain modifica- tions, adopted by the other schools of Italy ; some artists, however, still continued to adhere to the older method. It is probable that the method of Titian was commonly adopted at Florence in the time of Vasari, for he mentions' that Fra Bartolomeo delighted in beginning his pictures in chiaroscuro, as if this custom of his was an exception to the general rule. This sup- position is strengthened by the short description of nish with Colours, and the Method of Dissolving Amber and Copal ' — * Con* jectures tending to show that these Vehicles were similar in Prindple, if not identically the same as that used by several of the older Painters who were eminent for their skill in Colouring ' — * An Account of the Process used to separate the Mucilage from Linseed Oil,' &c. These Essays, writ- ten between 1797 and 1801, were published in the Transactions of the So- ciety of Arts, vols, zvi., xvii., and six. 1 Vita di Fra Bartolomeo di S. Marco. CHAP. VI.] METHODS OP PAINTING. CCCV the process of oil-painting by Borghini, who was a Florentine, and who may be supposed to have been well acquainted with the works of that school. This author directs^ that when the first colours were laid in with as little oil as possible (for the oil in drying would, he says, cause the colours to darken), the picture should be laid aside for a long time, until the colours were perfectly dry ; it was then to be rigorously ex- amined, and the necessary corrections made, and then was to be applied the last coat of the finest colours tempered with very little oil, which would remain bright and lively ; for if the (iresh) colours were laid upon the dry dead colouring, the former would retain when dry all their beauty ; but if they were applied on the dead colouring before it was dry, the first and last colours would mix together, and the whole would be dusky and darkened, especially when the colours were made liquid with much oil, which detracts much from the brightness of the colours. It will be observed this author does not allude to the use of varnish in glazing. There is another reason why one layer of colours should be suffered to dry perfectly before another was applied ; namely, to prevent their cracking. Some of the early Italian artists, and particularly Pietro Perugino, appear to have bought their experience in this respect Several of the pictures of Pietro are stated to have suflered from this cause. With reference to some of these pictures, Vasari remarks, "These three pic- tures* are much injured, and the dark parts and shadows are everywhere cracked; and the reason of this is, because when they were painted, the first colour laid on the priming (for three coats of colour were laid one ^ Ripofio, p. 174. * The Christ in the Garden, the Piet^, and the CruciBxion, with Mary Magdalen and Saints, at Florence. VOL. I. U CCCVi INTRODUCTION. [chaf. ri. upon the other) was not dry, so that the under colours shrunk in drying, and thus occasioned those cracks on the surface ; but Pietro could not have known that tbis would happen, because in his time artists were only beginning to paint well in oil."^ The precaution of waiting long between the dead colouring and the finishing was observed generally by the Italians ; Boschini relates that it was the practice of Titian, and its universality may be inferred from the common custom of rubbing down the surface of the picture with pumice-stone, or even scraping it with a knife, as related by Armenini — a process which coaM not take place until the painting was perfectly chy. This practice seems to have been common to all the later schools, and some unfinished pictures by Guide and Guercino at Bologna present the appearance of having undergone this operation. But it was necessary that the painting should be quite dry and hard before the surface was thus rendered smooth ; and for this reason, as well as to prevent the yellowing of the oil, the painting was exposed to the sun at intervals until it was dry. This last process was repeated after every layer of colour. During the winter the colours dried more slowly,* and when the heat of the sun was insufficient to dry them, or the weather particularly damp, they were ex- posed to the heat of a stove, which Errante says ' was the custom of the best colourists. The practice has the sanction of Lionardo da Vinci/ Painters had another reason for exposing their pic- tures to the sun in the various stages of the painting, 1 Life of Pietro Pteni^no. » Gachet, Lettres In^dites de P. P. Rubetis ; De Piles, Ei^mens, p. 142. 8 Sagg^o sui Colon. Home, 1817. < Trattato, cap. 862. The experiments of Mr. Sheldrake prove that pnintingg executed with amber varnish were not injured by exposure to the strong heat of a stove. GBAP. vi. I METHODS OF PAINTING. CCCVil and this was to remove by evaporation the yellow coat of oil which always rose to the surface, and which if not iremoved by this process darkened the colours. A letter of Rubens,^ addressed to Pei'resc, mentions this defect 1x) which new pictures are subject, and prescribes the only remedy. The letter was written in Italian, and is thus translated by Mr. Eastlake : ^ — " If I knew that my portrait was still at Antwerp, I would cause it to be detained and the case to be opened, in order to see if it is not spoiled after having been so long shut up without air; and whether, as commonly happens to fresh colours [under such circumstances], it has not turned yellow, so as to be no longer in appearance what it was at first The remedy, however, if it should happen to be in so bad a state, will be to place it several times in the sun, as the sun can dissipate the superfluity of oil which causes this alteration. And, if at any time it should again become brown, it should again be exposed to the sun's rays, which are the only antidote for this disease of the heart" The perusal of this letter and other evidence which, as it has been given by Mr. Eastlake, it is unnecessary to repeat, induced me about three years since to try and restore by exposure to the sun, the colour of some grounds on canvass which had been made for a par- ticular purpose, of white-lead and marble-dust mixed with oil. They had been turned towards the wall, or otherwise excluded from light and air for some years, and were nearly of the colour of yellow ochre. One of these was placed in a balcony exposed to the afternoon sun. In two days there was a perceptible difference, and in a fortnight the yellow hue had nearly disap- peared. A long loop of riband, by which the canvass 1 Dated LondoD, Aug. 9, 1629, published hj Gacbet. < For much addidonal inforauitioD on this subject, see the ' Materials,' &C., pp. 609—619. U *2 • • • CCCVUl INTRODUCTION. [chap. tt. (which was old) had formerly hung against the wall, was accidentally suffered to hang over the face of the canvass ; on raising the riband it was found that the ground was not bleached where the riband had lain, and this circumstance afforded the means of judging correctly of the effect of the exposure to the sun/ The opinion of Rubens and other evidence of a similar nature suggested the importance of ascertaining whether the custom of exposing pictures to the sun still existed in Italy ; and from the inquiries I made, I am induced to believe that the practice of exposing pictures freshly painted in oil to the sun has always existed in Italy, and has descended traditionally from the early ages of oil-painting to the present time;* that the custom is now observed by several eminent professors and restorers of pictures at Milan and Venice, and that the picture is by some artists exposed to the dew and then dried thoroughly in the hot sun between every coat of paint ; in short, that the great principle in painting is to make the paint dry rapidly and perfectly between every coat of colour, in order to prevent the pigments being acted on by each other and by the air.' The tradition in Venice is that the oil always rises to the surface of the picture and dries dark ; and if the colours are long m drying, the oil with which they are mixed becomes rancid and has a deleterious influence on the colours. For this purpose the pigments are to be mixed with as little oil as possible, and the tints laid on extremely thin, where it is intended to repeat the colours fre- 1 In the directions given by Pacheco for cleaning and refreshing old oil paintings, darkened by smoke and varnish, without danger to the picture, he recommends that if they are on cloth, they should be placed in the sua for half a day ; but if on panel, they should be exposed to the dew for two nights previous to being washed. Tratado, p. 394. s See Cennini, Trattato, cap. 155 ; and Ridolfi, Vita di MafFeo Verona. s See the remark of Bombelli (a Venetian }iainter) quoted by Mr. Shel- drake, Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. xiz. p. 329. See also an extract from the letter of an eminent foreign Professor in Mr. Eastlake's ' Materials,' &c., p. 365. •. CHAP. VI.] METHODS OF PAINTING. CCCIX quently, especially in glazing, when the hand is to be used instead of the pencil, for the express reason that the colours can be laid on by it more thinly than with a brush. With regard to employing colours mixed with size on oil pictures, it was the opinion of Merimfee * that Paolo Veronese sometimes began his pictures in tempera and finished them in oil. I cannot discover that any Italian author mentions this fact, nor have I met with any traditionary account of such a practice. But the fact that some parts of oil paintings were at times painted with size-colours, is established beyond a doubt, as the practice not only of the Yenetiafis, but of artists belonging to the other schools; and as it is allied ^ that some part of the celebrated altar-piece of the Van Eycks at Ghent was painted in tempera, it appears probable that the practice has existed from the earliest period of the introduction of oil painting in Italy. Besides this picture of the Van Eycks, it has been ascertained* that the blue sky of a picture by Pietro Perugino (the first who practised the Flemish method of oil painting in Perugia) was painted with smaltino tempered with starch or flour paste (coUa di farina). There is sufficient evidence to prove that Paolo Veronese frequently painted the blue sky in tempera, and it has been asserted that he applied the more delicate finishing colours in the same manner, but this requires confirmation. In the Flemish system of painting, which was adopted by the early Italian schools, varnish was added to die oil colours, so that the full eflect of the colours was always visible ; and as the layers of colour were thin and the colomrs always finely ground, there was no 1 De la Peiiiture k rHuile, p. 249—261 . » Pacheco, Tratado, p. 3t3. s See ' La Vita, Elogio, e Memorie dell* egregio Pittore Pietro Peru- gino, e degli Scolari di esso/ Da B. Orsini. Penigia, 1804, p. 208, n. CCCX • INTRODUCTION. [chap, vi- necessity for rasping the surface. But where the local colours were laid on solidly, and not finely ground as in the Venetian school, it was necessary, when the abbozso was perfectly dry and hard, in order to secure an even surface for the finishing colours, to rub down the surface with pumice-stone.* In the Venetian manner the colours of the abbooo having been painted with oil only, were dull ; and as the difficulty of retouching a picture "in secco,** that is with a perfectly dry surface, was felt by all artists,* it was considered necessary by some to apply a thin coat of varnish in order to bring out the colours in all their force, as well as to enable the finishing colours to adhere more firmly.' This is said to have been the practice of Paolo Veronese, and is still observed by some Venetian artists. Volpato states * that white of egg was some- times used for this purpose, and sometimes varnish or oil. Lana recommends^ boiled oil to which litharge has been added in preference to raw oil, and De Files* prefers oil to varnish. Armenini and Bisagno direct that a thin coat of oil should be passed over the picture, or at least over the parts to be retouched, and then wiped off immediately, leaving only a slight degree of moisture on the surface.^ This process is technically called " oiling out" To conclude, I might have indulged in expressing the feelings of delight with which I contemplated the works of the great Masters of the Italian School ; but I feel that this would not have accorded with the techni- cal and practical details of the various subjects treated 1 Mengs is said to have adopted this practice. ^ Goethe on Colours, by Eastlake, p. 407^ n. * Lairesse, le Grand Lirre des Peintres, vol. i. cap. v. * Pp. 747, 749. » P. 746, n. « El^mens, pp. 114, 118. '^ See generally Mr. Eastlake's ' Materials,' &c., pp. 476, 304 n. ; and see Verri, Saggio Elementare, &c., p. 115. CHAP, vij NOTE ON MS. OF FRA FORTUNATO. CCCXl of in these volumes. It has been my object to support the statements I have made, and the opinions I have expressed, by the authorities quoted, or to which I have referred. From the commencement to the conclusion, the pleasing expectation of discovery has alleviated the labour of research, and smoothed the path of inquiry ; and although I have not succeeded to the fiill extent of my wishes, I indulge the hope that my labours, which have been devoted entirely to this object for upwards of three years, may be found useful, and not altogether uninteresting. NOTE ON A MANUSCRIPT Kntitled ' Racoolti di Secred, Specific!, Renicdj, &c. ; ora adesso di Fra Fortunato da Rovigo, Laico Capucino, Infermiere nel Convento dei Capucini di Verona.' This MS., which is in two thick volumes in 8vo., is in the possession of the Canon Ramelli, of Rovigo. The MS. consists of seveml treatises on medicine, and of collections of recipes for colours, with directions for minia- ture painting. Many of the lormer are translations from the French, and were probably used by Fra Fortunato in his character of sufierintendent of the infirmary of the convent. The recipes date from 1659 (soon after the profession of Fra Fortunato) to 1711. A copy from the books of the con- vent, of the register of his profession, is inscribed in the first page of the MS. The recipes for painting resemble so closely those in other MSS. of Secreti, that it appeared unnecessary to copy the whole. I have transcribed a few only, which show the colours and methods in use during the time of Fra Fortunato. From these we find that lake was prepared from ''grana tinctoria '* or ** grana di kermes," ** cimatura di scarlato," '* cremisi" (pro- bably cochineal), ** verzino,*' and '* gomma lacca." — " Lacca fina" was made from '* cimatura di scarlato overo grana fina, cochiniglia, and gomma lacca." Among the blue pigments, azzurro di Germania is stated to be composed of mercury, sulphur, and sal ammoniac. '* The blue colour made at Pozzuoli " is the old vestorian azure ; it was made of sand, " fior di nitro,*' and copper filings. ** Biadetto " was composed of verdigris, sal ammoniac, and tartar. These blue pigments appear to have been difficult to use, since there are es- pecial directions for tempering them. Sometimes a varnish composed of spirit of turpentine and mastic was employed for this purpose. '' Biadetto '* was to be ground with a little burnt roche alum, or tartar, or sandarac ; it was to be ground very fine, and in miniature painting was to be used with a clear var- nish of spirit of turpentine and mastic ; it would then spread extremely well, glaze brilliantly, and be a most beautiful colour.^ * Biadeltofitre, che bent si poui Mlendere, miniando.^SA macina bene con nn CCCxii INTRODUCTION. [chip, ti, " Boiled oil for painters, as clear (colourless ?) as water/' was prepared in the following manner : — '^ Put the usual piece of rag containing litbarn and other customary things in linseed or nut oil, add water, and boil, and this will cause it [the oil] to be clear (colourless ?) as water itself."^ The recii)es for varnish are not numerous. A recipe for one which is ascribed to P. Bonaventura, a monk of Cento, dated 3rd of April, 1707, tat paper, wood, and other things, consisted of spirits of wine 6 oz., sandarBC 2 oz., olio d'abezzo | oz. Another varnish, which is not injured by hot water, consists of linseed oil and resin ; this was the Italian '' Temioe co- mune." Another varnish was composed of spirit of turpentine, sandanc, and (concrete) turpentine ; and another of '^ gomma copale*' dissolved io spirit of turpentine. The directions for *^ painting in fresco on lime with colours that are not mineral (such as lake), and to enable them to resist for a long period the effects of the air,'* are comprised in a few words, namely j to apply a coat of '^ gesso da sarto" upon the lime spread on the wall, and then paint on it The short instructions for miniature painting contain but little that is new. Fra Fortunate, however, recommends that the gum should be added to the colours, only when required for use, because if the colours were suffered to remain long mixed with gum, they would become dry, and the addition of water to them would cause the more delicate colours, such as lake, giallolino, cinnabar, and azure, to change. From this it appears that it was the common practice to keep the colours for miniature painting ready mixed with gum. pboo di alume di rocco, bruciato, o vero con un poco di tartaro^ o pore con lan- dracca. Vedi qui sotto. II biadetto macinato ben sottile, e adoprato miniaudo con yemice fiitta ooo acqua di ragia e mastice, che sia ben chiara, si stende benissimo, vela polito, e fa colore bellissimo. * P^ far C olio cotto dapittore, che sia chiaro come acqua, — Metti il solito piumazzolo col litargirio, et altro come si usa dentro V oglio di nooe o di lino a boUire, e con esso mettivi seco dell' acqua a bollire, che questa lo fkra rimaner chiara, come Y acqua medesima. MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. In the year 1431, Jehan le Begue, a licentiate in the law and Notary of the Masters of the Mint at Paris, being then in the sixty- third year of his age,* com- posed, or rather compiled, the following manuscript,* from a collection of works on painting made by one 1 See end of manuscript of Le Begue. * The original manuscript of Jchan le Begue is preserved in the Biblio- th6que Royale at Paris. It is on paper, and is numbered 6741. For the first information concerning this manuscript we are indebted to Leasing, who mentions it in his Treatise, ' Dom Alter der Oelmalerey aus dem Theophilus Presbyter,' 1774. Leasing, however, did not know the work, but quoted the title only from the Catalogue of Manuscripts in the above- mentioned library, because he believed it contained a copy of the manu- script of Theophilus. It docs, in fact, contain great part of the first book of this author. Raspe* and Emeric David ^ both mention the manuscript, but with reference to the copy of Theophilus only ; the remainder and greater part of the manuscript seems to have been unknown until 1842 or 1843, when M. le Comte Charles de TEscalopier procured a copy of the whole for the purpose of completing his edition of Theophilus. In the autumn of 1844 I went to Paris to procure a copy of the manuscript, which I obtained after some unavoidable delay. Some extracts from the work have been recently published by Mr. Eastlake, in his ' Materials for Painting in Oil,' and by Mr. Hendrie, in his edition of Theophilus ; but the whole work has never yet been published. « Critical Essay on Oil Painting, Lond. 1781, p. 38. *> Biographic Universelle— Art Th^phile. VOL. I. B 2 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. Jehan Alcherius, or Alcerius. The motive that in- duced Jehan le Begue to undertake the work does not appear. lie himself tells us that he was unaccus- tomed to such writing;^ and the numerous mistakes throughout the manuscript prove that he told the truth. But, whatever might have been his inducements, tlie zeal with which he undertook the work, and the man- ner in which he executed his task, show his attachment to the arts, and his desire to obtain information on all subjects connected with iU The formation and alpha- betical arrangement of the Table of Synonymes at the commencement of the work, at a period when the art of printing was unknown,* and the sources of informa- tion from books must have been very limited, was no small proof of his industry and perseverance. His authorities seem to have been the works collected by ^ Alcherius, and the Gatholicon, which was then in manu- script, and which was not printed until twenty-nine years after Jehan le Begue completed his work*' 1 See [No. 803a]. These numbers refer to the recipes in the text. * The first essay of Laurentius, the inventor of printing with sepoRBte wooden types, was about the year 1430. s The * Gatholicon' was a Latin Dictionary , composed in the year 1286, by Fra. Giovan. Baldi, a Grenocse. It was printed at Mentx in 1460, nearly thirty years after it was quoted by Jehan le Begue ; and Bettineili re- marks it was the fourth booic after the Bible which was printed with moveable types of fused metal, but the author of the article ' Printing ' in the * Ency- dopeedia Britannica ' says it was printed by Guttemberg with types of cut metal, and that Guttemberg used none but wood or cut metal types until the year 1462. Previous to the ' Gatholicon,' two other Latin vocabalaries had been composed in Italy, the first of which was entitled * Glosaario delta Lingua Latina ;' this was written by Papia, a Lombard, and, as it is believed, a native of Milan, who was one of the most learned Greek scholars of his age : he flourished about a.d. 1060. This was followed by the Dic- tionary of Uguccione Pisano, Bishop of Ferrara, in 1190. See Bctiinelli's ' Eisorgimento d' Italia,' vol. i. p. llOn. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 3 My reasons for supposing this Table of Synonymes to have been composed by Le Begue are, that the recipes in old French at the end (which the table of contents^ informs us were added by Le Begue) are referred to in the Table of Synonymes, and also because this Table is full of errors, and contains many statements which Alcherius must have known to be incorrect. After the Table of Synonymes are two fragments of alphabetical indices, the first of which begins at the letter Q, and concludes with W ; the other comprises the letter A only. These fragments, I consider, are both the work of Le Begue, because they contain refer- ences to the recipes in old French at the end of the manuscript. Of the early life and profession of Jehan Alcherius, v^ or Archerius, the manuscript gives no indications. It does not actually appear that he was a painter, but his attachment to the art is unquestionable, or he would not " have taken the pains he did to become acquainted with the technical processes, and to write down so many recipes from the dictation of others. In all that related to the art he wa3 superior to Jehan le Begue ; he also -- possessed the additional advantage of understanding Italian, which he acquired in Italy during his occasional ^ visits to that country. The object of these visits does not transpire ; it is, however, certain that he frequented the company of painters, and that he neglected no means of obtaining information relative to the art. The earliest biographical notice of Alcherius is dated I I am of opinion (his table of contents is not in the hand- writing of Le Begue. b2 / 4 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB B£6U£. March, 1382/ at which time he left Milan for Paris, taking with him a recipe for making writing-ink, which had been given to him by Alberto Porzello, " who was most perfect in all kinds of writing and forms of letters, and who, while he lived, kept a school at Milan, and taught boys and young men to write." In 1398 Alcherius was at Paris. On the 28th of July, in that year, he wrote his treatise * De Coloribus diversis modis tractatur,** from the dictation of Jacob Cooa, a Flemish painter, then living at Paris. This treatise relates chiefly to miniature painting, and its usual accompaniment gilding. On the 8th of August follow* ing he wrote another short treatise, which also relates to the same subject, entitled * De diversis Coloribus,' * from the dictation of Antonio di Compendio, " an illu- minator of books, and an old man," who had tried aU the recipes himself. These recipes therefore may be considered to date from the middle of the fourteenth century, at least. In October, 1398, he was still at Paris.^ Nothing more is known of him from that time until the month of March, 1409, when it appears he was again at Milan, where he copied the recipes at the commencement of the work as far as No. 88, from a book lent to him by Fra Dionisio, a Servite, or, as it is expressed in the manuscript, " of the order of the Ser- vants of St. Mary, which order in Milan is called * Del Sacho.' " * These recipes, from Nos. 1 to 47 inclusive, are for colours of various kinds for painting and writings and other things belonging to the art of miniature 1 See Preface to No. 802. « See Preface to No. 291. s See Preface to No. 297. « See Preface to No. 903. » See Preface to No. 47. PRELIMINARy OBSERVATIONS. 5 painting. Nos. 47 to 88 contain various recipes for working in metals ; for hardening iron ; for a kind of nigellum ; for making a sort of pyrophorus — namely, a light which should hurn under water, and which could be extinguished with oil only ; and also a candle which should bum with water and without fire. In No. 86 a kind of gum is mentioned, which was said to have attractive powers somewhat like the loadstone. It is possible that this gum Andrianum, the name by which it is called in the manuscript, may be another name for amber (of which this attractive power is a known attri- bute), which is found embedded in stones in various parts of Europe, and in Italy on the coast of the Adriatic* From the description, however, and from a consideration of the locality where it was found, it seems equally probable that it was a sort of native bitumen. The mountain where the gum is found is called in the text Monte Bono or Buono ; it should be Monte Bene. This mountain is on the high road from Bo- logna to Florence, and is covered with scattered rocks of breccia, and is remarkable for its fine scenery, and for the singular natural phenomena which are found in its vicinity. The height is above 4000 feet. The fires of Pietra Mala, a village near this mountain, are known to all tourists. These extraordinary fires are con- stantly issuing from a spot of ground three or four yards across. When the air is calm they are seen at a great distance, rising about a foot from the ground, and in I See Agricola, ' De Mctallicis/ f. 238. See also Eastlake, ' Mate- rials/ &c., 234 n. 6 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEUAN LE BEGUE. damp weather are very bright and luminous. They are extinguished by a high wind, but light again spontane- ously on the air becoming calm. They resemble the flame of alcohol ; and V olta ascertained that the gas emitted is a composition of carbon and hydrc^en — pro- bably produced by the decomposition of vegetable remains in the subjacent sand-rock. Between Monte Bene and Montoggioli is a singular spring, which is fre- quently dry. If a lighted match be brought near die mud of this spring, the gases exhaled from it imme- diately take fire, burning with a lambent flame.^ On the 2nd of February, 1410, Johannes Alcherius wrote a description of the process of preparing ultra- marine from the instruction given him by one Master Johannes, a Norman, residing in the house of Pietro da Verona.* This Pietro da Verona was probably a painter; and the researches of the Abbate Moschoni have shown that a painter of this name was at Padua in 1398, and that his son Antonia da Verona was also at Padua in 1393.' We may therefore suppose that the former was the contemporary of Johannes Al- cherius. On the 11th February, 1410, Johannes Alcherius was at Bologna, where he became acquainted with one Theodore, a native of Flanders and an embroiderer, who had been employed at Pavia by Gian Galeazzo Vis- conti, and who gave him certain recipes and directions for preparing and using coloured waters, which Theo- 1 See Murray's ' Guide to North Italy.* s See Prc&ce to No. 118. 3 See Moscbini ' della Origine e delle Vicende della PitUira in Padora.* Padova, 1826, p. 9. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 7 dore stated he had procured at London in England/ These recipes, which, it appears from the Note to No. 96, were given in writing, were written in French. It is certain that these passages relate to the pre- paration of transparent colours for painting ;^ but I think that they refer also to the art of dyeing, and to the decoration of wearing apparel. No. 92 is evidently a mordant, and was used both to prepare the cloth to receive the colours, and to bleach certain parts of co- loured cloths, by which a regular pattern might be given to them. The note of the author attached to this recipe certainly alludes to this operation of the art of dyeing, in which it is expressly stated white letters and figures could be drawn upon a coloured ground ; for it is well known if figures, &c., be drawn with the mordant on cloth, and then suffered to dry, and if, when dry, the cloth be dipped into a coloured dye and afterwards dried, it will appear one uniform colour ; but if the cloth so coloured be then washed in plain water, the colour will be discharged from those parts on which the mor- dant was not applied, and the cloth will be marked with a coloured figure on a white ground. This appears to be the process alluded to in the text, No. 92. An additional reason for supposing that these re- cipes relate also to the process of dyeing arises from the fact that the stuffs to be stained was sometimes made of wool expressed by the French word " drap," and the 1 See Preface to No. 89. Gian Galeazzo died in 1402. He bad the glory of commencing the ' Duomo' of Milan in 1386, and the * Certosa' of Pa via in 1896. He was succeeded by Gian Maria Visconti. > See Kastlake, * Materials/ &c., cap. 5. See also EracliuS) lib. iii. No. 26. 8 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. Latin " drapis coloricis lane ;" and I am not aware that woollen cloth has ever been used for the purpose of serving as a ground for pictures. The word " tellis," which occurs in the note after No. 99, shows that the staining or painting was not limited to woollen cloths, but extended also to those made of linen. This sup position receives more weight from a passage in the manuscript of St. Audemar (No. 195), where he says, " If you wish to gild leather, or purple cloth, or linen, or silk, stir it (the mordant) up altogether and draw beasts, birds, and flowers upon it; then lay on die gold." This passage can only be understood as appli- cable to articles of dress, unless indeed the painted or gilded cloths should have been used as altar-cloths or for the hangings of apartments. The view I have taken of this subject is, I think, confirmed by the fact that the English in the fourteenth century actually wore garments painted with various colours, or in the words of the manuscript chronicle quoted by Mr. Planchfe, in his * History of British Costume,' "All that time the Englishmen were clothed all in cootes and hoodes peynted with letters and flowers, and seemly with long beards." The practice is further illustrated by the epigram which, in 1327, was affixed to the church-door of St Peter Stangate : — <* Long beirds hertiless, Peynted hoods witless, Gay cotes graceless, Maketh Englonde thriftless." Nor does it appear to me any objection that the words " lavorare " and " depingere " are used, because it does not .nppear that at this period blocks for calico- PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 9 printing were invented, and consequently the letters and figures were necessarily painted on the cloth by hand. It seems to me very natural that an em- broiderer should have learnt the particulars of an in- vention which must materially have interfered with his own trade. On the 13th of February, 1410, Johannes caused the recipes numbered 100 to 116, inclusive, to be copied from a book lent to him by "Johannes de Modena, a painter living at Bologna."^ These are the recipes which, being written in Italian, Jehan le Begue could not read ; he, however, procured a Latin translation of them to be made by a friend of his "who was skilled in both languages." They relate chiefly to colours and to mordants for laying on gold. Among the latter is one which will not be affected by the weather, and which consisted of minium, ceruse, verdi- gris, bole, and ochre ground up with linseed oil and " liquid varnish." There is also a recipe for preparing " gesso sottile " for a ground for the gold. There is reason to believe that the Giovanni da Modena, the painter mentioned in this manuscript, and Giovanni Bossi da Modena, who was called ** II Negro," the architect, were identical. Giovanni da Modena is mentioned for the first time as a painter in 1410, when it appears from the manu- script of Le Begue and from some documents pre- served in Bologna, that he was then resident in that city. In 1 408, Bartolommeo Bolognini directed by his will 1 'Guidadi Bologna/ p. 112. 10 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGTJE. that certain pictures were to be painted in the chapel of S. Giorgio (now S. Abbondio, in the church of S. Fetronio in Bologna), which belonged to him, and which he described, as well as the subjects of (he pic- tures to be painted. It appears, from the archives of S. Fetronio, that in 1420 Giovanni da Modena was selected to paint some pictures illustrative of stories from the Old Testament in this chapel, and as the sab- jecte of the pamtmgs now there correspond witfi those ordered by Bartolommeo Bolognini, it is conjectured that some of these paintings are by Giovanni da Mo- dena.^ His name s^ain occurs as a painter in 1451 in some documents preserved at Bologna, but his works are not mentioned; and from this time until 1455 we hear nothing more of Giovanni da Modena ; but about that time Giovanni Rossi executed, for the Duke Borso, the beautiful miniatures in the Bible of the House of Este, now preserved in the Ducal Library at Modena.' Lanzi says this Giovanni Rossi exer- cised his art at Mantua. From the few historical notices of Giovanni Rossi da Modena, the architect, called ' II Negro,' it appears that he was the son of Martino de Rubeis de Mutina ; that he was living at Bologna in 1410,^ and the archives of S* Petoonio 1 < Guida di Bologna/ p. 266. 2 Marchese, * Memorie dei Pittori Domenicaiii,' vol. i. p. 174. Lenzi, vol. iv. p. 6. * While I was preparing these notes, I received the following note (which I translate literally) from Sig. Michaelangelo Gualandi of Bologna, whose archaeological researches in the cause of the fine arts are well known and appreciated : — ** We have met with the name of one Giovanni da Modena, a painter, between the years 1410 and 1451, but none of his works are named. As to the architect of S. Petronio in Boiognsi by name CHovanm da Modena^ PHELIMINARY OBSBRVATIONS. 11 show that he succeeded Paolo Tibaldi as the architect of that edifice in 1454.^ His name may now be seen on some architectural designs preserved in S. Petro- nio. He was living in 1470. From these facts there appears scarcely a doubt of the identity of the painter and architect ; for it has been shown that Giovanni Bossi, or Bussi, was an architect in 1454, and that about 1455 a Giovanni Rossi, a painter, executed some miniatures for the Duke of Modena. The identity is further confirmed by the circumstance that both painter and architect resided, at least occa- sionally, in Bologna from 1410, when Alcherius visited that city, until 1454 or 1455, In addition to these facts it must be remembered that the old masters fre- quently exercised both professions, to which they some- times added also that of sculptor. Giotto, the reformer of the Florentine school of painting, was the architect of the beautiful Campanile of Florence. Michael Angelo painted in the Sistine Chapel, and was the architect of St Peter's. Bramante also was a painter and an architect : there is nothing singular, therefore. I am going to publish Home interesting notices respecting him; among others, that dated from Rome, 22nd February, 1454, in which he is de- scribed as follows : — ' Providum vir Magtstrum Johannem quondam Mar- tini de Hubeis de Mutma^ Muratorem Bonon commorantem qui comuniter dicitur M. Johane Negro.* He is styled * Architecto Magistrum et Inge- niorum.' He lived until 1470, whence it is scarcely probable (supposing him also to have been a painter) that he should have been the same indi- vidual who worked in 1410, when he must at least have been twenty-five years of age." This fact is certainly sufficient to raise a doubt as to the identity of the painter and architect, but instances of longevity are so common among painters, that there is nothing unreasonable in supposing Giovanni oa Modena to have attained the age of eighty or eighty-five years. 1 < Guida di Bologna,' p. 97. 12 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. in Giovanni da Modena being at the same time a painter and an architect Giovanni de' Rossi had a son named Autonio, vrho became a Dominican in the convent of Sta. Maria Novella, at Florence, and who being afflicted with a tedious and incurable malady which rendered him unfit for other studies, occupied himself entirely in writing and illuminating the choral books of the con- vent He died of the plague in 1495/ The name of Antonio da Modena also occurs among the names of the artists in the book belonging to the Society of Painters in Padua during the year 1441:* this was probably Antonio, the son of Giovanni de* Rossi above men- tioned. From Bologna, it appears, Johannes Alcherius went to Venice, where, on the 4th of May, 1410, he procured a recipe for preparing ultramarine from " Michelino di Vesuccio, the most excellent painter among all the painters of the world." ^ The high opinion entertained by Alcherius for the skill of Michelino was general among his contemporaries. Pietro Candido Dicembrio asserts that he was one of the most famous painters of his time — inter cceteres cetatis suce iUustris. The Con te Gaetano Melzi informed me that Michelino was a native of Besuzzo (a village in the province of Milan), which forms part of the estates of the Borromeo family, by whom he was much employed. The present representative of this noble house possessed, until very * Marchese, * Memorie/ &c., vol. i. p. 174. « See Moschini * della Pittura in Padova,' p. 23. See Preface to No. 117. PREUMINARY OBSERVATIONS, 13 lately, a picture, now entirely decayed, by this artist. Conte Giberto Borromeo was polite enough to search for the picture in order to show it to me, but it. was so dilapidated that I could not see it. The following biographical notice respecting this painter is translated from a manuscript volume of Memoirs of the early Milanese Painters, Architects, and Sculptors, kindly lent me by Conte Gaetano Melzi of Milan, a nobleman distinguished for his literary attainments and possessing an excellent library : — " We may reasonably conclude that this is the Michelino of Milan who is named by Vasari among the disciples of Taddeo Gaddi. He is mentioned by Lomazzo, who says he was a very old Milanese painter who lived a hundred and fifty years before his time ; * and that he was one of the best of that period, judging firom his works, some of which exist to this day. He added that he was ^ stupendissimo nel far figure di animali ;' and he gives us a description of a picture or drawing in which are represented some peasants in the act of joking and laughing, which was really an extra- ordinary work of the kind. Pietro Candido Dicembrio, who was a contemporary of this same Michelino, men- tions another of his pictures, which was the portrait of Gian Maria Yisconti, Duke of Milan. It is also asserted that Michelino was not less skilful in archi- tecture, and that he took a prominent part in the academy instituted by the Duke Gian Galeazzo about the year 1380." I Lomazzo published his Treatise in 1584 ; this would bring the date of Michelino at least as far back as 1434. 14 MAXUSCBIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. ^ Michdino, therefore, is another instance of a painter exercising the profession of architect conjointly with his own. Lanzi (vol. iv. p. 139), after repeating what Lomazzo had said in praise of Michelino, adds, that it appears he was esteemed even by foreigners, for it is men- tioned by Morelli (Notiziej Sfc^ p. 81) that the Vendramini family in Venice possessed a small parch- ment book in quarto, containing animals painted by this artist. The note of Alcherius shows that Miche- lino was at Venice in 1410. Lanzi says he was living in 1435. Johannes Alcherius returned to Paris in 1410; and in December, 1411, a year after his return from Italy, he employed himself in recopying and correcting the manuscripts he had collected on painting.^ This ap- pears to have been his last labour in the service of the arts. From this time nothing more is known of this indefatigable collector of manuscripts on art, whose labours extended over a space of thirty years. Twenty years after we find his manuscripts in the hands of Jehan le Begue, who copied them **with his own hand into one volume/' and who probably arranged them in their present form. I have entered into these particulars because they give authority to the recipes, and authenticity to the manuscripts. Besides these manuscripts which I have mentioned, the volume of Le Begue contains also a copy of part of the first book of Theophilus ; a Treatise on the Com- 1 See Preraces to Nos. 290, 297, 302. PRELIMINART OBSERVATIONS. 15 position of.ColourSy by Fetrus de Sancto Audemaro; and three books by Eraclius, entitled ^^ De Artibus Romanorum." The whole of the treatise of Theophilus has recently been published, with an excellent English translation and notes, by Mr. Hendrie. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of the synonymous names of colours, and of the qualities and accidents of colours, and things pertaining to the art of painting ; also of the works and exercises proper and incident to them. Another table imperfect, and without a beginning. Experiments on colours. Divers experiments not upon colours. The work of Theophilus, a most admirable and learned master of the whole science of the art of painting. The work of Master Peter, of St. Audemar, on making colours. The first and metrical book of Eraclius (a most learned man), on the colours and arts of the Romans. The second book by the same author, also metrical. The third book, in prose, on the aforesaid colours and arts. Chapters written by John Archerius, or Alcherius, in the year of our Lord 1398, on colours for painting, as he -received them from Jacob Cona, a Flemish painter, then living in Paris. Chapters on the colours used for illuminating books, written and noted by the same Alcherius in the year 1398, as he received them from Antonio de Compendio, an illuminator of books in Paris ; and from Master Alberto Porzello, a schoolmaster at Milan, who was most skiliul in all kinds of writing. Other recipes in Latin and French by Master John, sumamed Le Begue, a licentiate in law, and secretary of the general magistrates of the king's mint at Paris; who wrote the present work, or the chapters collected in this volume, with his own hand, in the year of our Lord 1431, and in the 63rd year of his age. Illustra Deus oculum. li CONTINENTUR HOC VOLUMINE. rTABULA de Yocabulis synonymis et equivocis colorum rerumque et accidentium colorum ipsisque omni arti pictorie confer- entiuin nee non operum exercitiorumque propitiorum ac con- tingentium eorum. Alia tabula licet imperfecta et sine initio. Expcrimenta de coloribus. Experimenta diversa alia quam de coloribus. Liber Theopbili admirabilis et doctissimi magistri de omni scientia picturae artis. Liber Magistri Petri de Sancto Audemaro de coloribus faci- endis. Eraclii sapientissimi viri liber primus et metricus de coloribus et de artibus Romanorum. Ejusdem liber secimdus, item metricus. Ejusdem liber tertius sed prosaicus de coloribus et ar- tibus prsedictis. De coloribus ad pingendum capitula scripta et notata a Jo- hanne Archerio seu Alcherio anno Domini 1398 ut accepit a Jacobo Cona flamingo pictore commorante tunc Parisiis. Capitula de coloribus ad illuminandum libros ab eodem Ar- cberio sive Alcberio scripta et notata anno 1398 ut accepit ab Antonio de compendio illuminatore librorum in Parisiis et a magistro Alberto Porzello perfectissimo in omnibus modis scribendi, mediolani scholas tenente. Aultres receptes en Latin et en Francois per Magistrum Jo- hannem dit Le Begue Licentiatum in legibus et generalium magistrorum monetse regis greffarium Parisiis. Qui prae- sens opus seu capitula in hoc volumine aggregata propria manu scripsit anno Domini 1431. iEtatis vero suae 63. TUustra Deus oculum. VOL. I. c 18 MANUSCRIPTS OF JTEHAN LE BEGUE, Tabula de vocabulis sinonimis et equivocis colorum^ rerumque, et accidencium colorum, ipsisque et arti pictorie conferentium, nee non operum exerciciorum* que propicionim ac contingencium eorum. [Habitis per presentem tabulam declaradonibus nominum, coloniiii, rerun- que, et accidencium eorum et artis pictorie, et eis conferencium, nee noo operum et exercicionim propiciorum ac contingencium eorum, queranter ipsorum et ipsorum effectiM et opersdonea in hoc iibro, et in oapitniis ejua, per primam ex tabulis sequentibus.] Albus est colory aliter, secnndum Grecos, dicitur leucos et secundum Catholiconem dicitur glaucus ; et est cerusa, aliter album Hispanic, et aliter album plumbum dicitur, et aliter bracha sen blacfaa.^ Azurium vel lazurium est color ; aliter celestis vel celestinos, aliter blauccus, aliter persus, et aliter ethereus dicitur. Aurum est nobilius metallum croceum * colorem habens et tenuatur in petulis, quo carentes utuntur stanno attenuate, et colorito colore croceo, et in petulis tenuato. Argentum est nobile raetallum album colorem habens, quo qui caret utitur ejus loco de dicto stanno tenuato, non co- lorito. Auripiffmentum est color croceus qui aliter arsicon dicitur. Aureola^ est color qui aliter pictura translucida yocatur; et omnis pictura, cujuslibet coloris, in stanno attenuate facta, si NoTB. — The technical nature of the terms, and the obscority of manj of the explanations, render a translation impracticable. I ASnts appears to signify white lead. Blacha was probably written biacha (biacca). s CrocuSf Croceum is used for yellow. See Croceum. 8 Aureola. This appears to be the auripetrum of Pietro di S. Audemar, No. 202, and the Clavicula. TABLE OF SYNONYMBS. 19 ipsa liniatur, per earn transparet, et pulcra fit, precipue si in stanno tenuato polito sit. Attramentum est color niger quo scribitur, alitor incaustum dicitur, et vide in incausto, et de ipso qnoque utitur pingendo dum fit de fuligine ardentis candele vel lampadis vel carbone mollis ligni vel vitis.^ Auripentrum * est color croceus qui sianno lucido suppositus et linitus speciem auri procul intuentibus mentitur. Auripigmento similis est color qui vocatur {sic) et fit de felle piscis magni marini, credo balene, mixto cum creta alba sen gersa et modico aceto. Arsicon vel arxica ' sicut est auripigmentuniy est color cro- ceus, et miscendo succo herbe que scalda bassa dicitur fit viridis et succi gratia quarumdam aliarum berbarum ad hoc boni sunt. Anguillaria herba fisicit colorem {sic) cum miscetur vitro. Alba creta est gipsus, aliter gersa dicta, et fit de lapide quo- dam in fomace usque ad dealbacionem decocto, et de subtiliore ipsius dealbantur tabule altarium. Alii plastrum yocant Arxica est quedam terra crocea ad pingendum apta ac etiam ad formas operum cupri fuudendorum fiendas utilima. Alumen glade * quod alibi, precipue in Parisiis glassa dicitur, et si color non sit, tamen pluribus coloribus ad picturam et illuminaturam aptis nimis conveniens est. Assisiam auri faciendo intrat moniculum' quod est quedam {sic). 1 Atramentum, then, is charcoal or lamp-black, No. 172. s Auripentram, called auripetrum by Petrus di S. Audemar, No. 202 ; by Eraeliua, No. xlir. ; and in the Clavicula. This appears to be the aame as Aureola. s Arzicon and Arxica are here considered synonymous, but they are not so in fact: the former is declared by Eradius, No. 1., to be the same as orpiment, but the latter is shown by the Bolognese manuscript to have been a yellow lake, made from the Reseda Luteola, Dyers' weed, or, as it is generally called. Weld. Arzicon appears to be a corruption of Arsemcon^ which Vitruvius (lib. vii. cap, vii.) says was the Greek name for Auripig- mentum. 4 Alumen glacie appears to bo common alum, see Nos. 42, 299, 313. & Gum ammoniac. c2 20 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. Aurare seu deaurare chrisare dicitur, ut dicit Catholicon* Argilla dicitur creta alba, et aliis modis vocatur ut&equenter in creta dicetur. AUn colores seu materie et metalla eorum sunt et nomi- nantur, ut et in hac tabula reperies in locis suis, cemsa, blacha, argentum et stannum tenuatum, gipsus, creta alba, candidus calx, gersa, tavertinus. Bracha seu Blacha ^ est color albus, et fit de plumbo vel de ejus corrupcione, sicut rubigo fit de ferro ; aliter Tocatur cerusa, album plumbum, et aliter glaucus. Blauccus* est color, aliter lazurium vel azurum aliter celestis vel celestinus, aliter persus, aliter ethereus dictoft. Brunus ^ est color quern puto esse bularminium alibi pom- tur pro sanguine drachonis qui quasi colons bularminici est. Bures* est liquor qui in liciTio de cinere fabarvun coctus facit colorem (sic) credo viridem, per ea que continentnr in capitulo 247. 1 It is probable this word was originally written biacha, the old Italian way of spelling biacca. * Bkaiccus, or, as it, is written in No. 2^, Blaueha, and in No. S14 blauetj signifies Blue. 9 Brumiu, Probably Bruno di Spagna, which Haydocke, the translator of Lomazzo's Treatise on Painting (p. 99), identifies with Majolica, and which there is no reason to doubt is the sofl red hsematite, called also Bruno d'Inhilterra. This colour is mentioned by Eradius, Nos. 282, 286. 4 There is scarcely a doubt that this should be written Bcrax^ and not Bures. The word Borax is derived in the first place from the Hebrew Borith, and more immediately from the Arabic Baurach, and was so cor* rupted by the different nations who practised the arts in which it was used, that it is seldom found in old MSS. written twice alike. By Theophilos it is called ^' parahas/* or " barabas ;" in the Montpelier MS. described by Mr. Hendrie (Theoph. p. 429) it is written " Boraxa ;*' in the Clavicala, Bnrrago, Borras, Borraz, and Borac. It was also known to the Arabs under another name, derived from Tincal, its denomination in India, whence it was brought to Europe, namely Tincar, whence the Spanish name Atio<- car. It is a native borate of soda, and is found at the bottom of lakes in Persia, the Mogul territory, in Thibet, China, and Japan, TABLE OF SYNONYMES. 21 Bisetusy vel Biseth folii,^ est color minus rubeus quam foliuin, et de eodem folio cum supernatat acceptus, et credo per hoc etiam potest intelligi quilibet clarescens color super- natans cuilibet ex coloribus cum in conchillis temperati sunt ad pingendum et aliquantulum quieyerunt. Bularminium * est color rubeus nigrescens, ut morellus, vel ut sanguis drachonis. Blacha seu Bracha* est color albus, alitor cerusa, aliter album Hispanic, aliter album plumbum, et aliter glaucus dicitur. Braxilium vel Brexilium * est lignum rubeum a quo cum pistus rixus sit in lixiyio forti vel urina cum albumine com- miscetur exit color roxeus vel purpureus. Blaca, dicit Catholicon, est purpura cujusdem animalis colorem mutans ; et qui blateus dicitur, purpureus^ yel talis coloris, scilicet blauius dicitur ipse. Blandus est color albo et rubeo mixtus, aliter cerulus vel ceruleus ; et ceruleus color alibi ponitur pro colore ex albo et viridi mixto ; et facto vel ex viridi, albo, et croceo. Berettinus ^ color, Lombardice sic vocatus, est color medius inter album et nigrum, qui Latine elbus vel elbidus dicitur, ut in Catholicone scilicet ; Gallice grisus appellatur. Birsus* est color rufus vel niger, ut dicit Catholicon. Blaui ^ colores, seu materie eorum sunt et nominantur ut in 1 See Folium. Bisetus, or Biseth folii, a Latin form of ** Bezette," which is a corruption of the Italian word *^ Pezzette.*' See the note to " Succus." ^ Bularmenium — Armenian Bole. s Blacha, or bracha. This should probably be written biacha (biacca), Nos. 1, 18. 4 Braxilium, or brexilium, the verzino of the Italians. ^ This colour, which is a true grey, is the veneda of Theophilus. 6 Birsus. This appears to be a dark purple colour. See Cennino Cen- nini, chap, cxiv., note by Tambroni. f Blaui colores, that is blue colours. See ante^ Blauccus. This term occurs in the extracts from the Archivio delle Riformazione di Firenze, published by Gaye, Carteggio inedito, vol. i. p. 449, and in Venetian turifis. Mr. Hendrie says the word is of Byzantine origin. The resem- blance to the German Blau is striking. 22 MANTTSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BEGUE. hac tabula in locis suis reperies, acurium sett lazurium, viola, herbe flos, persicuB, persus, indicus, eilacetus, safirecus, ralngo argenti finissimi. Chriso, Chrisas^ id est deaurare vel aurarc ut in Catholicon dicitur. Citrinus color aliquantulum differt a duobus coloribus, id est, croceo, et punico vel puniceo, et citrinus est color ex croceo et rubeo mixtus sen factus.^ Croceus* color aliquantulum differt a coloribus duobus, pu- niceo videlicet et citrino. Camaiura,* alia membrana, alia cedra, alia holcus vel olcus, alia lumina, alia veneda sen veneda, alia fiilnis, menesch, prasis, posech, cerusa, purpureus, folium, sinopis, ruscus, rosa, rubi, succus, menech, exedra. Cedra * est color qui fit de rubeo, mixto cum pauco nigri coloris, ad nuda ymaginum humanarum operanda ; aliter dicitur exedra. Coccicus,^ et, color est rubeus, sen sanguineus ; vel etiam genus est tincture coloris medii inter rubeum et croceum : alii coccinum illud vocant, ut, in passione Christ!, de colore vesds ejus. Coccus dicunt Greci, nos vero coccicuto, seu cortinum ant coccinum, rubeum colorem qui fit et est ex diversis ut sunt firondes silvestres, flores rose rubee, vel creta, que et terra rubea, et alii colores rubei artificiali; aliter dicitur vemilculus vel vermiletus, et aliter sanguineus. 1 Orange colour. « Yellow. B Under this term the author has included all the tints used in painting flesh, as well the flesh tints as those for shadows. 4 Cedra. The shadow-colour for flesh. See Theophilus, lib. i. chap, xiii., where it is called Excedra or Exedra. * Coccicus or Coccicum. By this term was meant the colour called by the Italians " Grana/' and which the Arabs called " Alkemies/' and we Kcrmcs. TABLE OF SYNONYMBS. 23 Cortex ^ secundus nigra prunii, A deooquatiur facit colorem croceum. Crocea terra, vel creta crocea, est ad pingendum apta ; aliter ocra vel ogra dicittir. Alia terra crocea est que arxica ' dici- tur qua forme operum fusilium cupri fiunt Cerulus vel cerulens,* dicit Catholicon, id est AiIyub ad instar cere viridis, niger, glaucus, et est prope blondus ; sed alibi idem Catholicon dicit quod fulyus est aliquantulum rubeuB vel cum nigro rubeus mixtus, et, ut idem Catholicon, flavus, albus, rubeus, aut blondus albo et rubeo factus. Celestinus vel celestis est color aliter azurium, aliter blau- cus, aliter persus, aliter ethereus dictus. CeriLsa est color albus qui fit de plumbo; aliter vocatur bracha seu blacba, et aliter glaucus et alibi dicitur que cerusa fit de cupro adusto/ Croma Grece, Latine color, secundum Catholiconem, quod est vocabulum universale pro omnibus coloribus. Color similiter est vocabulum universale pro omnibus colori- bus, et Grece croma dicitur, et quot sunt planete, tot sunt colores, videlicet septem, qui sunt, primo duo extremi, albus et niger« et reliqui quinque qui intermedii dicuntur, videlicet, celestis seu Lazurius, rubeus, croceus seu aureus, viridis, et sanguineus seu purpureus aut violetus vel fulvus de quorum singulis reperies in hac tabula in locis suis secundum litteras alphabeti primas nominum eorum et materias quibus fiunt, et de quorum etiam interunpcionibus ad invicem infinite diversitates colorum ad placitum humani ingenii distinguuntur. Crocus vel Crocum ^ est color exiens de safiranno madefacto. 1 Cortex. See Nos. 206, 208, 209. This appears to have been used in making yellow yamishes which, being spread over tin, caused it to appear like gold, > Is this the '* Terra di Matton bianchi " mentioned Uy Baldinucci ? Voc. Dis. 3 Cerulus. This is quite unintelligible. 4 See Eraclius, No. liv. * Crocus or Crocum. The zafarano of the Italians. See Cennini, cap. 49. 24 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. vel est idem safirannus ; et melior est dcilianus qui coriscos vocatur. Croceus ^ est color idem exiens de saffiranno, et est qui fit ex mixtura fellis et crete albe, et est ocra vel ogra tem quedam, et est color auri^ et est auripigmentum, et est etiam quedam terra crocea que arxica dicitur apta ad formas operom cupri fiendas, et alii dicunt ipsam argillam. Candidus est color albus differens ab albo. Calx * calcis est color albus, videlicet lapis durus in igne usque ad ejus dealbacionem decoctus, de quo lathomi cemen- turn ad muros edificandos faciunt. Carminium " est color rubeus, aliter cinobrium yel sinopis dictus ; alibi dicitur quod fit de albo et ocro mixtis. Cerositu est color viridis, alibi capitur pro quodam suoco in 159, et alibi pro {sic). Coriscos est crocus, id est, safiranus perfectissimus, ut ait Ysidorus, Dascens in Cicilia insula. Califfo* est color, videlicet, materia ilia crocea obsenra, quam fiimus ignis generat sub caminatis sub quibus contiDue fit ignis decoquendo fercula. Caprifolium * est herba in Anglico dicta " gaterice," cujus grana in vino trita et bulita si emitatur ferrum eruginatum color viridis fulgentis efficitur, et si addatur atramentum, nig^ efficitur. Creta alba^ dicitur argilla, est color albus factus de lapide in fomace cocto, qui aliter plastrum dicitur, et aliter gersa, et aliter gipsus, et utuntur ipsa pelliparii ; alia est rubea, alia viridis et alia nigra, que terra nigra sen lapis niger vocatur, et alia crocea. 1 Croceus may here be considered a general name for yellow pigments. 2 Lime. 3 See Eraclius, No. Ivi. 4 This appears to be the colour we call Bistre« ^ Sir Thomas Phillips says, in his Introduction to the Clavicula, that for Gaterice we should read gate-tree, t. e, goat-tree. TABLE OF SYNONYMES. 25 Creta viridis,^ cujus melior naflcitur in creta ciiina insula, et vocatur Grece theodote ; alia creta reperitur rubea, et alia alba, et alia nigra, que appellata est lapis niger. Crisicula * est color {sic) veniens a Macedonia, et foditur ex metallis aerariis. Ceruleus color fit ex succo de lutea herba expresso, alibi dicitur quod viridissimum colorem fiicit, ipsa herba seu succus ejus, precipue si alicui substancioso colori albo admisceatur, ut Crete aut cerusie ; et alibi ceruseus est color blondus ex albo et rubeo factus. Carbo* est color niger factus de lignis mollibus ustis, ut salix, populus, vitis, et similia. Cinobrium * vel cinopis aUter carminium dicitur. Conckile^ vel concile maris circonscise sanguinem purpureum colorem habentem emittunt, quo tinctura purpurea fit pro lanis. Crocei colores seu materie, et metalla eorum sunt et nomi- nantur ut in hac tabula reperies in locis suis : aurum, auripig- mentum, auripigmento similis color, arsica, suffiranus, coriscos, caligo, decoctio secundi corticis nigri pruni, ocra vel ogra, fel, grecumspect, stannum tenuatum croce colore in hoc convenienti coloritum. Celare a celo, celas, id est lanire, sculpere, pingere, figurare, protrahere, designare ; et inde celatura, celature, etc. Drachonis sanguis * est color morellus seu rubeus obscurus. Deaurarey id est, auro aurare, chrisare dicitur, ut in Catho- licon. 1 This creta viridis seems to be our terra yerte. s ChrysocoUa. This is the native green carbonate of copper. s Carbo, that is, charcoal black. < Cinnabar or vermilion. The writers of these old MSS. speak of the artificial cinnabar only. ^ This was the purpura of Pliny and the ancients, from which the cele- brated Tyrian dye was prepared, and which was procured from a fish of the genus Buccinum found in the Mediterranean. ^ Dragon's blood. 26 MANUSCOUPTS OF JTEHAK LB BEQUE. Dmgnare^ protrahere, pingere, Bcolpere, figurare, lanire, celare, quasi idem Bignificant Exedra ^ est color ex mixtura rubea et modico nigri sjA. nuda corporum humanorum fienda aliter dicta cedra. Edera ' est herba arboribus herendo, repens^ que in Grallico dicitur ^^yene" vel "lierre/' cujus rami ex sobula perforad, Tel hinc inde infra eos incisi, ad medium videlicet de meiue Marcii emittuot liquorem sanguineumy qui, cum urina coctas, lacca est, qua tinguntur peiles parcium. Ethereus color aliter dicitur lazurium seu asurium, et aliter persus, aliter blauctus, et aliter celestinus seu celestis. £Z&z»,'-ba,-*bum, vel elbidu8,-da,*dum, color est medius inter album et nigrum, ut ait Catholicon, et Gallice dicitur Grieus, set Lombardioe Berretinus nominatur. Flavm ^ color fit de cerusa combusta* Folium ' est pro ting^oido lanas, et est color rubeus, et qid- dam alter est purpureus, et alter saphireus, scilicet est quidam alter qui fit misoendo ipsi rubeo cinerem vel lexivium dnerum ligni ulmi, et vocatur folium scampnense. FeV est liquor croceus, seu color, quo si cuprum cultello rasum et dente politum ungatur quociens conteniat, splendi- ficatur tanquam si deauratum esset, et si ipsum fel misceatur cum creta seu gersa alba, et modico aceto, efficitur oolor auri- pigmento similis, yidelicet croceus. Fuscus est color niger, ex carbone, vel ex fiimo lampadis 1 Exedra. See Theophilus, lib. !. cap. xm. ; and Le Begtie, No. 345. s Edera, the ivy* ' In English, Crrey, 4 Flavud. This appears to be the colour we now cdl massaoot, the protoxide of lead. A Folium. See Vocabulary of Colours, stqjra, 8 A similar colour is in use at the present day, c^led Gallstone. It is a beautiful and very transparent yellow, but it is not permanent. It is used in water-colours. TABLB OP SYN0NYMB8. 27 cut candele ardentis factus^ et aliter dicitur fuligo/ dicitur Aliter fusciis sanctonicus dicitur. ft Fuligo est color niger yel quasi niger^ ad croceum tendens, et veniens a caminoignis^ aliter dicta caligo, et est etiam fiimus candele et lampadis nigerrimus recollectus ad scutellam vel aliud vas ferreum, vel cupreum, yel terreum. Famus* est color niger, si cum ab igne candele sepi vel cere, vel a lampadis lumine exit, colligatur, qui aliter fiiscus, et aliter fuligo nominatur. Fubms^ dicit Catholicon, est rubeus aliquantulum, vel cum nigro rubeus ; et vide sequenter in R« littera super verbo ramis^ quod ibi aliter dicitur. Fenixy seu phenix, vel feniceua color rubeus est et feniceon Grece Latine rubeum colori rosarum rubearum similatus. Ferula^* aliter galbanum dicta, est genus, et lac herbe, et est quidem color inde de succo ex palmitibus ejus expresso fac- tus ut dicit Catliolioon. FigurarCy pingere, sculpere, protrahere, designare, lanire, celare, quasi idem significant Galbanum * est genus et lac herbe, que dicitur ferula, et est quidem color inde de succo ex palmitibus ejus factus, et sic dicit Catholicon. Gristis color, Gallice sic dictus, est color inter album et nigrum, qui Latine elbus yel elbidus dicitur ut in Catholicon, set Lombardice yocatur beretinus. Grenuspect * herba, cujus decoctio yini aut cervisie crocea est, de qua, si temperetur et teretur yiride Grecum, fit pulcrum yiride, quod credo esse yiridegris. 1 The colour here described is Bistre. s Fumus — Lamp black. s Ferula — See Galbanum. 4 Galbanum, a liquor or gum produced by a species of ferula in Africa and Turkey, called Ferula Galbanifera. ^ Grenuspect. Sir Thomas Phillips thinks this should be written " Grcningwert." 28 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN L£ B£6U£. Gersa^ est color albus^ de quadam terra, vel lapide ikhi duro, cocto in fornace factus, qui aliter gipsns yel creta alba Yocatur, et ipsa utontur pelliparii, et aliter plastra dicitnr. Set etiam pelliparii pocius utuntur alia creta alba, que fit de quodam meliori lapide absque coctione albissimo pulveri^ato^ Gallice " croye.'* Glades* vel glades^ cum ex metallis primum exciduntur, gutas argenti vivi exprimunt, pro usu artificum, et sine ipaa es neque argentum inaurari possunt. Graranda * herba est ad faciendum tincturas lanarum et lineorumy et in Ytalico gadus dicitur. Gadus ^ herba est, in Gallico garancia dicta, ad faciendum tincturas lanarum et lineorum. Glassa ' credo quod sit alumen glasse seu glacie. Gipsus * est color albus, aliter gersa, et aliter alba creta dictus, et est terra seu lapis in fornace usque ad dealbacionem decoctus, quo tabule altarium dealbantur ut depingantur. Granetus est color de albo et viridi factus. Gladius ^ viridis est color viridis fSsu^tus de auripigmento et indico mixtus. 1 This 18 plaster of Paris, the gesso of the Italians. The other stooe is our English chalic. s I believe this passage is fronf Pliny. See Eraclius, No. 241. s Garancia is certainly madder, but its Italian name is Robbia, and not gadus. 4 Gadus. This is a mistake : the French term is Gaude ; the Italian, Guado ; the English, Woad — Isatis Tinctoria, ^ Glassa. In these manuscripts of Le Begue the word Glassa is used in two significations : first, it is used to denote Sandarac or Amber, as in Nos. 208 and 341 ; and, secondly, it is used in conjunction with Alumen, and appears to mean crystallized alum simply, or Roche alum, as in Nos. 42 and 299. ^ Gipsus. Gesso— plaster of Paris. 7 Gladius viridis. A vegetable green, prepared from the leaves of the Gladiolus communis; in Italian, Gladiolo; in French, Glayeul flambe; in English, the Corn-flag; in Sicilian, Spatulidda. This pigment was much used in Italy. See * Secret! di Alessio,' part ii. p. 37 b. A blue colour was made from the flowers of the same plant. _ J TABLE OF SYNONYMES. 29 Glaucus est color albus, ut cerusa, que aliter didtur album plumbum, aliter blacha, et aliter album Hispame. Gaterice ^ Anglice est herba, cujus grana in viuo trita et Lullita, si immittatur ferrum eruginatum efficitur color yiridis fulgentis et si addatur attramentum niger efficitur. Chimma ' edere, lacha est &cta ex succo vel liquore exeunte in Marcio de ramis edere herbe arboribus inherentb et re** pentis, si aculeo ferro perforentur. Holcas " vel olcus est color, qui aliter membrana dicitur, ex rubeo, et albo, et pauco yiridis creta compositus ad nuda cor- pora et membra humana depingenda. Herba morella^^ trita cum gersa seu gipso, id est, creta alba, facit colorem viridem. Herba mndix^ vocata, est rubea, et de ipsa fit tinctura rubea aut sanguinea. Herba vaccinium ' vocata duplex est ; una rubea, que tem- perata cum lacte purpureum colorem facit elegantem, reliqua vero croceum colorem facit. Herba viola dicta, cujus flos persus seu blavus est, facit co- lorem bla^um si ipse ejus flos misceatur crete albe et teratur. Herba que scalda bassa vocatur in janua facit succum si pis- tetur et exprimatur, qui mixtus cum arxicon vel arxica, colore croceo, fit color yiridis. Iris est color («c). Indicas yel indicum est color celestinus obscurus. 1 See ante, Caprifolium. * Gumma Edera. Gum from the Ivy. s See Theophilus, lib. L cap. i. ; and Pietro di S. Audemar, No. ISO. 4 Herba Morella (Solanum Nignim) ia here, as in the Bol. manuscript, said to make a green colour. A Herba sandix — the madder. The word madder is derived from the Danish, Swedish, and Russian languages. > Herba vaccinium, the violet That from which a yellow colour is made is the Viola lutea, the Wall-flower. 1 30 MANUSCEIFTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. Inoaustum est color quo scribitur, aliter attramentum vide in attramento^ id eat factum ex decoctione gallarom Irac tarum, et yitriolo at gummi Arabico, aut ex decoctione mirce que Tulgariter geneatra dicitur, et dictis vitriolo et gammi Arabico et decoctio etiam oorticis hoene ligni aut cereid ligni posset convenire, nee non cortex seoundus nigri pruni arboris ad hoc per deooctionem adaptaretur cum addicione supra- scriptorum vitrioli et gummi Arabici. Jos viride dicitur, ut dicit Catholicon. Lumina ^ est color ex mixtura membrane et ceruse Ikctus ad illuminandum facies et nuda corpora humana in pictura, sea ad gibbositates in ipsis elevandos. Lacca est gumma quedam, facta de iiquore rubeo, qui exit de Iiquore edere, arboribus herente et repente, si rami ipsius in mense Marcii aculeo ferreo perforentur. Lazurium rel azurium fit de lapide lazuHi ; dicitur aliter persuSy aliter celestis vel celestinus, aliter blauctus sen blaaus, et aliter ethereua. Lueee* herbe succus coloris oerulei est, et alibi dicitur quod viridissimus est. Lazuli 2czpt>)reperitur in montibus vel partibus et est ce- Lapis lazuli ^\est\s coloris sen persi yel blaui et de ipso fit pulver qui purificatur et postea est azurium. Lapis niger " est, de quo, si satis mollis sit, utuntur pictores et carpentarii,, protrahendo ad sie<^um ; et de ipso pingitur terendo ad liquidum ; aliter terra nigra dicitur. Lignum hraxiUii ^ rubeum sen purpureum colorem reddit si in lixivio vel urina aut in claro ovi cum alumine temperetur. 1 Lamina. See Theophilus, lib. i. s Herba Luzza, either the Erba lizza, the Tragopogoo pratenae, yellow goat's beard, or the Erba Latea of Pliny, the Reseda Luteola, l>jet*^ weed, or weld. ' Black chalk, or graphite. 4 The Verzino of the Italians. . TABJiB OF SYNONYMES. 31 Leucos Grece, Latine alburn^ ut ait Catholicon, qui color et glaucus dicitur. Lanirey celare, seulpere, pingere, figurare, protraherej de- signare, quasi idem significant, etc. Membrana ' est color quo pinguntur fades et nuda corpora humana ; aliter olcus dicitur, vel holcus, et aliter camatura. Minium^ est color non tarn rubeus ut synopis, set magis pallidus, aliter dictus sendracum vel sendaraca. Menesck ; " aliqui dicunt quod est color rubeus, minus clarus quam minicum, et magis clarus quam synopis ; alii ipsum vocant succum, et indici colons est ; aliter dicitur esse succus sambuci, qui viridis est. Mellana ^ est color cum quo ex lacha seu gumma edere et flore farine tritici in urina positus fit rubeus color synopis vocatus. Morella^ lierba trita cum gersa seu creta alba est color viridis. MelKnus est color metalli speciem habens. MoreUus est color ex rubeo et nigro factus. Moms Grece, est arbor quam et Latini etiam sic appellant cujus fructus morum dicitur, et ejus succus, mixtus cum creta 1 Membrana. See Theophilus, lib. i. cap. 1, and Fietro di S. Audemar, No. 180. s The term Sandaraca is sometimes applied to Red orpiment« and some- times to Miniam. 3 Menesch. Mr. Hendrie (Theopb. p. 81) says this is a Romaic word, signifying Tiolet coloar ; but I would suggest whether it* may not signify ** Madder/' the Indian name for which is Mnitach, This, conatmction is perfectly compatible with the directions of Theophilus ; and in this case it will also agree with the definition in tlie Table of Synonymes, on which, however, I acknowledge but little dependence can be placed. 4 Mellana. In the MS. of S. Audemar this colour is called Sinopis de Mellana. It is a kind of lake. ^ Morella. This is one of the Italian names for the Solanum Nigrum, the Black nightshade. It is also called in Italy Solatro Nero, and Cacabo. In French it is called ** Morelle,*' *' Morolle des Jardins ;" but it must be distinguished from the " Maurelle," the name which the Croton Tine* torium bears at Montpellier. n 32 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BEGUR alba et aliis rebus convenientlbus, simul et separatim, colorem roseum et sanguineum faciunt. Mirca * est arbor vulgariter dicta genestra, que interpoiiitnr fsciendo incaustum ad scribendum. Moniculum * est (stc)^ quod intrat ad fiLciendam assisiam auri. Niffer est color terre nigre, que lapis niger didtur, satb mollis ad protrahendum, et color niger est etiam ex carbone molito, vel ex fiinio lampadis aut candele &ctus ; aliter ftuscus dicitur, et aliter sanccenicus. Neveduy* seu veneda est color ex mixtura nigri cum modico albo plumbo, et si poni vult in muro, ponatur calx loco dicti albi plumbi. Nigri pruni cortex secundtis, si decoquatur, &cit colorem croceum, et si immittantur in ipsa decoctione debite quantitates vitrioli et gummi Arabici, fit attramentum seu incaustum ad scribendum. Niffer color et rufiis color vocantur birsus, ut ait Catholicon, et vide in rufus et ravus quod ibi dicitur, ac etiam in birsus. Nigri colores^ seu materie eorum, sunt et nominantur ut et in hac tabula reperies in locis suis, attramentum^ incaustum, iuligo, carbo, lapis niger, fiiscus, fiimus, sanctonicus. «, 1 ^ 1 > est color terre crocee. •a, J OcrOn Ogrt Olckus * color aliter appellatur membrana, ad facies et nuda corpora humana depingenda. Otter ^ piscis est marinus, cujus sanguis color est rubeus; purpureus vocatus. 1 Mirca. See note to MSS. of St. Audemar, No. 206. s Probably Gum ammoniac 3 See Veneda. 4 Olcbos. See Pietro di S. Audemaro, No. 180, and Theopbilus, lib.i. cap. i. ft Tbe purpura of tbe ancients. TABLE OF SYNONYMES. 33 Prasis ^ est creta viridis ut dicit Catholicon. JPrasinus* est color rubeus; alii dicunt quod habet simili- tudinem viridis coloris et nigri, set Catholicon dicit quod prasin Grace, latine dicitur viridis. JPosch ' est color ex mixtura prasini^ et rubei combusti, et ocre, et modico cenobrio, factus, ad distinguendas partes mem- l>rorum humani corporis in membrana colore, set alibi posch dicitur fieri ex ogra et viridi simul mixtis. JPurpureuSf qui est color rubeus, alitor folium vocatur, — ▼ide ia folium; et Anglici, in quorum terra nascitur, ipsum vocant '^ uuormam ;" fit etiam color purpureus ex lapide silicis exustOy et in aceto dum callescit extincto, et oster est certum ' quid, id est, piscis maris, aut aliud, quo fit color purpureus, Tel de sanguine ejus ; et concule maris etiam circumcise pur- pureum colorem faciunt, et similiter creta alba infecta radice rubea, et sic herba que vaccinium dicitur £acit purpureum colorem si cum lacte temperetur. Ilruni nigri secandua cortex facit ex decoctione colorem croceum. ParaUynium est color {Sic). Perstis est color aliter celestis, aliter lazurium ?el azurum, aliter etbereus, et aliter blauus dictus. Pictura translucida* aliter aureola dicta, est color seu liquor per quem omnes alii colores transparent, si cum in operibus siccayerint ipso liniantur, precipue in stanno attenuate et polito. Pallidus est color non proprie albus, set declinans aliquan- tulum ad obscuritatem. Plumlnis albus est color ex plumbo factus, aliter albus hispanie, aliter glaucus, aliter cerusa, et aliter blacha dictus. 1 Probably Terre Verte. ^ Prasinus, the same as Prasis. See Theophilus, lib. i. cap. ii. * Pofich. See Theophilus, lib. i. cap. iii. and vii. ; and Le Begue, No. 344. 4 See the Chapters ' De Confectio Lucidse' and * De Lucide ad Luci- das' of the Lucca manoscriptt and Clavicula. VOL. I, D 34 MANUSC5RIPTS OF JEHAN LB BBGUK Plastra est terra yel lapis, qui, decoctns fomaci, albisszmiis est, aliter gersa, aliter creta alba, et aliter gipsns. Phenix color rubeus est, vel fenix ; et fenioeon Grece, latiiie rubeum. Pumiceus color seu puniceus, aliquantulum differt a duobns coloribus, id est, a croceo et citrino, que plus oontinet de croceo, et minus de rubeo, quam dtrinno. Puniceus vel pumiceus, dicit liber de proprietatibus remm^ est color circumdans rubeum colorem, aliter etiam didtnr citrinus, qui est color ab eo parum differens que puniceus pliK continet de croceo et minus de rubeo quam citrinus. Pingere^ lanire, celare, sculpere, figurare, protrahere;, de- signare, quasi idem significant. Rubeus est color qui ex frondibus silvestribus et aliis materi- alibus diversis fit, et diversis in obscuritate, et claritate, et aliis varietatibus, ut sunt dicti frondes, et etiam flores, ac terra vel creta inibea, et alii colores rubei artificiati ; et Greci igpim coctum dicunt, nos vero rubeum vel vermiletum. Rosa est color ex mixtura membrane et modico cenobrii et modico minii fa^btus ad rubricandas facies et membra bumano- rum corporum in pictura, et fit de vermiculo et albo plumbo, ac de brasilio et alumine cum urina. Ruhi sunt rubei fructus arborum qui apud Grecos moras dicuntur, et fructus ipse eorum morum dicitur, ex quibos succus, mixtus aliis rebus materialibus, ut crete, seu gipso, sanguinei vel rosei colores fiunt. Rubea radix^]est de qua rubeus color fit, miscendo cum Radix I'vhea jcreta alba, id est, gipso. Rubea terra^ seu creta, ex qua trita pingitur* Rava color niger est fulvo mixtus, dicit Catholicon. Roseus est color rosarum rubearum colori similatus, et aliter vide in cocticus, coctus, fulvus, fenix seu phenix vel fenicus aut feniceus, per p et h vel fete scribendo, et vide etiam in pur- pureas et m folium. 1 Madder. TABLE OP SYNONYMES. 35 Rufus color ct niger color vocantur birsus ut ait CatholicoiL JRavus^ rava, ravum, id est, fulvi color, ut ait Catholicon, et Vide ante in fulvus quod ibi aliter dicitur et in eodem Catho- licone dicitur ravus talis color, videlicet niger fulvo mixtus, et vide advertenter in birsus quod ibi dicitur. Rvbei colores seu materie eorum sunt et nominantur ut et in hac tabula reperies in locis suis carminium, cinobrium, sinopis, coctinus, cocticus, coctus, vermiculus, herba sandix, herba vaccinium dicta, folium, succus luchet herbe, mellana, sanda- raca, minium, sandix, terra seu creta rubea, fenix seu phenix, roseus, et sanguineus; set nota quod colores nominatim in fenix seu phenix in roseus et sanguineus differunt a rubeis, et est de ipsis coloribus sanguineis aliud capitulum generale factum in littera S. in fine. Sinopis^ est color magis rubeus quam vermiculus; aliter dicitur cenobrium, aliter mellana, et fit de warancia, et aliter est^^ui fit ex lacha vel gumma edere, et flore farine bullitis in urina ; et aliter sinopis fit ex warancia et lacha suprascripta. Saffranus^ qui reddit colorem croceum, dicitur crocus, et perfectior qui sit Sicilianus, tarn in colore quam in sapore, qui vocatur coriscos. Succus* est color trahens ad indicum; alii dicunt esse ru* beum minus clarum quam minium et magis clarum quam * There was a natural pigment called Sinopia, which is described by Pliny and by Ccnnini (cap. 38), and which is also mentioned in the Bo- lognese MS. The sinopis of the text was a red lake. * Succus. In the ' Secreti di Don Alessio Piemontese/ part 2, p. 37, is a recipe for making '' Pezzette morelle '* from the berries of the £buli, or Sambuco Salvatico (Dwarf Elder). The pezzette were pieces of rag which were dipped into the coloured juice of the elder, and other plants, until they absorbed the juice. They were then dried in the shade ; when dry, they were then dipped in a solution of alum and again dried. When they were required for use, a piece was put into a shell, and a little gum- water being poured over it, it was stirred about until the colour was discharged, when the rag was thrown away : the colour left, which was transparent, was used for painting. d2 36 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGTJE. sinopis, et aliter vocatur menescb, quod aliter dicitur menech esse succus sambuci. Succus sambuci est color sea liquor yiridis obscuruSy qui aliter menech dicitur. Succus herbarum est color viridis seu liquor cui sepe ad- miscentur alia ad virides colores faciendos. Stannum attenuatum album utitur scilicet loco argenti, qui caret argento; et loco auri, qui auro caret, depingitur sea coloratur croce colore, et ipso utitur. Sandaracum ^ seu sandaracha est color minus rubeus quam vermiculus, et est aliter minium dictus. Scrupulum (Sic). Sandix ' genus est herbe rubee de qua fit tinctura ut dicit Catholicon. Sandalica est genus coloris. Sanguis drachanis ' est color rubeus obscurus seu est color morellus. Sillacetus* color £t ex violis aridis decoctis, et, expiessa aqua, tritis super lapide cum creta alba, id est, gersa. Sajireus color est color qidlibet sapbiri lapidis assimilaiB, videlicet proprie inter celestem et rubeum, plus ad celestem trahens colorem quam ad rubeum. Sanctonicus color aliter fuscus dicitur, qui color niger est. Sanguineus est color rosarum rubearum colori, ac etiam colorum sanguinis assimilatus, et aliter vide in roseus et in aliis locis ibi nominatis. ScuperCy lenire, celare, pingere, figurare, protrahere, de- signare, quasi idem significant, &c. Sanguinei colores seu materie eorum sunt et nominantur ut et in bac tabula in locis suis reperies, bullarminium, sanguis ^ Red orpiment is frequently understood by this term. It b used by S. Audemar in the terms mentioned in the text. s Madder. ' Dragon's blood. * This is a yellow colour, prepared from the Viola lutea, the Wall-6ower, and white chalk or gesso. The name in the text b derived from Pliny. TABLE OF SYNONYMES^ 37 drachonis, braxillii lignum^ lacca, purpura^ blacca, sanguis conchillarum maris, coctus, vermiculus, liquor edere herbe, gomma edere, sandix herba, yaccinium herba, mellana, morus, oster maris, rosa, rubi, rubea radix, roseus ; et nota quod sanguinei colores a rubeis difierunt, ut in capitulo generali de rubeis coloribus dictum est in littera R. Terretis color fit de cerusa combusta. Therdote {sic) Grece, latiue est creta viridis, cujus melior nasdtur in creta cirina. Terra nigra vel lapis niger mollis est, de quo terendo fit color niger; et, non terendo, utuntur carpentarii et pictores protrahendo ad siccum. Terra sen creta nibea, ex qua trita pingitur. Terra vel creta viridis ad pingendum est cujus melior nasci- tur in creta cirina, et in Greco" dicitur Theodote, Terra vel creta crocea est apta ad pingendum et aliter ocra vel ogra dicitur. Terra seu creta alba, aliter gersa, aliter gipsus, aliter plastra dicitur, qua utuntur pelliparii ; et est alia rubea, alia crocea, alia nigra que de terra vel lapide aut creta nigra trita fit, alia viridis cujus melior nascitur in creta cirina, et ipsa in Greco dicitur theodoce. Tavertinus^ albus color, seu lapis qui apte rubificatur, si in ligno braxilii, cum urina, vel lexivio, et alumine misceatur. Viridis vel viride est color ex diversis factus sicut creta vel terra viridis et alii ex herbarum succis et metalli facti virides artificiati. Violaceus vel violetus color est, qui ex rubeo et nigro, aut ex rubeo et perso vel lazurio, fit miscendo. ^ Travertine. A stone dug in many parts of Italy^ particularly in Siena, Pisa, Lucca, and near the river Teverone at Tivoli. It Is a i)eculiar kind oflimestone, formed by a deposit from the rivers in these districts. It was much used in Italy for building, and for making lime. See 1st ' Report of Commissioners of Fine Arts,' p. 39, and n 38 MAJnJSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BEGUE. Warancia^ est color seu materia colons, quia cocta in aqua cum lacha seu gumma edere fit quidam color rubeus sinopn vocatus et etiam ex ipsa warancia fit color rubeus ad tingen- dum pelles parcium. Viridis terra seu creta quedam est, cujus melior est que nasd- tur in creta cirina, et aliter, videlicet in Greco, theodoce dieitor. Violetus est color, qui ex rubeo et perso, seu azurio, mixtus^ maxime ex rubeo claro, id est, lacha, et azurio fino fit. Vaccinium* est her ba rubea que temperata cum lacte £u3t colorem purpureum elegantem, et est quedam alia herba simi- liter vaccinium vocata que croceum colorem £Etcit Vergavt ' est color qui est quasi ut azurium respecta ooloris, Don respectu materie. Viola est flos cujusdem herbe persus seu blauus, quo cum creta alba fit color blauus, et aliter dlacetus color dictus est. Vermiculus * color rubeus est, qui fit ex firondibus silyestri- bus, ut dicit Catholicon, et Grece ipsum dicunt coctum ; nos vero rubeum vel vermiletum. Veneda ^ seu neveda est color factus ex mixtura nigri cum modico albi plumbi, et A poni vult in muro, ponatur calx loco dicti albi plumbi. Vercanda ' nominatur in capitulo libri colorum 342. Verblea ^ nominatur in capitulo 345 libri colorum. ^ Vuarantia. The name by which madder was generally known duiing the middle ages, especially in the western parts of Europe. It was called ''Garance" in French, and **6ranza" in Spanish, whence the tenn warantia is apparently derived. ' Yaccinium, the purple violet. The latter is the Viola lutea, or Wall- flower. ' Yergaut. See Eraclius, No. 282. Perhaps Yertbleu. * By Yermiculus is here meant the kermes, or coocus, the ''gnna" of the Italians. ^ Yeneda, a true grey. See Theophilus, lib. i. cap. vi. ' In the number referred to this word appears to be written *^ Yemide" and ** Yercande/' a proof that this part of the table of synonymes was written afler Lc Begue had added his recipes. 7 Yerblea. Probably Yert-bleu, the Yerde Azzurro of the Italians, a native carbonate of oop])er, of a greenish-blue cdour, the Armenian stone of Pliny. TABULA IMPERFECTA. 39 Usticiunij nsticii, genus est coloris, ut dicit Catholicon. Virides colores sea materie, et metalla eorum, sunt et nomi- nantur ut et in hac tabula in locis suis reperies, arxica mixta succo yiridi herbarum, cerosius, caprifolium, gaterice, ceruleus, succus luree herbe, gladius, herba morella, scalda bassa herba, prassis yel prassinus, succus herbarum diversarum, theodote terra vel creta viridis, jas, succus rute herbe mixtus cum viride fsris. Alia Tabula, licet imperfecta et sine iiiicio. Quociens ponendi sunt colores in operibus, 147. Rosam primam, scilicet colorem sic nominatum facere, 124. Rosam secundam, id est^ colorem sic dictum ad differentiam prime facere, 128. Rosam colorem facere de ligno brixillii et creta alba, 289) 299, 304. Rose colorem cum brexillio et creta alba, 293. * . Rosam facere cum ligno brexillii absque creta alba set cum aliis, 14, 15, 16, 17, 334. Roseum sen sanguineum colorem facere, 234, 14, 15, 16, 17, 184, 218, 289, 299, 304, 293. Roseas litteras scribere, 16. Roseam aquam facere de brexillo, 20. . Bubeam quam facere ad pingendum in telis, 91, 93. Rubeum succum edere herbe arboribus repentis lacham dic- tum facere vel habere, 184, 218. Rubeum minium ex cerusa facere, ct cerusam etiam facere, 288. Rubificare ossa ligna et alia matcrialia^ 51, 335. Safranum sen crocum finum eligere sen cognoscere ct dis- temperare, 165, 331. 40 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAK LE BEGUE. Sanguineus color qui lacha dicitur quomodo de ligno brex- iUii fit, 309. Sanguineum vel roseum colorein qui lacha dicitur ikcere^ 184, 218, 332, 11, 12, 13, 16, 37, 100, 181, 309, 332. Sanguineum tcI roseum colorem facere, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18i, 218, 289, 299, 293, 334, 309. Sanguine vel roseo colore tingere materialia, 42, 326. Scribendo apti colores diyersi quomodo de campestribus floribus fiunt, 212. Scribere litteras aureas non cum auro set cum colore, 25. Scripturam argenteam absque argento £Acere, 321. Scripturam auream et argenteam absque auro et argento facere, 324. Scribere litteras argenteas de petnla argenti, 24, 320. Scribere litteras auro molito, 217, 219, 320, 323, 328, 336, 339, 310. Scripturas et picturas de auro molito facere, 310. Scripturas auro, argento, et lotono moUitis facere, 312. Scripturam stanneam de stanno molito facere, 185. Scribere litteras roseas, 16. Scribere virides litteras, 28, 199, 221. Sculpa opera lignea que corio, panno, nee pergameno, oo- operiuntur, ut rotunde ymagines, selle equestres, scabella, et alia talia opera pingere, 140. Sellas equestres, scabellas, ymagines rotundas et alia opera lignea sculpa que pergameno nee drapo cooperiri possunt prop- ter sculpturas in ipsis factas pingere, 140. Senum decrepitorum et juvenum capillis et barbis colorem aptum facere, 132. Sigilli formam facere, 49. Sinopis quis color sit, 179. Sinopidem de mellana colorem facere, 182. Sinopidem ex lacha et Warancia facere, 183. Spongia vitellura ovi parare, 270. Stanneam scripturam de stanno molito facere, 185. Stannum atenuatum, id est, petulas stanni facere, 143, 205. TABULA IMPERFECTA. 41 Stannum atenuatum cum petula ami fini aurare, 105> 142. Stanneas petulas in opere ponere et eas coloribus oleo tem- peratis pingere, 145. Stannum tenuatum seu petulas stanni colore verzini seu brixilli pingere, 101. Stanni petulas vel folia seu laminas colorare taliter quod aurate videantur, 144, 202, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209. Stampnence folium colorem purpureum in Anglia Wormam dictum distemperare seu facere, 162, 164, 166. Succum rubeum edre herbe arboribus rcpentis lacham dic- tum habere, 184, 218. Tabulas seu laminas stagni tenuatas que petule vocantur facere, 143, 205. Tabulas seu laminas stanni tenuatas que petule vocantur colorare taliter quod aurate videantur, 144, 202, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209. Tabulas seu laminas stanni tenuatas que petule vocantur ponere in opere et eas coloribus oleo temperatis pingere, 145. Tabulas et asseres ligneas et ligna aptare ad pingendum, 268, 269. Tabulas altarium et alias pingere, 131. Tabulas et ostia et alia lignea opera cum coloribus oleo tem- peratis pingere, 138. Tellam lineam aut canapinam preparare ut possit in ipsa pingi et aurum poni, 280. Tellas rubea aqua pingere, 91, 93. Tellas violacea aqua pingere, 95. Tellas aqua indica vel persea pingere, 97. Tellas viridi aqua pingere, 90, 94, 98, 99, 110, 199. Tellas aqua nigra pingere, 89. 'Hngere quelibet materialia in quolibet colore, 326, 41, 40, 46, 199, 42. Temperamenta colorum in libris ponendorum facere et de quibus liquoribus, 197, 306, 325, 346, 347. 42 MAKUSCRIFTS OF JEHAN LB BEGUE. Temperare oolores qui cum goma sea aqua gomata tempe- rari non poasunt, quo modo fit, 146. Terreas fialas preciosa piciura bituminis vitri facta omare, 213. Tingere in sanguineo colore materialia, 42, 326. Tingere pelles in viride, 46, 199, 326. Tingere in viridi ligna ossa tellam et alia nutterialia in qiio- cumque colore, 41. Tollere litteras de carta et papiro, 2, 17, 21, 34. Translucidam picturam facere, 148. Temperamentum colorum tarn infectirorum seu transluci- dorum quam corpulentorum vel simplicium seu materialium facere ad eos ponendum in opere seu stampno et plumbo vel super metallis aliis stampnatis vel plumbeatiB aut simplicibos per se videlicet non stampnatis nee plombeatis nee aliquo alio ex metallis co-opertis, 368.^ Vasa figuli id est terrea plumbeare seu vitreare vitro plumbi, 259. . Vasorum fictilium pingendonim picturam vitri nigri fiicere, 230. Vasorum fictilium, id est, terreorum pingendorum picturam albi vitri facere, 229> 233. Vasorum fictilium depingendorum picturam viridis vitri &- cere, 228, 232. Vasorum fictilium pingendo picturam vitri nimis viraitis facere, 231, 234. Vasa fi^cta terrea et lapides integrare, 8. Venedam alibi venedam colorem facere, 126, 330. Vemicem liquidam, id est glutinam pro pictoribus facere, 341, 138, 139, 210. , Viride eris facere, 8, 43, 44, 152, 155, 156, 157, 159, 201, 273, 287, 300, 331. * Iste liber non est completus usque ad ilium numerum. — [Marginal note by author.] TABULA IMPERFECTA. 43 Viride ens pulcherrimam facere, 45, 161. Viride ens colorem cum sale facere, 150. Yiride eris distemperare et facere, 152, 331. Viride eris subtiliare et liquidum facere, 160. Viridi eris mixturas aliorum colonim in fine capitnli sen post capitulum, 159. Viridem colorem facere cum corpore et non corrosivum sed dulcem, quamvis in ipso sit de viride eris quod de se corrosivum est, 301, 331. Virides litteras scribere cum colore cum viride eris facere, 28,331. Viridem aquam ex viride eris et aliis facere ad pingendum in tellis, 90, 94, 98, 99, 331. Viridi eris tingere pelles, 46, 331. Viridia cum viride eris et aliorum facere ligna ossa telam filum et alia materialia> 40, 81* Viridem alium quam eris facere, 158, 199, 221, 227, 331^ 395. 398. Virides litteras scribere cum colore non de ere, 199, 221, 227, 331, 295, 158. Viridem aquam vel colorem non eris ad scribendum fecere, 199, 221, 227, 331, 395, 158. Viridem aquam aliter quam de viride eris facere ad pingen- dum in telis, 110, 199, 221. 227, 331, 295, 158. Viridem colorem aliter quam de ere facere ad detingendum pelles, 199, 110, 221. Viridem colorem non de ere facere pro operando indiversis, 295, 331, 227, 199, 110, 221, 158. Viridem colorem absque ere ad que volueris depingenda fa- cere, 227, 295, 331, 227, 199, 110, 158, 221. Viride terreum distemperare, 265. Viride vitrum ad vasa fietilia depingenda facere, 228, 232. Virentem nimis vitrum ad vasa fietilia depingenda facere, 231, 234. Vitri invendo, 255. 44 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGUE. Vitnim flexibilem facere inyenit quidam qui ideo jossa ratoris, decapitatns fidt, 256.^ y itriare vitro plombi, id est, plombeare yasa figoli id est rea, 259. y itri bitumine precioea tinctura facta terreas fialas yitriare et oraare, 213. yitmm album ad vasa fictilia pingenda faoere, 229, 233. yitrum album et de diyersis coloribus facere, 257. yitrum viride ad vasa fictilia, id est, figuli pingenda facere^ 228, 232. yitrum nimis virentem ad vasa figuli seu fictilia depingenda facere, 231, 234. yitrum nigrum ad vasa fictilia depingenda faoere, 230. yitrum pingere, 272. yitrum coloribus colorare et ipsum de plumbo facere, 271. yitreas et terreas fialas auro decorare, 215. yermiculum facere quod est color rubeus, 174, 175. yermiculi mixto cum roinio, 177. yernicium seu vemicem liquidam vel glutinam facere est post numerum 138 ; item est in numero 139, 210. yemiciare aurum ne perdat colorem, 267. yemiciare opera depicta, 147. yerzinum facere colorem, id est brixillii pro tenendo ad po- nendum in opere quando necesse est, 202. yerzini colorem facere proponendo super argento aut super staDno tenuato, 101. yioletam aquam facere ad pingendum in telis, 95. yitellum ovi spongia parare, 270. yiscum seu gluten vel coUam de eorio bovis vel vaooe br cere, 186. yiscimi casei seu coUam aut gluten facere, 127, 163. Warencia colore rubeo pelles tingere, 258. ' Malum premium. — [Marginal note by author.] TABULA IMPERFECTA. 45 Vultiim et nudorum corporum colores, scilicet exedram yel posam et alios facere, 133, 317, 344. Worniam colorem sic in Anglia nominatum qui est aptos ad tingendum lannas est purpureus, aliter folium dictus distem- perare, 162, 164. Tabula ad beperiendum quodlibet capitulum arcium fabulis et aurifabulis et rerum et accidencium illis conferencium nee non operum exerciciorum que et contingencium eorum. Aqua cavans ferrum, 64. Anna et alia ferramenta conservare a rubigine, 69, 348. Attribudo cujuslibet ex metallis alicui ex septem planetis oontinetur post numerum, 46. Aurare cuprum fellis pinguedine seu liquore, 226. Aurare auricalcum, 249. Aurare metalla fiisilia, 252. Aurare ferrum, 237, 238. Auraturam facere, 253. Auraturam metalli perditam recuperare. Aurei coloris femim facere, 67. Aureo colore metallos colorare, 66. Auricalcum aurare, 249. Auricalcum facere, 49. Auricalcum seu lathonum solidare, 65. Auricalcum seu lathonum pulcrum facere sicut aurum, 82. Aurum et argentum fondere, 365. Argentum et aurum fondere, 365. Azarium et ferrum temperare, 57, 58, 61, 62, 83, 84, 223, 333, 364. ( 46 ) EXPERIMENTS UPON COLOURS. 1. Know that gold letters are thus written with the following water. Take of sulphur vivum, of the inner hark of the pome- granate, of alum, salt, and gold dust (?), as much as you like, and liquid gum water and a little saffron. Mix, and write. 2. To erase black letters upon paper. — Make a water from the following things. Take nitre, and Roman vitriol, of each one pound, and distil them in an alembic, and a clear water will be produced ; with this water slightly moisten a spongy, and rub the letters with it.^ 3. To make fine azure. — Take plates of fine silver, and pot them into a new jar ; cover the jar closely with a tile, and place it in the skins of the grapes for 40 days ; then scrape off the efflorescence, which you will find upon the plates, and which is fine azure. 4. Also azure which is not fine is made in another way. — Put vinegar into a glass bottle, the mouth of which must be well covered with tenacious earth, and let it be buried in horse dung for a month, and afterwards dry it in the sun. 5. To make azure. — ^Take a vase of pure copper, and put into it a colour [pigment] made of white marble (some recipes say quicklime) so as to half fill it. Afterwards fill it up with very strong vinegar, cover it over, and put in a warm place, or under dung, for a month, and you will find a blue good both for panels and walls. 6. JFor the same. — ^Take a new glazed jar, or a vase of silver, and put into it plates of very pure silver, as many as you like, rubbed over" with good wine, and place the jar under the refuse ' Tho produce of this duitillation is nitric add. * From sborfato, a Bolognese word. ( 47 ) EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 1. Nota quod auree littere Bcribuntur sic, cum ista aqua ; accipe sulphur vivum, et corticem interiorem mali granati, aluminis, saltis, et de pluvia auri, tantum quautum vis, et aquam gununi liquide, et modicum de croco, et misce^ et scribe. 2. Ad delendum litteras nigras de carta, — Fac aquam de* in- frascriptis rebus. Accipe salniterum, et vitriolum Romanum, de quolibet libram unam, et distilla per alembicum, et erit clara aqua, et cum ipsa aqua balnea spougiam modicum, et de ipsa fiica litteras. 3. Ad faciendum azurium finum, — Recipe laminas argenti fini, et pone in oUa nova, et cooperiatur bene cum tegula^ et pone ollam in vinariis uvarum per dies xl*, et flos quem re- pereris super laminas radde, quod est azurium finum. 4. Item aliter azurum nan finum fit. — Ponatur acetum in ampulla vitrea, cujus orificium bene cooperiatur cum terra tenaci, etsepeliatur in fimo equino perunum mensem, et postea siccetur ad solem. 5. Ad faciendum azurrum. — Recipe ampullam de puro cupro et pone intus colorem de albo marmore, ita ut sit dime- dia ; et in aliis receptis dicitur calx viva. Postea imple de aceto fortissimo, et cooperiri, et pone in loco calido, yel sub fimo, per mensem, et invenies azurrum bonum, in ligno, et in pariete. 6. Ad idem. — Habeas ollam novam incretatam, vel vas ar- genti, et immitte laminas argenti purissimi, quot vis, brofatas bono vino ; et mitte vas in profundo viaziarum,' per dies ^ Id est infrascriptum et scribitur ut supra causa brcvitati8.— [ Marginal note by author.] « Vindemiarum ? 48 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. of the grapes for 36 or 40 days ; and afterwards scrape or shake off into a clean vase the e£3orescence which you find round aod about the plates, which efflorescence is preserved upon the plates, in the same manner as rust upon iron, and verdigris upon plates or in vases of brass. 7. To make azure. — ^Take very thin plates of fine silver, as many as you like. You must also have a glazed earthen jar, with a cover; and on the middle of the under part of this cover there must be a small hook, to which you must hang the silver plates with a silver thread, so that they may not touch each other ; and put very strong vinegar into the said jar, so as not to touch the plates, but to reach near them ; and close carefully the said cover with a piece of linen and with glue, and put the jar for 15 days under dung, or over a slow fire or under the refuse of grapes. Afterwards scrape off the azure which you find upcm the plates, and if you want more azure, do the same with the plates as you did before. 8. Green from copper or brass is made in the same manner with plates of brass, as was directed to be done with silver plates to make blue. 9. To make perfect azure. — ^Take an earthen jar with a cover similar to that in which ceruse is made, and take sheets or plates of fine tin, wetted with strong vinegar, and sprinkled over with powdered white quicklime, place the vase, with the aforesaid plates, in the dung of sheep or horses, for 10 days, and dien scrape off the efflorescence which you find on the tin plates, and if you want more of it, put back the jar with the plates as before. 10. To make perfect ultramarine azure. — ^Take of lapis lazuli as much as you like, and grind it very fine upon a porphyry slab. Then make a cake or pastille of the following ingredients, namely, if there is one pound of lapis lazuli, take vi. oz. of Greek pitch, ij. oz. of maslic, ij. oz. of wax, ij. oz. of black pitch, ij. oz. of gum from the pine, 1 oz. of oil of spike or of linseed, and i oz. of turpentine. All these things must boil in a pipkin until they are nearly liquefied, aft;erwards strain them into cold water, and take what drops into the water through the strainer, and knead EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS, 49 xxxvi. yel xl^; postea excucias seu raddas in vas mundum florem quern inyeneris in cercuita laminarum, qui flos conser* vatur super ipsis laminis, sicut fit rubigo super ferro, et viride eris super laminas vel in vasis ens. 7. Adfaciendum azurrum. — Recipe laminas argenti fini quot vis subtilissimas, et habeas vas terre vitriatum cum coperculo, et in parte inferiori dicti coperculi sit unus uncinellus in medio, cui suspendas laminas suprascriptas cum filo argenteo, taliter quod lamine non se tangant invicem ; et in vase mitte acetum fortissimum, tantum quod non tangat ipsas laminas, set stet prope ; et optura bene dictum coperculum cum pecia lini, et cum cola, et pone vas sub fimo per xv^"^ dies, vel ad ignem temperatum, vel sub vinariis ; postea radde azurum quod in- veneris super laminas, et, si plus velis, fac iterum de ipsis lami- nis ut fecisti. 8. Ad viride rami seu eris. — Fiat eo modo de laminis eris, ut supra dictum est de argenteis pro azurro. 9. Adfaciendum azurrum perfectum. — Accipe vas terrenum, cum coperculo tali, ut illud de quo fit cerusia, et babe laminas seu plactas fini stagni, balneatas aceto forti, et sparsas alba calce viva pulverizata, et pone vas, cum laminis suprascriptis in ipso, in fimo pecorum vel equorum, per decem dies ; postea radde florem quem invenies super laminis^ et, si plus vis, repone vas cum laminis, ut prius. 10. Ad faeiendum azurrum uUramarinum perfectum. — Re- cipe de lapide lazuUi quantum vis, et teres super lapide porfirico subtiUssime, et fac massam seu pastilum ex rebus insertis; videlicet, A dictus lapis est libra una accipe oncias vj. picis Grace, oncias ij. masticis, oncias ij. cere, oncias ij. picis nigre, oncias ij. gummi pini, onciam j. olei spici vel lini, et onciam i trementinse, que omnia buliant in uno pignatello, usque dum quasi sint strinta [strutta ?], et postea cola in aqua frigida, et tolle quod cadit in aqua, quod est celatum, et deducas, et misces bene VOL. I. * E 50 MANTTSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BE6UE. and mix. it well with the powder of the lapis lazuli until it b well incorporated ; and so let it stand for Tiij. days ; and the longer it stands, the better and finer will be the azure. After- wards work this paste in your hands, throwing it into water, and keep the first water by itself, and the second by itself, and tlie third also by itself. And when you see the azure sink to the bottom, pour off the water, and keep the azure. 11. To make fine lake. — ^Take the ashes of oak,^ and make a ley, and boil in it clippings of fine scarlet of rubea de grana* until the colour is extracted from the clippings, and then stnin the ley with the colour through a Imen cloth. Afterwards take some more ley, similar to what you first took, and heat it, and put into it some finely powdered roche alum, and let it stand until the alum is dissolyed. Then strain it through the strainer with the other liquor or ley in which the clippings were put, and immediately the ley will be coagulated, and make a lump or mass, which you must stir well. Remove it afterwards from the vase, and lay it on a new hollow brick, whidi will absorb the ley, and the lake will be left dry. You must afterwards take it ofi^ the brick and keep it for use. 12. Also to make lake, — Take 1 oz. of lac, which is a certain gum called lac, or take some of the grana with which scariet cloths are dyed, and steep it in ley, or in urine, so as to cover over the lac, or the grana, and let it boil for half an hour on a moderate fire without smoke, namely, with smith's charcoal, stirring it continually with a stick whilst it boils. Af- terwards take \ an oz. of roche alum and \ an oz. of sal gem, and grind them well with ley, and put them into the vase befere it ceases to boil. Then remove the vase firom the fire, and let it cool. Afterwards take a glazed jar, and a little mine, or strong ley, and empty the before-mentioned jar into it, and stir or shake it every evening and every morning, and after 15 days * The Turkey oak, the Cerro of the Italians. * Strictly speaking, *' Rubea " means madder, and ''Grana" kerines; but as it appears that at this period the kermcs was generally used in EXFERIMENTA DE GOLORIBUS. SI illud per dictum pulyerem lapidis lazuli, donee bene incor- porentur omnia, et sic stent per viii^dies, et, quanto plus stete- rint, tanta azurrum erit melius, et magis finum ; et postea de- due banc massam per manus, proiciendo cum aqua, et primam aquam senra per se, et secundam per se, et tertiam per se. Et, postquam yideris azurrum descensum ad fundum, proice aquam et retine azurrum. 11. Ad faciendum lacham finam. — ^Tolle dneres ligni cerri, vel roboris, et fac ledvium, et in ipso £bu3 bulire dmaturam scarlate fine rubee de grana, tantum quod ex dicta dmatura extractus sit color ; postea ipsum lesdvium, cum dicta dma- tura, colla per pannum lineum ; postea acdpe de alio lexivio simili suprascripti quod prius acoepisti, et calefac, et pone in ipso de alumine roche trito subtiliter, et permitte donee alum^n sit fusum, postea cum dicto colatoijo cola ipsum in dicta alia coUatura vel lexivio, in quo stetit cymatura, et subito dictum lessivium stringetur, et fadet unam bussaturam sen massam, quam mistica bene, et postea trahe ipsam de vase, et pone in madono concavo novo, qui bibet lessivium, et remanebit sicca dicta lacha, quam postea trahe de madone et serva usui. 12. Item ad faciendum lacham. — ^ToUe unciam unam lache, que est quedam gumma dicta lacha, vel accipe de grana de qua tinguntur scarlate, et pone in lissivio vel urina viri, tanta que coperiat lacham sen granam, et fac bullire per mediam horam ad ignem temperatum, absque fumo, videlicet cum carbonibus fabrorum, deducendo cum baculo semper dum bulit Postea tolle onciam ^ aluminis roche, et onciam j salis geme, et mole bene cum lexivio, et postea pone in vase suprascripto antequam cesset bulire. Postea leva vas ab igne, et permitte frigidari. Postea tolle unum vas vitriatum, et unum paucum urini homi- nis, vel de lessivio fortissimo, et mitte simul de super vase, et deduc vel agita omni sero et omni mane, et post xv^"^ dies cola dyeing scarlet, and as the recipes for making this ** Lacca di Cimatura " generally direct the clippings of cloth dyed with kermcs to be used, it is probable that the kermes was meant in the present case, and not madder. VOL. I. * E 2 n 52 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEOUE. strain it by means of a linen bag placed upon a new tile, which will immediately dry the lake, which will remain in the ba^ and wliich you may keep for use, and when you wish to use it, grind it well upon a slab, and work with it And if you like strain the water again, as before directed ; and, if you wish to make more lake, boil the said water, and take more of the before-mentioned ingredients, and do as before, and it will be finer than the first mentioned above. 13. To make very fine lake. — Take dippings of tctj fine scarlet of rubea de grana, and put them into a vase, with suffi- cient urine to cover the clippings to the depth of one or two fingers* breadths, and let it stand for some days, until the clippings are decomposed, which you may know by touching them with your hand or your fingers. Afterwards take them out of the vase, without squeezing them, and put them on a clean stone, and allow the liquor to flow out by itself. Then grind it well upon a stone, and strain it through a thin piece €i linen, and you will have fine lake, to use upon paper, parch- ment, and upon primed wooden panels, but not on walk. 14. To make a fine rose colour. — ^Take fine brezillium, and scrape it fine, and take strong ley made with the ashes of oak, and make it boil, and pour it over the said verzino into a glazed earthen saucer, so as to cover the brexillium, and let it stand for an hour. Then take egg-shells, pound them well, and grind them very fine on a porphyry slab with clear water, and lay tliem on a new hollow brick, that the water may be ab- sorbed. Afterwards put them into a glazed earthen jar, and pound up some roche alum, and mix with the powdered egg- shells ; afterwards strain the ley in which the vendllium is put, and pour the ley which is dyed red with the verzilium upon the egg-shells, and mix, that the whole may be incorporated together ; and afterwards dry the lake, not in the sun, but on a hollow brick, straining it through a linen cloth, and you will have a perfect rose colour. 15. Also, to make a colour deeper than rose colour. — Take 1 oz. of scraped verzino and put it in a glazed saucer, with EXPESIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 53 cum saculo telle lini, poBito super tegula nova, que subito sicca^ bit lachaxn, que remansit in saculo, quam seira ad usum ; et cum voles uti, mole bene super lapide, et operare. Et, A vis, recola dictam aquam, prout dictum est; et si plus volueris facere, fac bulire dictam aquam, et accipe de novo de rebus supradictis, et fac ut prius, et erit ista finior quam suprascripta. 13. Ad faciendum lacham JimsHmam. — ^Accipe dmaturam acarlate fine rubee de grana, et pone in vase cum tanta urina liominis, que cooperiat cimaturam quantum est grossitudo diglti unius vel duorum, et stet per plures dies, donee dicta cimatura sit bene putrefacta, cujus putrefactionem cognosces tangendo cum manu vel digitis. Postea trahe ipsam de vase absque ipsam exprimere, et pone super mondo lapide et dimitte ipsam per se excolare. Postea mole ipsam bene super lapide, postea cola per peciam subtilem lini, et habebis lacham finam pro operendo in cartis et in tabulis gissatis, set non in muro. 14. Ad faciendum colorem ro$ete fine. — ^Accipe berxillium finum, et rade subtiliter, et accipe de lessivio forti facto de dneribus cerri, quod fac bullire, et ipsum mitte desuper dicto versino, in una scutella terre vitreata tantum quod cooperiat verxillium, et stet per horam ; postea accipe corticas ovorum, et trita bene, et moUe super lapide porfirico cum aqua clara subtiliter, et pone super madono concave novo ut aqua de- cicetur. Postea pone in scutella vitriata, deinde pista de almnine roche, et misce cum dictis corticis tritis, et postea cola lissivium in quo est verxillium, et lessivium illud rubefactum a veridlio mitte desuper dictas corticas, et misce ut incorpo- rentur omnia, et postea desica, non ad solem, set super madono concavo, colando per tellam, et habebis perfectam rosetam. 15. Ad faciendum etiam colorem plusquam de roxeta. — Acdpe onciam h verzini rasi, et pone in scutella vitriata cum tanta VOL. I. * E 3 54 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEOTJE. sufficient urine to coyer it, and make it boil, on a cfa^- coal fire, for an hour; then, before you take it off the fire, add 1 oz. of honey, and mix it ; then remove it from the lire, and leave it so until the next morning, and you will hare a fine rose colour. 16. To make a rose colour for drawing letters. — Take red brexillium, and roche alum ground upon a stone, and put tbem both together in whipped white of egg, and let it stand for a day and a night, and you will have what was mentioned. 17. Item, to make a rose colour. — Put into a glazed saneer 1 oz. of scraped verzino, and pour in enough urine to oorer the verzino and the ingredients which are to be added after- wards. Then add 1 oz. of white marble, ground upon a stcnie with water, and dried, and J oz. of roche alum in powder; and when putting the before-mentioned ingredients into the saucer, let the last thing which is added be the marble dusL Do not mix it until it has stood in the sun long enough for the marble to imbibe the colour ; and if it should dry in the son before the marble has absorbed the colour, add to it some more of the same urine as before, and let it stand in the snn until the marble is sufficiently coloured, and it will become red, or rose coloured. Afterwards strain it through a linen cloth, and dry it upon a baked stone or brick, and keep it for use. 18. To make flowers and letters of gold. — Take sal ammo- niac, and temper with pure water ; then write with that watff and draw flowers, and, when they are dry, lay gold leaf upon them. 19. To make the colour purpurinus. — Take of sal ammoniac 1 oz., quicksilver 1 oz., sulphur rivum 1 oz., tin 1 oz. ; melt tbe tin over the fire, then pour the quicksilver into it, and allow it to stand for a short time ; next grind the sal ammoniac and sulphur together, and add them to the melted tin and quick- silver ; put them all together into a glass flask, so that it may be filled only up to the neck, and then cover the flask all over with chalk, of the thickness of one finger's breadth ; place it EXPERIMENTA BE COLORIBXJS. 55 Urina honiinis que cooperiatnr, et fac bulire ad ignem car* bomtm per horam ; poetea, antequam leves ab igne, ondamque j« melliS) et misce^ et leva ab igne, et dimitte sic usque de mane aequenti, et habebis colorem rosete fine. 16. Ad faciendum eolorem roxeutn pro 9cribendo littercu, — Accipe vexilium roxeum, et alumen roxie tritum super lapide, et pone omnia in clara o?i spangiata, et stet per diem et noc- teniy et habebis quod dictum est 17. Item ad faciendum colorem raxaceum, — Pone in seutella Titriata ondam i. rerzini rasi, et pone tantam urinam pueri que cooperiri possit dictum Terzinum, et alia que seeuntur ; postea impone onciam i. marboris aibi, triti super lapide cum aqua dara, et necaJd, et ondam J^ aluminis roche triti, et ulti- mum quod pouetur in dicta seutella, ponendo in ipsa ea que dicta sunt, sit dictus marmor tritus ; et non misceas, donee steterit ad solem tantura quod marmor ceperit colcrem, et si dcaretur ad solem antequam marmor cepisset colorem, pone iterum de simili urina ut prius, et stet ad solem donee marmor ceperit colorem, et derenerit rubeus seu roxaceira. Postea cola per panmmi lineum, et fac siccari cum lapide cocto seu madraio, et senra ad usom. 18. Ad faciendum flares et litteras oteri.-— Acdpe sal armo* ttiacum, et distempera in aqua pura, et de ilia aqua scribe, et be flores, et cum desxcate sint, pone desuper folium auri. 19. Ad faciendum purpurinum colorem, — Acdpe sal armo- niacum ondam i., argentum vivium onciam i., sul{rirar vivium onciam i., Stangnum ondam i., et fonde dictum Stagnum ad ignem, et in ipso mitte argentum vivum, et dimitte stare ali- quaatulum, et mote dictum sal armoniacum et sulphur simul ; et pone in dicto stagno liquefiicto^ in quo est argentum vivum, et omnia pone in ampula vitri, quod ex ipsis impleatur solum usque ad coUum, et sic ipsa ampula, circumlinita de creta / 56 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEUAK LB BEGUE. in a small furnace, in a bole at the top of the furnace made for this purpose, so that the flask may only be half way throog^ the hole, and then, by means of a hole made in the side of the furnace, make a strong fire in it, and coyer the mouth cf the flask with a plate of iron, pierced, in order that the Tapoor may escape from the flask, and continue the fire strongly until the fumes cease to come from the flask. Then remove it from the fire, let it cool, break the flask, and take your purpurinns ; and when you want to use it, temper it with gum- water or with whipped white of egg. 20. To make a rose-coloured toaterfor shading figtares and aiher things, — Put scraped verzino into whipped white of egg, and let it stand for a day. Then strain and squeeze through a cloth, and temper what passes through with pure water : shade whatever you like with it, both on parchment and on paper. I think that the colour will not be extracted from the said brexillium or verzino, unless a little roche alum be added. 21. To erase letters on parchment witJiout injury to the paper* — Take a hare's skin and dress it, and salt it down, afterwards dry it over the smoke of a fire, and reduce it to powder ; put some of this powder upon the letters which you wish to erase, and rub them with pumice-stone, and the letters will be erased without injury to the paper. 22. To make letters which will seem to he of gold. — ^Make a small hole in a hen's egg, and take out the white only, and fill the egg with quicksilver ; close up the opening carefully, place it under hot dung for 40 days. Then remove the quicksilver, and take 1 oz. of crystal and reduce it to a very fine powder, and incorporate it with the yolk of the egg. Then, with this composition smear the paper, or whatever else you want, and when it is dry rub gold or silver upon it, and it will remain of the colour of gold or silver. 23. Thai letters may seem to be of gold. — Mix sal nitrinum with water and write upon parchment, and illuminate it wiA juice of celandine and warm the paper, and the letters will appear like gold. EXPERIMENTA DE COLOEIBUS. 57 groBsa, per groeseciam unius digiti, quam pone in parva fornace per foramen fornacis snperius, propter hoc factum, ita quod dicta ampula descendat in dicto foramine solum usque ad medium ampule ; et postea, per aliud foramen factum a latere dicte fornacis, immitte, et fac ignem fortem, et cooperi orificium ampule cum lamina ferri forata, ut exeat fumus ampule, et continua fortem ignem usque quo fumus ampule cessaverit exire, et tunc leva ab igne, et dimitte fngidari, et rumpe ampulam, et accipe purpurinum, et ipsum, cum vis operari, distempera cum aqua gummata, vel cum clara ovi spongiata. 20. Ad faciendum aquam roxeaceam pro umbrando ymagines et alia. — Pone de verxino raso, in albumine ovi spongiato, et stet per diem. Postea cola per telam, stringendo, et quod exierit distempera cum aqua pura, et umbra quod vis, in carta, et papiro. Credo quod color non exibit a dicto brexillo, seu verzino, nisi ponatur de alumine roze. 21. Ad delendum Htteras de carta absque lesione carte. — Accipe cossam leporis, et decoria ipsam, et postea in salla, et desicca ad fumum ignis, et pulveriza, et posito de ipso pulvere super litteris quas raddere vis, trahe desuper pumicem, et radetur absque lesione carte. 22. Ad faciendum litteras, que videantur esse de auro, — Fac in ovo galine foramen parvum, et extrahe albumen solum, et postea reple ovum argento vivo, et claude bene foramen ovi, et ipsum pone sub fimo calido per dies xl* ; postea extrahe ar- gentum vivum, et accipe onciam i. cristalli, et pulreris subtilis- sime, et incorpora cum dicto vitello. Dein cum dicta pasta unge cartam aut quidquid vis, et, cum siccarerit, frica de- super cum auro vel argento, et remanebunt colons ami vel argenti. 23. Ut littere videantur de auro — Incorpora salnitrinum cum aqua, et scribe in carta, et inlumina cum suco celidonie, et calefac, et videbuntur de auro. 58 MANUSCRIPTO OP JEHAN LB BEQUE. 24 To makeffold or silver letters. — Take sal amTnoniac, the juice of pounded Teryain mallows, and gum arabic^ mix all these together, temper them with urine ao as to make dm rather liquid ; afterwards make the mixture liquid with gmn- arabic. Then write whatever you Hke with this liquid and kt it dry. Then breathe upon it well with your movthy aa tbat the surface of it may be rather damp, and lay gold leaf iqxiB it, and jM-ess it on lightly with a piece of cotton. 25. Ta make letters of silver. — ^Take three parts of qnidb* silver and a fourth part of tin, melt them together^ bjoSl let the mixture cool ; then grind it on a atone and temper it vidi a sohition of gum-arabic ; write with it and let ft dry, and polifih it with the tooth of a dog or other animal^ fit for the purpose, and the letters will be beautiful and brilliant. 26. To make letters appear like ffold. — Take the bom of a goat, cut it into very small pieces, and distil it in as alembic^ and keep the water which comes over, in a glazed jar, in the «un for some days ; afterwards write with this water^ and the letters will appear like gold. 27. To erase letters from parchments — ^Take the juice of an orange and dip cotton ot spoi^ in it, and rob it li^itly upon the letters, and it will erase them perfectly. But as the parch- ment will be wetted and made soft;, it must be rendered dry and white in the following manner : — ^Take wUte lime in powder and mix it with clear water, and afterwards strain through a piece of white linen, dip cotton in the water which has been strained and dab it upon the parchment where it b soft, and it will become white and firm. I think it wonld be better to dip the cotton in dry lirae„ and not to wet it. 28. To make a green ink for writinff. — ^Take of good vinegar oz. ij., sal ammoniac oz. ij., common salt oe« ij.,. braas filing oz. ij., put them all together in a glass flask for six days, aaoA it will make a green ink^ which you must strain and keep for use. BXPEBIMENTA I)B COLORIBXJS. 59 24. Adfademdum liUeras aureas vel argenteas. — ^Accipe sal armoniacum, el succum alci pistil et gamirabieuiD^ et hec simul dklempera, et postea distempera cum urina, ut sit liquida aliquaBtulum ; poetea perfecte liquidam fades cum aqua gum- irabici^ poatea scribe cum hoc que vis, et permitas sicari^ et postea flaa desuper cam ore multum b^ie, ut aliquaniulum hiimeetetur superficies^ et pone desuper folium aixri, super quo deduc leyiter bombaoem*^ 35. Adfacumiaipn liUeras argentu — ^Acdpe argentimi vivum per tres partes, et per quartam de stagno, et foode simul> et permitte frigidari, et moUe super lapide, et distempera oun aqua gumi arabici, et scribe cum hoc, et permitte siecari, et polias cum dente caois vel alteriua ammalis ad hoc apto,. et erunt pulcre littere et luceote& 26. Ut latere mdeantur de awro. — ^Aedpe eomu yrci, et ipeum indde minutksime, et distilla per alembicum, et aquam que exibit tene in vase yitriato ad solem per aliquot dies, et postea cum ipsa aqua scribe et littere yidebuntur de aura 27. AA delendum Ktteras de carta. — Accipe succum pomi ranzii, et in ipso balnea bombacem yel sponglam, et firica le- viter super litteras, et optime dellet, et quia carta libri bal- neatur, et efficitur mollis, remediari debet isto modo, ut sit sicca et alba. Accipe flcorem calcis, distemperate cum aqua clara^ postea cola cum pecia lini alba, et de aqua alba que exibit balnea bombacem, quam ducas super cartam ubi mollis erat, et fiet alba et solida. Credo quod melius esset intingere bombacem in calee sicea et non madida. 28. Ad faciendum aquam viridem ad scribendum. — Accipe bonum acetum ondas ii., salis armooiad ii., saUs communis ondas iL,. limature eris oncias ii., pone omnia in ampula yitrea per yj. dies, et fiet aqua viridis, quam cola et reserva. ' Bombacem, id est spongiam ut jam supra vel lanaro. [Marginal note by author.] ^ 60 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BEGUE, 29. To make excellent azure. — Take of sal ammoniac cms. iij-, and of verdigris oz. vi., mix them together and make them into a paste with solution of tartar, and put them into a glass jar, which you must stop up, and lute, and place in warm dung and let it stand there for some days, and when you take it up you will find the green changed to excellent azure, 30. For the same. — ^Take of alum scagliola one part, ci vinegar two parts ; grind them together upon a slab, and make them boil a little in a glass or other vase, and put them into a glass flask and bury them in dung for five days or more, until you see it is become of a blue colour.^ 31. Good ink is thus made. — Take 1^ lb. of pounded galb, soak them in warm rain water, or warm wine or vinegar, of the quantity of 10 phials, and so let it stand for a day or more ; then boil it until the said water, wine, or vinegar is reduced to one-third, and let it be taken off the fire and a phial or two of wine or vinegar be immediately added, and let so mucb water be added as was boiled away fi-om the said mixture, and let them all be put on the fire again. When the mixture be- gins to boil let it be removed from the fire ; when it is only just warm strain it and add to it 1^ lb. of gum-arabic in powder and 1 lb. of Roman vitriol, and mix the whole to- gether. 32. If you wish to make a gold or silver colour for rmiting. — Take talc and put it into a glass vase, and pour over it good vinegar made from white wine, and add mercury to it, namely half an oz., and 1 oz. of fish-glue, and put it on the fire, that it may become liquid like water, and write with it, and it will make silver letters. If you wish to make golden letters, add a little saflron. 33. Cement for joining parchment is thus made. — Take gum- arabic and whipped white of egg, dissolve the gum in tlus white of egg and let it dry in the sun, and when you wish to use it wet the edge of the piece with your tongue and lips and ^ The colouring ingredient seems wanting in this recipe. EXPERIMENTA D£ COLORIBUS. 61 29. Ad faciendum azurrum optimum. — Accipe salis armo- Tiiaci oncias iii., viridis eris oncias yi., et misce simul, et con- fic^antur cum aqua tartari ad modum unguenti, ei ponantur in Ampula vitrea, que obturetur, et luctetur, et ponatur in fimo calido, et stet per aliquos dies, et accipe que invenies, viridem conversum in optimum azurrum. 30. Ad idem. — Accipe aluminis scarole partem unam, aceti partes duas, tere simul super lapide, et bulire facias parum in vase yitreo yel alio yase, et pone in ampula yitrea, et sepelias in fimo per dies y., yel plures, donee yideas deyenisse azurri colores. 31. Attramenium optimum sic ft. — Recipe galle firacte libram 1^, et pone in aqua pluyiali tepida, yel in aceto, au^ vino tepido, ad x. fialarum quantitatem, et sic stet per. unum diem yel plus, et postea buliantur donee remaneant ad terciam partem dicte aque, sen yini, aut aceti, et deponantur ab igne, et statim super addatur fiala una yel due aceti yel yini; et ponatur tantum de aqua, quantum consummata fuerit ipsa mixtura, et iterum omnia ponantur ad ignem, et cum inceperit bulire deponatur ab igne, et cum ad tepiditatem reductum erit, coletur, et ponatur in ipso libra 1^ gumi arabici puWerizati, et libram 1 yitrioli romaui, et simul misceantur omnia. 32. Si visfacere colorem aureum vel argenteum ad scribendum. — Accipe talcb,. et pone in yase yitreo, et superpone acetum dc yemazia perfectum, et pone cum ipso mercurium, videlicet onciam j, et colam piscis onciam i., et pone super ignem ut liquefiat ut aqua, et scribe, et fient littere argentee ; et si vis quod faciat litteras aureas, pone cum ipso parum croci. 33. Colla ad jungendum cartas sic ft, — Accipe gummi ara- bici, et clarum oyi spongiati, et dissolyatur gumi in ipsa clara ovi, et siccentur ad solem, et cum operari yolueris, balnea caput ipeius masse cum lingua et labiis oris> et trahe desuper cartis n 62 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BBGUK apply it to the parchment where the pieces are to be joixiedL and let it dry in the shade, and the pieces will adhere finslj together. But if you wish to join paper only and not parch- ment, wheat-flour or powdered bread-crumbe mixed with pure water and slightly boiled is very good for paper. But if yoa nux a little gum-arabic or whipped white of egg with it, it will do for parchment. 34. If you, wish to erase letters from paper j take roche altmi, and grind it, and make it into a paste with the juice of «d orange, and expose it to the wind, and let it dry ; aflerwardi rub it upon the letters, and it will erase them from the paper. 35. If you wish to make letters of the colour of brassj sihxr^ or ffoldy take crystal, and grind it very fine upon a marble cr porphyry slab, with white of egg, and write what you like with it; and when the letters are dry, rub them with the metal whose colour you wish them to take, and they will take the colour. Powdered glass will do instead of powdered crystal. 36. To make lake. — Take urine, and keep it for a long while, and afterwards make it boil until half of it is evaporated upon a slow and cle^ fire, skimming it continually, until it is fet- fectly purified. Then strsun it through a linen cloth, and put 4 lbs. of it into a glazed jar of the said urine, and 1 lb. of raw lac well ground, and add to it a sufficient quantity of alumioe zuccarino, and put it by and keep it for use. 37. For the same purpose. — Take of gum lac, ground very fine, as much as you like, and put it into clear urine for three days, and afterwards make it boil on the fire, and skim it Add a little Boman vitriol to it, and strain it through a linen cloth of loose texture ; then add some urine, and make it boil, always stirring it with the ladle, until one fourth part or more is e?a- porated ; then put it in the sun and let it dry, and keep it for use. 38. If you wish to remove oil from parchment or letters^ take bones of chicken or capons, and bum tiiem until they are white, and reduce them to powder. Lay some of this powder on the CXFERIMENTA DE C0L0RIBT7S. 63 in lods juncture, et junge, et permitte siocari ad nmbram, et tenebnnt se simul fortiter. Set si non cartam, set flolmn pa- pirum, jimgere veils, ferina frumenti, rel tritura panis snbti- liata, et distemperata cmn aqtia clara, et modicum bulita, optima est pro papiro ; set si immisoeris parum gumi arabid, Tel dare ovi spongiate, yalebit pro cartis. 34. Si vis elevare litteras de carta, — Accipe alnminis roche, et tere et impasta cum succo pomi araimi, et pone ad auram, et dimitte siccari ; postea frica super litteras, et lerabit eas a carta. 35« ^t vis facere litteras coloris erei, argentei, out aurei. — Accipe cristallaoi, et tere subtiliter super lapide marmoris yel I»rfirici, cam Clara ovi, et scribe qnod Tis de ii»o bitumme, et, siccatis litteris, frica desuper metallum illud, cnjus oolorem yis quod recipiant littere, et accipient ; pulver yitri esset bona loco cristalU triti. 86. Ut facias laeham. — Accipe urinam hominis bibentis boQum vinum, et diu serva, et postea bullire iadas usque ad con- sumpcionem medietatis» semper despumendo, super lentum et clarum ignem, donee sit optime purgata ; postea cola per telam, et pone in vase yitriato Ubras iiii^' dicte urine, et libram unam lache crude, bene trite, et pone de almnine Zucarino quantum sufficit, et repone seryando ad opus. 87. Ad idem, — Accipe gumam lache quantum vis tritam sub- tiliter, et pone in urina nitida per tres dies ; postea fac bulire ad ignem, et spuma, postea pone in ipsa parum vitrioli romani, postea cola per pannum lineum rarum. Postea adde de urina, et fac bulire agitando semper cum spatula, donee consumatur circa quarta pars vel plus. Postea pone ad solem, et dimittas siccari, et serva ad usum. 38. Si vis oleum de cartis vel litteris extrahere. — Accipe ossa pullorum vel castroni, et arde usque ad albedinem, et pul- veriza, et de ipso pulvere super pone ubi est oleum, et per- 64 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGITE. place where the oil is, and let it stand, in summer in the shade, and in the sun in winter. If necessary, repeat this two or three times. Lime also is good for this purpose. 39. To make the colour purpurinus as beautiful as goUL — Take quicksilver and tin, and melt them together ; then take sulphur yivum and sal ammoniac, and grind these two together, and mix them with the before-mentioned ingredients, grinding the whole very fine upon a stone, with ^ Then pot them into a glass flask well luted, so as not to be quite fiill of the aforesaid things, and put them on the fire, and let the montb of the flask be uncovered, and let it stand on the fire nntil die vapour ceases to issue from the mouth of the flask. Afterwards let it cool, and bre^^k the flask, and collect and keep all that is above the dregs, and it will be an excellent colour for nsii^ on books and parchment 40. If you wish to stain, of a preen colour, bones, wood, tabkli, or panneh of vx>od, knife- handles, thread, and linen cloihy take strong red vinegar, in a glass vase, with brass filings, a little Roman vitriol, and some roche alum, and make all boil together for a short time, and allow it to stand for a few days ; and when you wish to stain anything, put it into this mixture, and let it boil a little, and it will become of a good and lasting colour. 41. To make a water for staining anything of any colour. — Take of sal ammoniac 1 lb., and of nitre j^ lb., and distil it lo an alembic ; and if you take 1 oz. of this water, and put into it the weight of two florins of calcined gold, it will make a yellow water ; if calcined silver, it will make a blue ; if mercury, a black ; if calcined copper, a green ; if calcined lead, a white water ; and if calcined iron, a water of a red colour.* 42. If you wish to dye anything a blood colour, take a very strong lye, and soak in it shavings of brazillium, and ground ' So in original. * This water, which dissolves gold, must be Nitro-Muriatic Acid (Aqua Regia). — See Henry's * Chemistry,' vol. ii. p. 131. The recipe proves that the solvent power of this acid on gold was generally known as early EXPERIMENTA DE COLOMBUS. 65 mitte stare in estate ad umbram, in yeme ad solem, donee oleum exierit a carta. Et, si necesse fuerit,. facias hoc bis yel ter ; et calx etiam est bonum ad hoc faciendum. 39. Ad faciendum purpureum cohrem pvlcrum et aurum, — Accipe argenti vivi et stagni, et fonde simul ; postea accipe Bulphuris yivi, salis armoniaci, et tere simul hec duo, et pone cum predictis, terendo super lapide subtiliter cum (^c), postea pone in ampula vitrea bene luctata, que de predictis non sit plena, et pone ad ignem, et ampula sit discoperta ad orifi- cium, et stet ad ignem tam diu quod fumus cesset exire de orificio ampule ; postea dimitte frigidari, et frange ampullam, et Jtotum quod super feces fiierit collige, et serva, et est color optimus ad ponendum super libris et cartis. 40. Si vis in colore viridi tingere ossa^ ligna^ tabulas, seu telas ligni^ manubria cutellorum^ filum^ et pannutn lini, — Acdpe de aceto rubeo et forti, in vase vitreo, cum limatura eris, parum vitrioli romani, et de alumine roche, et fac aliquan- tulum bulire omnia simul, et permitte stare per aliquos dies, et, cum vis aUqua tingere, pone in ipsa mistura, et fac aliquan- tulum bulire, et fient coloris optimi perdurantis. 41. Ad faciendum aquam ad tingendum aliquid in quocumque colore, — Accipe salis armoniaci libram 1, salis nitri libram ^, et distilla per alembicum, et si de ista aqua acceperis onciam unam, et in ipsa posueris pondus duprum florenorum auri calcinati, fiet aqua crocea ; si argenti calcinati, fiet aqua celes- tas ; si mercurii^ fiet aqua nigra ; si cupri calcinati, fiet aqua yiridis ; si plumbi calcinati, fiet aqua alba ; et si ferri calcinati, fiet aqua coloris rubei. 42. Si vis aliqua tingere in colore sanguineo. — Accipe lessi- vium fortisnmum, et in ipso pone rasuram Brazillii, Alumen aB 1409. Mr. Hendrie {Theoph,^ p. 427) shows that it was known to Geber {De Alchem,, Norimb., 1546, cap. xziii.), who lived during the niDth century. VOL. I. F 66 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BISOXJB. alumen glad® ; and let it stand for five days or more, and it will be of a blood colour. Whatever you mean to dye, jmi must soak in it for three days, and then boil it antU what yaa have put in it is properly dyed. 43. If you wish to make verdigris^ take a brass yaae, and pot urine into it to the depth of one finger's breadth. Add a litde sal ammoniac to it, and expose it to very strong sandune uatfl it is dry, when you must scrape off whatever you find in tke vase, and it will be very good verdigris. 4A. For the same purpose. — ^Take of alum zuccarino oz. ti ; of brass filings 1 lb. ; of common salt 2 lbs. ; of nitre ij oa. ; of roche alum, burnt and bleached, iij oz. Reduce all these things to a very fine powder, and smear brass plates with it. Place the brass plates in a well-covered glazed jar ; and then, throng a hole made in the side of the jar, pour in hot urine or hot vinegar, and close up the hole, and place the vase under warm dung, and let it remain there 40 days. Then take it out, and scrape the brass plates, and you will have a green colour. Yoo can repeat this several times, if you wish to have more colour. 45. If you wish to make a very deep and beautiful ffreen^ take the herb rue, or parsley, when fresh, and extract the juice from it, and with this juice mix verdigris, and grind it upon a stone ; then put it into a shell, adding to it a little strong vinegar co- loured with safiron, and it will do even without the saffitw. Make it liquid as if for writing, and use it 46. Ifyau vnsh to make a very gfreen colour for dyeing sUns, take of filings of Venus, or copper, 1 part, and of sal ammoniac 3 parts, and temper it with urine. Stretch the skins which you wish to dry upon a hoop, and paint them on the side next the flesh with this colour, and let them dry, and the colour will pass 1hr0U(^ to the other side. Whereas )n the preceding recipes Daention is made of five metals, giviii] them the names of the planets to which they are appropriated, the follow ing remarks are necessary in order to miderstand them. Sol is put for gold, the colour of which is yellow. Luna for silver, the rust of which is azure. EXPERIMENTA D£ COLOEIBTJS. 67 glacie tritum, et stet per dies quinque vel plus, et erit san- ^inea, et quod tingere vis pona in ipsa per ires dies, et postea &c bulire, donee quod in ipsa ad tingendum posueris tinctum sit 43. Si vis facere viridem ramum, — Aceipe vas ereum, et pone in ipso urinam, usque ad altitudinem grossesiei unius digiti, et in ipsa pone parum salis armoniad, et mitte ad for- tissimum solem, quousque siccetur, et quod postea inveneris, in vase rade, et erit optimum rami viride. 44. Ad idem. — Aceipe aluminis zucarini onciam vi., et limature eris libram j., salis communis libras ii., nitri oncias ij., aluminis roche combusti et dealbati oncias iij., pulverisentur bee omnia subtilissime, et unge laminas ereas, quas pone in -vase yitriato bene coperto; postea per foramen quoddam, factum a latere vasis, proice urinam calidam vel acetum cali- dum, postea claude dictum foramen, et pone vas sub fimo calido, et stet ibi per xl dies ; postea telle et radde tabulas, seu laminas, et habebis viridem colorem ; et potes hoc pluries reiterare, pro habendo plus de colore. 45. Si vis colaratissimum et ptdcherrimum viridem facere, — Aceipe herbam rute, vel petroxellii, recentem, et ex ipsa trahe siceum, cum quo misce viride eris, et tere super lapide, postea pone in condiilla, et adde de forti aceto aliquantulum, quod sit coloratum cum croco ; et etiam absque croco potest fieri ; et distempera ut liquidum sicut ad scribendum, et operare de ipso. 46. Si vie facere viridissimum colorem propeUihus tingendie, — Aceipe limaturam veneris seu rami, partem unam, et de sale armoniaco, partes duas, et distempera cum urina, et pelles quas vis colorare tende in circulo, et perunge ex ipso colore ex parte camis, et dimitte siccari ad umbram, et color transibit ad aliam partem. Quia in precedentibus quinque dicuntur metalla, nominando ea per AOinina planetanim quibus appropriantur, ideo ut intelligantur, nota ut sequitur. Pro sole, aurum, cujus color croceus est. Pro luna, argentum, cujus rubigo color lazuli est. F 2 68 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BE6UE. Man for iron, the rust of which is violet, rather inclining to blackness. Mercury for quicksilver, of which are made sinopis and m- uium, which are red. Jupiter for tin. Venus for copper or brass, the mst of wfaidi is green. Saturn for lead, the rust of which is a white colour. Also, note, that in tbe MS. from which I copied the preoedio*' recipes, it was thus written in this place. " The whole that is cob- tained in this iinboond book, namely, from the beginning of Dumber 1 to this place, I copied ' in Janua' in the year 1409, in the month of June, having extracted it from an unbound book lent me bv Brother Dionjsius^ of the order of the servants of St. Mary, which order is called dd sacho at Milan." Also, in the said MS., on the margin of the recipe immediately fol- lowing, where the number 47 begins, was written, ''I bad 'ii Janua ' this receipt on the 1st day of March, 1409." 47. To make good ink for writinff^ particularly for books. — Take 4 bottles of good wine, white or red, and 1 lb. of galls, slightly bruised, which must be put into the wine, and allowed to stand in it for 12 days, and be stirred every day widi a stidL The twelfth day it must be stridned throng a strainer of fine linen, and must be poured into a clean jar, and put on the fire to get hot, until it almost boils. Then remove it from (he fire, and when it has cooled so as only to be tepid, put into it 4 ox. of gum-arabic, which must be very bright and clear, and sdr it with a stick, then add i lb. of Roman vitriol, and stnr it ood- tinually with the stick, until all things are well incorpcHrated together, and let it cool and keep it for use. And note, that ink made with wine is good for writing books upon the scienoes, because, when books are written with it, the letters do not &de, and can hardly be scraped out or discharged from parchment or paper. But if they are written with ink made with water, it is not so, for they can easily be scraped out, and it may happen that the letters written with it will fade. > So in original. EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 69 Pro marte, ferrum, cujus rubigo yiolacea est, et pocius ni- S^edini comparata. Pro Mercurio, argentum Tiyum, de quo fiunt sinopis, et roinium, qui rubei sunt. Pro jove, stagDum. Pro Yenere, ramum, seu es, cujus rubigo viridis est Pro satumo, plumbum, cujus rubigo albus color est. Item, nota, quod in ezemplari a quo prescripta sumpei, in hoc loco, Bcriptum sic erat, " totum quod continetur in isto quaterno, scilicet a principio numeri 1, usque hie, scripsi in Janua, anno 1409, de mense Junii, extrahendo ab uno quaterno michi preetato per Fratem Dio- nisium de (^)» ordinis Servonim Sancte Marie, qui ordo in Mediolano dicitur * del sacho.' " Item, in eodem exemplari, super margine recepte immediate sequentis, qua incipit numerus 47, scribebatur sic, '* habui in Janua istam re- ceptam die primo Marcii, 1409." 47. Ad faciendum optimum attramentum pro tcribendo^ pre- cipm libros. — Recipe bocales iiii^ optimi viui yermigii vel albi, et libram i. galle modicum fracte, que ponatur in dicto vino, et stet in ipso per duodecim dies, et agitetur omni die cum baculo, ultima vero die coUetur bene subtiliter per colatorium tele linee ; postea ponatur in Yase mondoad ignem, et callefiat usque dum quasi bulliat ; deinde deponatur ab igne, et cum refrigidatum sit, taliter quod sit tepidum, ponantur in ipso onzie iiii®' gummi arabici bene lucidi et clari, et agitetur cum baculo ; deinde ponatur libra h yitrioli romani, et semper misceatur cum baculo, donee bene incorporentur omnia simul, et infrigidetur et usui seryetur. £t nota quod attramentum factum cum yino est bo- num ad scribendum libros scienciarum, que cum de ipso scripti sunt libri, non cadunt littere, neque quasi raddi possunt, nee expelli de carta, nee de papiro. Set si scripti sunt de attramento, seu incausto, facto de aqua, non est sic, que bene radi possunt leyiter^ et accidere potest quod littere de ipso scripte caduce sint. VOL. I. * F 3 70 MANTJSCfRIPTS OF JEHAK LE BEOUK. 4 bottles of wine, or water, or half of each. 1 pound of galls of xij. oz. to the pound. 4 oz. of gum arable. 6 oz. of Roman vitriol. And if you took equal parts of each, galls, gnm, and yitriol, as much of one as of the other, by weight, it wonld still be good ; as, for instance, 6 oz. of each, which would be suffideoi for the said 4 lbs. of wine or water, or of wine and water mixed as before. OTHER EXPERIMENTS NOT UPON COLOURS. 48. The preparation of Thicia. — ^Take as much as you please of Alexandrine tucia, pulverize it well, put it in an iron ladle, and distemper it over the fire until the tucia becomes red. Then take vinegar and urine, and stir it in well with a rod until the tucia becomes of a citrine colour. 49. To make brass. — Take thin plates of copper, dean them well with salt, urine, and honey, and when they become red, and are well cleansed, take red honey, and rub it over the plates ; then sprinkle powdered tucia on the honey and liquefy it in a shell with " (?) of holly, it will then be very good brass. 50. To write with black on gold or silver. — Take burnt lead and sulphur, distemper them together, and write on the gold or silver ; then heat it with fire, and the desired effect will be produced. 51. To redden white bones. — ^Distemper sal ammoniac with pure water, put any bones into the water and leave them ibr 2 days. Add some Brazil wood raspings, and a little ley, and leave them for 2 days more. Then take them out, and if they * The word is illegible in the original. EXPERIMENTA D£ COLOKIBU& 71 Bocales iiii^ Tini, vel aque, vel per medietatem de utroque* Lipra i. gallaruniy de cmziis xii. pro lipra. Onzie iiii~ gummi arabicL Oiusie tL vitrioli romanL £t qui caperet gallas, gummaniy et vitriolTiiD, quodlibet ad equale, videlicet totidem de uno quotidem de alio, ad pondus, ad hue bonum esset, videlicet ut onzie vi. de quolibet, quod satis easet pro dictis libris iiu?* vini, seu aque, vel aque et vini, ut supra. EXPERIMENTA DIVERSA ALIA QUAM DE COLORIBUS. 48. Preparaciotuchie. — Redpe tucie alexandrine quantum- vis, bene pulverizate, et pone in ramaiolo ferreo, et distempera ad ignem, tantum quod tucia rubescat Poetea accipe acetum, et urinam pueri, et imbibe, et miace cum baculo, tantum quod tucia deveniat ad modum citrini, 49. Ad ottanem fadendum. — ^Habeas laminas eris subtUes, et purga bene cum sale, et urina pueri, et melle, et quando fiierit rubeiun, et bene purgatum, accipe mel rubeum, et unge dietas laminas, et super mel asperge pulverem tucie, et Uquefac concham bomb • . . de aggrefoHo, et erit optimum ot- tonnm. 50. Ad scribendum de nigro in auro vel arffendo, — ^Accipe plumbum ustum, et sulphur, et distempera simul, et scribe super aurum vel argentum, et cale&c ad ignem^ et feceris quod dictum est 51. Ad faciendum ossa alba Jieri ruiea. — ^Distempera sal annoniacum in aqua pura, postea mitte in ipsa aqua osse que vis, et stent per duos dies, et postea adde de vendno raso cum modico hssivii, et stet per duos dies, postea extrahantur ossa, et, n 72 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BBGUE. are too red put them in water in whidi sal ammoniac has b^« dissolved, and if they are not sufficiently red, do not put tbem into a fresh solution of sal ammoniac but replace them in tke first, containing the Brazil wood raspings, and add more Btrazil wood ; leave them for some time, and they will hecomie suffi- ciently red- 52. To blacken horns or bones of animals. — Take 2 {Hnte of rain water, 3 oz. of quicksUyer, and 2 oz. of quicklime, ImhI them together for a short time ; then take the mixture off the fire, and when it becomes tepid, steep horn or bone in it, and it will become black. 53. A medicine for silvering divers things in a duraMe manner. — ^Take Lupins, boil them in water until their virtue is imparted to the water. Then strain and boil imtil the water is reduced to the consistence of honey, and add a quantity of quicksilver equal in weight to the water, stirring it well untfl the quicksilver is no longer visible. With this yon may wasli wood, metals, and whatever you please. Tins will silver them, and this silvering will never separate or fall off. 54. To make a durable silvering. — ^Take clay, pig's blood, vine-wood ashes, and quicksilver, mix them well, then dry and pulverize them ; rub anything with this powder and.it will be silvered. 55. To make gold worms^ or worms which seem gilt^ for gild- ing anything. — Take bull's brains, put them in a marble vase, and leave them for 3 weeks, when you will find gold- making worms ; preserve them carefully. 56. To make a powder which shall light a candle without fre but with water. — Take an ounce of loadstone and 4 ounces of quicklime. Put half of the lime into some strong pipkin, then add to it the loadstone, and fill the pipkin with die remainder of the lime ; cover it well, and leave it in a brick-kiln for 9 days, then take it out of the kiln, and when it is cold uncover it entirely : then remove the lime gently, when you will find the loadstone in powder ; keep it separately, and when you wish to light a candle take some of this powder, put it on a EXPEKIMENTA D£ COLORIBUS. 73 81 nimifi sint rubea, reponantur in alia aqua salis annoniaci. . £t si parum, non ponantur in aqua noTa salis armoniaci, set in prima in qua prius fuerant, in qua est verxinum, et addatur de verxino, et stent, et fient rubea ad suffidenciam. 52. Ad niffrandum comu vel osse ammalis. — ^Accipe duas pintas aque plurialis, uncias tres argenti vivi, et uncias duas calds vive, et fac bulire simul aliquantulum, et depone ab igne, et cum deyenerit ad tepiditatem, pone in ipso cornu vel osse animalis, et denigrabitur. 53. Medicina ad argeidaciomm perpetuam diversarum rerum materialium, — ^Accipe lupinos, et decoque in aqua, donee virtus eorum transient in aquam. Postea cola, et fac bulire usque ad spisitudinem mellis, et pone intus de mercurio seu argento vivo, ad pondus aque, et misce bene, ita quod in ea non appareat argentum vivum, et de ipsa lignias ligna, metalla, et alia que vis, et erunt de argentata, et ipsa de argentacio nunquam sepa-' rabitur seu cadet 54. Ad faciendum atgenJtajcumem durabilem. — ^Aedpe terram tenaeem, sanguinem porci, cineres de sermento, et argentum TiTum, et commisceantur bene, et postea siccentur, et pulveri- zentur, et ex ipso pulvere frica que m, et argentabuntur. 55. Ad faciendum vermes auri^ vel qui videantur deauratt^ pro deaurando que vis. — Acdpe cerebrum tauri, et pone in vase marmoris, et stet per tres ebdomadas, et invenies intus vermes facientes aiunim, et custodi bene. 56. Ad faciendum pulverem que candelam accendat, absque igne^ set cum aqua. — Accipe calamitem masculum onziam i., et calcem vivam onzias iiii^, et pone medietatem ddcte calcis in aliqtLO pignatello forti, et postea pone in ipso dictam calamittam integram, postea cooperiri pignaculum cum alia parte dicti calcis, et obtura bene ^dictum pignatellum, et pone per novem dies in fomace in qua cocuntur lateres. Postea leva dictum vas de fomace, et cum frigidum sit apperi plane, et remove moderate dictum calcem, donee inveneris calamittam pulveriza- 74 HAJHUSCRIPTS OP JEHAK LE BEGUK piece of paper or on the wick of a candle, and touch it witib water or Baliya, when the candle will be lifted. But take care yon do not keep it in a damp or warm place.^ 57. To temper iron voelL — Take powdered glaas and burnt goat's horn or stag's bone, well pulverized, heat the iron sligjbtlj, and grease it with mutton fat and sprinkle with the powders that part of the iron which is to be made hard. Then heat the \Toa or the part which you wish to harden and quench it in water which has been distilled from radish-roots and red earth- worms which are found in damp pLices. 58. To temper iron so thai it wiU be hard enauffh to cut pre- cious stones. — Heat the iron in the fire to a convenient heat, and extinguish it in the blood of a goat in the month of March. 59. To take the impression of seals and other things wiik engraved or raised surfaces. — ^Take 2 parts of gypsum and 1 of flour, mix them together and make them into a paste with glue made of hartshorn and reduce them until they become of die consistence of soft wax. Then make two small tablets of this paste and before they dry press between them the seal or image or other form which must be wrapped in onion skins. Then take out the seal or image, let the tablets dry, then melt lead or wax and pour it into the mould. When cool remove it from the mould or tablets, and you will have what you desire. 60. To make a perfect glue for fixing hard bodies^ sudi as crystal, glass, and gemss together ; or for fixing toood, ham, or other things on to stones. — Take ceruse made from burnt bricks, that is to say, the powder of them, and finish by grinding it 1 It appeara from a passage in Bockmann'a InTentioiis^iToI. n. p. 504, that this recipe was quoted by Cardan, who ascribed it to one Marcta EXPERIMSNTA BE COLORIBUS. 75 tain, quam serva per se ; et dam vis lumen accendere, accipe de pulvere dicte calamite, et pone in papiro, sen licivo candele, et tange cum aqua dictum licivum, vel cum sputo, et acoendetur c^andela ; set cave ne ipeum pulverem teneas in loco humido nee calido. 57. Ad temperandumferrum aptime. — ^Accipe vitrum pulveri- zatum, et comua yrci, vel osaa cervi, usta et pulverizata, et <»lefiic parum dictum ferrum, et ipsum unge cepo castrati, t.e. muttonis, et asperge de dictis pulveribus simul mixtis, ab ilia parte ferri que expedit fieri dura, et calefac ipsum ferrum^ seu partem illam ejus quam vis duram facere, et extingue in aqua distillata per alembicum, de radicibus rafianorumj et vermibus terrestribus, seu bombricibus rubescentibua^ nascentibus in locis humidis. 58. Ad temperandum ferrum^ quad erit tarn durum, quod de ipso poterunt incidi duri lapides preciosi. — Callefac ferrum ad ignem ut convenit, et extingue in sanguine irci libidine amoris inflammati, id est in marcio mense. 59. Adfaeiendumformam sigilli, et aliarum rerum sculptarum vel levatarum, quae voles extrahere. — ^Accipe partes duas gipsi, farine unam, et misce, et fac pastam de ipsis cum cola cervina, et deduc, et confice, donee fit sicut cera mollis ; postea fac de ipsa duas tabuletas, et, antequam siccentur, stringe inter ipsas sigillum^ vel ymaginem, aut aliud, cujus formam facere vis, et sit involutum in pelliculis ceparum, et postea extrahe sigillum vel ymaginem, et permittas siccari dictas tabuletas* et cola plumbum vel ceram ut visj et immitte in dicta forma, et dimitte fiigidari, et apperi formam, id est dictas tabulas, et habebis quod quesivisti. 60. Ad faciendum coUam petfectam, ad corpora dura fir- tnanda^ ut cristallum, vitrum, et gemmas, invieem, vel super petrast ligna, comua^ aut alia. — ^Accipe cerussam laterum coc- torum, videlicet pulverem ipsorum, et confice subtiliando super a GrsDCus, who, according to some persons, lived in the ninth oentorjr, and, according to otbei^, in the thirteenth. 76 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAK LE BEGUB. finely on the porphyry slab with painter's liquid vamiaib- T^tfa this preparation you may join anything you like, and dien diy it in the sun. And if you have no liquid yamish, take linseal oil with a little lime, and the said ceruse, or powder of brids burnt in the furnace, and well triturated and pulverized.^ 61. To temper iron. — Take a sufficient quantity of the juice of radish roots, then take earth-worms and put them in salt or sea-water for an hour imtil they die, and in dying they will be purified firom their superfluous humours. Then remove them from the water without squeezing them, but only laying them down and shaking the water from them. Then put them in a glass cucurbit, and pour the radish-juice on them so as just to cover them. Then fix an alembic on the said cucurbit, lute it, place the cup in the ashes, give it a slow fire, and collect the water, which will come off clear as spring water. When your iron is properly heated quench it in this. 62. For the same purposei — Take the herb which is called ^' famula "* and which is like ^^ vidalia," but which has leaves like the '* elder," extract its juice, and when your iron is iffo- perly heated quench and temper it in this. 63. To make a voaJter which corrodes iron. — Take 1 oz. of sal ammoniac, 1 oz. of roche alum, 1 oz. of sublimed silver, and 1 oz. of Roman vitriol, pound them well, take a glazed eardien vase, pour into it equal parts of vinegar and water, then throw in the above-mentioned articles. Boil the whole until reduced to half a cup or a cup, apply it to such parts of the iron as you may wish to hollow or corrode, and the water will corrode them. 64. A tDOter which corrodes irouy and takes away the spots on all metals^ and cleanses wounds, — ^Take Roman vitriol and eu- > There appears to be some error in this recipe. 2 Probably 'Tlammula;" in French, CUmatUe JUammde ; in Italian, <* Fiamula ;" in English, the sweet-scented Clematis. This is rendered more probable by the comparison of this plant with another species of Cle- EXPERIMENTA D£ COLORIBXJS. 77 lapide porfirico cum vernice liquida pictorum, et de hac confec- tione junge quod vis, et dimitte siccari ad solem. £t si non habes, accipe oleum lini, et aliquantulum calcis^ cum dicta ceiTusa, seu pulvere laterum coctorum iu fomace, atritorum, et pulverizatorum subtiliter. 61. Adtemperaruiumferrum. — Recipe radices rafani, extrahe succum ita quod de eo habeas satis ad quod vis facere, et accipe lombricoe, aliter bombricos, terrestres, quos pone in aqua bene salita, vel marina, per horam, donee moriantur, et moriendo purgentur ab eorum humoribus superfluis. Postea extrahe ipsos de aqua absque eos exprimere, set solum jaciendo, et ex- cudendo aquam, et pone eos in cucurbita vitri, et superpone dictum succum rafani, ita quod succum superet eos aliquantu- lum, et dicte cucurbite superpone alembicum, et luta, et loca cucurbitam m cineribus, et da ignem lentum et recoUige aquam, que exiet clara ut aqua fontis, et in ipsa extingue ferrum debite ignitum. 62. Ad idem. — Accipe herbam que vocatur famula, que est ad modum vidalie. Set scias quod habet folia ad modum sam- buci ; et de ipsa trahe succum, in quo extingue, et tempera, ferrum debite ignitum seu calefactum in igne. 63. Ad faciendum aquam que cavat ferrum, — Accipe onciam ]. salis armoniaci, et onciam L aluminis roche, et onciam i. de argento sublimate, et onciam i. yitrioli romani, et pista omnia bene, et accipe unum vas terre yitriatum, et pone in ipso aquam et acetum, de utroque equaliter, et immitte que dicta sunt, et fac bulire, donee devenerit ad quantitatem medii ziatus, vel unius ; et, hiis factis, de ipsa linias ferrum, mode quo vis ipsum cavere, seu radere, et radebit ipsum dicta aqua. 64. Aqua que cavat ferrum et levat maculae ab omnibus me- tgJlis et pargat patredinem vulneris, — ^Accipe de vitriolo romano matis, the Clematis Vitalba, the wild Clematis, or common Virgin's bower ; the Vitalba and Clematite of the Italians ; La Cl^matite des Haies of the French. 78 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEQUE. phorbia/ and distil them in an alembic. Then take the water which is distilled from them and apply it to the wound, and it will purify it and remove the dead flesh without great pain. If you write with this on iron or any other metal, the letteiB will immediately be made and bitten into it 65. To fix one piece of brcus to another. — Take the scnqnngs of a cask, that is, tartar, bum it until it no longer smokes, and reduce it to powder ; then take a fourth part of bcnrax, pat it in a small quantity of water, and stir it until it is dissolved ; then add the tartar to it, until it makes, as it were, red biibblei^ when you must add a little water to make it mate liquid : yoo may then use it to fix anything you please, smearing die article with the said water or mixture. Then put a few copper filings and powdered borax into the said water and smear tlib mixture as before. Then put what you join into the fire, and when you see the copper filings run or melt, at that instant throw water on the fire, take out whatever you have soldered, and you will find it firmly fixed. 66. If you toish to give a gold colour to any metoL — ^TJk powdered red sulphur and red orpiment, heat them in a crucible over the fire, stain your work with this composition, and it will be of a gold colour. 67. To give iron a golden colour, — ^Take alum of Jameni, grind it with urine so as to be of the consistence of ointment, and spread it wherever you like on the plates of uron ; then heat it over the lighted coals ; what you have spread will become of a golden colour. 68 or 69. To preserve arms and other iron vtennlsfrom nut. — Anoint them with chicken's grease. 70, 71, 72, 73, or 74. To make fire tohich will bum tmier water J and which cannot be extinguished with anything but oiL — Take equal parts of quicklime and sulphur, 1 oz. of wax, a ^ Euphorbia, the spurge, of which there are many species, one of which is mentioned in the Bolognese MS., No. 38, under the name of Turtomseili, a derivation from the Latin Tithymalus, the Euphorbia Esola (Erba Latte, EXFERIMENTA DE C0L0RIBU8. 79 et euforbiano, et distilla per alembicuni} et de aqua que exierit pone in plaga, et ezpurgabitur, et levabit carnem mortuam absque dolore magno, et si de ipsa scripseris litteras in ferro, vel alio metallo, statim fient et cavabuntur in ipso. 65. Adconsolidandum umtm latonem cum alio. — Accipe rasu- ram vegetis, id est, tartanun, et combure donee fiimum non faciat, et pulveriza earn ; postea aodpe quartam partem borratis, quam mitte in modico aque, et misce, et agita earn, donee liquefiat ; postea mitte cum ea dictam rasuram, donee iaciat bul- las quasi rubeas, postea mitte parum aque, ut At magis liquida, postea de ipsa operare, et consolida que yis, et unge eas de ipsa aqua sen mistura ; postea mitte in ipsa mistura aliquan- tulum limature cupri, et aliquantulum borracis pulverizate, et de ipsa mistura unge ubi supra, et que jonxeris pone ad ignem, donee videbis spargi, seu fondi, linituram dicte mixture positam super jonctura duorum conjonctorum, et subito proice desuper de aqua in igne, et extrahe de igne ea que jonxisti, quia con- solidata erunt. 66. Si vis dare aureum colorem alicui metallo. — Accipe pul- verem sulphuris rubei, auriplumenti rubei, et bulias ad ignem in cruxibulo, et de tali confectione opus tuum intinge, et sus- cipiet aureum colorem. . 67. Ad faciendum aureum colorem super ferrum, — ^Accipe aluminis jameni, et tere cum urina, ut sit quas unguentum, et linias ex ea lamina ferrea ubi volueris, et calefiu; super car- bones ignitos, et fiet linitura color aureus. 68 vel 69. Ad conservandum arma et alia ferramenta a rubigine. — ^Ungantur asimgia gallinarum. 70, 71, 72, 73, vel 74. Ad faciendum ignem qui ardebit sub aquaf nee poterit extingui, nisi cum oleo, — Acdpe calcis yive, sulphuris vivi, ana, omsiam L cera, parum olei, parum petrolei, Lattaroli; Euphorbe k feuille de pin, La petite Esule, the Grom well- leaved spurge). All the Bpecies are acrid and poisonous. 80 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEOUE. little oil, and a little petroleum. Mix these thiogs togetber, smear them over iron or wood, put this under water, and it w3I bum. K you wish to extinguish it, put it in oil. 75. If you wish to keep a fire for some time, — Put lifted coals or charcoal under the ashes of juniper wood, and fliey will not be extinguished for a long time. 76. To make maggots and lice fall from your head. — ^Anmot your head with the juice of rue. 77. If you wish to take spots of oil^ and so forthy out if tooollen cloth. — Distemper white, or gypsum, or marble dust ground with egg, lay it on the spot, dry it, and then wash it with cold water. 78. To take stains out of scarlet, velvety Sfc. — ^Take rodie aliun, with a little common salt, and grind it, and make it into a paste with yolk of egg and a little vinegar ; put tliis on the spots and dry it. The dried ^^ mixture'* may be removed by rubbing, and the cloth will remain free from the spot. 80.^ For the same purpose. — Take burnt tartar of wine, and a little sulphur, grind them and make them into a paste with yolk of egg and water. Put this on the spots, dry it, and re- move it by rubbing and beating. 81. If you wish to stain bonesj woody planksj wooden ptatterty knife^handlest thread, and linen cloths greeny put some stnnQg red vinegar into a glass vase with brass filings, a little Roman vitriol, and roche alum, and boil all these things together (or a short time, and then let them stand for a few days. When you desire to stain anything, put it into this mixture, boil it a little, and it will be of a beautiful and durable green colour. 82. If you wish to make brass as beautijvl as goldy take 1 lb. of brass plates, i lb. of the best tuchia, melt them together in a crucible over the fire, add 2 oz. of tin, stir well, and let the mixture cool. Then melt it a second time, add 3 oz. of tndiia, stir it, and again set it aade to cool. Hien melt it a third time, add 3 oz. more of tuchia, stir and cast it in the form of rods, strips, plates, or any other form, and it will be beautiful. * 79 is missing in original. EXPERIMENTA DE OOLORIBUS. 81 et hec misce simul, et lignias de hoc ferrom vel lignum, et mittas sub aqua et ardebit; et si vis extinguere, mitte in oleo. 75. Si vis conservare ignem maximum tempus ne extingatur* — Pone carbones, seu calcicos accensos, sub cineribus ligni juniperii et durabunt diu. 76. Ut lendines et pedictdi cadant de capite. — ^Unge caput succo rute. 77. Si vis extrahere de parmis larmarum maculas old et o/iorum.— Distempera album, vel gessum, vel marmor, tritum cum ovo, et inunge ubi est macula, et dimitte dccari, postea lava cum aqua frigida. 78. Ad extrahendum maculam de scarlata^ et voluto, et talibus, — Accipe de alumine roche, et parum salis communis, et tere, et impastentur cum vitello ovi, et pauco aceti, et superponatur macule, et siccetur, et confricando expellatur dictum bitumen siccum, et pannus remanebit liberatus a macula. 80. Ad idem, — ^Accipe alumen fecis, et parum sulphuris, et tridentur et impastentur cum vitello ovi et aqua, et superpo- nantur macule et dimittantur siccari, et expellantur conincando et excuciendo. 81. Si in colore viHdi vistingere ossa, ligna, tabulas, scutellas Kgm, manubria cutellorum, JUum, et pannum lint — ^Accipe de aceto rubeo et forti in vase vitreo cum limatura eris, parum vitrioli romani, et de alumine roche, et fac aliquantulum bulire omnia simul, et permitte sistare per aliquos dies, et cum vis aliqua tingere, pone in ipsa mistura^ et fac aliquantulum bulire, et fient colores pulcri viridis optime perdurantes. 82. Si vis facere lottonem pulcrum sicut aurum. — Accipe la- minas eris libram i, et optimam tuchiam libras s, et simul fonde in igne cum cruxibulo, et pone intus onzias ii stagni, et misce, et dimitte frigidari. Postea fonde secundo, et pone intus de tuchia onzias iii, et misce, et dimite frigidari. Postea tercio fonde, et mitte in ipso onzias iii tuchie, et misce, et jacta in virgis vel laminis platis, vel in qua forma vis, et erit pulcher. VOL, I. o 82 MANUSCRIPTS OF JE3BLAN LK BEOtJE. 83. To make a good temper for iron utensils. — Early in the morning collect a large quantity of celandine when it is wet or fiill of dew. Extract its juice by poimding, boiling it until ooe third is conBumed, and the two parts remaining will be ex- cellent. Hien take the whole of the herb Lattaroli^ ^% pounded, and extract its juice. Distil this, if possibley and sprinkle some finely powdered antimony on the iron, heat the iron, and quench it in the distilled water. 84. For the same purpose. — ^Take the lea&talka of briony, pound them, and extract the juice. Distil this, and qnendb the red-hot iron in the water which is distilled from it. 85. To mend broken vases of earthy stone, and marbU. — ^Take the white earth of the fellmongers, that is, chalk, wliicli is otherwise called gersa [gesso] ; make it into a plaster with white of egg, grind it well on a stone, and use it* 86. If you wish to attract glass touched with some gum, as iron is attracted by the moffnety take the gum Andrianum, which is found in the large rocks near Bologna towards Tuscany, in Monte Bono, or Buono, and besmear a stick with this gnm. Touch the glass phials on the table with this stick, draw away the stick, and the phials will follow it, as iron follows the magnet. 87. If you wish to turn Mack skins white^ take a mole, bdl it, then take the water in which it has boiled, and smear a hhA horse with it, on any part The black hairs will fidl ofl^ and white hairs will grow. 88. For the same purpose. — Take cheese, heat it by the fire, press it strongly on the forehead of a black horse, and it will make a star as you know. After the preceding, it was written in the MS., *^ AH the things ooo* tidned in this unbound book, namelj, from number 47 unto this pige, I wrote * in Janua' in the year 1409, in the month of June, eztracdng them from a book lent to me by brother Dionysius de (sic) of ^ The Euphorbia Esula. See ante, note to p. 78. < This recipe appears to be copied from Pliny, who. says quidiliiDe should be used. ? ' EXPERIMBNTA DE COLORIBXJS. 83 83. Ad fojciendum banam temperam ferramentis. — Collige summo mane bonam quantitatem celidonie, quando est plena seu madida rore, cujus succum pistendo extrahe, et fac bulire, donee consuniinata sit tertia pars ejus ; due yero remanentes partes optime sunt; et accipe totidem herbam lateranniam, pista, et succum extrahe, et ipsum distilla per alembicum, si fieri poterity et pulyerem antimonii triti pulveiizati proice super ferrum, et calefac femim, et extingue in dicta aqua distillata. 84. Ad idem. — ^Accipe radicem de foliis brionie, et pista, et extrahe succum, quem distilla per alembicum, et in aqua que exierit extingue fernim ignitum. 85. Ad reintegrandum vasa terrea^ lapidea^ et marmoreal Jracta. — ^Accipe terram albam pellipariorum, id est cretam, que aliter gersa Yocatur, de qua fac emplastrum cum albumine oyi^ et subtilia super lapide et utere. 86. Si vis vitrum tactum de quadam guma attrahere^ sicut ferrum attrahitur a calamita. — Accipe gumam andrianam que invenitur in saxis maximis Bononie versus Tuscam ixx monte Bono seu Buono, et cum ipsa guma unge baculam, et cum ipso baculo tange fialas vitri positas super mensa, et deduc baculum per mensam, et fiale sequentur baculum, sicut ferrum sequiter calamitam. 87. Si vis de pellibus nigris faoere albas, — Accipe talpam et fac bulire, et ex ipsa aqua in qua bulierit linias equum nigrum, ubi vis, et cadent pili nigri, et orientur albi. 88. Ad idem. — Accipe caseum et calefac ad ignem, et in fronte equi nigri imprime fortiter, et fiet stella sicut scis. Post predicta scriptum erat in exempUri, " omnia contenta in presend quaterno^ id est, a numero 47, usquo hie, Bcripsi in Janua, anno 1409, de mense Junii, extrahendo ab uno quaterno prestato michi per Fratrem Dyoniaiam de (ac), ordinia Servorum Sancte o 2 84 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN IM BEGUB. the order of the Servanti of St. Mary, which order, in BfHci, h called Del Sacho ; and from that same book I copied also wmj experiments for making colours for illummating books, which expe- riments I wrote in another quire which precedes this." These are the experiments, Nos. 1 to 47 inclusive. Also in the same MS., in another unbound book attached to the ing, it was thus written : '* On Tuesday the 11th day of 1410, 1 caused the following to be copied in Bologna from recipes Jait to me at that place by Theodore (sic) of Flanders, an emfani* derer, accustomed to work at Pavia during the life of the hie renowned Duke of Milan ;^ which recipes the said Theodore s»d be had procured in London, in England, fh)m the perscms vho wofk with the waters hereinafter mentioned/' The following recipes were brought from England : — 89. To make black water. — Take a pint of water fi*om under the grindstone on which knives are ground,* and place it over the fire, and throw into it a glass of vinegar and iL oz. of galls ; then take ^ an oz. of alum and an oz. of copperas, and boil it until it is reduced by one-third, and then let it stand fir a day. 90. To mahe green loater. — ^Take an ounce of verdigris, half an ounce of alum, a little safiron, and a little parsley ; grind the whole well together, and distemper it with one gla^ of vinegar ; then strain it through a cloth into a saucer, and let it rest for a day. 91. To make red water. — Take an ounce of rags or clippings of scarlet [cloth], and soak them in a jar in a pint of strong ley ; then put the jar over the fire, and throw into it a little alum and gum arable, and make it boil until it is reduced one- half, and let it rest for a day. 92. To make tlie voater for staining cloth of all colaurgj and to make it quite white. — Take a pint of strong ley, and put it over the fire, and throw into it an ounce of alum and an ounce of saltpetre, and when it is melted take it off the fire and use it ^ Gian Galeazzo, who died in 1402. s This water probably contained iron- dust. It is also mentioned in the Bolognese MS., Nos. 134, 338. EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 85 Marie, qui in Mediolano dicitur ' del Sacho/ et ab ipso quatemo copiavi etiam multa ezperimenta ad faciendum colores pro illumi- nando libro, que experimenta scripsi super uno alio quatemo prece- dent! («u;) finis quaterni." [Ista sunt ezperimenta que scribuntur a pre (sic) numeri 1 usque ad numerum 47]. Item in eodem exemplari in quodam alio quatemo precedentibus con- tiguo scribebatur sic "1410 Die Martis xi Februarii, feci copiari in Bononia, a recepds ibi mihi prestatis per Thedericum (sic) de Flandria, rachamatorem solitum operari in castro papie, in vita condam incliti ducis Mediolani, quas receptas idem Thcdericus dixit habuisse in Londonia in Anglia, ab operariia infrascriptamm aquarum.'* Ab Anglia venerant recepte sequentes :— ' 89. Pour faire Teau noire. — Prenez une pinte de I'yaue de dessoulz la meule sur quoy on meult les couteaulx, et la mettez snr le feu, et gettez ung voire de vin aigre, et ii onces de galles, et prenez demie onche d'alon, et une onche de coperose, et le faitez tant boulir, qu'il apetice du tiers, et puis le laissier re- poser un jour. 90. Pour faire Veaue verte. — Prenez une once de vert de gris, et demie once d'alon, et un petit de safren, et un petit de persil, et broyez bien tout ensemble, et puis le destrempez en j voire de vin aigre, et puis le coulez parmi un drapel dedens une escuelle, et le laissiez reposer i jour. 91. Pour faire Veaue rouge. — Prenez une once de bourre d'escarlate, ou tondure, et le destrempez dedens une oUe, en une pinte de la forte lexive, et puis le mettez sur le feu, et gettez dedens un po d'alun, et de gomme arabique, et le faites tant boiilir qu'il apetice de la moitie, et puis le laissiez reposer un jour. 92. Pour faire Veaue a destaindre drap de toutes couleurs, et faire devenir tout blanc. — Prenez une pinte de la forte lessive, et la mettez sur le feu, et gettez dedens une once d'alun, et une once de salepetre^ et quant il est fondu mettez le jus du feu et en ouvrez. 86 MAKUSCBIFTS OF JEHAN LE BEOIO:. NoTB. — It seems also posrible to dntw^ with the said water, on eokisRd woollen doths, any letters and other drawings, the parts vithm tie outlines of which only, where the water has touched, will be bleadied ; and thus there will be wlute letters and figures ; the groond, whfR it has not been touched by the water, still retaining its own eotar. 93. To make the red toater. — Take an ormoe of ]%unl n powder and a 6th part of alun de glaoe, and make it boil wdl in a vessel of clear water until it is reduced to one hal^ and then use it. 94. To make the green water. — ^Take an onnce of water of the leaves of the hlack ni^tshade,^ and J an ounce of alum and the worth of a blanc' of saffiron, and ij. oz. of verdigris ; grinl all together as well as you can, and distemper with acbojnoe' of strong vinegar, and then use it 95. To make the violet water. — ^Take an ounce of turasole and soak it in a chopine of strong and tepid ley» and tbea use it What is here called turnsole is to be understood ** Brenl.** 96. To make the blue ivater. — Take an ounce of indigo of Bandas, that is to say, Baguedel,* and reduce it to powder, and then distemper it with ^ a '4ot'' ' of strong lessive fondiase^and put it on the fire ; and just before it boils, throw into it a 6tfa part of quicklime, and the same quantity of ^'meltrac" (?),aiKi then take it off the fire and stir it well, and when it is tepid use it Also in the said MS., over the recipe immediately foUowbg, ms written — " At the beginning of this are wanting scTcral words which had been cut oW, as appeared when I caused this to be cofued fitn the MS. ; but I think it is for making a water of an azure eokwr, m a blue or indigo water." 97. Take the worth of a blanc of quicklime, and the same quantity of calcined lees of wine, and of calx of tin, and some ^'creeres'^ of indigo, and boil all together in two lots of dear ^ Morelle. The herba Morella, Solanum Nigrum, Black Nightshade, s A blanc was equivalent to 5 deniers. * Chopine, a half pint. The old French '^ pinte '* was equivalent to 1 quart English. * This was the real Indigo. ^ Lot, a liquid measure, perhaps what was aflerwards called '' Litre.** EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 87 Addicio. — Debent etiam posse cum dicta aqua protrahi in drapis coloricis lane queHbet littere, et alie protractiones, in quarum solis continenciis, quantum aqua eadem tetigerit, albificatio fiet, et sic habebuntur ibi protractiones et littere albe, reraanente campo in suo colore ubi a qua ipsa non tetigerit. 93. Pour faire Feaue rouge. — Prenez une once de brezil en poudre, et un sisain d'alun de glace, et le faites bien cuire, en desmerlant d'yaue clere, tant qu'il appetice de la moitie, et puiz en ouvrez. 94. Pour faire Tiaue verte. — Prenez une once d'eaue de morelle de la feuille, et demi once d'alun, et pour un blanc de safiren, et ij onces de yert de gris, et broyez tout ensemble si bien comme vous porrez, et puis le destrempez d'une chopine de fort vin algre, et puis en oeuYrez. 95. Pour faire Feaue violete. — Prenez une once de tornesel, et le met tremper en une chopine de forte lessive fondisse, et que elle soit tiede, et puis en oeuvre. NoTA.-^--Qnod ubi dicitnr tornesel vult dicere Bresil. ' 96. Pour faire Teaue perse. — Prenez une once de inde de Bandas, c'est a dire, Baguedel, et le met en pouldre, et puis le destrempe en demi lot de forte lessive fondisse, et puis le met BUT le feu, et quant il voudra boulir, gette dedens un sisain de chaulx vive, et autant de meltrac, e puis le met jus du feu, et le remue bien, et quant il est tede s'en oeuvre. Item in eodem ezemplari et sopra receptam immediate seqnentem sic erat scriptum. '' Hie, in principio, deficiunt plura verba, que ab exempiari erant abscisa, ut apparebat, quando feci hoc copiari ab ipso exemplari ; set credo quod sit ad faciendum aquam colons celestini, aut aquam persam vel indicam." 97. Pren pour un blanc de chaulx vive, et un blanc de cendre de lie de vin, et un blanc de la cendre d'estaing creeres de Inde, et fidt tout boulir ensemble en ij lotz d'iaue clere une 88 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. water for an instaDt, and stir it well, and then take it off the fire, and throw into it a glass of cold water ; and when it is settled you can use it. Also in the same MS., oyer the two paragraphs following, it written — " I think that the following recipes are for making tvo green waters, as I collect from the contents, and the names aad things which are mentioned in them." 98. One oz. of tartar of white wine, 1 oz. of sal gem, 1 oz. of alun de glace, i an oz. of alun de plume, 6 esterlins* of verdigris, 1 chopine of common salt. 99. 1 oz. of copperas, i an oz. of yerdigris^ 1 oz. of salt- petre, i an oz. of rhubarb. Take a chopine of water and put it into a new earthen jar, and when you see that the water begins to boil put in your powder, and take it off the fire and stir it with a skewer, and let it cool. I think these words of the above written paragraph relate to both the articles marked 98 and 99. After the aforesud, it was thus written in the before-mendoiied MS.:— ** The true method of working in England with [ooloored] waters. — The aforesaid • Theodore, from whom I had the above-written recipes for the aforesaid waters, told me that in Engfaind the painters work with these waters upon closely woven cloths, wetted with gwn-water made with gum-arabic, and then dried, and afterwards stretched out on the floor of the 8oler,*upon thick woollen and frieze cloths ; and the painters, walking with their clean feet over the said cloths, work and paint upon them figures, stories, and other things. And because these cloths lie stretched out on a flat surface, the coloured waters do not flow or spread in pdnting upon them, but remain where they are placed, and the watery moisture sinks into the woollen doth, which absorbs it ; and even the touches of the paint-brush made with these waters do not spread, because the gum with which, as already men- ^ Esterlins, 18^ grains, a goldsmith's weight Aocordmg to Spelman {Glo88, 203) and Dufresne (8, 165), the word was derived from the Ester- lings or Easterlings, as those Saxons were anciently called who inhabited the district in Germany now occupied by the Hanse Towns and their ap- pendages, the earliest traders in Europe. See Tomlin's Law Diet., art Coin, * Who u mentioned before in page 84, previous to No. 89. EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 8^ onde, et le remuer bien, et puis le met jus du feu, et gette dedens un godet d'yaue froide, et quant elle sera rassisse tu en puez ouvrer. Item in eodem ezemplari super ij partes sequentes sic erat, " credo quod hec verba sequenda sint ad faciendum aquas duas virides, ut comprehendo per contentus verborum ac renim in ipsis verbis nomi- natarum." 98. Une once de gravelle de vin blanc, une once de sal gemme, une once d'alun de glace, demie once d'alun de plume, vi esterlins de vert de gris, im estrelin de sel commun. 99. Une once de coperose, demie once de vert de gris, une once de salpetre, demie once de rubarbe. Prenez ime chopine d'yaue et la metez en 1 pot de terre neuf, et quant vous yerrez que Tiaue commencera a boulir, si metez vostre pouldre, et ne Tostez hors du feu, et la remuez a une brochete, et laissiez refroider. Credo quod ipsa verba suprascripti capituli serviant articulis signatis uno 98 alio 99. Vero modum operandi in Anglia cum aquis. Post supradicta scriptum sic erat in preiato exemplari, *' Antedictus^ Thedericus, a quo habui ante scriptas receptas prescriptarum aqua- rum, dixit quod in Anglia operantur operarii pictores cum ipsis aquis, super tellis bene contexts, et belneatis cum aqua gummata de gummi arabico, et siccatis, et postea extensis super solario^ per terram, super drappis grossis lanne et iirixia, incedentes cum pedibus nitidis ipsi qui operantur, iunt, inde per super ipsas telas, operando et depin- gendo super ipsis imagines, hbtorias, et alia. Et quodque ipse telle sedent et stant in planicie extense, ut dictum est, et super dictis drapis dicte aque colorate pingendo non fluunt, se spargentes, set stant ut ponuntur, et humitidas aquea descendit in drapo lanne, qui eam bibit, ac etiam non sparguntur tractus pincellorum facti ex ipsis aquis, quea gumacio tele facta ut dictum est, prohibet sparsionem * De quo supra in 2^- pagina folii precedentis ante numerum 89. s Solano — the 8oiery or upper story of a bouse. See Illustrations of Do- mestic Architecture from popular Medieval writers. By Mr. Wright. Published m the Archseologiod Journal, September, 1844, p. 218. n 90 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAK LE BEGXJB. tioned, the cloth is wetted, prevents thdr spreadiog. And wben t^ cloths are thus painted, their texture is not thickened or daokcoai any more than if they had not been painted, because the aibresaid watery colours have not sufficient body to thicken the doth." Also in the beginning of the following quire in the nine MS. it was t^s written-*'* On Thursday, the 18th day of Fefaraaiy, 1410, 1 caned the following to be copied at Bologna, by the hand of Dona Jolmaet de diversis, from a certain book of Magister Johannes de Modeoa, a painter living at Bologna.'* It must also be remarked that the articles which follow, namelj, trom the article 100 to the article 116 inclusive, were in the book Irai which I, John Le Begoe, copied, as has been already aaid, the present articles ; and that this book was written in the Italian lan- guage ; and as I did not understand that language, I caused it to be translated into Latin by a certain friend of mine, who was skilled in both languages. 100. To make lake, — ^Take ashes of oak, and boil tfaem in a boiler fiill of water, namely, in one oontuning 6 small cupa of water, and one parasis, i. e. a large [saucer or] basin Ml of the ashes, and boil it until it is reduced to three cups. Then let it settle, and when it is clear, pour it into a glazed eartfaeo basin ; then take a woollen cloth, and strain the said water, and when it is strained it will be a ley. Put into the said ley a sufficient quantity of the clij^ings, that is, cuttings of scarlet <5loth of rubeum de grana, to be perfectly coTered by the 1^. Then put it into a glazed earthen jar, and let it rest for twelve hours. Next take that ley, together with the clippings, and put it into a glazed earthen pipkin, and set it by Ihe fire, and let it simmer gently for an hour. After that try it, by putting it on your nail, and if it stands up well on your nail, it is done ; then remoye it from the fire and strain it through a thick woollen cloth. You must then have a new glazed earthen pot, and pour into it what was strained through the said cloth ; add to it vi oz. of roche alum, and stir it together until it is dissolyed. Then take a spoon and skim off all the froth that forms over the top of it, and throw away this scnm, for it is not good. But the other part is good, and should be put into a glazed earthen vase, and suffered to stand until it EXPERIMENTA BE COLORIBUS. 91 ipeam tractuum pincellorum ; et cum telle ipse operate sunt, tamen raritas ipsarum non est inspisata, nee ob fuscata, plus quam si non picte fuissent, quia aquei colores suprascripti non babent tantum corpus, quod possent inspicare raritatem telle." Item in principio quaterni sequentis in eodem exeroplari sicut erat scriptum, " 1410, die Jovis xiii» Februarii, feci copiari que se- quuntur in Bononia, de manu domini Johannis de diversis, a quodam libello magbtri Johannis de Modena, pictoris babitantis iu Bononia/' £t autem sciendum, quod articuli qui sequuntur, scilicet ab articulo 100 usque ad articulum 116 inclusive, erant in libro a quo e^, Johannes le Begue, presencium articulorum, ut supra dictum est, in ytalico sermone oonscripsi, quern sermonem, cum non intelligerem, feci per quemdam amicum meum, utriusque lingue peritum, in latinum vertn, eo qui sequitur modo. 100. Ad faciendum lacha. — Ad £Bu;ieDdum lacha, accipe cinerem de quercu, et &c bulire in una patella plena aque, videlicet quod sint intus sex cassete aque, et una parasis de dicta cinere, videlicet una magna scutella, et fac tantum buUire quod reveniant ad tres cassetas tantum modo. Postea sine clarificare, et, quando est clarificata, ponas in una patella de terra yitreata ; postea habeas pannum de lanna, et per ipsum fac colare dictam aquam, et, cum fiierit clarefacta, tum erit lessivium; ponas in dicto lessivio tantum cimature, videlicet burre de panno scarlato rubeo in grana, quod super habundet aliqualiter lessivium dictam cimaturam. Postea ponas totum in uno vase de terra vitriato, et sine morari intus per xij boras. Postea capias illud lessivium una cum cimatura, et ponas in una olla de terra vitreata^ quam pones juxta ignem, et &C bulire paulatim per unam horam. Et postea experimentes, et ponas supra unguem, et si teneat se super unguem, tunc est coctum, et hoc facto amovebis ab igne, et fac colorare per pannum grossum de lana. Postea habebis unum potum de terra vitreatum novum, et ponas intus illud quod colaverit per dictum pannum, et accipe vi oncias de alumine de Roch, et ponas intus, et misce ad invicem, usque quo liquefacerit* Postea accipe unum coclearium, et collige tantum illam 92 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEQUE. has become somewhat dry, when it must be formed into small grains, and be put in the sun. 10 J. To make verzino for painting on silver. — ^To make yerzino for painting on silver or tin-foil, so that the brilliancy of the silver or tin may shine and appear throu^ it, pat a piece of white lime about the size of an egg into water to dis- solve, and let it stand in the water for three days and three nights. Then rasp or scrape verzino, and add it to the lime- water, and let it stand for an hour ; then put it on the fibre iq a small jar, and let it boil until, when you put it upon your Bail, it remains upon it Then take isinglass, or, as some say, tm^ pentine, a piece about the size of a bean, and put into it, and remove it from the fire. Take a little roche alum, which yon must stick in the end of a small stick and tie it there, and dip it into the said mixture, and let it remain there until you see that it is dissolved. Then take a strainer, and strain or filter the water through it 102. To make \a liquid] for dyeing, — ^Take the whites of six eggs, and put them in a glazed basin, and break or beat them well with a sponge. Then take an ounce of verzino and scrape it, and add it to this white of egg, and let it remain in it for three days. Then take a little roche alum and scrape into it, and set it to strain or filter through a strainer. Then place it in tiie stm, and let it stand until it dries. Temper it with a little weak gum, that is, gum-water, made with gum arabic, having but little gum in it, on account of the viscosity of the white of egg, which is su£Scient for it 103. To make gesso sottile, — Take fine gesso sifted, that is passed through a sieve, and put it into water to dissolve, and the water every day, and stir it together every day, and EXPERIMENTA DE COLOHIBtTS. 93 spumam que veniet desuper, et illud quod remanet desuper separesy quod non est bonum. Alterum yero est bonum, et ipsum ponas in uno vaso de terra vitreato, et sinaa stare intus usque quo aliqualiter desiccetur^ et, quando desiccatum Aierit, fac de ipso parra grana, et ponas ad solem. 101. Ad faciendum verzin super arffentoponendo. — Ad facien- dum verzin super argento vel stagno verberato, ponendo taliter quod splendor argenti et stagni splendeat et lucescat, accipe calcem albam tantum, quantum est unum ovum, et ponas in aqua ad liquefaciendum, et sine stare in dicta aqua per tres dies et tres noctes. Postea habeas feltrum^ et per ipsum cola dictam aquam. Postea ratdces sive radas verzin, et ponas in dicta aqua de calce, etsine stare intus per unam horam, postea ponas super ignem in una parva oUa, et sinas tantum bulire, quod si posueris super unguem, ibi remaneat Postea habeas de cola pisdum, et aliqui volunt dicere de Trementina, tantum quantum unum granum fabe, et pone intus et removeas ab igne, et habeas parumper de alumine de roch, quod ponas in summitate unius paryi baculi, et liges ipsum, et emerge in dicta aqua commixtdonata, et sine stare usquequo videris esse liquefactum. Postea habeas unam stamineam, et per ipsam fac penetrare sive colare dictam aquam. 102. Ad faciendum pro tingendo* — ^Accipe clarum sex ovo- rum, et ponas in una scutella vitreata et deducas, sive per- cussias, bene cum una spungia. Postea habeas unam onciam de verzin, et ratices, et ponas in isto claro ovorum, et sinas stare intus per tres dies. Postea habeas aliquantum de alumine de roch, et ratices desuper, et pone ad colandum, sive penetrandum, in una staminea. Postea ponas ad solem, et sine stare tantum quod sit siccum. Postea tempera ipsum cum aliquantum de gumma debili, id est de aqua gommata de gummi arabico, que parum gumme in se habet, causa viscosi- tatis clari ovi jam impositi, que sufficit. 103. Ad faciendum gessum mibtUe. — Accipe de gesso subtili sedassato, id est, penetrato per aliquam stamineam, et pone in aqua ad liquefaciendum, et cotidie renoves aquam, et cothidie ^ 94 MANTJSCKIFTS OF JEHAiN LE BEGUE. do this for a month. Then strain or filter off the water, take the part that remains behind and put it into a fresh in which you must let it remain till it has settled properly ; then make it into a cake, and let it dry. 104. To lay burnished gold upon paper. — ^Take gesso aottile and grind it on a stone with water. Then let it dry , and when it is dry take some glue, not very strong, and mix with it, and add a little minium and ceruse— t.e. blanchet^ — and lay tiie gesso on the paper, and let it dry. Then scrape it^ and lay over it Armenian bole well ground willi white of egg, and when it is dry, lay gold upon it with white of egg, and burnish it in proper time. 105. To lay fine gold upon giU tin. — ^Take white of egg, and whip or beat it well with a sponge, with which wet also the tin, but the sponge must not be too wet Then take fine gold, and lay it on the tin, and let it stand until it is fit to burnish. 106. To fnahe a mordant with garlic. — Take garlic, and pound or grind it yery fine, and strain or sift it throu^ a very fine sieve. Then take what passed through, and put it on a stone with a little minium and ceruse^ viz.^ blanchet and a little J^ bole, and grind and mix all these together, and let the mixture stand till it becomes tacky. cw-u** (^fj-6u**>t4>' 107. To make a mordant which will not be affected by Ae weather. — Take a little minium and ceruse, viz., blanchet, also verdigris, bole, and ochre, and grind all together with water, and let them dry until the water is completely evaporated. Then take what remains and grind it with oil and linseed, and add a little liquid varnish to it, and a little gold size, and grind all these things well together, and apply the mordant, and when you have applied it lay on the gold. 108. To make lake. — ^Take verzino and rasp it with glass, and take travertine rasped to powder, and a little rodie a]nin, and grind it, and soak all these things in a ley, and let tbem EXPERIMKNTA DE COLOBIBUS, 95 c^ommisceas ad invicem, et in tali statu sine morari usque ad Tuium mensem; postea cola sive penetra aquam, et abstrabe illud quod remanserit, et ponas in uno vase novo, ubi sinas morari usque quo fuerit bene repausatum, postea fac panem, et sine siccari. 104. Ad ponendum aurum bomitum in carta. — Accipe ges- sum subtile, 'et tere super petra cum aqua. Postea sine sic- cari, et quando erit siccum, habeto de cola non valde forti, et extempera cum ipso et pone aliquantulum de minio, et de ceruza, videlicet blancbet, et pone istud gessum super carta, et sine siccarL Postea radas et ponas super bolarminum, bene tritum cum claro ovi, et quando est siccum, pone super aurum cum claro oTi. Postea bomisce quando tempus est. 105. Ad ponendum aurum finum super ttagno aurato,'^ Accipe darum oti, et deducas sive percutias bene cum spungia, et balne stagnum de dicta aqua cum spungia, et non valde ; postea accipias aurum finum, et vade ponendo super stanno, et fflnas tantum quod sit ydoneum ad bomiendum. 106. Ad faciendum mordentem de aleo. — Accipe de aleo, et pista, sive tere, bene nitide, et cola, sive penetra, bene nitide per unam pessiam. Postea coUige illud quod penetraverit, et ponas supra petra cum aliquantum de minio, et de cerusa, videlicet ^lanchet, et aliquantum de bolo, et omnia ista tere et CQmmisce ad invicem, et sine tantum quod effidatur conglu- tinosus. 107. Ad faciendum mordentem qui stet ad aerem. — Acdpe parumper de minio, et cerusa, videlicet blanchet, et de ver- deramo, et de bolo, et de ocrea, et tere omnia ista ad invicem cum aqua. Postea sine eiccari usquequo aqua exiverit. Postea accipe illud quod remanserit, et tere cum oleo et semine lini, et pone intus cum aliquanto vemicis liquide, et aliquantum de auratura ; et omnia ista tere bene invicem, et ponas in opere, et quando pungit pone super aurum. 108. Ad faciendum lacha, — Accipe verzin, et ratices cum aliquantum de vitreo, et accipe tevertini raticatum in pulvere, et accipe alume de roch, et tere. Et omnia ista pone ad lique- 1 96 MAiNUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. stand for a day. Then mix the whole well together, and pat the mixture in a new earthen jar, and make it boil for a qxiarter of an hour. Then take a small bag, and pour the whole into it, and let it remain until the moisture has passed or rm through, and let it fall into a saucer or stone basin. 109. To make a yellow colour^ — Take an ounce of orjnmest, and an ounce of sulphur vivum, and temper this colour with the milk of a fig-tree, and it is done. 110. To make a green water. — Take buckthorn berries, aiul mix them in the same way as is done with wine or raiains when they are boiled in a cauldron to make wine, and coyer liiem up, and let them remain for six days. Then squeeze tfaem into a parasis, viz., a basin of glazed earthenware, and add to it a little ' alum, lest it should be spoiled. Proportion the alum to the quantity of the liquid, and plaoe it in the son to dry. And when you wish to use it add a little ley to it ; and if you wish to have a beautiful green take some fine azure and mix with this water ; and note, that for this purpose azurmm de Alemannia^ provided it is good and perfect, is better than ultramarine. 111. To make ultramarine azure. — ^Take 3 lbs. of lapis lazuli, and pound finely in a copper mortar, and afterwards sift it with a sieve such as perfumers use when they sift their per- fumes after having pounded them. Then take 3 lbs. of tur- pentine, and put into a glazed earthen saucer, and place it on the hot ashes. Then put into it a little olive oil, and when you see that it begins to boil take it from the fire, and imme* diately put in the powdered lapis lazuli, little by little, stirring it well with a stick, so that the turpentine may be well incor- porated witli the said powder. Then keep the saucer, with the pastille thus made, for three days, and the longer it stands the better. Afterwards take another larger saucer, and put the pastille into it, and take some dean tepid water, and poor ^ So in original. EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 97 faciendum cum lexivio, et sine morari per unum diem. Postea misce omnia ista bene, et pone in una olla de terra nova, et fac bulire per quartam partem unius hore. Postea habeas unum parvum succum, et pone intus omnia ista, et sine morari usquequo succus penetraverit, sive colaverit, et fac cadere in una paraside, sive eatino, de petra. 109. Ad faciendum colorem croceum. — Accipe unam unciam de orpimento, et unam unciam de sulfure vivo, et distempera istum colorem cum lacte de figu, et est factum. 110. Ad faciendum aqaam viridem. — Accipe grana de spino cervino, et ammusces sicut fit de vino sive raisinis, quando fit bullire in cuva pro vino faciendo, et tege et sine morari usque ad vj dies. Postea premas in una paraside, videlicet, in uno eatino de terra vitriato, et pone intus aliquantulum de alume de («c), ne corrumpatur, et ponas de dicto alume secundum quantitatem dicti liquoris, et pone ad solem, et sine siccari. £t quando vis de ipso operari, accipe aliquantum liscivii, et mitte intus ; et si vis facere pulcrum colorem viridem, fac quod habeas pulcrum azurrum, et misce cum ista aqua; et scias quod ad istud negotium melius est azurrum de Alemannia, quam ultramarinum, dum modo sit bonum in perfectione. 111. Ad faciendum azurium ultramarinum. — Accipe libras ires lapides lazuli, et pistes valde bene in uno mortario de cupro, et fac postea penetrare per unam stamignam, qua utuntur arom^tarii, quando faciunt penetrare aromata post- quam pestaverint. Postea habeas libras tres de trementina, et ponas in una scutella vitreata, quam pones super cinerem caldum. Postea pone intus aliquantum de oleo olivarum, et si tu vides quod inceperit bulire, removeas ab igne, et statim pone intus dictum pulverem lapidis lazulli, paulatim, miscendo, et bene incorporando cum uno baculo, per modum quod ilia trementina sit bene incorporata cum dicto pulvere. Postea conserva dictam scutellam cum dicto pastille taliter confecto per tres dies, et si plus staret, melius valeret. Postea habeto VOL. I. H S8 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LB BBGUE. over the pastille as much as would fill a small saucer of the size of the saucer in which the pastille was kept, and wa^ tbe pastille well with your hands in the water, and then strain ^ water throu^ the cloth ; and having strained the water finoB the pastille in that manner three times, keep it in another lar^ saucer, for in it you will have the flower of the azure. Ako pour water agun over the pastille in quantity about three saucers* full, pouring it over three times, one saaoer iiill at a time, and do as you did before, and you will have good azure, but not so perfect as the first Also pour water on the pastiDe a third time, and do as you did before, and you will then have anotiier azure, yet not so perfect as the first or the second. 112. To make the pastille with which the azure is prepared,^ Take 3 oz. of olive oil, also 2 oz. of turpentine, also i oz, d liquid varnish, also 2 sagii^ of good incense; and, in mj opinion, each sagium makes 1 sterling and a half. After^ wards prepare the oil in the following way : — Take a ^a^ed jar, and first put some of the oil into it, and next the two ounces of turpentine, and place it on a clear fire, and let them boil together for so long as it would take to say a PatemoEter and Ave Maria. Then put in the said 2 sagii of incense, and let them boil together for as long as it would take to say tbe miserere mei Deus twice. Then add the half ounce of liquid varnish, and let them boil together for as long as it would take to say the miserere mei Deus twice. Lastiy, pour in tbe remainder of the oil, and afterwards strain it throng a dean closely-woven linen cloth, and preserve it in a clean jar. 113. To extract the azurnfrom the pastille. — Put the pastille into an earthen vase, and rub it very well with linseed oil, and afterwards make the said pastille into a roimd cake. Then ^ A Sagium, or scruple, according to the Rioettario, weighed 24 gruos. The sagg^o mercantile weighed 24 grains. — Micett, Fior,^ p. 126. EXPERIHENTA DE COLOEIBUS. 99 tinam aliam scutellam majorem, et in dicta pone dictum pas- tilium, et habeas de aqua nitida et clara tepide, et in dicto pastille pone quantitatem unius parve scutelle, que scutella eit quantitatis que erat prima scutella, in qua prius conseryasti dictum pastillum, et cum manibus lava bene dictum pastilium in dicta aqua, et tunc cola dictam aquam in dicto panno, et illam aquam, taliter colatam de pastillo, tribus vicibufi reseira in una alia majori scutella, quia in ista tu babebis florem azurii. Item altera vice ponas aquam in metipso pastillo, in quantitate Ilium scutellamm, ponendo per tres vices, et qualibet vice unam scutellam, et fac sicut fecisti prius, et habebis azurum bonum, set non tam perfectum sicut primum. Iterum, tercia vice, ponas aquam in metipso pastillo, et fac sicut fecisti alteris duabus vicibus, et tunc habebis alium azurum, set non erit in perfectione sicut primum nee secundum. 112. Ad faciendum pasHUum de quo fit azurrum. — Accipe tres oncias de oleo olivarum, item duas oncias de trementina, item dimidiam onciam vemicis liquide, item duos sa^os boni incensi ; et, secundum opinionem meam, quodlibet sagium facit unum sterlingum cum dimidio. Fostea confice dictum oleum isto mode : in primis accipe unam ollam vitriatam, in qua pones prius de dicto oleo, poetea duas oncias de dicta trementina, postea pones juxta ignem clarum, et sine bulire ad invicem, tantum quod diceretur semel pater noster et ave Maria. Postea pones dictos duos sagios incensi, et dimitte bullire in- vicem tantum, quod bis diceretur " miserere mei Deus.^* Postea pone dictam dimidiam unciam de vemice liquida, et sine bulire tantum, quod diceretur bis miserere met Deus. Postea finaliter pone residuum de dicto oleo, et postea cola per unum pannum lineum nitidum bene intextum, et ponas in uno vaso nitido. 113. Ad trahendum azurrum de pastillo. — Pone dictum pas- tilium in uno vaso de terra, et frica valde bene cum oleo de semine lini, et postea fac de dicto pastillo uniun panem ro- h2 100 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGTJE. take warm ley, well strained and clear, and pour it on the pastille, and do the same thing a second and a third time, aid thus you will have three sorts of azure. Then remove tbe ky as well as you can, and put it afresh into another ley, and make it boil slowly and gently, and skim it. Tlien let it boil for an hour, and remove it from the fire, and pour off tise ley, and wash and strain it well. Make every three portxns boil in this way, and also each by itself; and also, if you wish to strsdn it together with the ley you can do it. 114. To make the pastille from which the ultramarine is made, — Take 1 lb. of lapis lazuli and grind it well, and take three sagii of new wax. In my opinion these sagii are equal to 1 sterling and a half each. Also three sagii of mastie, also one sagius of coarse incense, also one ounce of the before-mentioDed prepared oil, and then make a pastille in the following manner. First take the wax, and chew it well with your teeth, and pot it into a glazed jar. Then place it on the fire, and let it melt Next add the incense, and let it melt ; and then add the mastic, and let it boil slowly and gently for so long as it would take you to say the miserere mei Deus once. Then add half an ounce of the oil, and let it stand by the fire until it boils. Then re- move it from the fire, and keep stirring it till it is cold, or nearly so, when you must add the powder of lapis lazuli, and stir it until it becomes hard. Then take water that is slightly warmed, and put the pastille into it, and mix it until the water is well coloured. Then put it into a parasis or basin of glazed stoneware, and the perfect azure will immediately sink to the bottom of the basin, and you must then pour off the water care* fully ; or, you may keep it, if you wish to do so, and then pour off the water : add cold water, and wash the said azure well, mixing it with a stick. Then strain it through a closely- textured linen cloth, and pour off the water and dry it, and you will thus have perfect azure. 115. To extract perfect azure, — First take a phial of cold ley, and put into it one drachm of the stone tuzia, well ground with the said ley, then wash the azure in it, and afterwards wash it EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 10.1 ^^indum; postea habeas lessivium tepidum bene colatum et crlarum, et pone in dicto pastillo, et siraili modo iterum facies Ijina et trina vice, et sic babebis de tribus maneriebus azurri. I^oetea atrahes lixivium quam melius poteris, et de uno pone in «Llio lexivio, et fac bulire paulatim et plane, et schiumabis [from schiumare] desuper ; postea sine bulire per unam faoram, et re- traJhe ab igne, et abstrahe lexivium, et lava bene, et similiter bene colabis, et fac omnibus tribus vicibus sic bullire, et qualibet vice pro se ; et etiam, si velis colare una cum lessivio, facere poteris. 114. Ad faciendum pastzllum de quo fit dztirum ultramarinum. — Accipe unam libram de petra vel lapide lazuli, et tere bene, et accipe tres sagios de cera nova, qui sagii faciunt, videre meo, quilibet unum steriingum cum dimidio. Item tres sagios de mastich, item unum sagium large incensi, item unam onciam de oleo supra(ticto confecto, et postea fit pastillum tali modo. In primis accipe ceram, et mastica bene cum dentibus, et pone in una oUa vitriata. Postea pone juxta ignem et sine liquefieri. Postea ponas dictum incensum, et sine liquefieri ; postea ponas dictimi mastich, et sine bullire paulatim et plane, tantum quod diceretur semel " miserere mei Deus?^ Postea ponas dimidiam t>nciam de dicto oleo, et sine tantum stare juxta ignem quod buliat Postea remove ab igne, et commisce tantum quod sit refrigeratum, vel quasi ; postea pone dictum pulverem de lapide lazulli, et misce tantum quod veniat dura; postea accipe de aqua parumper calida, et pone supradictum pastillum, et tantum misceas, quod aqua sit bene colorata. Postea ponas in una paraside, sive catiuo, de lapide vitreato, et statim azurrum per- fectum submergetur in profundo cathini ; postea diligenter abstrahe aquam, et, si vis ipsam reservare, potes, et abstrahe dictam aquam, et ponas de aqua frigida, et laves bene dictum azurrum, miscendo bene cum uno ligno. Postea cola per panum lineum bene intextum, et abstrahe illam aquam, et siccabis, et sic babebis azurrum perfectum. 115. Ad abstraJiendum azurrum perfectum. — In primis accipe unam fiolam de lissivio frigido, in qua pones intus unam drag- mam de lapide tuzia bene trita cum dicto lixivio, postea lavabis 102 MANUSCRIPTS OF XEHAN LE BEGUE. with cold water, until it remains pure and brilliant, and tfaoi you will have a perfect blue. 116. To obtain a bltie^ not quite so perfect , — ^If you lite job may also make up the pastille again, as before directed, except that you must not add to it any of the before-mentioned lafk lazuli, and you must keep and knead this second pastille ai before directed with regard to the first, and thus you will have a second and a third kind of azure not so perfect. Whoeyer wishes to trj all these experiments ranst obflcrrc and note that the pounds nentioned here most be understood as of tvelrc ounces each, according to the Italian mode of reckoning^. Also in the said MS. it was thus written — " I received the faUowio^ receipt at Venice, on Tuesday the 4th day of May, 1410, fiwa Micbelino di Vesuccio, the most excellent punter among all the painters of the world." 117. Azure is thus made. — Take 1 lb. of lapis lazolx and grind it well upon a porphyry slab ; then wash it wi& water and dry it» and reduce it to powder. The pastille is tfans made : — ^To each pound of powdered lapis lazuli take 1 lb. of Greek pitch, ij. oz. of liquid varnish, j. oz. of mastic ; pot into a rough jar xij. oz. of good common oil, i. e. linseed or olive oil, and make it boil ; then put the mastic and varnish in, powder into the oil, and stir it well with a stick, and when you see Aat they are dissolved add the Greek pitdi in powder, and let it boil a little, until the whole is incorporated. Then strain it through a cloth into cold water and knead it with your hands greased with common oil, and then incorporate the powdered lapis lazuli very carefully upon a slab with the pastille^ and let it stand for three days with the pastille. Afterwards eztaw^ the azure from the pastille in this way : — Stir it about with a stick in water that is a little more than tepid^ and keep it in as long as any colour .flows out; but if you cannot extract tiie colour put hotter wa;ter to it, and so keep adding water hotter and hotter by degrees until it brings out the colour. Lastly, pour off the water when it is at the hottest, and having ex- tracted all the azure and separated it from the water, make a very strong ley, and put the azure into smooth vases, and poor BXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBUS. 103 stZTimim, postea etiam lavabis cum aqua frigida, tantum quod remaneat purum et nitidum, et sic habebis perfectum azurnim. 116. Ad habendum azurrum non adeo perfectum. — Si vis, fac .pastillum etiam de novo, sicut dictum est de super, cxcepto So in original. EXPEEIBIENTA D£ COLOKIBUS. 105 Anno circoncisionis 1411, die ij Februarii, post quam magister Johannes de ('<<^)» Normanus, commorans in domo magistri Petri de Verona, qai sit afinare vel facere azamim ultramarinum, et alinat diatim, seu facit, cum ezpedit, dixit mihi Jobanni Alcberio, in Parisiis, modum quo utitur afiniando, seu faciendo ipsum azurrum, notavi, et feci presentem scripturam, secundum avisum meum, et juzta eaque ab ipso audivi, et juxta eaque per diversas scripturas vidi de boc, et a diversis aliis personis audivi. 118. Ad purgandum^ vel afinandum^ seu faciendum^ azurrum ultramarinum cum pastillo^ seu ad faciendum illud de lapide lazulli, trito in pulvercy et purgando pulverem cum pastillo. — Polverizatur et teritur subtilissime ad siccum, in mortario cupri, lapis lazuUi ultramarinus finus, cujus bonitatis est major, quanto est magis celestis colons, et vivi, videlicet quod non sit nimis clarus color et albescens, seu quod lapis ipse non sit im- mixtus de partibus non celestini colons, set crocei, vel terrestis, et albescentis ; et si, ut quandoque accidit, non invenitur lapis, et inveniatur pulver de ipso factus, quern vendentes appellant azurium, dato quod non sit afinatus seu purgatus, accipiatur et probetur si fit finum, ponendo ipsum ad ignem super lamina ferri, et si non mutat colorem, vel pejorat, est bonum ; deinde pulver illud teratur super lapide duro, piano, bene subtiliter cum aqua clara, ut teruntur colores, postea siccetur, et rediga- tur in' pulverem, et fiat postea pastillus, pro purgando dictum pulverem seu azurium, de rebus sequentibus, hoc modo. Accipiantur in vase terreo vitreato uncie octo tormentine, que si vel sic intepidetur, ut sit aliquantulum mollis, ut possit agi- tari lavando earn, et lavetur pluries cum aqua clara tepida, agitando aquam et tormentinam simul cum baculo, et jactando aquam, ita quod termentina fiat bene alba, clara, et purgata, 106 MANUSCBIFTS OF JEHAN LE BEQTTB. then throwing away the water, so that the torpentme maj be bleached, cleaned, and purified. This is my own advice, although Master Johannes did not say that it would be better. Then add to it 2 oz. of pine resin, or Greek pitch, and 2 oz. of new wax, and melt or liquefy all these things together oyer the fire, and mix them well, and it will make the pastille, which must afterwards be allowed to cool a little, so that it may be just tepid and soft, and not liquid, but rather solid. Then add viij., x., or xij. oz. of the said powdered Iap» lazuli, putting it in by degrees, and mixing the pastille and the powder with a stick, so fliat the powder may be well incorpo- rated with the pastiUe, and let it rest for about a day and a night or longer. Then pour over it a quantity of warm water sufficient to cover the pastille, and let it stand for a short time, so thai it may not be melted, but only warmed and softened sufficiency to allow it to be kneaded and stirred with the stick. After- wards, if the water has become too cold, add more hot water, which thus being added to the former becomes and also causes the pastille to become of a convenient heat. It would there- fore be more convenient in summer than in winter on account of the heat Stir the pastille gently with a stick or a woodeo spoon, and pour off the water, and the azure that is extracted with it, into another glazed earthen jar. And because the azure on account of its weight sinks presently to the bottom of the water, the water must be immediately poured off into another glazed earthen jar, lest any yellowish or white and earthy impurities, which are not so heavy as the azure, and which therefore do not sink to the bottom so soon, should, per- haps, render the water turbid ; and if the water should be turbid, these impurities will sink to the bottom along with the azure, which it will contaminate by being mixed with it. Afterwards wash the said pastille again several times in the same manner with warm water, not allowing it to cool or harden, but keep- ing it at a proper degree of heat and softness ; always pouring off the water of each washing, together with the azure ivfaich EXPERIMENTA DE COLORIBTJS. 107 quod advisayi ego^ dato quod ipse magister JohaDnes non dixerit erit melius* Postea ponantur in ipsa oncie due picis rase^ seu grece, et oncie due cere nove^ et fundantur aeu liquefiant hec omnia simul ad ignem, et misceantur bene, et iste erit pastillus, qui postea dimittatur aliquantulum infrigidari^ ita quod sit solum tepidus et mollis, et non liquidus, set ali- quantuliun obduratus. Deinde ponantur in ipso oncie viii^, vel x**°, vel xii*^*™, dicti pulyeris laziQli lapidis, paulatim im- ponendo, et cum baculo pastillum cum pulvere miscendo, ita quod bene incorporetnr pulver cum pastillo ; postea dimitatur per circa diem et noctem, vel plus, deinde ponatur de aqua calida, ita quod pastillus cooperiatur, et stet paucum, ut efficia- tur non liquefactus, sed tepidus et mollis, ut possit cum baculo agitari et misceri. Postea, si aqua erit nimis infrigidata, et suponatur de alia calida, que sic fit alteri adita remaneat, et pastillus cum ea ad tepiditatem convenientem reducatur. Igitur melius fit hoc in estate, pro calido, quam in hieme ; et misceatur pastillus cum baculo, vel spatula ligni, moderato modo, et azurrium, quod exibit cum aqua, imndttatur, cum ipsa aqua lavature sue, in alio vase terreo vitriato. Et quia aziuium subito, pro ejus ponderositate, descendit ad fondum aque, est cito post ejus descensum proficienda est aliquo alio vase terreo vitreato, ne aliqualis turpitudo albescens, vel crocea, et terres- tris, que non est tam ponderosa, ut azurrium, et igitur nee tam cito descendit ad fundum, et qua turpedine forte ipsa aqua es aliqualiter turbida, si aliqualiter ex ea turbida erit, descendat ad fondum cum azurrio, et ipsum deturpet se sibi immiscendo ; et postea iterum relavetur simili modo dictus pastillus pluribus vidbus cum aqua tepida, non dimittendo ipsum pastillum infiri- gidari nee indiu^, set tenendo ipsum in tepiditate et moUicie debita, et semper aquam, ad quamlibet laraturam cum azurro exeuntem quem secum traxerit et dixerit, mittendo in dicto vase, in qua prima missa erit, donee videatur quod azurrium incipiat exire a pastillo tanto minus bonum, seu minus pulcrum in colore ejus, quam primum, quod ex nimia difierencia con- veniat non plus ipsum ulterius ex aliis lavaturis exeuntem 108 MANUSCKIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. comes ojBT with it and is mixed with it, into the vase in which the first was put, until you see the azure come out of the pas- tille so much inferior in colour that on account of the too great difference of colour it is not proper to mix this last with the azure proceeding from the former washings, but it shonid be kept separate. You must then put what comes off with the subae- quent waters into another vase, separate from the first, and pour off in a similar manner the water of the washings into die same vase in which you put the water of the former washing And afterwards wash the azure again secondly as many times as you were directed to wash the first sort aforesaid, namely until the colour changes so materially for the worse, and thai, on account of the too great change in the colour, let the subse- quent waters be poured off into another third yase, until the whole pastille h washed in such manner that all the colour which can be extracted from the pastille is obtained. There will thus be three sorts of azure. Next, pour off the water of all these different washings into the other vase, which contains the rest of the water of the said washings, and let the azure, which was thus made and refined, dry, and keep it for use in painting pictures. Then stir the aforesaid water, consisting of a mixture of all the washings of the three sorts of azure, well from the bottom with a stick, so as to mix up the grounds of the azure and the earthy parts, and so that the water may be as turbid as possible ; let it stand for a very, very short time, and then immediately pour the water quickly off, with all the earthy impurities mixed with it, leaving in the bottom of the vase any azure which may sink to the bottom, if there should have been any portion of it with the water, as there usually is in this manner of refining the azure, namely with the water which is poured off from the three sorts of azure. And note that when it is wished to use the ultramarine azure, which is made from the three sorts of waters above mentioned, it must not be ground upon a stone, as is done with smobrium and other colours, because the grindmg which it had EXPERIMENTA DE COLOBIBUS. 109 miscere cum primo, set teneri separate ; et tunc quod exibit ad alias sequentes lavaturas pastilli suprascripti ponatur in alio vase, separatim a primo, et similiter mittendo aquam dictarum lavaturarum in dicto vase, in quo alia aliarum lavaturarum missa erit. Et postea iterum secundo per tot vices lavetur, quod similiter ut de suprascripto primo dictum est, videatur quod nimis mutet colorem in minori pulcritudine; et tunc, ab ipsa nimia mutatione colons antedicta, ponantur tertio sequentes lavature in alio vase, donee pastillus totus sit taliter lavatus, quod extractum sit de ipso totum azurium quod ex* trahi potent ; et sic erunt tres sortes azurii, de quibus dictis lavaturis similiter iniciatur aqua in predicto alio vase, cum alia aqua omnium aliarum lavaturarum predictarum, et postea de- siccari permittatur azurium, quod sic erit afinatum et factum, et servetur ad usum operum fiendorum, et qua predicta, acu* mulata de omnibus dictis lavaturis dictarum trium sortarum azurii, agitetur fortiter cum baculo usque ad fondum, ut fecies azurii et pars terrestris commoveatur, et turbidetur aqua quantum poterit ; deinde valde parum stet, et postea proiciatur cito ipsa aqua, cum tota turpedine suprascripta terrestri in ipsa immixta, et retineatur in fundo vasis ilia aliqua pars azurii que in ipso fondo erit descensa, si aliqua pars adherit, ut esse solet, in talibus affinaturiis azurrii de dependenciis, scilicet dictarum trium sortarum azurii ; et nota, quod cum dicto azurrio ultra- marine dictarum lavaturarum ipsarum trium sortarum in opere ponere volueris, non debet teri super lapide, nee aliter, prout fit de siuobrio et aliis coloribus, quia suflSsit de prima supra- scripta tritione facta, et etiam quia azurii color fortiter pejaretur et vastaretur, sed debet sic ut est destempari cum aqua gomata, seu cimi clara ovi, vel cum cola liquefacta, aut cum oleo semi- num lini, prout volet operari, et pertinebit operi fiendo ; postea si voluerit lavari.de alio azurrio, accipiatur totidem de tormen- tina, et pice, et cera, ut antea est dictum, et fiat alter pastillus, et fiat ut prius, et tociens quociens fieri voluerit, semper re- faciendo novos pastilles, secundum quantitatem que expedit volenti facere et purgare azurrium. Set credo quod, pro ^ ( 112 ) OF THE MS. OF PETRUS DE S. AUDEMIE. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. This MS. aflFords internal proof that Petrus de & Audemar (Pierre de St. Omer ?) was a native of or a resident in the northern part of France. Many passages in the MS. prove that it is of French origin ; among these I may mention that in which is described die Rothomagensian green, which derived its name from Rothomagus, the Latin name for Rouen on the Seine. Madder also, which is called in French Garance, is mentioned under the term Warancia, and in No. 201 a recipe is given for making a green colour after the Norman manner. There are indications also of some of the recipes being derived from English or Anglo- Saxon sources, and thence communicated to their fel- low-subjects in Normandy. In No. 162 the English name for Folium is mentioned, and in Nos. 199 and 201 two other English plants are named. These last recipes are to be found in the Mappse Clavicula, but without the addition, in No. 201, of the words "ac- cording to the Normans." Several other recipes be- longing to this MS. are also in the Clavicula ; some are found in the 1st book of Theophilus, and some in the Sloane MS., No. 1754. The date of the MS. is doubtful. Mr. Eastlake (Materials for a History of Painting in Oil, p. 45) says PETRUS DE 8. AUDEMAR. 1 13 it cannot be placed later than the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century. The fact of some of the recipes being in the Clavicula, which is supposed to be of the twelfth century, aflfords no evi- dence of the age of the MS., because some of them are comprised in the body of the work, but the greater part are to be found in the very beginning, even before the table of contents, and these seem to have been an addition to the original work. It is by no means im- probable that these recipes were selected in both cases from some well-known originals as yet undiscovered. The MS. contains the usual recipes for colours, for ink, and for gilding. Among the colours we find greens prepared in different ways from copper and vegetables ; white from lead, black from charcoal, blue from silver, from copper, and from flowers. Ultramarine does not appear to have been known to our author. It seems from the description of the mode of purifying the blue pigment in No. 168, that it was a natural blue ore of copper, the Azzurro della Magna of Cennini (chap. Ix.), which was extensively used both before and after the introduction of ultramarine, and which was produced in great abundance in the mines of Chessy, near Lyons. This mine was worked for a long period, and continued to produce great quantities of the blue ores of copper. It is now, however, closed. In the year 1845 I saw many specimens of these ores exposed tor sale at Lyons. The red pigments consisted of artificial vermilion, red lead, which the author calls " minium " and " san- daraca," and lake made from the gum of the ivy. It VOL. I. I 1 14 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BBGUE. will be observed that the latter is also called ** Sinopii de Mellana." The only yellow pigment is saffiron, but the principal use of this colour appears to have been in colouriiig varnishes, the yellow in old pictures being more £ne- quently represented by gold. Like Cennini, Peter de S. Audemar teaches what vehicles should be used with each colour, and froai these instructions we learn that the colours were ap- plied on walls in secco, tempered with egg or gum ; in books, that is, miniatures with gum or e^ ; and on wood with oil — ^thus affording certain proof of the use of oil in painting at this period in France. That varnish was used, is incidentally mentioned in the recipe for making auripetrum, which was a varnish to which a golden colour was imparted by saflBron, and which, when spread over tinfoil, was employed to imi- tate gold. A similar recipe is given in Eraclius, and another will be found in the Lucca MS^ which has been copied into the Clavicula, a proof of the extent to which it was used. A gold colour was also given to tin by applying over it several coats of gall (see Na 203), and also by applying a solution of aloes, No. 206. Other varnishes are described in Nos. 207, 208, and 209 ; and it seems these also must have been highly coloured, because they were to be used like the auri- petrum, for colouring tin to imitate gold, the price of which placed it beyond the reach of all but the ridi. As to the materials of the varnishes, one was composed of linseed oil, resin, and vemixy that is, sandarac; another of linseed oil boiled with the inner bark of PETRTJS DE S. AXTDEMAR. 1 15 the black plum, glassa^ alum, and dragon's blood; and the third of the same linseed oil previously boiled with the inner bark of the black plum, resin, and Jranhincense. We must therefore suppose that three different ingredients were used for varnishes, for it is as reasonable to conclude from the text that they were all synonymous, as that vernix and glassa were the same in this instance, for it can scarcely be supposed that Peter de S. Audemar, who must have been in the habit of making these varnishes, should have used a different term, if any two had been synonymous. It will also be observed, that there is no allusion in this MS. to the application of varnish upon colours or pictures, or to any other preparation of oil, except boiling it with the inner bark of the black plum (the object of which, if we may believe the Table of Syno- nymes, was to give the oil a yellow colour) before it was mixed with the resins ; at the same time there is nothing to show that this boiled oil was not used in painting. The fact of "liquid varnish" being men- tioned in the recipe for Auripetrum, No. 202, is suffi- cient proof that it was in use at this period, and that the drying effect produced on oils by boiling was known, because sandarac is not soluble in raw oils, and distilled oils were not used at this period. The recipes Nos. 208 and 209 much resemble those in the Paris MS. of Eraclius, No. 274. i2 ( 116 ) HERE BEGINNETH THE BOOK OF MASTER PETER OF ST. iUDEMAR ON MAKING COLOURS, AMD FIB8T THE [INTRODUCTION. By the assistance of God, of whom are all things diat are good, I will explain to you (at whose request, as you know, I undertook this work) how to make colours for painters and illuminators of books, and the vehicles for them, and other things appertaining thereto, as faithfully, as I can in the following chapters. 150. The way to make a green colour with salt. — Krst hear how to make a green colour with salt : — Stir some salt toge- ther in a jar or in a ladle, and heat it, stirring it frequently until it loses its former colour and becomes dusky — Le. darkish. Then pound it, and, if necessary, pass it through a sieve, shaking it with your hand, in the same way that boys arc accustomed to shake dust in a bottle ; sift it into a jar, or any other vase which will hold it, in order that, if by chance any hairs or other impurities be mixed with it, they may be sepa- rated ; as otherwise, if it continue white, or if any impurities remain in it, the colour will be dirty. Afterwards crush it well, dry as it is, upon a flat slab, either of marble or wood, with a smooth wooden block made for this purpose, or with a stone. Then temper some soap witli wine or vinegar. Vine- gar is made as follows. 151. How to make vimgar. — Take good wine, or wine as sour as you can get it, and put it into a jar or any other vase, ( 117 ) INCIPIT LIBER MAGISTRI PETRI DE SOCIO AUDEMARO DE COLORIBUS FACIENDIS, ET PBIBIO PROHEMIUM. Deo opitulante, cujus sunt omnia que bona sunt, tibi, 6icut novisti, cujus rogatu hoc opus sum a^ressus, de coloribus pictorum et illuminatorum librorum faciendis, de temperamentis que eorum, et de aliis hiis conve- nientibus, quam fidelius potere in sequentibus expli- cabo. 150. De mode faciendi viridem colorem de sale, — Primo quo luodo ex sale fiat intellige ; salem igitur commiscens in oUa seu patella torribb, saepius movendoy usque quo primum colorem amittat, et fuscus fit, id est subniger. Deinde pulve- rizabis, et, si opus fiierit, induces cum stamino, et manu mo- vendo, sicut pueri pulverem in catrasia positum agitare solent, et trauRire facies in ollam, vel in aliud quodcumque vas, illud recipiens ut si forte pili, vel aliae sordes, ei commixtad fiierint, seque ferentur alioquin, si albus remanserit, aut aliquod turpe in ipso remanserit, turpis color erit. Postea super tabulam sequalis superficiei, vel marmoream, vel ligneam, bene subtiliter ita siccum conteres cum ligno ad hoc parato equali, vel cum lapide. Deinde savonem cum vino vel aceto distemperabis. Acetmn vero sic fit 151. Qaomodojit acetum. — Sume vinum optimum, vel quan- tum acrius habere potes, et in ollam positum, geu vase alio, n 118 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGXTE. and let it stand for 5 or 8 days, or for as many days as yon like, in a vase covered with a plank or a stone, and not ^tirdj closed, in order that it may feel the changes of the air, wMdi cause it to turn sour ; and let it acidify by exposing it to the sun, or suspending it over the fire. You can tlien put it by, and preserve it as long as you like. If you have no soap, never mind; yet, nevertheless, wet plates of copper or basins,^ cut into pieces or strips, all over with pure wine, without water, or else with the vinegar. After- wards spread salt well and evenly over the metal, so that the copper may be entirely covered, but very thinly and eYcnly, because, if it be covered too thick, the colour will not be good. You must have a vase prepared for the purpose, either of earth or of wood, in the bottom of which you must pour a little wine or beer, or stale urine, which is better than fresh, and place the copper, salted as before directed, inside the vase. But, in order that it may not slip into the wine or urine, let it be sup- ported by putting a piece of wood over the jar, to which the said slips or curved pieces (if formed by cutting up basins or cups) must be suspended side by side, so as not to touch one another. Then stop up the mouth of the jar, lest any duiJg should fall into it, and put plenty of horse-dung all round it, and under it and over it, and leave it in that manner to heat in the dung for 8 or 9 days, and you will then find your salt turned green, and of an excellent colour. The hotter the dui^ is, the sooner it will be done. You may, if you like, wait for 17 or 18 days before you uncover it and remove the coloor. And in winter and summer, according as you find the heat d the dung greater or less, you will so time your work ; and also according to whether the plates are made of copper or brass, as aforesaid, knowing that if they are of copper the woiii will be done — i,e. the colour will be made sooner; but if they are made of brass it will be longer before it is made. Heat accele- rates the formation of the colour, cool weather retards it, and ^ When the word *' basin" is used alone, a vessel of copper or brass should be understood. S. AUDEMARO DE COLOBIBUS PACIBNDIS. 119 quinque, vel octo, vel quot voluerifl diebus, vase cooperto asce vel lapide, et non obturato, ut aeris mutaciones sentiat^ quae acuere facit, et ad solemn vel super ignem, suspeusum, acui permitte, et sic quantum diu volueris repositum servare poteris. Si autem savoDem non habueris, non &dt tibi cure, nihilominus tamen ex vino puro absque aqua, si vel ex dicto aceto, laminas cupreas ex omni parte humectabis, vel bacinos decisos per pecias seu laminas. Et postea ex ipso sale asperge bene et equaliter per totum, ita ut cuprum totum coopertum sit, tamen tenuissime et equaliter, quia si spissum fiierit non babebit optimum colorem. Unuro vero vas habebis ad hoc paratum, vel ligneum^ yel fictile, in cujus fiindo pones parum vini, yel oervisiae, aut aceti, yel urinam, nihilominiis yetustam, quae melior ad hoc probatur, et desuper in ipso yase pones cuprum, sicut jam dixi, salituuL Sed ne labatur in yino yel urina, sus- tineatur ligno superposito, cui suspendantur dictse laminas in aere, siye autem recte sint laminae, seu curyae, ut de de bacinis, vel patellis incisis, sint juxta se alia post aliam, non se tangentc. Postea 08 ipsius oUe obtures, ne fimus introcadat, et fimum equinum habimdanter, et sub yase, et in drcuita, et super- pones, et sic isto modo, in dicto fimo califactum, octaya yel nona die salem viridem recipies, et optimum. Et quanto fer- yencius callescet fimus, tanto fiat citius. £t tum nihilominus, si yolueris, usque ad xvii. yel xyiii. dies expectabis, antequam discoperias yas, et recipias colorem. Et in estate, et in byeme, mcut senseris calorem stercoris yel fimi majorem yel minorem, ita tuum laborem moderabis ; et tam de aeneis, quam cupreis tabulis, sicut dixi, sdens que si cupreae fuerint, citius fiet opus — L e. colorabitur — si yere aeneae, tardius. Calor ejus, ac- celerat colorem, sed tepiditas tardat ; frigiditas yero nil agit ; et notandum est, quod si dictum yas cooperieris in fimo existenti in stabulo equi, in alio secreto et calido loco, melius yalet, et opus acceleratur, quia interius calefit Hoc idem agere potes in cumulo yinciarum, ad pressorium yini. Ilunc autem colo* 120 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEOUB. cold stops it altogether : it must also be remarked^ that if the vase is corered with dung in a horse-stable, or in some odicr warm and close space, it is better, and the work will progresi more rapidly, because it is better warmed. The same thing can be done in the heaps of grape-skins by the wine-presBes. You must then scrape and shave off the colour with a knife, or any other instrument, from the aforesaid plates, and if yoa find that any white salt has remained mixed with the green colour, you need not be vexed at it, but just pick it out with a knife or with your hand ; and you must afterwards wash these tablets with water, preserving the water, if necessary. Then wash, scour, and clean them a second time, with wood-ashes, rubbing them down with a linen cloth before you put fresh salt upon them, lest, if any of the old remained upon it, it should be a hindrance. You must allow the water of the first washing, which was done without the ashes, to remain quiet, so that yoo may collect the colour which sinks to the bottom, throwing away the supernatant water. This colour may be distempered and mixed with water, or still better, with vinegar, and also with linseed-oil, or even with white of egg. 152. How to make and temper white and green. — ^White and green colours, without salt, are made and tempered as follows: Pour very strong vinegar into a vase, and place twigs of trees across it inside the vase, and then place strips of lead, and other strips of copper or brass, suspended in the air by means of die twigs, so as not to touch the vinegar or each other. Then close the vase very carefully, and lute it with clay or cement, or wax, so that there may not be the least hole through which the vinegar may exhale. Then cover it with horse-dung, and, after 30 days, on account of the acidity of the vinegar or the wine— for the wine, on account of the heat of the dung, will become vinegar — on account, I say, of the acidity of the wine or vinegar, the copper or brass will be found to be turned green, and the lead white. Take the white, dry it, and grind it, and temper it with wine, and use it for painting on parchment, and mix it with oil for painting on wood and on walls. In the same maimer 8. AXJDEMAIIO DE COLORIBUS FACIENDIS. 121 rem postea cum cultello, vel alio instrumento, a laminis pre- dictis extirpere et radere debes, et si aliqiiantulum de albo sale cum yiridi remansisse invenies, non sit tibi curae, sed caute cum cultello vel manu separa, et projice. Viridem autem reservan- dum excipe, et postea .ipsas tabulas debes primo cum aqua lavare, si opus fuerit, servando aquam. Deinde secundo etiam cum cinere, et pauno lineo fricando, lavabis, detergas, et nitidas, autequam super ipsas alterum salem ponas, ne si quid ex yeteri remansit, impedimento fiat. Cujus lavationis primae aquam, qus absque cinere erit, quiescere dimitte, ut colorem, qui in fundo remanet, coUigas, projiciendo aquam. Hie color cum aqua, yel melius cum aceto, et etiam cum oleo liui, dis- temperatur, et moUitur, nee non et cum vitello ovi. 152. De albo et viridi colore quomodo Jiunt et distemperantur, — AlbuB autem et viridis color, absque sale, hoc modo fit et distemperatur. In vase aceto acerrimo imposito, et desuper virgulas ligneas, intra vas, et sic tabulas plumbeas, et alias seneas, vel cupreas, pones virgulis suspensas in acre, ne tangant acetum, nee se invicem. Deinde vas diligentissime claudes, liniesque de argilla, vel cemento, vel cera, ne aliquod spiracu- lum remaneat, per quod exalatio fiat Deinde co-operiatur in fimo equino calido ; post dies autem xxx. vas aperiatur, et ex fortitudine aceti vel vini, quod vinum excalore find devenerit acetum, et ex fortitudine ipsius vini vel aceti, cuprum vel ass virideum, plumbum vero album invenientur. Sumptum autem et are&ctum album, teratur, et temperetur cum vino, et pinge- tur in pergamenis, et cum oleo in lignis et in materiis. Simili- ter virideum cum oleo teres, et distemperabis, et operaberis in lignis, sed in materia cum vino, vel, si mavis, cum oleo. In 1 122 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUB. grind and temper the green with oil, and use it for paintii^ on wood ; but on walls with wine, or, if you prefer it, with oiL Ob parchment, however, you must not grind it with oil, but yvm must temper it with very clear and good wine, or with yinegBr. 153. Of a green toatery or colour, for writrng. — But if yoa wish to write letters, put the green powder of brass in wine or yinegar as aforesaid, and then stir it round a little wifb jtmr finger only, and immediately the whole of the wine or vinegar will be green. If the wine, before it has cleared itself from tbe dregs of the said green powder, is very green, you may knav that it has enough of the powder of brass. If it seems of a dirty colour, appearing contaminated by the admixture of yellow impurities, you must know that this is because a sufB- cient quantity of the green powder has not been added to it: you must therefore add a little more, and stir it again with your finger, and again let it rest ; and if it is not yet of a beautiful colour, add more of the powder, and stir it again with your finger, and, if necessary, do this a third time. But if you wish it to be very beautiful, add a little safiron ; and when it has settled so that the impurities have sunk to the bottom, pour ofi* the clear green liquid which stands uppermost in tlie vase, and you will thus separate it from the impurides and gross substance of tbe safiron that was put into it If you wish to write with it immediately, you cannot do so unless you first let it boil over the fire to make it thicker ; or you may let it stand in the shade, or in the mild breeze of the evening or morning ; but it must be done when the wind blows gently, and must not be put in the sun. 154. To make minium out of the before-mefntioned white eobmr. — The white colour which we mentioned before, is called, I believe, by the armourers ceruse, and you may convert it into minium by putting it into a jar and torrefying it over the fire for two days and two nights, stirring it frequently in the vase or jar vnth any instrument ; and this is the way to make mimum. Take care not to let any flame get inside the jar, but make the fire of charcoal only without flame ; you must heap the charcoal S. AUDEMARO DB COLORIBUS FACIENDIS. 123 perchamenis vero non teres cum oleo, sed in vino clarissimo et l>ono, sen aceto, temperare debes. 153. De aqua vel viridi colore ad scribendum. — Si vero lit- teras scribere volueris, pone viridem pulverem sens in vino vel aceto, ut dictum est, et sic digito tantum fncabis, et statim totum vinum vel acetum virideum erit ; quod si valde virideum fuerit illud vinum, cum necdum a fece sua dicte pulveris viridea Bit purgatum, scias quod sufficienter habet depulvere eris super* Bcripto. Si vero turpem . colorem videatur habere, et quaai crocei, turpidis commixtione corruptum, scias esse hoc habere parum pulveris ipsius viridis. £t ideo aliquantulum adde, et digito iterum commisce, et postea paululum quiescere sines, et si non ad hue pulchrum colorem habet, iterum adde de pulvere, et iterum digito fricabis, et postea adhuc sines quiescere, et, si necesse fiierit, fac similiter tercio. Et si vis quod wind pul- critudinis fiat, adde aliquantulum de croco et cum quieverit, ita quod feces ad fimdum decensa sint, mitte clarissimum virideum desuper stantem in vasculo, et sic ipsum separabis a fecibus, et a substancia grossa crossi imposite; et si ex ipso statim scribere volueris, non poteris, nisi prius ad ignem ipsum fervere permi* seris, ut spissior fiat, vel in umbra solis, vel mane, vel vespere, ad auram dulcem ; quando sed ventus suaviter fiat ponendus est, non autem in sole. 154. Di minio faciendo de albo colore ante dicto. — Album autem colorem de quo supra diximus, scutarii, sicut puto, ceru- sam vocant, quem in minium vertes, si in oUa posueris duobus diebus noctibus que, eandem saepe movendo, in vase, seu oUa, ipsa cum aliquo instrumento ad ignem torrueris, et sic minium facies. Cave autem ne in oUa flamma nullo modo tangat, sed tantum carbones, verum absque flamma ; de quibus fac con- geriem albam, usque ad medietatem ollse, et cam ore aperto in 124 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. round the jar, bo as to reach half-way up the jar, wMc^ miKt be put m the middle. The charcoal should be large, ao that the air may pass through the spaces of it, and keep np the heat; it should not be small, for it would then be nsriess. When it begins to get hot, stir the colour which is insdde it with a spoon, or with a strip of iron or brass, or a stick : ao that the hot colour, which is next the side of the vase, may be mixed with the tepid part in the middle ; for this stiiriiig is the principal cause of the perfect preparation of all which is thus torrefied ; and this stirring must be repeated four or five times in the space of every two or three hours. This process must be continued, as I said before, for two days and two nights following : not sleeping all the time, unless you have anotho- person to supply your place and to continue stirring it, as wdl as to take care of the fire, and to manage the operation, other- wise your labour will be in vain. When the large charcoal is all consumed, take the jar oif the fire with a blacksmith's pincers, or a twisted stick, or any other instrument, and throw away the small coal and ashes, and put fresh charcoal. We shall mention this colour frequently hereafter. 155. How to make the green from brass wkichis called Greek or common green} — If you wish to make the copper-green which is called Greek, take a new jar, or any other concave vase, and put into it the strongest or most acid vinegar, so as not to fill it, and put strips of very clean copper or brass over the vinegar, so that they may not touch the vinegar or each other, being suspended to a stick placed across the vase. Then cover the vase and seal it, and put it into a warm place, or in dung, or under ground, and leave it so for six months, and tiien open the vase and scrape and shake out what you find in it, and on the strips of metal, into a clean vase, and put it in the sun to dry. 156. To make Roihomagenxian green? — ^If you wish to make Rothomagensian green, take strips of very pure copper or brass, * This recipe and the next are in the Clavicula. * RothomaguSy Rouen on the Seine. This recipe is in the Cla?icali| and the Sloane MS., No. 1754. 8. AUDEMABO D£ COLOBIBUS FACIENDIS. 125 medio compone, carbones autem sint magni, et per rimas eorum, ventus entret, et calorem exerceat ; non minuti vero, quod non perficerent. Cum autem torreri coeperit, colorem, qui intus est, cum cocleari, yel lamula ferrea, vel aerea, yel lignea, commove, ut qui circa testam seu ollam calet, illi qui in medio loco tepet, misceatur. Nam commotio haec est principalis causa omnibus que coquuntur, ad perfectionem decoctionis ipsorum; hoc autem per duarum yel trium horarum spatium, quater vel quinquies. Duobus enim diebus ac noctibus continuis est agendum, sicut dixi, non dormiendo nisi alter accedat, qui hoc ipsum procuret, et commociones ipsas, et ignis curam, et manutenaciones agat ; alioquin frustra laborabis. Cum autem carbones grossi con- sumpti fuerint, vel forcisibus ferieris, vel virga couterata, vel alio quodum instrumento, ollam a foco extrahe, et minutos car- bones et cineres abjicies, et alios adhibe. De hoc eodem colore aliquanti spei in scquentibus loquimur. 155. Quamodo Jit viride ens quod Grecum dicitur seu com- mune.— Si vis facere viride eris quod Grecum dicitur, accipe ollam novam, aut aliquod aliud vas concavum, et mitte in eo acetum fortissimum seu acerrimum, ita quod vas non sit ple- num, et laminas cupii mundissime, vel sens, pones supra acetum, ita ut non tangant acetum, aut se invicem, suspendendo eas ad aliquod lignum, in vase extranverso positum, et ita cooperi vas, et sigilla. Et sic pone illud in calido loco, aut in fimo, aut in terra, et ita dimitte usque ad sex menses, et tunc aperies illud vas, et quod in eo et circa dictas laminas inveneris, rade, et excute in vase mundo, et mitte ad solem siccare. 156. De viride Bothomagense faciendo. — Si vis viridem Rothomagensem facere, accipe laminas purissimi cupri, vel 126 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUB. smear them over with good soap, and put them into a clean vaae made for this purpose, and pour into it some pure vinegar; then suspend the strips of copper or brass in the vase to a stid stretched across it, which should be placed as high up as posablcy so that the strips may not touch each other or the yinegar. Tlxo cover up the vase and seal it, and put it into a warm place, aidii as horse-dung, or the refuse of the wine-press ; or, in winter, cover up and bury the vase in a deep hole under ground, and thus leave it for one month ; then open it, and shake and scraf^ off what you find upon the strips, putting it in a bason or an earthen vase ; place it in the sun to dry, and preserve it for lae. 157. Also^ how to make verdigru for writing, — TVTioevcr wishes to make a green colour for writing, let him pour into a copper or brass vessel equal quantities by weight of honey well mixed with vinegar, and then bury the vessel in horse-dnng, in the hottest part of the heap. After 12 days are passed, he may take the colour out of the vase, scraping it out ; then dry it in the sun, and keep it for use. 158. AlsOy how to make green without brass. — ^If you wish to make earth-green, take, in the middle of May, a bunch of the flowers of the herb columbine ; poimd them well in a mortar, and strain the juice through a linen cloth. Then put this juioe into a vase, and place it in tlie sun imtU it is hard. This must be tempered, first with water, and then with egg, on wood or on walls ; but on parchment it must be used like ceruse. 159. Also to make green. — If you wish to make a green colour, take urine, or vinegar, and put it into a vase, and make a plate of brass, and place it over the liquid in the said vase so as not to touch the urine, and afterwards set the vase in a warm place and cover it up for 9 days, then take it oat and collect the colour which is produced. This is tempered first with water, and aft;erwards with egg on wood or on walk When you put verdigris upon paper, put cherry juice [or cer- visia ? j in it. If it is not of a fine green, mix viride terrenum. If it is too green, so as to be too dark, mix pure orpiment with it 160. Also verdigris is thus made. — ^Take vinegar and put it S. AUDESIAKO DE COLOBIBTTS FACIENDIS. 127 aerifl, et liniis ipeas in circuitu de optimo savone, et mitte ipsas in vase mnndo ac hoc facto, et pone in ipso de puro aceto, et superpone in ipso rase dictas laminas cnpreas vel aereas, sus- pensas ad virgulam in vase ex transyerso^ altius quam poteris, sitam ita nt lamine non se invicem, nee acetum tangant. Pos- tea cooperies vas, et sigilla, et in calido loco, ut in fimo equino, aut in vinaciis pressorii vinarii, aut in hyeme sub terra, in pro- Amdo loco cooperias, et sepelias, dictum vas. £t sic dimittas imo mense, et postea aperies, et quod inveneris in circuitu la- minarum excuties et rades, et mittendo in bacino vel vase terreo, et pones ad solem siccare, et usui reserva* 157. Item de viridi em, quo modofit pro scribendo. — Colorem viridem qui vult ad suum usum scribendi facere mel cum aceto valde mixtum equo pondere infundat ac deinde in sterquilinio equorum ubi plus calet in vase cuprea vel aereo cooperto posi- tum sepeliat Postea bis senis diebus transactis illud redpiet de vase ipsum colorem radendo et ad solum siccet et reservet pro usu. 158. Item de Jiendo viridi aliter quam eris. — Si vis facere terreum viride ip medio maio accipe massam florum herbso qu£e vocatur aquileia et pila in mortario optime et cola succum per pannum lineum. Deinde pone ipsum succum in vase et pone ad solem siccare usque quo durum sit. Hoc distemperatur primum cum aqua, deinde cum ovo ad lignum vel murum, in carta pone sicut cerosium. 159. Item de viridi faciendo. — Si vis facere colorem viridem, accipe mictum hominis, i. e. urinam, vel acetum et mitte in vas, et fac laminam eream, et pone desuper in dicto vase ita ut mictum non tangat et pone postea vas in calido loco et oooperi per novem dies postea trahe foris et colorem exortum execute. Hoc distemperatur primum cum ac^ua post cum ovo ad lignum vel murum. In cartam dum ponit viride eris pone succum cerosiuiA in ipso si non bene est viridis misce terrenum viridem. Si nimium est viride ita ut nigrescat misce auripigmentum purum. 160. Item eris viride sic fit. — Accipe acetum et pone in vaso 128 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. into a brass or copper vase, and place it on the coals so as to boil strongly, skim it well, and grind it with a little alum upon a marble slab. Afterwards put it in a brass yaae, and thee leave it to settle for a day or two. Then pour off the saper^ natant liquor which floats over the dregs at the bottom into an- other vase, separating it from the before-mentioned impurities, and put it away and keep it for use. Then pour more Tinegar into the aforesaid sediment, and mix it well. Leave it so for four days, so that everything may settle, and it will then be good green. But if it is too clear or liquid, put it upon limited charcoal without flame, so that it may boil a little and tfaidLcn, and then put it into the vase, and keep it for use. 161. How to make a heantiful green. — Mix Spanish greei with safiron, and distemper them both together, and the colonr will be of wonderful beauty. 162. Of folium^ how it is distempered. — The purple colour called /oZiz/m by the laity, by whom (or rather by the EngUsfa, in whose country it is prepared, and who call it worina) it is used in dyeing wool, is not always tempered in the same manner ; for some persons distemper it with urine, or wiUi ley made from the ashes of ash-trees, and particularly on walls ; while others, on parchment, distemper it with cheese-glue, made as follows. 163. How glue is made from cheese. — Fresh cheese is first to be washed in hot water, until the milk is washed out, and thai groimd with lime and water, in a little mortar or on a marble slab ; and a little before this is done — ^namely, while the cheese is being ground — the colour is soaked in water again. Then, when the cement is prepared, so as to be as wliite, clear, and shining as milk, it is put into a small vase, and the colour is scraped into it with a knife, and care must be taken not to let the air have access to the mixture ; and when the colour is seen to be good, it may be used for writing at pleasure. 164. Of folium stamipiensi, a purple colour ^ how it is tern- pered or made. — Take the wood of the tree which is called elm and bum it in the fire, and collect such a quantily of that flowery ash which appears upon the coals as you think will be &, AUDEMAB BE COLORIBUS FACIENDIS. 129 aereo vel cupreo et super carbones pone ut fortiter bulliat et Bpuma illud optime et ex eo cum alumine modico super mar- morem tere yiridem. Postea in vase aereo mitte et sic uno die vel duobus dimitte ut resideat. Illud autem quod super feces in fundo descensas nataverit in aliud vas a dictis fecibus sepa- rando, mitte et reserva deinde acetum iterum mitte in fecibus superscriptis, et misce bene. Postea dimitte sic per quatuor dies ut quicquid quiescat et tunc forte bonura viride erit. Si Tero nimium clarum seu liquidem fuerit pone super carbones ignitos absque flammis ut modicum bulliat et spissum fiet tunc mitte in prsedicto vase ad servandum usui. 161. Quamodo puhhrum Jiat viride, — Viridi Hispanico ad- misce crocum et distempera simul et mirse pulcbiitudinis erit. 162. De folio quomodo distemperatur. — Purpureus color quem folium Yocant laici qui lanam inde tingunt vel potius Anglici in quorum terra conficitur worina vooant non uno semper modo distemperatur. Nam aliqui cum urina vel lexivia de cinere fraxini facta ut in parietibus precipue alii in pergamenis cum visco de caseo ita facto. 163. Quomodo vUcum de caseo fiat. — Primum recentum caseum in aqua calida lavant, donee lac eliciatur et sic ilium in mortariolo vel super marmorem terunt cum calce et aqua et paulo antequam hoc agant dum scilicet teritur caseus, iterum ipsum colorem in aqua temperare permittunt. Deinde cum viscum preparatum habent, sic album et nitidum et clarum relut lac. Inducunt in vasculo et super incidunt cultello ipsum colorem jam temperatum in aqua et tunc cavent ne ventus tan- gat ipsam confectionem et si cum riderit colorem esse bonum scribunt inde prout ipsis placuerit 164. De folio Stamipiensi (sic) purpureo colore quomodo distem^ peratur seu fit. — Sume tibi ligna arboris quae ulmus vocatur et arde in ignem, ilium vero florem cineris qui super carbones ap- paret toUes et in unum pones quantum tibi sufficere putas et in VOL. I. K 130 MANUSCRIPTS OF JBHAN liE BBOUE. sufficient for you^ grind it in a mortar, and distempa" it viih urine so that it maybe as thick as dough ; make it into cakesas thick as you like, and put these cakes upon two trays or {data of iron, or baked bricks, in order that they may bum fiar a day and a half. Then take them outof the fire and pat them lolo a mortar and pound them until they are reduced to powder. TbcD sift this powder through a deve, or make it pass through a sifter. Again, while you are doing this, you mnat hare ajar prepared full of urine, and let it boil oyer the fire three or feor times ; then remoTe it from the fire, and add to it of fresh urine one half or less, until it is tepid, and then stir them together. Afterwards take the colour, which is called folium, and pat it into a vase, and wash it with this prepared urine, rubbuig it between your hands, and hold it against one side of the jar and throw away the urine; then take the above-mentioned ashes and fill one ladle with them, and take another ladlefal of folium, and lay one couch of ashes in that rase by sprinkliiig them, and then one of folium, and do so until the folium and the ashes are all mixed. Then again rub them between your hands, and so leave them for three days, well covered up by the fire, that they may keep warm. But the beat cokwr will of itself, when it begins to get warm, be covered all orer >nth a purple Uoom. If you wish to dye anytWng, put the water into a vessel ; but if you have nothing to dye, let the water and the folium cool, so that you may make it into flmall cakes, and you may keep it as long as you Uke, and put it into an oven. 165. Of the different sorts of saffron^-^^Yoa must not take all kinds of saflron for pamting or writing with, for you must know that that which grows in our country of Gaul, as well as throughout the whole of France, is not good ; and although it has some resemblance to the good sort, yet it has not the exact colour, smell, or taste of the perfect sort ; for there is a certain herb with whitish leaves and roots, the flowers of which we call crocusj but whidi the laity call sc^ron. When you see these flowers have a certain whiteness at the top of one side* you S. AUDEMAR D£ GOLORIBUS FACIENDIS. 131 mortariolo fortiter teres, cum urina distemperabis ita ut panis cruduB spissum sit, &cies que de ea tortellos quantum grosses volueris quoe super duas dolatiles seu laminas ferreas vel la- teres coetos pones ut ibi super carbones usque ad dimidium diem ardeant. Dein trahe ab igne item que in mortariolo pones et multum fortiter usquedum pulvis fiat. Pestabis; postea attenuabis per satacium vel per staminiam, transire &cias. Iterum dum hoc facies, habebis oUam paratam plenam urina et cum tribus yel quatuor vicibus bullire permittes. Postea ab igne retrahes et cum ea de urina cruda, medietatem vel mi- nus, usque dum tepida fuerit vel fiat similiter misces. Posttuec accipies ilium colorem qui folium vocatur et in uno vase pones abluesque de ilia mixta urina inter manus tuas firicando, attra- hes que in.unam partem et feces urinse projicies foris. Tunc accipies ilium suprascriptum cinerem et unam scutellam de eo implebis et de folio aliam facies que in illo vase de dnere pul- verando unum lettum et unum desuper de folio sic que facies usque dum folium et cinis mixta sint. Iterumque inter manus tuas fricabis et sic dimittes usque tribus diebus bene coopertum juxta ignem ut calefiat. Ipse vero optimus color de se ipso emit- tet colorem purpureum super se cum cepit calescere. Si vero aliquid tingere volueris pones aquam in sartagine. Si vero tin- gere non babes dimittes aquam et folium sic refrigerari ita ut possis ex eo parvos tortellos &cere et servare poteris quantum volueris et in forulo pone. 165. De croco et de diversitatibus ejtu. — ^Omnem crocum ad pingendum assumere ncm oportet vel ad scribendum. Ilium enim qui in hac nostra patria galliae ut in toto Francia crescit bonum non esse non nescias. Et quamvis aliquam similitudi- nem boni habeat tamen vere colorem nee odorem nee saporem ilUus perfecte habet et enim quedam berba albo silis foliis et ra- dicibus cujus flores nos crocum laici vero safran vocant. Quos flores cum videris gestare quandam candorem ex una parte in summittate scias quod non est bonus cum duos digitos saliva k2 132 MANUSdUPTS OF JEHAN LE BEOUB. may know that they are good. When you wet two of yoar fingers with saliva, and rub the safiron a little between yow fingers, if your fingers immediately become yellow, you miy know that the safiron comes from Italy or Spain, and is good ; but in Sicily, as a certain Ysidius [Isidorus] says, the best is that which is called coriscos ; and a great deal of exceUeat safiron comes fi^m thence, very firagrant to the smell, and of a colour superior to gold. Some temper this with egg ; odien both grind and temper it with egg, or mix it ^th water, and strain it through a linen cloth, and then tiiey punt with it However, I do none of these things, but only put clear wato- into a very clean vase ; I then sprinkle the safiron over it, and, after a little while, when I see the water well impregnated widb it, I put it on the coals for a short time, leaving tbe saflron in it, and then, with a pencil or pen prepared for this purpose, I paint upon skins and other things, and upon box-wood, in order to colour it yellow, or to redden it, by mixing the saffi-on with wine, and then laying it on the box-wood. If you wish to make the wood shine, let the safiron dry, and then lay on some mare with oil. 166. That tJtere are three kinds of folium^ and of the way to temper the purple folium.^ — ^There are three kinds of folium ; one purple, another red, and a third sapphire blue, which yoa must temper as follows. Take ashes, and sift them throng a cloth, pour cold water over them, make them into cakes like loaves of bread, and put them into the fire until they are quite white hot. When they have been burnt for a long time, and have afterwards cooled, put part of them into an earthen vase, and pour urine over, stir them with a stick, and, when they have settled clear, pour the liquor on the red folium, and grind it a little on a stone, adding to it one-fourth part of quicklime, and when it is ground and sufficiently moistened, strain it through a cloth, and lay it with a pencil wherever you like, first thinly, and afterwards more thickly. And if you wish to * This IB a transcript of chap. xxzv. of the first book of Tbeophih S. AUDBMAB DE COLORIBUS FACIEm>IS. 133 liimiectabis et florem inter eos paulii}um firicabis et statim crocos liabueris inde digitos scias quod ex Italia vel Expania venit et bonus est. In Sicilia autem, ut Ysidius ait quidam, melior est qui coriscos dicitur, unde crocum plurimum et optimum venit Spiramine flagrantius et colore pulchrius auro. Hunc cum ovo distemperant, alii etiam cum ovo terunt et distemperant vel cum aqua per lineum panniun transire faciunt et sic isti pin- gunt Ego vero nichil horum facio sed tantum in mundissimo vaflculo claram aquam mitto, Dein crocum desuper spargo et post modicum cum videro aquam totam inde confectam super carbones paululum simulque crociun permitto et deinde cum pincello vel pennula ad id parata in pellibus pingo et alibi et super buxum ut croceus fiat vel rubicundior ubi crocus cum vino distemperandus est et sic buxo superponendus est quod si Yolueris ut ipsum lignum luceat permitte prius crocum siccari, Poetea cum oleo eum super ilium pone. 166. Quod folii tria sunt genera^ et de modo distemperandi purpureum. — ^Tria sunt folii genera ; unum purpureum, aliud JHf rubeum, tylrcium saphirum que sic temperabis. Telle cineres V / et cr^bra eos per pannum ; Ferfondes eos aqua frigida fac inde tortulas ad similitudinem panis mittes que ea in igne donee om* nino candescant. Postquam diutissime canduerint et postea firiguerint mitte partem in vas fictile perfiinde urina, move ligno, cum que residerent lucide perfdnde rubeum folium et teres illud modice super lapidem addens ei quartam partem vivae calcis, et cum tritum fuerit, et sufficienter perfusum cola per pannum et trahe cum pincello ubi volueris tenue deinde spissius et si placet in similitudinem palii in pagina facere purpureo folio eodem temperamento absque calce profuso pinge penna vel pincello. 134 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUB. represent a robe on the page [of a book], paint it with pmpk folium, moistened with the same yehicle, but without lime, with a pen or a hair pencil. 167. Of azure ; haw and with what vehicles it is tempered. — Of the etherial colour, or, to speak in common language, the aziu^ or blue colour, I have nothing very certain to aay, as some grind and temper it with goat*s milk, others witii wcnnan's milk, and others with white of egg ; and either of these is sufficiently good. 168. How azure is prepared and purified. — ^But I shall not conceal how I purify it when it comes to my hands. I first pour it into a bason, and put a little water along widi it, and rub it with my finger until it is thoroughly moistened, and then I pour in more water and stir it well, and let it rest When it has settled, I pour oS the water, turbid from die imparities, into another vase, keeping the precious colour which remains at the bottom of the vase, for its nature is such that the finer and purer the colour is the heavier it is, and therefore the sooner it reaches the bottom ; and the impurities, or the whitish or yel- lowish parts, which are lighter, float or remain above it in the water. And, if necessary, I repeat this process several tunes, pouring water out and in until it is purified ; and when it is well purified and ground with water, after I have put it into a horn, I pour in very clear whipped white of egg, and paint upoo the places in which I wish to paint anything ; and I afterwards throw away the same white of egg within the space of one hour, for if it remains in it any longer it spoils the colour by depriving it of its fine appearance and beauty. And afiier I have thrown away the white of egg, I immediately fill the horn with cold water and stir up the colour, and wash it with water, throwing away the same water afbr an hour, whfle the colour settles and sinks to the bottom ; for, as I said, if the egg, or the said water impregnated with the said egg by the washing of the colour were to remain any longer, the colour would be deterio- rated. This colour is used on walls with egg and with water ; but on wood it is ground with oil, like other colours. S. AT7DBMAR DE COLOBIBUS FACIBNDIS. 135 167. De (zzurio quomodo diMemperatur et cum qtiibus liqudri'* bus, — ^De etherio colore, vel ut juxta vulgare loquar lazurio rel perso quid certius dicam vxya habeo qiua alii cum lacte caprino alii cum lacte muliexis alii cum glarea ovi molunt ac distem^ perant et satis ntrumque bonum est 168. Quo mado preparetur et purgetur aaurium. — Sed quo modo cum admanus meas venerit ilium preparare non tacebo. In primis fundo id opus in bacino simulque cum eo, paululum aquae mitto, et cum digito, tamdiu frico quousque totus made- £actus sit, ac deinde habundancius aquam infundo et bene mis- ceo et quiesoere permitto. Poetquam quieverit eamdem aquam sic turbatam ex emundicia in alio vase recipio reservaturque co- lorem preciosumqui in fundo remanet yasis, nam hujus modi naturae est ut quanto pulchrior et purior est tanto ponderosior et ideo tanto ad fundum labatur ; et immundicea seu pars albes- centia vel croceantis coloris qui nimis gravis est superius natet vel maneat et si necesse fiierit id ipsum siepius repeto aquam seepe infundendo et effundendo donee pergatus sit £t jambene piu*gatum et cum aqua tritum postquam in comu reposuero postea loca in quibus inde aliquid facere voluero glaream ovi multum clarum immitto et operor. Postea glaream eamdem j»*ius unius bore spacium jecturus nam si diutius intus remanse-* rit corrumpet colorem illi precipuam speciem et pulchritudinem auferendo. Et postquam glaream ejecero statim illud cornu aqua frigida repleo et misceo colorem et lavo cum aqua, eandem aquam post boram dum color ad fundum quesoendo descendit rejecturus. Nam ut dixi si diutius remaneret ovum vel dicta aqua, de dicto ovo ex ipsa lavatione coloris infecta color corrum- peretiur. Hunc colorem cum aqua et cum ovo in materia ponet in ligno vero cum oleo ut tritos colores. 136 HANUSCRIPrS OF JEHAN LE BEGTIE. 169. How azure is made} — If you wish to make azure, take a new jar that has never been used, and put into it strips cf very pure silver, as many as you like, and so cover it up, and seal it, and put the jar among the grape-skins, and keep it wdl for 14 days and then open the jar, and scrape into a very dean vase the efflorescence which you find on the silver, which will be a perfect azure, and of a blue colour, provided that d« silver contains no alloy or mixture of any other metal, but only consists of the purest and finest silver. K it contains any brass, you will obtain a colour which is rather green, than bfaie or azure. If you afterwards want any more of it, do again as before directed. 170. To make azure not so good \as the Zo^].'— If you wish to make another azure, take a jar of very pure copper, and pal lime into it until it is half full, and then fill the jar with voy strong vinegar, and so cover it up and seal it Then place the jar under ground, if it is in winter, that it may be warm there, or among the grape-skins, or in hot horse-dung, or in any other hot place, and so leave it for one month. Afterwards, open the jar, and scrape off what you find upon it, and put it in the sun to dry. This azure is not so good as the last, but it is uaefiil for wood or walls. 171. Also of another way of making blue with the juice qfbbte Jlou)ers. — ^If you wish to make a third kind of azure, take blue flowers, that is, of an azure colour, and grind them, and press out the juice, straining it through a cloth into a very clean vase. And you must first make the ground of your work, whether on wood or on parchment, with white lead, which is called ceruse, ^ and put over it three or four, or five coats of this expressed blue juice or colour, and repeat this until you find the colour appears like aziu-e, letting it dry each time you lay it on, before you apply a fresh coat. ^ This recipe is in the Appendix to the MS. of Theophilus in the British Museum, and in the Mappse Clavicula, p. 7. 2 This recipe and the next are also in the Mappee Clavicula, p. 7. S. AUDEMAR DS COLORIBTJS FACIENDIS. 137 169. — De CLzurio quo modo effwitur. — Si vis facere azurrium optimum accipe ollam novam que nunquam in opus fiierit et mitte in eas laminas purissimi argenti quantas vis et sic cooperi earn et sigiUa et mitte ipeam ollam in vindemia et serva bene usque ad quindeeim dies et sic aperies illam ollam et ilium florem qui erit in circuitu laminarum argentearum excudes in mundissimb vase. Quod perfectum azurium erit et celestini Goloris dum tamen argeutum laminarum mullum alligamentum vel mixturam alterius cujus que metalli in se continuerit pre- terquam purissimum ac finissimum argentum. Quid si in se aliquid eris continuerit viridatis potius quam celestis vel azurii colorem obtinebis et si postea amplius volueris habere, iterum &c ut superscriptum est 170. De azurio alio nan tarn bono faciendo. — De alio azurio si vis facere, accipe ampullam purissimi cupri, et mitte in earn calcem usque ad medium, et sic imple ampulam fortissimo aceto et ita cooperi et sigilla. Et tunc mitte ipsam ampulam in profundo terrse si erit in hyeme ut ibi calidum sit aut in vindemia aut in fimo equimo calido, aut in alio calido loco, et ita dimitte usque ad unum mensem et postea aperies ampulam et ex ea rade quod in ipsa inveneris et mittes ad solem siccare. Illud azureum non est ita bonum sicut aliud, tamen valet ad lignum vel materiam. 171. Item aliter modofiendo azurio cam succo florum fersa- rum, — ^Tertium azurium ei vis facere, accipe flores blauos id est celestini coloris et teres et exprime colando per telam in mundissimo vase et fac prius campum tui operis sit in ligno vel sit in pergameno, De albo plumbo quod cerusa dicitur et mitte desuper tries aut quatuor aut quinque lectos de ipso succo sen colore blauo expresso, et tantum ita fac usque quo videas ipsum colorem similem esse azurio permittendo qualibet vice quam posueris inccare antequam reponas. n 138 BCANUSORIPTS OF JKHAN IJB BEGITS. 1 72. HcfiD to make a bloA colour in variotu manners. — E^erj black colour which is used in pamting on skins, we know to be atramentum, distempered in various manners^ except that with whidi we stun the skin, which is commonly called earduoMmm (cordovan). But that black colour is made of oil and acales of iron, boiled together for a very long time, and it is laid an Ifae skin^ not with a pen or a brush, but with a very sharp piece of wood, namely boxwood. But on walls, or on wood, we tike diar* coal, made of leather, or of hay, or of wood of any kind, excqit oak, which, on account of its hardness, can scarcely ever be suffi- ciently ground. If you wish to lay black over other coloan on parchment, you must not put incaustum, but know that you must take charcoal distempered with egg, and the same on walls either with water or with egg, and on wood with (m1 ; and whoever takes the soot of rushes and oil, where they are burnt together over a lamp, and calcines it in a jar upon ooala, and grinds it with water or with e^, or with oil, will find it a very excellent colour wherever he wants it 173* Abo qf another mode of making blacL----Take the bark of the wood which is called ehn, and cut it into small jneces, and put it into a vessel to Ixnl wilh water; and take the rust which is at the bottom of the water under a workman's grindstone, and mix it with the said bark, in order that they may boil over the fire together ; and add to them atramentom distempered with the aforesaid water of the bark. Afterwardii if you wish to dye anything, put it in while the water Ixnli, and so leave it irom morning until the third hour of the day {ue. from 6 to 9 a.]l), until it is diminished to a third of the quantity. And if what was put into it is not well dyed, put it in again, and add a little atramentum, in order that that whidi is put into the composition may be better dyed. 174. To make vermilion? — J£ you wish to make very good vermilion, take a glass flask, and lute it outside. Hien take one part by weight of quicksilver, and two parts of sulphur of a ^ This recipe is also in the Clavicula. S. AtTDEMAR DE COLOKIBtJS FACIENDIS. 139 172. De nigro colore quomodojU diversi mode. — Onme atrum colorem unde pingitur in pellibus scimus attramentum esae ▼aiiifl modis distemperattim praeter ilium de quo tangimus illam pellem, quam vulgus corduanum vocat Slud autem nigrum ex olio paleaque ferri diutifisime simul coctis fit et in eadem pelle non cum penna nee cum pincello sed cum ligno acutiagimo Bcilicet buxeo pingitur. In parietibus vero vel in lignis assumimus carbones scilicet de lignis cujus libet generis, vel de corio yel de feno fectos praeter querqueos que yix un- quam pro eorum duritie sufiienter teri possunt Sed si in per- gamenis supra ceteros colores ponere volueris nigrum non pones incaustum sed scias quod carbones cum ovo distemperatos assumes, in materiis similiter, vel cum aqua, tel cum ovo, et in lignis cum oleo. Fuli^e quoque junci et olei ubi simul in lampade ardent qui ceperit si in testa super carbones torruerit et cum aqua vel cum ovo vel oleo triverit valde optimum colo- rem ubique voluerit comprobabit 173. Itemy alio modo de nigro faciendo. — ^Accipe corticem ligni quod elna vocatur et per particulas inddes mittes que in sartaginem i.e. patellam cum aqua bullire. Accipies que fer- ruginem que est in fundo cum aqua subtus in oUam fabri. £t mitte cum dicto cortice ut simul ad ignem bulliat ponesque cum eis attramentum de ilia supradicta aqua dicti corticis ligni distemperatum. Postea in volueris aliquid tingere mittes intus dum aqua bullierit et sic id dimittcs a mane usque ad terciam. £t si bene tinctum non fuerit, quod intus positum itierit, iterum intus reponatur adjiciatur que parumpcr de attramento ut me-> lius tingatur id quod in compositione mittetur. 174. De vermicuhfaciendo. — IS vis facere vermiculum opti- mum accipe ampulam vitream et lini de foris luto. £t sic accipe unum pondus argenti vivi et duo pondera sulphuris albi 1 140 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BBGUE. white or yellow colour, and put them into the aforesaid flasks which you must afterwards place upon four stones, and make a very slow fire of charcoal piled round the flask, and ooFer iq» the mouth of the flask with a tile ; and when you see a blue vapour come out of the mouth of the flask, cover it up ; axid if a yellow vapour comes out, cover it up also. But when there comes out a vapour nearly as red as vermilion, flien take it away from the fire, and you will have excellent vermilioo in the flask. 175. Another way of makinff vermilion, — ^Take a glass jar, and quicksilver and sulphur, and weigh them, so that two parts may be of sulphur, and the third of quicksilver, and fill the flask with them up to the neck. But first cover the flask with three coats of very good clay, then put in the aforesaid articles, so that the sulphur may be underneath, and the quicksilver above, and put red tile, well pounded, from the neck to the top of it, and place it upon three stones over a charcoal fire, and let it bum until a blue vapour comes off, and then it will suffice. 176. How to make minium^ otherwise called sandaraca. — ^If I am not mistaken, minium, that is sandaraca, aad white lead, that is ceruse, are of one nature. If you put ceruse into the fire it takes a new name, and colour, and strength ; because, the more it is burnt the redder it is, and the less it is burnt the more it retains its former colour, that is, its whiteness or its paleness ; and in laying it upon walls, it is ground with gum* water, but never with egg. It can, however, be laid upon parchment, distempered with egg ; but on wood, with oil. 177. How minium is mixed with vermilion. — If any one wishes to illuminate a manuscript he must not do that witli minium only, because, although the letters may be well formed yet they would not be beautiful, for they would be too pale ; he must therefore mix minium with vermilion, that the colour may be brighter. But as I have certainly known some persms who are ignorant about this mixture, not knowing how much to put of one sort, or how much of the other, if they will ^ve their S. AUBEMAB DE COLORIfiUS FACIENDIS. 141 aiit crocei ooloris, et mitte in ampulam suprascriptam quam postea pones super quatuor petras et ignem lentissimum de carbonibus in circuitu ampullae positis facias cooperto ore am- pullae tegula et quando yideris ftimum ex ore ampulse exire blauum, cooperi ; si yero fiunus crocei colons, iterum cooperi ; quando autem exierit fumus rubeus quasi ut est vermiculum, sic telle ab igne et habebis vermiculum optimum in ipsa am- pula. 175. Alio modo ad faciendum vermiculum, — ^Accipe ampul- lam yitream et yiyum argentum et sulphur, et libra ita ut duse partes sint de sulphure et tertia de argento yiyo, et intus pone ut yeniat usque collum ampullae et primitus lini ampulam de argilla optima tribus yicibus et intus pone supradictas partes, ita ut sulfiiris pars subtus sit bene diminuta et argenti yiyi pars supersit et rubeam tegulam bene diminutam a coUo usque ad summum mitte et super tres lapides ampulam in igne de car- bonibus et dimitte combuere donee ignis inde exeat glaucus et tunc satis est. 176. De miniofaciendo aliter sandaraco dido. — =Nisi fallor mi- nium id est sandaracum et album plumbum id est cerusa unius naturae sunt, si in ignem mittas cerusam, nomen et colorem et fortitudinem accipit quia quanto plus ustum fiierit plus rubet, et quo minus ustum plus pristinum colorem retinet, id est albo- rem yel pallorem et ponendo ipsum in materiis teritur cum aqua gummata numquam yero cum oyo. In pergamenis yero poni potest cum oyo distemperatum, sed in lignis cum oleo. 177. Qttomodo misceatur minium cum vermiculo. — Si quis codicem illuminare satagit non id de sole minio debet facere quia quamyis litterae forent bene formate pulchre tamen non essent quia nimio pallore essent obfuscate, ideo minium cum yermiculo misceat ut pulchriores sint. Verum tamen quia aliquos de hac commixtione noyi certe, nescientes quantum ex Uno nee quantum ex altero mittere deberent si mihi assint ani- mo de hoc intimabo, quod mihi notum est, ut teneani Si ipsum 142 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LB BBGUE. attention to me I will teach them all that islmown to me, tbat they may remember it If the vermilion is very good and new, I put two parts of it, and scarcely the third part of mimwaR But if the minium is dusky and very old, pat a half or a third part of the vermilion, and make the remainder of miniinp ; ami you must know, that the older the vermilion is by nature, the darker and the less useful it is ; and the darker it is, the less of it must be added to the minium. When you have ground this minium thus cautiously mixed with vermilion well in dear water, if you wish to write with it immediately, allow it to dry completely, and then distemper the same with stale white of egg, namely, three or four days old. And if you wish to write or paint with this minium, which will shine with a sort of rarm^ brilliancy, you must mix but a little clear water, or nothing at all, with the above-mentioned white of egg, with whidi yon dis- temper the minium ; and then lay it sufficiently thickly on the parchment while you are writing, that is to say, you must paint the letter thick ; and if^ after this, it should happen that the wcsk does not shine, you may know that this is to be imputed to the quality of the air, or the weather, if it be damp. And you must know this also, that if it is dried at the fire, it will undoubtedly shine ; but it will turn black in the sun. The minium may be either fresh or have been prepared for some time. 178. How minium is to be washed, — ^But if, when you are illuminating any book, the minium is old. and of a dirty colour, you must wash it thus. Take water and wine, so that the third or the fourth part may be of wine, and put it mto a horn with the minium, and mix it well, stirring it Afterwards let it rest When it has settled and is fisJlen to the bottom, throw out the water and the wine, and pour in a suffident quantity of white of egg, and use it 179. Ofsinapis. — Sinopis, as I have heard, is a certain colour redder than vermilion, so that when the vermilion itself is very precious on account of its beauty, the heralds praising it call it ranopis, although the vermilion only resembles it on account of its redness. S. AUDEMAB D£ COLORIBUS FAGIENDIS. 143 vermicaltim valde optimum et novum fuerit duas partes ex illo et yix tertiam partem ex minio. Si vero minium fuscum et ▼etufiaimum fuerit dimediam seu tertiam partem ex iUo Termi- culo mitte et reliquas de minio £sLcito. Et sciendum est quod Termiculum natura quanto vetustior tanto nigrior et minus utilis etquantonigrior est tanto minus de iUo mittendum est in minio. Quod minium sic ex vermiculo caute mixtium postquam bene triveris cum aqua clara. Si statim ex inde scribere volueris permitie penitus prius exsiccare deinde cum vetusta glarea ovi trium scilicet aut quatuor dierum ipsum idem distempera. Et si tibi accidat scripturam vel picturam ex eodem minio facere velle quasi que vemiciata nitore suUuceat glarea suprascriptae qua ipsum minium distemperas parum aquae clars vel nil omnino commisoeas et exinde inter scribendum sufficienter pergameno suppone crassam scilicet litteram debes facere. Sane si post boc opus ipsum nonlupereoontingeritnoverisbocimputandumquali- tali Tel aurse yel tempori si humidum sit. Hoc autem scire debes quod si ad ignem exsiccetur procul dubio yenitescet. Sole vero fuflcabitur minium potest esse vel noviter vel ex multo tempore paratum sit.' 178. Quanwdo lavatur minium. — iS autem cum aliquem libmm illuminas minium vetus sit et turpis colons. Debes ita lavari. Sume aquam et vinum, et ita ut tertia rel quarta pars sit vinum et mitte in comu cum minio et commove bene mis- oend9. Postea permitte quiescere. Cum autem sedatum et ad fundum deductum erit eice aquam et vinum et mitte glaream quantum opus sit et operetur. 179. De sinopide. — Sinopis est quidam color magis mbeus ut didici quam vermiculum. Undo et ipsum vermiculum sit valde preciosum in pulchritudine fuerit quasi laudando scutarii sinopidem vocant cum tantum modo vermiculum in rubeo te- neat ejus similitudinem. 1 144 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BEGIIB. 180. How the colour olchusy otherwise membrana^ is made, — The colour olchus, otherwise membrana, is so called firom hs appearing like the humaa flesh on the fisu^ the hands, and tlie other parts of the body. It is made of red or vennilkm. and white or ceruse, and he who has no yermilion, must malce it of minium and white mixed together in proper proportions of eaeh, according to the greater or less ruddiness, or paleness^ or white- ness, which he wishes to give to the naked figure, in painting it. And because a greenish colour is proper for it, mix a little green with it, in proper proportion as you may think proper. And if you have no green, mix orpiment with lazur, and yon wiD have a green which you may use. Others also collect the flowers of a certain herb, the name of which has escaped me, which they grind or mix with the olchus, and thus make tiie colour. 181. How lake is made. — ^Take filings or scrapings of Brazil wood, and let them boil over the fire in a clean vase with red wine. Then add lake distempered with urine, and let them boil together, and having done this, strain and squeeze tliem. Then take alum and mix with the other ingredients in the vase over the fire, and stir it a little. Then remove it firom the fire, and pour the contents into a basin. Then grind it weU upon a stone, and collect the lake together and let it dry in the sun. Afterwards preserve it in a box. 182. Item. — How to make sinopis de mellana. — ^If you wish to make sinopis de mellana, take lac, that is, the gum of ivy, with which parcium is dyed, and grind it very fine, and temper it with vinegar or urine. Then, adding wheat flour well cleansed from the bran, make it into little cakes, and bake it in an un* glazed jar ; and, while it is being baked, put a littie of it upon a stick with a twig, until you see that it is of a very good colour. If you wish to have it very red, bake it but little ; if less red, bake it more. 183. As before. — To make the same sinopis in a different man- ner.— If you wish to make excellent sinopis, take lac, iliat is, the gum of ivy, and madder, and boil it for a short time in a S. AUDEMAR DE COLORIBUS FACIENDIS. 145 180. Quomodo componitur olckus color seu membrana. — 01- cbus color aliter membrana vocatur qui sicuti humana caro in facie in manibus et aliis partibus et membris corporis demon- stratur. Componitur ex rubeo seu vermiculo et albo seu ce- nisa. £t qui non haberet vermiculum componeret ex minio et albo simul ad proportionatas quantitates utriusque ipsorum juxta majorem vel minorem rubedinem vel palliditatem, vel albedinem quam dare voluerit nudo ymagini pingens ipsam. Et quia virideus color in ipso convenit aliquantulum viridis per debitam portionem sicut placuerit. Et si viride non habetur auripigmentum cum lazurio misceat et yiride habebit quo uti poterit alii colligunt colligunt (sic) etiam cujusdem herbe flores cujus nomen excidit quos cum olcho terunt seu miscent et colo- rem inde facit. 181. Quomodo effidtur lacha, — ^Accipe Brasilis ligni lima- turam vel rasuram, et in uno vase mundo cum vino rubeo per- mitte ad ignem bullire. Deinde lacham cum urina distemper- atam cum ea pone et simul bulliant et hoc facto colantur et exprimantur. Postea alumen accipe et misce cum eis in vase ad ignem existente et move parumper. Tunc ab igne telle et in scutella mitte. Deinde super petram fortiter tere et collige et ad solem siccare permitte. Postea ad servandum in forulo vel pixide pone. 182. Item de faciendo sinopide de mellana. — Si vis facere sinopidem de mellana. Accipe de lacca id est gumma ederae de qua parcium tingitur et optime tere et distempera cum aceto vel urina. Deinde farinam triticeam bene a furfure mundatam adjungens, fac quasi pastidas et coque in olla rudi et frequenter cum coquetur ex eo cum festuca super virgulam tuam pone, donee videas optimi chloris esse et si multum rubeum volueris minus coque si minus rubeum magis coque. 183. Sicut supra de eodem synopide aliter faciendo. — Si vis facere optimum sinopidem, accipe laccam id est gummam edcras et Waranciam et coque in ollam aliquantulum cum aqua postea VOL. I. L 1 146 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUJB. jar with water, and afterwards take it out of the jaj% and let it cool a little. Then grind it well in a mortar, and strain h through a doth, squeezing [it well out, and afterwards beat k oarefuUy in a basin or saucer, taking care not to let it boil, let only simmer. And while it is on the fire put it firequently vilk a twig upon your rod to try it ; if it is thick enou^, remore i from the fire, and let it cool and harden, so that yoa may be able to make it into cakes. Haying made it into cakes, cut it up, aod put it into a small hole, and keep it for use. 184. Of lake. — In the month of March, cut branches cfifj crosswise in various places, or pierce them with a bodkin, aod there will exude a liquid, which you must collect every tfnrd day. This is boiled with urine, and turns to a blood colour, which is also called lacha, with which the skins, conunonly caUed parcie, are dyed with alum. The above-mentioned liquid k useful for many purposes. 185. Of writing y orpaijUing^ with tin. — ^When you are going to make gold or silver writing or painting, if you have neither of them, that is to say, neither gold nor silver, you must make use of the following process. Cast very pure tin into strips of half a foot or little more in length, namely, like those of which glass windows are made. Then scrape with a knife one or more of them, as many as you like, into very small pieces, until they, or it, are, or is, entirely scraped away ; and then put the shavings into a mortar made of very hard metal, namely, of that of which bells are made, which must be prepared tor this purpose, and fixed in a plank. You must also have a mulleror pestle of the same metal, which must revolve in the mortar. Afterwards put these clippings into the mortar, and pour water upon them, and grind them by pulling a thong backwards aod forwards ; but when the muller begins to stick a little, so that it will not turn, take it out, and pour or tip out the water aod tin into a very clean vase ; and then, letting the tin remain in the vase, pour the water cautiously off, without pouring away the tin. Aft;erwards let the tin dry by the fire or in the sun. Then put it on a very thick linen cloth, and make the fine parts S..AUDEMAR DE COLORIBUS FACIENDIS. 147 extrahes ab olla et aliquantulum refrigerari permitte. Deinde in mortariolo fortiter tere et per pannum extorquendo cola, et postea in bacina vel in testa coque cum diligentia cavens ne bulliat sed tantum fremat. £t dum coquitur frequenter cum festuca super virgulam tuam pone temptando ; si satis spissum ab igne tolle et permitte frigescere et durescere. Itaque inde possis pastilles facere. £t factis pastillis excisea et pone in forulo et serva usui. 184. De lacca. — Mense Marcio ramas in diversis locis incide de edera extransverso vel cum aculeo perfora et egredietur liquor quem de tertio in tercium diem collige qui cum urina coquitur et in sanguineum colorem vertetur, qui et lacha di- citur ex quapelles alutine tingentur que vulgo parcie dicuntur* Liquor superdictum ad multa valet. 185. De stamtea scriptura vel pictura. — Auream seu argen- team scripturam vel picturam facturus, si neutrum habeas, scilicet nee aurum necargentum hacutere compositura. Stan- num purissimum funde in laminas quas dimidii pedis vel paulo plus longitudinis fac ad instar scilicet earum ex quibus fenestra vitree componuntur. Deinde unam earum vel plures quot vis cum cultello vel quo instrumento necesse fuerit minuta.tum erade vel errade quo ad usque tota consumpta vel consumptae siut. £t deinceps ipsas encisuras in mortariolo pone quod de metallo durissimo sit, quo scilicet campanae fiunt ad hoc opus parato et in ligno infixo. Habeas simulque molam seu pistil- lam qui in mortariolo vertitur, de eodem metallo. Postea in ipso mortario pone ipsas incisuras. Et super ipsas infunde aquam et sic eas mole trahendo corrigiam et retrahendo seu relaxendo. Ubi autem mola stare ceperit paululum nee jam posse verti extrabe illam et aquam et stannum in mundissimo vase rejecta vel reversa. Et ipsum stannum retinendo in ipso vase eice caute aquam absque ejiciendo stannum. Et postea permitte ipsum stannum siccari ad ignem vel ad solem. Deinde panno liueo valde spisso indue ac fac transire subtilcs minucias ; l2 148 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BE6UE. pass through ; but the coarser parts, which mH not pass tfanvQ^ the cloth, put back into the mortar, and grind as you did before : and you must always make the finer parts pass throng a d caustum confioere voluerit sumens ut aiunt corticem nigr» spinas quam cum de ligDO ad purum evulserit impleat inde vas mixta pariter habundantissime et semel tantum cum aqua qua imposita igni sinat corticem dequoqui more carnis vaccinae eo que extracto extorqueat ab eoquam ebiberat aquam et ipsam aquam igni prestolatur excoqui ad medietatem. Postea ipsam transfundat in vas primus et adbuc bullire permittat et cum comminuta Aierit refundat in aliud vas et ebuUire faciat. £t cum ad ultimum iterum comminuta erit evacuet in minimo 1 152 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BKGTJB. And when lastly it is again reduced, empty it into a very vase, and make it boil away. And when the ink bas become thick like porridge, take it off the fire, because it is sufficieDtly boiled. But when you wish to prepare it for writing', take some part of it, and put it into an earthen yessel with doaUe the quantity of wine, and take great care, when it begins to get hot, to throw away the impurities which sink to the bottom, separating them from the ink by straining through a cdoth. But what cannot be omitted is, that care must be taken not to let it run over the edge of the vase, for otherwise you will lose a great part of your labour. But when, as I had b^on to say, it is still hot, mix up with it two pieces of burnt atramentam, and after four days or a week you will be able to write with it And if the ink should remain pale, or soak the parchm^it like water, put it on the fire again, mixing with it a little incaustum and atramentum. But do not throw it away while it is still hot, for it is atramentum. 190. How to lay gold on a toall, or on parchments. — ^If you wish to lay gold on a wall, or on paper, or on wood, or upon a block of marble, grind gypsum by itself separately. Hieii grind brown separately in the same manner, and take three parts of gypsum and one of brown, and take glue made from parchment or leather, and distemper them together, mixing the said parts, and lay upon it [the object to be gilded] one coat of this mixture with a paint-brush, and then ano- ther ; and so lay three or four coats. And when the last is dry, scrape it with a knife or other iron instrument fitted for the purpose, so that it may be very smooth; and then burnish it with a tooth or a stone, and lay over it, with the paint-brush, only one very thin coat of the gypsum, and let it dry. When it is dry, lay the gold upon that mordant, as you have been taught. Afterwards lay upon the gold a very fine cloth that has been two or three times warmed ; or apply it as I do, not so warm, in order that the gold may be the better polished. 191. Also how to lay on gold. — ^Take gypsum and grind it a AUDBMAR DE COLORIBUS FACIENDIS. 153 vase et ebullire faciat. Cum que ipsum incaustum iu modum pultium densatum fuerit extrahat illud ab igne, quia ad ple- num est decoctum, cum vero ad scribendum volueris aptare tolles ab eo aliquam portionem pones in vas fictile, duplum que vini, solicitate que procaveat ut cum ceperit fervere sordes in fundo immefgentes rejiciat separando eas ab incausto colando ipsum per telam. Hoc vero quod pone preteriri poterit ob- servet ne vel tunc vel quando confectatur in caloris ora vasis transeat. Alioquin magna parte quassabitur suo labore. Cum vero ut dicere ceperam ad hue calet attramenti duo frustra cremata commisceat quatuor que diebus vel ebdomada exacta inde scribere poterit. Et si in pallore perduraverit vel perga- menum transient more aque appone iterum igni miscendo aliquantulum incausti et attramenti sed tunc cum ad hue efier- fuerit non abiciat quod attramentum est. 190. Quomodo in muro vel in pergameno ponitur aurum. — Si vis aurum ponere in muro vel in carta vel in ligno vel super petra marmorea, tere fortiter gypsum per se separatim. Deinde brunum similiter teris separatim facies que de gypso tres partes et quatuor de bruno. Accipies que colam de per- gamenis vel de corio factum et distemperes simul, miscendo illas supradictas partes, facies que de ipsa mixtura unum lectum de super cum pincello et ad hue de super alium. £t sic facies tres vel quatuor linitiones : cum vero siccum fuerit rades cultello vel alio ferro ad hoc parato ita quod sit bene adequatum deinde bumias dente vel petra et cum pincello de super tantum una vice trahe de ipso gypso postea siccabitur. Postquam siccatum fuerit pones de super ea distemperatura tua aurum sicut doctus es. Postea pannum delicatissimum super aurum duabus vel tribus vicibus calefactam pones, vel sicut ego facio minus cale&ctum, ad modum vel melius polia- tur, super eum pone. 191. Item de ponendo auro, — Accipe gypsum et mola eum H / 154 UAJOTSCRIPTS OF JEHAK LE BEGUB. well with water. Then take your glue which is made of haH- akin and mix with it a little white of egg, and distemper the gypsum. But when you wish to lay on the gold, corer the place with gypsum with a paint-brush, and let it dry. Do this three times. Then scrape it, that it may be smootli, and burnish it, and again lay another coat of the glu6 or mordaiit upon it, and then your gold upon that, and remove the dirt gently with cotton, and then let it dry. But if you widi to polish it, do so with haematite, or with a dog's-tooth. 192. Aho haw to lay on gold. — ^Take brasilium, newly dis- tempered with white of egg, well whipped with a sponge or otherwise, and draw and paint with it whatever yoa like oa vellum or on any other thing you wish to ^Id, and immedi- ately lay the gold upon it, and remove the dirt with eotton, scarcely touching it, and leave it to dry for half a day or a whole day if you like. Then take a dog's-tooth, and begin to burnish at first gently, lest you should spoil it all, and then harder, and afterwards so hard that your forehead is wet with perspiration. And if you wish to lay gold on parchment made of sheep's-skin, add a little plum-tree gum, otherwise gum arable, which is excellent for working on any kind of paidi- ment, namely, from calf-skin, sheep-skin, and goat-skin, as we shall declare in the following [recipe]. And either kind of gum must be distempered as follows : — 193. T/ie mode of tempering the gums for laying on gold. — Take whichever of these gums you like, and tie it up in a very clean linen cloth, and put it in a glass vase, and let it lie in water for a whole day and night, although indeed, if you want to make haste, you may stir up the water with your finger. Then draw whatever you like on the parchment, and lay the gold on it as before mentioned. 1 94. Of the precautions required in gilding. — But take notioe that you ought to work in gold and colours in a damp place on account of the hot weather, which, as it is often injurious in burnishing gold, both to the colours on which the gold is laid and in [the operation] of gilding, if the work is done on parch- S. AUDBHAR BE COLOKIBUS FACIENBIS. 155 fortiter cum aqua. Delude accipe gluteu tuum quod 6t de taurino piuguedine et niisce cum eo parumper de glarea ovi, et distempera gypsum. Ubi vero aurum ponere volueris ibi cum pincello de gypeo trahes, dimittes que siccare. Hsec facies tiibus vicibus ; postea raddes eum ut sit planum et bumies ; iterum de dicto glutine seu cola de super trahes et illico aurum tamn pones et de cotho suaviter turpedines ipsum et ita dimitte siccare si vero polire eum vis de emate vel dente canino polies ipsum. 192. Item ad ponendum aurum. — Accipe brasilium noviter distemperatum cum glarea ovi optime fracta cum spungia vel aliter et de ipso protrahe et pinge quae vis in pergameno vitulino vel alio ubi ponere aiurum volueris et statim aurum de super pone et de cotho quasi non tangens turpedine, dimit- tesque dimidium diem siccare vel per totum diem si vis. Postea accipe dentem caninum et brunire incipias primum quidem suaviter ne totum dissipes, deinde fortius postea tam fortiter ut frons tua sudore madescat. £t si aurum in perga- meno de ariete ponere volueris addes parumper de gumma cinea aliter gumma arabica quae mirabilis est ad operandum in utroque pergameno scilicet vitulino, arietino et capretino sicut in sequenti declarabimus utrumque etenim gummam dis- temperabis sic 193. Modus distemperandi gummas ad ponendum aurum. — Accipies gummam qualem vis unam de duabus biis et ligabis in pannum lineum nitissimum ponesque in vitreo vase tota die et nocte in aqua jacere vel certe si festinare vis, distemperabis earn digito tuo cum ipsa aqua. Sic que in pergamenum penna protrahe omne quod vis et illico pone aurum ut suprascriptum est. 194. De advertentiis Twhendis in ponendo aurum. — Sed inde adverte quomodo operari te oportet de auro, et ooloribus in ktmido loco propter calidum tempus quod sicut sepe nocet ad bruniendum aurum et ad colores de quibus aurum ponitur et de auro operari si opus fiat in minus faumido et nimb sicco 156 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BEGIIE. ment that is too dry and not sufficiently moist ; bo also it is injurious when the weather is too dry and arid, or too dBiap, while applying colours or gilding. 195. Also how to lay on gold, — Take gum arabic and dis- temper it as aforesaid. Then take gum ammoniac distem- pered with hot water over the fire, and mix it witih the gom. arabic, and stir it with your finger, and put it in the son, that it may be well mixed and liquefied. Next, take gypsam, and di^mper it with white of egg, and mix it with gum ammmiiae and gum arabic. And when you wish to gild leaUier or purple cloth, or linen or silk cloths, stir it up altogether, and draw beasts and birds and flowers upon them with a very sbarp stick, and let them dry. Then take the gold, and blow gently on the flowers, and lay on the gold directly, and press it down with a burnishing tooth or stone, and burnish it as before. 196. Of certain kinds of gum or glue} — If you have not the air-bladder of a sea-fish, cut up thick vellum in the same manner, and wash it. Also wash carefully three times in warm water the dried bones of the head of a pike, and boil them. Whichever of these you boil, add to them one-third part of very clear gum, that is, gum arabic, and boil a little ; and you may keep this as long as you will. 'Lk 197. How and with what vehicles to temper colours for pair- ing in boohs. — When mixing colours for painting in books, make a vehicle of the clearest gum arabic and water, as before, and mix with it all colours except green and cemse, minium, and carmine. Salt green is of no use in a book. Spanish green you must temper witli wine, and if you wish to shade it, add a little of the juice of sword grass, or cabbage, tjst leek. You must mix minium and ceruse, and carminium, widi white of egg. Grind azure with soap, and wash it, and mix it with white of egg. ' 198. How tliat various tints are made by the mixture of the 1 This chapter is a paraphrase of chap, zxxiii. of the first book of Theo- philus, English ed. C^^co TheophiluSy lib. i. cap, zxxiv. (Eng. ed.)^ of which this is a para- S. AUDEMAR DE COLORIBUS FACTENDIS. 157 Tpergameno. Sic de coloribus vero operari et ponendo aunim in tempus nimis rigidum vel siccum ac etiam minus humidum. 195. Item ad ipsum aurum ponendum. — Accipe gummam arabicam et distempera ut dictum est. Accipiesque moniacu^ lum distemperatum cum aqua calida ad ignem et misces cum arabica, distemperabis que digito tuo et pones ad solem ut bene distemperetur et liquefiat. Postea accipe gypsum et dis* tempera cum glarea ovi et clarum misce cum moniculo et ara- bica. £t quando aurum in corio vel in purpura vel in pellis lineis vel siricis ponere yolueris movebis omnia simul et facies bestias et volucres et flores cum baculo acutissime de super dimittesque siccum. Postea accipe illud et super flores modice suffla et statim aurum impones et imprima dente vel lapide ad bruniendum, et brunias ut supra. 196. De quibusdam generibus gummi vel glutinis.— Si vesicam non habueris piscis marrini pergamenum vituli spissum eodem modo incide, lava quoque ossa etiam capitis lupi piscis sicca, diligenter Iota in calida aqua ter ilia coque; qualemcumque horum coxeris. Adde eis terciam partem gummi lucidissimi, i. e. arabici et modice coque et poterisservare quam diu volu- eris. 197. Quomodo temperantur colores in libris ponendis et de quibus liqtwribus, — Temperando colores in libris ponendos fac temperamentum ex gummi arabico lucidissimo et aqua ut supra et tempera omnes colores excepto yiridi et cerusa et minio et carminio; viride salsum non valet in libro, viride hispanicum temperabis vino et si volueris umbras facere adde modicum succi gladioli vel caulis vel porri ; minium et cerusam et carminium temperabis claro ovi. Azur mole cum sapone et lava et distempera claro ovi. 198. Qui ex mixturis colorum ad invicem plurimce ipsorum phrase ; the last sentence excepted, which is not in Theophilus, but part of it will be found in the Clavicula, p. 61. 158 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGIJE. colours with one another. — AH colours whatever are diversified and varied in various ways and manners, by mixtures being made with them or laid over them, of other colours, that agree with them in proper manners and quantities. If you require these mixtures for painting figures and other things, mix and temper them as before for books. And all colours are to be laid on twice, in books, and on parchment, first verjr thin, and then thicker ; but in letters only once.^ 199. Of black, and ink, and of a black and green colour*^ Take ripe berries of honeysuckle, that is, in English, galetrice, and pound them well in a mortar. Afterwards boil them care- fully in wine, adding also some rust of iron to the decoctko. This is a green and brilliant ink. If you wish to colour a cIoA or a skin green, paint it over with a paintbrush. But if jon wish it to be black, add ink' to the composition, as usual. 200. Gum prevents the ink from running, — If you wish to prevent the above written, or any other ink from running when you are using it, add the gum of a plum-tree or of an apple, ia the boiling, and boil it together. 201. Abo how to make green^ according to t/ie Normans.^ — Take the herb which is called grenuspett [or gremispett], and boil it with beer or wine, so that the beer may be coloured yellow by tlie herb. Then strain it. Then grind sufficiently some Greek green with the beer, and afterwards let it stand in a basin or a copper vase in the sun to ripen. 202. How to make auripetrum, — Spanish saffiron, distempered with very clear glue or liquid varnish, and laid over very clear, that is, very bright and well polished tin, assumes the appear- ance of gold to those that look on it, for it receives itscoloor from the sun, and its brilliancy from the tin, and thus may be made excellent auripetrum. 1 The latter part of this chapter is from Thcophilus, lib. i. cap. xxxir. s This recipe and the next are in the Mappte Clavicula, p. 43. ^ This recipe is also in the Clavicula (p. 43), without, however, the re« markable addition *^ acconiing to the Normans.*' 8. AUDEMAB D£ COLOBIBTJS FACIENDIS. 159 ^xirietates fiunt, — Omnes et quicumque colores 63^ mixinris aliorum eis convenientium debitis modis et quantitatibus eis adhibitis et impositis diversificantur et variantur plurimis YDodis et differenciis. Quas mixturas si indigueris ad pin- gendum Imagines et alia, compone et distempera in libris ut supra. £t omnes colores bis ponendi sunt in libris et perga- menis in primus tenuissime, Deinde spissius in Uteris vero semel. 199. De attramento et incausto et de negro et viridi colore. — Aecipe grana matura caprifolii hoc est anglice galetrice et in mortario bene contere. Post vino diligenter fac buUire ferrum aru^atum decoctione similiter addiciens. Hoc est viride et fulgens incaustum et si vis pannum vel corium habere viride, pincello desuper linias. Si vero vis ut niger sit huic composi- tioni adde solito attramentum. 200. Qmd gumma cum prohibet fiuxum incausti. — Si vis facere quod superscriptum incaustum vel aliud non decurrat cum de ipso operatur, pone gummam cini vel pomi in coctione et simul coque. 201. Item de viridi faciendo secundum normarmos. — Aecipe herbam que dicitur gremispect et bulli cum cervesia aut vino adeo ut cervisia crocea sit de herba. Postea cola I Deinde o/ pulverem de viridi Greco mola cum ipsa cervisia ut satis sit, postea stet in bacdno vel cupreo vase contra solem ad matu- randum. 202. Q^omodo efficitur auripetrum. — Crocus hispanicus cum lucidissimo glutine sen vemicio liquido distemperatur et stanno limpidissimo, i.e. pene polito eb claro^ superpositas speciem auri intuentibus mentitur quod a sole colorem et stanno accipit falgorem et inde optimum fit auripetrum. 160 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAK LE BEQUB. 203. Also^ in the same manner^ a coat of gaU gives the ap- pearance of gold to copper vases.^ — By scraping copper with a knife, and burnishing it with a bear's tooth, it is polished Then lay gall evenly over every part of it with a paintbrush ; and, when it is dry, lay on more and more coats of gall, and it imitates the colour of gold. 204. Haw to colour copper, — Take copper that has been well filed and polished and afterwards varnished over, and warm it frequently before the fire, and it will turn of a red colour. Afterwards scrape it with a sharp knife in several places and cover it again with some colour, and then the fire will torn it of a difierent colour ; and so in proportion to the warmth. 205. AlsOy the manner of beating out tin-platesy so as to appear gilt, to use in painting, on account of the price of gold. — ^If you wish to make [imitate] gold leaf, take pure tin or silver and make it into very thin plates ; and take dry saffron flowers^ and wrap them up in a linen cloth and lay them in gum water, and leave them there until they are soft. Then take them out, being careful not to squeeze them. But if the saffinon which you intend to soak in water is fresh, you must first put the flowers in the sun in a linen cloth by themselves, to dry, and when they are dry soak them in water as before directed. Afterwards take the beforementioned water and lay it thinly once over the plates and let them dry. Then take the floweri, dried as before directed, and soak them in white of egg, whid has been whipped a little, and stir it with your finger, and let tbe plates lie in it a short time, imtil each piece has been dipped three times, letting the pieces dry separately between each of these three times, and afterwards polish them with an onjx stone ; and if you have no onyx, grease the tin with the oil which is made from linseed, and let it dry, and put it on paper or on wood in this manner. Take the above mentioned gum and put it in tepid water« and allow it to remain for so long as it takes to sing a mass.^ Afterwards lay pure white colour m > See Eraclius, lib. ii. No. XVI. » About a quarter of an hour. S. AUDEMAB DE COLOEIBUS FACIBNDIS. 161 203. Itemque sic vasa cuprea linicio fellis deauroturam men* titur. — Cuprum raddendo cum cultello et bruniendo dente ursino splendificatur. Deinde cum felle linies pinoello per omnes ejus partes tracto equaliter ; quo siccato iterum atque iterum fel superpone et auri mentitor colorem. 204. Ad colorandum cuprum, — Cuprum bene limatum et planatum postea vernicio tinctum ad ignem sepe calefaciat et contrabet colorem rubeum. Postea cum acuto cultello radde in diversis locis et iterum illini aliquo colore et ibi alium colorem habebit ad ignem et quanto plus calefiet 205. Item de modo attenuofidi laminas stamni ttt nuratce videardur ex carentia auri utendas in operibm. — Si vis facere petonas de auro accipe stannum purum vel argentum et fee laminas multum tenuas et accipe crocum florem siccum et in- volve in panno lineo et pone in aqua ubi gumma est et dimitte ibi usquequo mollescat. Postea tolles eum et cave ne con- stringas eum ; si autem crocus recens est quum ipsam accipis pro p si non babes onchinum unge laminas de oleo quod fit de lini semine et permitte siccari, et eas pones in carta vel in ligno hoc modo. Accipies gummam supradictam et pones aquam tepidam et iterum tantum permittes jacere, quantum spatii est cantare missam. Postea pone purum album colorem sicut ponere debes in locis in qui bus ponere vis laminas et dum VOL. I. M 162 MANUSCRIPTS OF JBHAN LB BEGTJE. a proper manner on those places on which you wish to apply the tin, and, when they are dry, polish them with an onyx stone ; then lay the gum water upon the white colour, and let il dry. Then polish it as before ; after this cut the tin according to the form required, lay it on with the said gam-water, and let it dry ; and clean it with a sponge dipped in cold water; then rub it down with a linen cloth well wrung out, and rub the tin, and afterwards polish it, as before mentioned. 206. Also as before^ how to gild leaves or beaten plates of tin. — ^Take the herb which is called myrrh,^ and aloes, of eadi equal weights, and having mixed them U^ther, put them ia a proper quantity of water. Then boil them well, and after they hare been boiled, pour the water into a ressel, and take the leaves of tin well covered on one side with vamieii, im- merse it in the liquor as long as necessary. Then boil Ae middle bark of the black plum well in a vessel, and afierirards dip the same tin in this water. Then lay it on a table to dry. 207. Also as before. — Mix linseed oil and resin, an equal weight of each, and add the same measure of vemix, put these ingredients into a jar and boil them well. Hien dip leaves of tin well varnished into it [the jar], and afterwards' dry them in the sun. 208. Also as above. — Put linseed-oil and the inner bark of the black plum into a new jar, and boil it well for a short time upon charcoal or upon a clear fire. Then clean your glassa, by weight as much as you like, and put it into another jar, and take about half the quantity of alum, and of dragon's blood, and put it all into the jar, and lastly add a little resin, and melt the whole well together, and as soon as all the ingredients I It seens probable that the |fnni«r6ini nyrrh m mcaat, partictthrlj as myrrh is named among other gums and resins in the redpe entitled ^ Ln- cida quo modo fiant super colores/* in the Clavicula, p. 63, and in the Lucca MS., published by Muratori. At the same time it must be obsenred, that the author writes ** the herb which is called myrrh ;** and in the TaUe of Sjmonymes myrrh is said to be the " tree vulgarly called genestra." The plant called '* myrrha," myrrhis, &c., is the Scandiz odonto, S. AUDBMAB D£ C0L0RIBT7S FAGIENDIS. 163 • siccom fuerit licca eum onicfaino et sic pones aqnam in qna gumma est super album colorem et dimitte siccare. Item lioca nt supra ; post hoc indde laminas secundum modum loci iibi ponere volueris, et pone eas cum dicta aqua gummata, et permitte uocari et cum spongia intincta in aqua fingida purga postea ipsas laminas ubi posuisti eas, postea cum panno lineo extersa optime et frica ipsas laminas et postea licca ut supra scriptnm est. 206. Item ut iupra de modo deaurandi folia sea laminas stanad attenuatoi, — Accipe herbam que dicitur myrra et aloem tmo pondere ambas et commixtas simul pone in illam aquam secundum modum appositam. Deinde fiic bullire bene, et post eoctionem herbarum mitte aquam in sarta^nem et folia stanni bene illinita una parte de veniix appone et bene merge quan- tum opus fuerit Deinde medianam cortieis pruni nigri fac bullire, in sartaginem bene et postea mitte eadem folia in hac aqua. Deinde appone folia super tabulam ad siccandum. 207. Item ut supra. — Oleum de lini semine et picem uno pondere mixtum et eamdem mensuram de vemix pone in oUam et &c bullire bene. Deinde mitte folia stanni bene vemiciata intus et post modum siccata ad solem. 208. Item ut supra. — Oleum lineum et medianam corticem nigri pruni mitte in oUam novam ac fac bene bullire super car- bones vel claro igne paulatim, deinde munda glassam tuam quantum volueris cum pondere et pone in alteram ollam et aluminis quasi mediam partem et sanguinem drachonis et omnia bsec mitte in ollam et ad ultimum mixtum picem ad- junge et bene funde et quam citius hec omnia fondentur appone MTrrhis magno semine longo sulcato, Myrrhis major cicutaria odorato. Mjorhenkerbel, Aniskerbel. Id English, the sweet-scented Cicely, or myrrh. Cerfeuil odorant ou musqu^, Cerfeuil d'Espagne, Fr. Cerfoglio odoroso, Miroide, Ital. Matthioli and Leguna say that the Cerfeuil of the French was synonymous with the Gingidio of the Greeks (the Scandix cere- folium) : therefore, instead of " Genestra," we ought perhaps to read « Gingidio." M 2 164 MANUSCRIPTS OF JTEHAN LB BEQITE. are melted, add the abovementioned oil, and, as if yoa were making a compound ointment, let them boil well together, and stir them frequently, and afterwards dip your nail into the oom- position and try whether it is good or not. 209. Also as before. — Collect twigs of black plum, and pot them in the sun for a week or a fortnight, and then throw awsjr the outer bark, and take the inner bark, and put it into a rough jar, so as to fill it Then take linseed or hempseed-oO, and pour into the jar as much of it as it will hold, and heat it slowly over the fire, until the bark is reduced to cbarooaL Then throw away tiie bark, and strain the remainder of the oQ through linen, and take resin and white firankincense, iind dean the jar well, and then put all the ingredients into it again, and heat it as long as you please. 8. AUDEMAR D£ COLORIBUS FACIENBIS. 165 supradictum oleum et secundum unctionem confectionk et sine bene bullire simul et ssepe move et post modum intinges ungu- lam tuam et temptabis utrum bonum sit an non. 209. Item ut antea* — Collige rirgulas de nigro pnmo et pone ad solem per octo dies aut quindecim et postea primum projicies corticem accipies que secundum et pones in oUa rudi ita ut plena sit. Deinde accipies oleum de lino vel de canapo, et in oUa quantum intrare poteris impones et lente igne tam diu coques donee ipse cortex in carbonem redigatur et tunc projicies et per lintheum quod remanserit oleum colabis et postea accipies picem et thus album et ipsam que oUulam for- titer mimdabis, totum que simul repones iterum intus et quan* tum tibi placuerit coques. ( 166 ) MANUSCRIPTS OF ERACLIUS. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. Two ancient copies only of the MS. of Eraclius have been hitherto discovered, and it is somewhat singular that both are bound up with MSS. of Theophilus. The most ancient of these is that discovered by Raspe in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge and which he afterwards published in his work on Painting in Oil (London, 1801). This MS. is written on vellum, and is of the latter half of the thirteenth century.* It is now in the British Museum.* The first two books are in verse ; the last, which consists of twenty-four or twenty-five chapters, is in prose. The MS. next in point of antiquity is that which forms part of the MS. of Le Begue. It is written on paper, and was transcribed in the year 1431, probably from an older MS., the property of John Alcherius, which passed with his other MSS. into the hands of Le Begue. The third book of this copy contains a great many additional chapters, and the whole of those published by Easpe, with the exception of one chapter, " De probatione auri et argenti."' 1 Raspe, ' On Painting in Oil,' p. 42; EasUake, ' Materials for a His- tory of Painting in Oil,* p. 33. 3 Egcrton MSS., 840, A. 3 llasiie, p. 117. ERACLTUS, 167 There is reason, however, to suppose that many copies of this MS. existed formerly, and that they were as widely scattered as the copies of the MS. of Theo- philus. That this was the case is, I think, proved by the fact that fragments of the Treatise of Eraclius are found in other works, although they are ascribed not unfrequently to other authors. I shall mention, in the first place, those works in which the metrical chapters are to be found. The most ancient work in which this occurs is the Treatise of Theophilus, the copy of which in the Bri-, tish Museum contains fifteen chapters of the first and second books of Eraclius, some of which, like the original, are metrical, while the others are paraphrases in prose ; and this is certainly a proof that this part of the Treatise of Eraclius was written before that copy of Theophilus.* 1 The mere fact of one MS. containing parts of another, is not of itaelf sufficient to prove the age of a MS. : as these old writers borrowed from each other without acknowledging their obligations, it is impossible to say which is the oldest, unless other circumstances assist in determining the age. In the case of Theophilus it is apparent that the poetical parts arc borrowed, because they ibrm part of another work written entirely in verse, while no part of Theophilus is in verse except the commencement, and the measure of the latter verses differs from those of Eraclius, for the former are Leonines, which is not the case with the latter. If this proof be insuffi- cient, the passage in Theophilus, lib. iii. cap. cvi., will be quite conclusive. He says, '* £x vitro si quis depingere vascula quserit, et te vcrte ad banc artem quae in primo libro scripta est Hsec enim ita se habet." The chapter referred to is not in Theophilus, but in the first book of Eraclius. In the case of the Clavicula, it is not so easy to determine whether it is older than Eraclius, because both contain copies of certain chapters which perhaiis belonged to a third work, for some of them are repeated two or three times in the Clavicula. The age of the MS. must be settled by the consideration of other circumstances, and these favour the presumption that the Clavicula preceded the third book of Eraclius. 168 MANUSCBIFTS OF JEHAN LE BB6XJE. The earliest writer, after Theophilus, whose name I have yet found attached to the verses of Eraclius » Arnold de Villeneuve.^ The verses ascribed to him occur in the Secreti of Wecker,* published at Bade in 1598, pp. 428 and 449. They relate to precious stones and crystal. Other metrical chapters of Eradius, eight in number, will be found in the same edition of Wecker (p. 643- 645) ; but these chapters, instead of being ascribed to Arnold de Villeneuve, have the name of Marcellas Palingenius attached to them.' 1 ArnoM de VilleiicuTe, a physiciian and afchemist He traTelkd io Italy and Germany. He wa» born a.d. 1245, and died previous to 1311. ^ The work of J. J. Wecker, * De Secretis/ was originally a transladon of the secrets of Don Alessio Piemontese ; the first edftion was, according to Halfer, printed at Basle in 1559. " Every edition,'' says Beckmann, *' seems to differ from the preceding ; many things are omitted, and tke new editions are, for the most part, of little importance. I hare the edi- tion of Basle, 1592, 8vo., in which there is a great deal not to be found io that of 1662, and which wants some things contained in the edition of 1582. The latest editions are printed from that improved by Tbeod. Zorii^er, Basle, 1 701, 8vo. The last edition by Zuringer was pablished at Basle in 1753.'' The edition of 1598, the preface of which is dated 1582, is the only one to which I have bad access ; I cannot say, tiierefere, whether the extracts from Eraclins are contained in other editions. s- llie real name of this Marcellus Palingenius was Manzelli, orManzoK; be was a native of the neighbourhood of Ferrara, and being a reformer, he narrowly escaped being pot to death by the Inquisition. He published a Latin poem, called the Zodiac ; the first edition of which was published not prior to 1584. The measure of these verses is different from that of Eraclius, and I could not discover that the work of the latter formed a part of it. Another work has also been ascribed to Marcellus, entitled ' De Corallorum Tincturi.' (Sec Potts' ' Chemical Dissertations,' translated by Demachy.) The fragment from Eraclius may have formed part of this work, for which I have inquired in vain in many public libraries. When I was at Ferrara I inquired for this and other works of Marcellus Palingenius of the Abb. Antonelli, the learned librarian of the public library of that city, and I showed him the verses in Wecker, but he could give me no information, except that the King of Prussia, when he was at Ferrara, had ERACLITJS. 169 With regard to the chapters of the third book con- tained in other MSS., I shall at present mention only that some of them are to be found in the Clavicida. These have been collated with the MS. of Eraclius, and the variations are inserted in the present work. It is probable that many more chapters may be incor- porated into some of the works entitled *' Secrets ;" but there appears to be no inducement to undertake the labour of searching these works, since they would neither add to the practical knowledge of the arts they describe, nor make us acquainted with the history of Eraclius or of his works, since they do not bear his name. Of the biography of Eraclius nothing is known : his country and the date of his work are equally uncertain. The same uncertainty attends the work ; for there is some doubt whether the whole of the MS. ascribed to him in the Le Begue collection was actually written by him or not I shall first offer some remarks on the work itself, and shall then state the conclusions I have drawn from a careful consideration of it. With regard to the composition of the work itself, it appears to consist primd facie of three books, the first two of which are metrical ; the third is in prose. The metrical part consists of twenty-one stanzas or appeared to take a personal' interest in Palingenius, and had procured such of his works as he coald collect. On my return to £ngland, Sir Henry Ellis was so obliging as to give me a letter of introduction to Dr. Pertz, the librarian of the Ring of Prussia, to whom I wrote, requesting to know whether he could inform me if these verses, of which I inclosed a copy, formed part of any work of Palingenius which might be preserved in the Royal Library at BerHn. Dr. Pertz very kindly searched both the Royal Library and the King's private library, but without success. I \ \ 170 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEOUE. chapters. It commences with a prologue^ which is pre- ceded in the Cambridge MS. by these words, ^^ Incipit Liber Eraclii sapientissimi viri de coloribus et artibiis Bomanorum/' The commencement of the second book in the same MS. is ^^ Incipit Lib. 11. de colore auripig- mento simili ;" while in the Paris MS. the word ** me- tricus'' is inserted in the title of both books after ** primus " and " secundus.'' The third book in the Cambridge MS. has no heading ; but in the Paris MS. it is headed >^ Incipit tertius liber et prosaicus CracIii antedicti de coloribus et artibus prsedictis." These various readings certainly suggest the idea that the headings of the chapters were not written by Eraclius himself and that the work consisted originally of the metrical parts only; and this supposition gains ground from a consideration of the difference of style observable between the first and second books and the third part, and from the &ct that the metrical parts contain fre^ quent allusions to the arts of the Romans, which is not the case in the third book, with the exception, perhaps, of the extracts from Vitruvius and Isidore. The chapter ^^ De edere et lacca " is singular, and seems to indicate that the author was a native of Italy. Eraclius says, ^' Hujus enim frondem nimium coluere priores^ Ad titulum laudis ; erat ipsa corona poetis." while the parallel chapter in Theophilus (E. Ed. p. 394) runs thus : ^^ Poetarum enim carmina cum red- tarentur in theatro ante conventum romanorum corona- bantur hederd." From this it ipay be inferred, not only that Eraclius was a native* of Italy, and that Theophilus (supposing the whole of the MS. in the EBACIJUS. 171 British Museum ascribed to Theophilus to have been included in his woric)^ was aware of the fact but also that the latter was not an Italian, otherwise he would not have changed the phraseology of Eraclius. The first chapter of the second book describes a yel- low colour, composed of the gall of a large fish, called ^^ Huso/' mixed with chalk, which produced a colour like orpiment. A similar recipe, which is entitled '^colore aureo Lombardico," is contained in a small MS. in the Bibliotheque Boyale at Paris.' This is another intimation of an Italian origin. Although the name of Eraclius appears to be Greek,* and not Latin, I am induced to suppose that Eraclius, the author of the first two books, was an Italian, a native perhaps of some part of the Lombard dukedom of Bene- vento, which, says Sismondi, "had preserved, under independent princes and surrounded by the Greeks and Saracens, a degree of civilization which in the earlier part of the middle ages was unexampled throughout the rest of Italy. Many of the fine arts and some branches, of science were cultivated there with success. The schools of Salerno communicated to the West the medical skill of the Arabs, and the commerce of Amalfi introduced into those fertile provinces not only wealth,, but knowledge. From the eighth to the tenth century 1 I havo l>efore observed, that the copy of the MS. of Theophilus in the British Museum contains no less than fifteen chapters taken from the first and second books of Eraclius. Some of these are transcripts, others are para- phrases. It is impossible to say whether these additions to the work of Theophilus were actually made by himself, or by one of his transcribers. The former appears to mo probable, because I think it is evident that Theophilus was well acquainted with the MS. ascribed to Eraclius. 8 No. vi. MDCCXLIX., B. No. 9. 3 Raspo, p. 44. 172 MANTTSCEIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGTJE. various historical works, written, it is true, in Latm, but distinguished for their fidelity, their spirit^ and their fire, proceeded from the pen of several men of talent, natives of that district, some of whom clothed their compositions in hexameter verses, which, compared with others of the same period, display superior facility and fancy." The custom alluded to of composing works in hexa- meter verses, will not fail to recal to the mind of the reader the metrical work of Eraclius, the literary merit of which, however, certainly does not entitle it to rank among the works alluded to by SismondL It appears to have been also the custom in Italy during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, to place inscriptions in Latin verse on works of art, as well of architecture, as of sculpture and painting, and even in mosaics. Many of these inscriptions have been pub- lished by Ciampi.* The verses were sometimes hex- ameters, and sometimes leonines. It is not improbable, therefore, that the first two books of Eraclius were written during the prevalence of this custom. The last book of the Cambridge MS. which follows the metrical chapters without any title, contains about twenty-five chapters which are arranged with some re- gard to order. Nos. I. — IV. relate to pottery ; two of these I have before observed are versified in the second book. Nos. V. — XII. treat of glass and precious stones. In these chapters is given a narration, taken from Isidore, who had copied Pliny, of the discovery of the art of making glass, with the marvellous legend of the 1 Notizie inedite della Sagrestia Pistoicse, &c., pp. 27, 37, 38, 49, 46, 48. BRACIJUS. 173 cup of flexible glass which, it is said, cost the inventor his life ; to which are added from other sources the method of making glass of various colours and of cutting and polishing precious stones. Nos. XIII. — XXIII. relate to gilding on metals, and the last two chapters relate to painting. There is reason to suppose that this third book of the Cambridge MS. is incom- plete, because there is a reference in one of the chapters to auripetrum, the composition of which is not described in this MS., but in that of Le Begue. The third book in the Le Begue MS. contains all ihe chapters enumerated above, with the exception of one ^^De probatione auri et argenti," to which are added above thirty other chapters which treat chiefly of painting. The arrangement, however, observable in the Cambridge MS. is not the same in the MS. of Le Begue, in which the different recipes appear to be thrown together at random without any regard to the subject. As it was therefore necessary to select between the arrangement of the Cambridge MS. and that of Le Begue, I have adopted the former as the most methodical, and have arranged the remaining chapters of the third book as systematically as it was possible. I have however retained the numbers of the Le Begue MS. for the convenience of reference, and have attached to ikem other numbers which commence with the third book. As the last chapters of the Cam- bridge MS. treat of preparing wood and colours for painting, the chapters which relate to the preparation of grounds and vehicles are placed next After this is a recipe for dyeing Cordovan leather, followed by recipes for colours, for gilding on pictures, and then 174 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUB. for executing Nielli. Next follow several chapten relative to colours which are extracted principally firom Yitruvius, and lastly three chapters on painting which have evidenfly formed part of some Byzantine MS. While i^eparing this MS. for publication, I have had ' occasion to remark, that several chapters in the third book, contain words and expressions and allusions to arts, which appear to belong to the twelfth or fiiirteenth centuries. From these expressions it also appearo to me quite clear, that the author of certain portions of the third book was neither a Greek nor an Italian ; on the contrary it seems to me extremely probable, from the fact of some of the foreign words introduced being of French origin, while others occur in French MSS^ that this part of the work was written by a Frenchman, under which term I include also the Normans, who were at that period English subjects. I shall first notice the word ^^ cerasin,^' which appears to me to be derived from the French, and if this could be proved it would at once fix the country of tiie author, for he says " quod nos Cerasin vocamus.** If this be the fact, ^^ Galienum " may also be considered a French term, for although it is mentioned in the Index of the second book of Theophilus (who calls it " Gial- lien " * and not " Galienum "), yet it will be recollected that this author professes to teach ^* quicquid in Fenes- trarum preciosa varietate diligit jFVanm/' and in lib. ii. cap. xii^ he again mentions the skill of the French in this art. Besides, the term "Gali colour, red," I L _ ■ - ■- . . , _^ - . ^^> ^ ■ 1 " De vitro quod vocatur Gallien." See the Wolfenbiittel MS. of Theophilus, published by Lessing. There is a reprint of this work in the Svo. edition of Lessing's works, published in 1839. ERACLIUS. 175 occurs in the MS. of Mayerne in an extract from the book of " Mr. CoUadon " entitled *' Couleurs des Es- maulx ou Vernix de la Poterie de Faience ; Copie de Toriginal d'un Maistre potier Anglais/' ^ The term "Grossinum," which occurs in No. VIII. and No. XLIX., appears to denote a gros, which was a French weight equal to 1 drachm or the 8th of an ounce ; it may also denote a small German coin, but in the present case the former may be fairly con- sidered to express its real signification. Among the terms which are peculiar to the north and west of Europe may be enumerated **Cervisia^" also " Warancia,** which is mentioned in the recipe for Cordovan leather No. XXXII., and which in the ex- tracts from Isidore No. LIII., is written "Garancia,"* and is identified with Saudis (madder); ^^Glassam" called in German "Glas,** and in French MSS. " Glasse," amber, and several others* It is to be observed that several recipes occur in the 1 It b observed by all writers on glass-pointing, that the colours used for one art are always applicable to the other. See Le Yiml, de la Peinture sur Verre, p. 118. Le Vieil (p. 25) observes, " A great many of our French churches, which date from the twelfth century, contain coloured glass windows, which consist only of different compartments of glass, the ground of which is generally red, and this red glass was so common then, and is now so rare, that it is only with regard to this fine red colour that we can truly consider the art of painting on glass as a secret now lost." 2 Granza is the Spanish for madder ; and Isidore, from whose work the passage in question was copied, was Bishop of Seville in the seventh century. Madder is called in French, Garanoe. In medieval MSS. the term Wa* rantia is generally used. The fact of the madder plant being mentioned under four different terms, two only of which are mentioned to be synonymous, is certsinly a proof that the recipes were written by different penons. In No. XXXII. the term *' Warancia*' occurs ; in No. LIII. we find '^Sandis, id est Ga« rancia ;" and in No. LV . the plant is called '' Rubea." 176 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LB BEOT7E. third book, whrch are merely variations of some in the first book. This occurs so frequently in old MSS., that no conclusions can be drawn from this fact alone, as to the antiquity or originality of those of the first booL No. XVIII. in the first book is a metrical version of No. I, in the third book ; No. XIX. of the first book, of No. II. in the third book ; No. XXI. of the first book, of No. IV. in the third book. There is no evidence to show which of these are the most ancient. The same thing may be observed of the recipes for sculpturing or engraving gems and hardening iron, three of which occur in the first book ; a similar number are contained in the third book. The recipes are all somewhat difierent, but they are alike in principle, and Eraclius informs us (Lib. i. No. VI,) that they were derived in the first instance from Pliny. Several of these are found to be in Ihe Clavicula. As to the date of the third book of Eraclius, it appears to me that it must not be considered earlier than the twelfth, or later than the thirteenth century. The allusions to the arts of the Saracens or Arabians, in Nos. IX., XXXII., XL VI., and XL VII., prove that the work could not have been earlier than tlie ninth century, and the recipe for dyeing cordovan leather ^ (No. XXXIL), in which the word "Warancia" 1 Cordova was taken by the Moors a.d. 711, and in the year 759 Ab- durrahman established his royal residence there. From that time Cordovi became the centre of the arts, of industry, and of genius. It was distio- guished for the excellence of its manufactures, and was especially celebrated for its leather, hence called '< Cordovan." The remains of the tan-pits employed in the process, which are still to be seen on the north side of the Guadidquivir, prove that the art was of Moorish origin^ for they were formed of baked earth, a material, says Mr. Murphy, much used by the V BRACUUS. 177 occurs, affords a strong presumption that it was much later, in order to give time for the Moorish art to become known in those countries where madder was called by the above name. The lead glaze mentioned in No. III. will, however, probably enable us to fix the earliest date at which this third book could have been written, for De Brongniart, the director of the manufactory at Sevres, who cer- tainly may be considered good authority on this sub- ject, remarks in his Traits des Arts Geramiques, p. 304, « J'ai dfeja dit que jusqu'a present on nWit re- connu aucune potterie Europeenne qui avant le xii"" siecle eut re^u une gla^ure plombifere.*' ^ He also says that lead glazing was applied to pottery at Pesaro about 1 100 ; that it had been found on pottery in a tomb at Jumieges, the date of which was 11 20. He also remarks, that pottery with a lead glaze was found al Alsace in the thirteenth century. The directions given by Eraclius for the preparation of oils and varnishes, and for painting generally, corre- spond with the practice of the thirteenth century, espe- cially in England, as Mr. Eastlake * has shown from va- rious documents preserved in the public records. I should also observe, that the real Lapis Lazuli is mentioned in No. LI^ with the test by which it was distinguished from the Azzurro della Magna, which certainly does not occur in Theophilus, the Lucca MS., the Clavicula, or Moore in Spain. The proepects of Cordova continued to increase until the dissensions which distracted the Moorish power in Spain, towards the close of the tenth century. After that period it continued to decline until the expulsion of the Moors in 1236. The trade in Cordovan leather was then nearly destroyed, and the Moore carried it with them to Morocco. 1 See also pp. 96, 97, 98. s ' Materials for a History of Painting in Oil,* pp. 49-57, and 552-56L VOL. I. N ■s N 178 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BBGI7E. S. Audemar, and I think not in the fifst or seeooj books^ of Eraclius. Brazil wood also is mentioned in the third book of Eraclius, and in S. Audemar, bat not in Theophilus, the Lucca MS., or the Clavicda. The probability is, that the third part was written after the Clavicula,* and shortly before the MS. of Theophilus, who appears not only to have introduoed some of the metrical parts of the work into his own; but it seems probable that he had the third book before him when he composed his own second book, slihoo^ he has enlarged, and I must say, very much improved upon his original, which I think I can trace in se- veral chapters of the second book of Theophilus^ and I also think that three of the missing chapters men- tioned in the table of contents of the second book of Theophilus will be found in the MS. of Eradius. Bed glass, called ^' Gallienum,'' and green glass, are de- scribed in No. VII., and blue glass in No. TIJl and No. XLIX. of Eraclius.' The extracts from Isidore relative to glass are contained in both MSS., those relating to pigment are in the Le Begue MS. only. Some of these arc abstracted in so imperfect a manner, as to be scarcely 1 The ktzur mentioned in the second book seems to ha^e been native carbonate of copper, and not lapis lazuli, because it turned bbuA in the fat s The date of Sir T. Phillips's copy of the Clavicula (the only one known) is of the twelfth century, but the earliest copies of Eradiiu and Theophilus are of the thirteenth century. There is, however, intertfi eyidence of the Clavicula being older than the third book of Eradius, espe- cially those parts which relate to painting in oil, and which are fmmd ia tk Paris MS. only. 8 The fourth of the missing chapters (De Coloribus qui fiunt ex caproet pi umbo et sale) seems to be contained in cap. xzzi. of the second book of Theophilus, entitled * De Anulis,' where we find the following words :— <* Deinde acquire tibi cineres, sal, pulverem cupri, et plumbum." BKACLIUS. 179 intelligible. It is easy, however, to perceive that Nos. Ti. to LY. inclusive, are an abridgment of Chapters VII. — XIV. of the 7th book of Vitruvius, interspersed occasionally with a few original observations relative to colours generally, and to a few pigments which were employed during the middle ages. Chapters LVI. and LVIII. appear to be transla- tions from some MS. of Byzantine Art, which was cur- rent wherever painting was practised at this time, and parts of which also appear, with the variations likely to \ be met with in translations by different persons, and perhaps by persons of different nations, from the same original, in the Clavicula, in the MS. of S. Audemar, in the appendix to die Theophilus of the British Museum, and at the greatest length in the Sloane MS., No. 1754. From the fact of all these translations appearing in MSS. of northern origin (always supposing Theophilus to have been a German), and of the white pigment so frequently mentioned being called Album de Fullia, or Apuleya, I have formed the opinion that the original MS. of Byzantine art was written by a Greco-Italian of the Duchy of Benevento (which included Apulia), and that the MS. was perhaps communicated by some descendant of the Norman followers of Robert Guis- card ^ to the Normans settled in the west of Europe. 1 In 1002 or 1003 the Normans first landed in the Neapolitan territory : in 1015 thej made their first settlement there. In 1019 the Normans voder Raynolf, uniting with the Lombards and Grreeks, drove the Saracens out of Sicily ; and the GreelLS, who, on the arrival of the Normans, were in possession of about two-thirds of the kingdom of Naples, re-established themselves, and made a distinct province in the western part of Apulia, under the name of Capitanata. In 1056 Robert Guiscard^ the Norman, was made Duke of Apulia, and his successors continued to enjoy the dignity until 1195, when the Normans submitted to the Emperor. n2 I t \ { \ • « > 180 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEQUE. After a careful perusal of the MS* attributed to clius, I have formed the following conclusions : — That it is a collection of works on art^ somewhat of the same nature as the MS. of Le Begue. That the metrical parts only constituted the Treatise de Coloribus et Artibus Romanorum of Eradius; aod that this part is more ancient than great part of the third book. That the third book consists of a miscellaneous col- lection of works on art, which may be arranged und^ three heads : first of an abridgment or paraphrase from Vitruvius and Isidore on making glass and on colonis ; secondly, of some translations of a Greek or Byzantine MS. ; and thirdly, of original matter, or of recipes collected from contemporary artists, many of which appear to be of French origin. That these MSS. fell into the hands of some persoa who did for them what Le Begue did for the collection of Alcherius, namely, united them into one work, and who also extended to the whole work the title which was probably intended for the first and second books only. I think there is some proof of this in the epithet added in both MSS. to the name of Eraclius, ^' Yir sa- pientissimus," which, whatever might have been the opinion of Eraclius relative to his own abilities^aDd he certainly did not underrate them — he would scarcely have ventured to place there himself. I think it of some importance to the arts that the time of Eraclius should be fixed. If my reasons are not satisfactory, I shall probably be corrected by those more skilled than myself on this subject EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS BEFEOBED TO IN THR MOTES TO THE TREATISE OF ERACLIUS. P. denotes the MS. in the Royal Library at Paris. R. the MS. published by Raspe. W. the chapters printed by Wecker, and by him ascribed to Amaldus de Villanova and Marcellus Palingenius. T. the chapters of Eraclius found in the MS. of Theophilus in the Har- leian Collection at the British Museum. (T.) those chapters of which a prose version is given in the last-mentioned MS. S, the chapters of the third book of Eraclius contained in the MS. No. 1754, of the Sloane Collection at the British Museum. C. the chapter» of the third book of Eraclius contained in the treatise called ' Mapp® Clavicula.' Cant. The MS. formerly at Cambridge, but now in the British Museum. ( 182 ) HEBE BEGINS THE FIRST AND METRICAL BOOK OF ERACIIUS, A YERT WISE MAK» ON THE COLOURS AND ABTS OF THE ROMANS. AND FIRST TBK INTRODUCTION. I have described, brother, yarious flowers for your use, as I best could. I hare added to the flowers the arts which rehle to, and are proper for writing ; to which, if you pay attentum, yon win find them true in practice. I indeed write nothing to you, which I have not first tried myself. The greatness ot in- tellect, for which the Roman people was once so eminent, has faded, and the care of the wise senate has perished. Who can now investigate these arts ? Who is now able to show us wbat these artificers, powerful by their immense intellect, discorered for themselves ? He who, by his powerful virtue, holds the keys of the mind, divides the pious hearts of men among various arts. [r ( 183 ) raciPiT PRIMUS ET METRICUS ' LIBER ERACUI, 8APIENTI88IMI VIKI, DE OOIOBIBUS ET kWMS BOMAKOBUH. VTPBXMO PROHEMIUM.* ' Ut potui levius yarios tibi frater ad usus Descripsi flores, adjeci floribus artes^ CoBgrua acripturis quae sunt, et idonea' scriptis, Que si perpendiSy utendo vera probabis. Nil tibi scribo quidem, quod^ non prius ipse probassem. Jam decus ingeuii quod^ plebs Romana probatur Decidit, ut periit sapientum cura senatum. Quia nunc has artes investigare valebit, Quas isti artifices, immensa mente^ potentes, Invenere sibi, potens est ostendere nobis ? Qui tenet ingenii claves virtute potenti In varias artes resecat pia corda yirorum. * Primus et metricus omittit R, ^ Et primo prohemium omittit R. > Idone R. « Qum R. « Meree R. 184 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. 11. How various colours jit for writing are made from tvild flowers} He who wishes to convert flowers into the various colonn which, for the purpose of writing, the page of the book demandis must wander over the corn-fields early in the morning, aiMl tliea he will find various flowers firesh sprung up. Let him make haste to pluck them for himself; and when he gets home, let him take care not to mix them together, but let him do wbat this art demands [namely], grind these flowers upon a smooth stone, and grind raw gypsum along with them. So you can preserve these colours dry. And if you wish to change the colour to green, mix lime with the flowers. You will then see what I have bid you [do], which is as I haye already tried // myself. ^ See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 892. Wecker, p. 648. The early painters were aocustomed to prepare many vegetable pigmeols for painting in miniature. Indeed there are scarcelj anj planta wiaefr yield colouring juices, which have not, at some period, been used ibr diis purpose. The process employed in the text was simple enough : it ooa- sisted in grinding the flowers first by themselves and then with mlphate of lime, which, while it gave body to the vegetable pigments, did oot aftcl the colours. The text shows that the efiects of lime in changing vegetable blues to greens, even at that early period, were well understood. III. To paint earthen vases} If any one wishes to paint vases with glass, [let him grind Roman glass well on marble, and when it is like dust, let him paint earthen vases with it, with the clear fatness of gum, mixed with spring water ; and when dry, send them to the fomace. Let the earth [clay] be good, so as to stand the fire ; and at length he will take out of the furnace shining vases good enough for kings.] Let him choose for himself two stones of red marble, f between which let him grind the Roman glass, and when it is 1 1 > See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 398 ; and Wecker, p. 644. , j I 1BRACLIUS DE COLORIBUS ET ARTIBUS ROMANORUM. 185 II. Quomodo jiant diver si cohres deflonbas campestri- bus ad scribendum apH} Rores in varios qui vult mutare colores, Causa scribendi quos^ libri pagina poscit, Est opus ut segetes in summo mane pererret, £t tunc? diversos flores ortuque recentes Inveniet properetque sibi* decerpere eosdem. Cumque domum^ Aierit,^ caveat ne ponat in unum nios, sed faciat quod'' talis res^ sibi poscit* Desuper^® equalem petram contriveris istos Flores ; incoctum pariter turn" contere^* gypsum*^ Sic tibi siccatos poteris servare colores. Ex quibus in viridem si vis mutare colorem,'^ Calcem commisce cum floribus ; inde videbis^*^ Quod tibi mandayi, veluti prius ipse" probavi. ^ Sic P. ; R. et T. habent de floribus ad scribendum; W. Ckarmm de floribus seu cohribus, cut scribendum, pmgendum, &c. ' Quis P. ' £t inter R. * SiH omittunt P. R. » JDoim W. T. « Fuerint T. i Qua P. R, » Quis W. • Poscit vel guanii T. " Ihtm super W. T. » Tu P. R. " Cmgere T. " Sic W. T. ; Gipsum P. R. " Eecentem W. »* Hanc Iraeam omittit W., errore forsan tjpographico. ^* VetuH prius ipse W. ; verwn velut ipse P. R. ; vebUi ipse T. iiT. Ad vasaJictUia depingenda} E vitro* si quis depingere vascula' quaBrit, [Vitrum^ Romanum bene marmore conterat, et cum Ut pulvis fuerit, claro pinguedine gummi, Fontis aqua mista, figulorum vascula pingat, Siccaque fornaci mandes : sit terra probata Quae valeat flammis obstare, nitentia tandem Re^bus apta satis ex fumo vascula toilet] Eligat ipse duas rufo de^ marmore petras * Sic W. ; De preciosa pictura mtri R. ; De pictura ex vitro T. ; Qwo- modofialtB terrees ex preciosa pictura de vitri Utundne facta omantur P. « Ex vitro T. ; De vitro W. ; De vitro flalas P. » Vascula omittit P. * In [ ] inclusa in W. solum continentur. * De ntfo T. 186 HANU8CRIPT8 OF JEHAN LB BEGTJE. pulverized as fine as the dost of the earth, let him make it hqmd with the clear fatness of gum. After this let him paint the vessels, which the workman has finely moulded in claj, and wbea they are dry, let him put them into the furnace. And let Iiim take care to put them into [vessels of 'J good clay^ that tfaej may thus be able to check the heat, and make them ahiTnng with perfect beauty. ^ Compare with the last sentence in No. III. lib. iiL IV. Of sculpturing glass} O all you artists, who wish to engrave in a beantifiil manner on glass, I will now show you what I myself have tried. I sought fat worms, which the plough turns up from the earth ; and the art useful in these things bid me at the same time sedc vinegar, and the warm blood of a large he-goat, which I had cmmingly fed for a short time on strong ivy, tied up under cover. After this, I threw the worms and vinegar into the warm blood, and anointed all the bright shining vessel, after which I tried to carve the glass with the hard stone called pyrites. ^ See Theoph., £. Ed., p. 396 ; and Wecker, p. 644. V. Of phials decorated with gold. The Romans made themselves phials of glass, artfully varied with gold, very precious, to which I gave great pains and atten- £KACLIUS D£ COLOBIBTTS ET ARTIBU8 ROMANORUM. 187 Inter quas Titrum Bomanum conterat,' et cum Ut pulvis teirae fuerit pariter resDlutum, Hoc faciat^ liqiudum clara pinguedine gummi Post baec* depingat petolafl^ quas finxit honeste Hgulus. Hoc facto suocensae impouat^ easdem Fornaci, caveatque simul quod^ terra probata Has teneat, quo'' sic valeat" obstare calori' Bias que faciat^^ plena yirtute nitentes. * Conierei P. R. W. • Facie$ P. R. • Post hocF.W. * Sic P. R. Pagmas T. ; Pecidas W. ' Figuhu e terra; suxatas ponat W. * Qua P. R. ; ^tto T. 7 Qiifl W. • Valeant W. T. • CWbn P. R. »• Sic T. ; lUasquefadet W. P. ; lUas qui fades R. IV. De sculptura vitri.^ O yos artifices qui sculpere vultis honeste' Vitrum, nunc vobis pandam,' yelut ipse probavi, Vermes quiBsiyi pingaes quos yertit aratrum £x terra,^ atque simul me quaerere jussit^ acetum Utilis ars istis rebus, calidum que^ cruorem Ex fairco'' ingenti, quem sellers' tempore parvo Ex hedera' forti pari tecto religatum. Sanguine cum calido ; post hsec^^ vermes et acetum Infiidi,'' ac totam fialam clare renitentem Unxi ; quo facto, temptavi ^^ sculpere vitrum Cum duro lapide piritis^' nomine dicto. * Sic R. and T. ; De Sculptura vitri, quomodo Jit P. ; Modus pingendi vasa, et vitra W . * HonestiW. ^ Pandam vobis Vf. * E terra?. Ii.\ Per teiram T. • Sic W. ; Jussit me quarere alii. • Atque W. ' ffyrco T, ' SoKto quem W. * Ex Hedera W. ; ex herba P. R. ; herba ex hedera T. w Posthoc P. " Infondi P. » Quo pacto tentam W. » Piritis, aic R. P.T.; SmerOHW. V. DejwMa auro decoratis} Bomani fialas, auro caute variatas, Ex vitro fecere sibi, nimium preciosas ; ' DefiaUs vitri auro decorandis P. 188 MANUSCRIPTS OF JSHAN LE BEGUS. tion, and had my miud's eye fixed upon them day and mgiitr that I might thus attain the art by which the {duals abooe ao bright; I at length discovered what I will explain to yoti, wy dearest friend. I found gold-leaf carefully inclosed between the double glass.^ When I had often knowingly looked at it, hGog more and more troubled about it, I obtained some phials shimi^ with clear glass, which I anointed with the fatness of gam with a paint-brush. Having done this, I began to lay leaf-gold upcm them, and when they were dry I engraved birds and men and lions upon them, as I thought proper. Having done this, I placed over them glass made thin with fire by skilful blowing. After they had felt the heat thoroughly, the thinned ^ass ad- hered properly to the phials. > A small design in gold and silver is mentioned by Count Caylm in work entitled ' Recueil d' Antiquity,' tom. iii. p. 193, which is thought to be enclosed between two strata of glass, probably in the manner described in the text One stratum of the glass mentioned by Caylos was blue, the other was colourless. From the recipe in the text, it may be conjectured that this method of gilding on glass was followed by the Romans^ and eiriy Italian school, which existed contemporaneously, although independently of the Byzantine school, at the time when the MS. of Eraclius was written. The process taught by Theophilus (lib. ii. cap. xiii.), and usually adopted in the Florentine school of Mosaic painters, who were taught by the Byan- tine Greeks, appears to have been different See Lettera di Brandii al Prof. Ciampi, Notizie Inedite, &c., p. 25, n. VI. Of engraving preciolis stones? Whoever wishes to cut with iron the precious stones in which the kings of the Roman city (who miciently held the arts in high estimation) much delighted, upon gold, let him learn the discovery which I made with profound thought, for it is very precious. I procured iu*ine, with the fresh blood of a huge he- goat, fed for a short time upon ivy, which being done, I cut the gems in the warm blood, as directed by Pliny, the author who wrote upon the arts which the Boman people put to proof, and who also well described the virtues of stones ; of which he ^ See Theoph., £. Ed., p. 402; and Wecker, p. 428. t i ERACLTOS DE COLORIBUS ET ARTIBU8 ROMANORUM. 189 Erga quas gessi cum summa mente laborem, Atque oculos cordis super has uoctuque dieque ^ Intentos habui, quo sic attingere possem Hanc artem, per quam fialse valde renitebant;* Tandem perfexi tibi quod Carissime pandam. Inveni petulas" inter vitrum duplicatum Inclusas caute. Cum sellers sepius illud Visu lustrassem, super hoc magis et magis ipse Commotus, quasdam claro vitro renitentes Quaesivi fialas mihi,^ quas pmguedine gummi Unxi pincello. Quo facto' imponere cepi Ex auro petulas super illas ; utque^ fiiere Siccatae volucres homines pariterque leones Inscripsi ut sensi ; quo &cto desuper ipsas Armavi^ vitrum docto flatu tenuatum Ignis ; sed postquam pariter sensere calorem Se vitrum fialis' tenuatum junxit honeste. 'DiebusF. ^Nitebant?, •Pacuha?. *MichiF. ^ Ex auro male BuppIetR. •AtgueF. ^OmamT. •FiakeR. VI. De precioaorum lapidum indsione} Qui cupit egregios^ lapides imimpere ferro Quos dilexerunt nimium reges ^ super aurum Urbis Romanse, qui celsas jam tenuere Artes,^ ingenium quod ego sub mente profunda Inveni, accipiat' quoniam valde est* preciosum. Urinam ' mihi quaesivi, pariterque cruorem Ex hirco ingenti, modico sub tempore pasto Herba, quo facto, calefacto sanguine gemmas Incidi, veluti monstravit ® Plinius • auctor. Artes qui scripsit quas plebs Romana probavit, * Sic P. R. De sadpendis gemmU T. Cremnuxnan secHo W. * Egre- ffioW, * Jieges natdum W.T, * ArcesW. ^CapiantW. • Sic P. ; es^omittet R. ; T. habet quern valde est; et W., quoniam nirnis est. ' Uri- dmYi, > Monstrante R. ' Plemus P. 190 MAKtrsCttlPTS OF JHHAN LB BEGITB. who knows the powers, esteems them most For the first Ido^ ^ who anciently held the city, adorned with gems tlieir garments^ gleaming with gold ; of these the most remarkable was Aure- lian, who interwove his own robes with gems and gold. vn. Of golden writing} Whoever wishes to execute beautiful writing with gold, let him read what I say in lowly verse. Let him grind gold with pure wine, until it is well dissolved. Then let him wash it frequently, for the white page of the book demands this, and then make it [liquid] with the fatness of ox [gall, if he please^ or with the clear fatness of gum] ; and I also request him to stir it with a reed when he uses the gold, if he wishes to write beautifully. When the writing is dry, let him make it yery brilliant with the tooth of a savage bear. » See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 392. vni. Of ivy and lake? The strong ivy is very useful for these purposes. Our an- cestors were very fond of its leaves as a mark of honour : it was used as a crown for poets. In the spring all things rejoice, » See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 394. ; It appears that the resinous juice exudes from the ivj in warm countries i only. See Nenrnichj Palyglotten-Lexicon, Tit, Hcdera. ' It will be ob- ; served, that the juice, when it first flowed from the ivy, was not red, but ; that it gradually acquired that colour. / BRACLIUS DE COLORIBUS ET ARTIBUS ROMANOKUM. 191 Atque simul lapidum virtutes soripsit honeste, Quorum qui noecit ^ vires, plus' diligit illos. Nam primi reges, urbem qui jam tenuerunt' Gemmis omarunt vestes auro renitentes. Ex quibus iosignis primus fuit Aurelianus Qui proprias Testes gemmis contexit et auro.^ » Sic T. W. ; neacU R. P. * Minus R. P. » Tenuere R. P. * Ho6 qoatuor versus ultimos omittit W., et eonim loco ponit '* Prinma ait versus quot hdbet senteatia sensus.'* VII, De aurea scriptura. Scripturam pulcram quisquis bene scribere quaerit, ^ Ex auro, legat hoc quod' vili carmine dico. Aurum cum puro mero ' molat, usque solutiim Hoc ^ nimium fuerit. Tunc sepius abluat illud ; ' Nam quia^ deposcit hoc candens pagina libri. Exin taurini faciat'' pinguedine [fellis' Hoc liquidum, si vult, sen cum pinguedine] gummi. Atque rogo pariter calamo cum ceperit aurum niud ^ commoveat, pulchre si scribere quaerit. Hinc siccata sicut ^^ fuerit scriptura, nitentem Hanc ^^ nimium £eLciat ursi cum dente feroci. * Si qtds scripturam queBrit sSbi scribere pulcram T. • Hie gum R. » Mero T., Menio P. ; omittit R. * Hoc T. ; omittunt R. P. « Sic R. P. MoneoguodseepelavetiUudT. ^Namqueli.F. 7 FacietKV. • Ex T. In R. P. male omissum. • Ilium T. wfiWttfT. » JBTtinc T. vin. De edera et lacoa? Plropositis rebus edere satis utile robur. Hujus enim * frondem nimium coluere priores Ad titulum laudis ; erat ipsa corona poetis. Vere novo, reduci cum gaudent ' omnia succo, * Sic R. ; in P. vero De edera herba et lacca succo ejus rubeo ab ipsa exeimti. ' C/if R. ' Ckan gaudent P. Congaudent R. t 192 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEQXTB. being refreshed with new sap ; and the spring brings baek the moisture to the trees, while the winter refuses them the power of growing. The ivy is similarly affected ; for the ofl&hoots of the branches, pushed into barren places, ^ve out a juice, which, whoever collects, should put into a red vase of baked earth, and it will gradually assume a blood colour. Hiis the painter loves, and the scribe equally delights in. Hence also is made the parcia dyed with a rose colour. It also serres to dye the skins of goats and sheep. IX. Of goMMaf^ how it is laid on ivory} You will decorate earrings in ivory with gold-leaf. Now hear in what manner this thing is done. Seek to obtain the fish which is called ^^huso,"* and keep its air-bladder liqu^ed by being boiled in water, and with this mark over the place where you wish to lay the gold ; and you will thus easily be able to fasten it to the ivory. 1 See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 404 ; and Wecker, p. 645. ' The Huso or Huson (Acipenser Huso) was the large sturgeon from which isinglass is procured. It was the IchthyocoIIa of Pliny ; the Ittiocolli, Usone, Colpesce, of the Italians ; the Copese of the Venetians ; the Ism- glass fish of the English ; the Huizenblasfisk of the Dutch ; Der Haiven of the Germans ; and the Bjeluga of the Russians. See Nemnicfa, Polyg. Lexicon. X. How gems are polished} j If you wish to give a shining splendour to gems, obtain for yourself a piece of smooth marble, and lest it may be injured by this, lay it on the gem and rub it gently, and a polish will be given to the stone. The harder it is, the brighter polish will i it take. { I See Theoph., E. Ed.^ p. 402 ; and see Wecker, p. 645. \ ERACLIUS DE C0L0RIBU8 ET ARTIBUS ROMANORUM. 193 Arboribusque refert humor, quas bruma negabat Cresoendi vires, ederam talis probat ordo. Nam subula rami, loca per deserta forati, Emittunt viscum, quern qui sibi sumpserit ilium, Transferet in rubeam coctum pruri^ne ^ formam ; Sanguineumque sibi leviter capit ille colorem. Hunc sibi pictor amat et scriptor diligit eque. Hinc etiam roseo fit parcia tincta ^ colore. Quae' quoque caprinas, quae' pelles tingit ovinas. ' Pnarigine P. ; in R. lacuna relicta sic — . . , ,rigine. • Parva tmctura P. » Quam R. IX. JDe petula auri, quomodo in ebore mittatur} Sculpturas eboris auri petulis ' decorabis Quo tamen ipsa tibi ^ res ordine congruat audi. Quaere tibi piscem qui dicitur usa * liquentem Vesicam tamen * serva cum flumine coctara Inde locum petulam cui * vis componere signa Sic ebori facile poteris ipsam consolidare. * Sic R. ; Qiwmodo petula auri in dH)re mittatur ^ et cum quo visco P. ; De pictura eboris W., qui hunc versum ceeteria premittit — ^^Pifigere si quis dmr vult sicprocedere debet" « Pecula W. » Itbi omittunt R. P. * Sic P. ; Husa W. ; R. lacunam habet « Tantum P. ; W. vero habct Vesi- cam serva decoctamflumnis unda. ' Petulam quern P. ; Pecula quern W., qui sequentcm versum omittit. X. De gemmis quomodo lucidce jiunt} Si vis splendentem gemmis inferre nitorem ^ Partem quaere tibi tantummodo marmoris sequi Gemma superposita petrae, sed fliunine pauco Hinc ne laedatur, tractu leviore limetur.' Quanto durescit, tanto magis ipsa nitescit.^ ^ Sic P. ; Be gemmis quomodo luceant R. ; Gemmts ut nitescant W. * Cohrem P. R. ' Sic emendavi. W. habet ^' Gemma supposita petrtB, sed Jhmdne pauco : sed ne IcBdatur, tractu lemore Hmetur. " P . et R. vero * * Hinc ne kedatur, tactu leviore Umetur Gemma superpasito, sedpetre lumine tracto" * Nitescit P. ; Accescit R. ; Aitebit W. VOL. I. O 194 MANUSCMPTS OF JSHAK LB IB^EGXJB. XI. Of a green colour far wriiinff'} If you wish to embellish your writing with a green colovr, mix vinegar together with strong honey, and then cover np tie vase itself in very hot dung ; and so take it out after twelie days shall have elapsed. > See Theoph., £. £d., p. 396. The vase mentioned in this chapter must have been of copper or hnas. The colour produced in that case would have been verdigrisj which is aa acetate of copper. xir. How to cut crystal} Crystal can easily be cut by the following artifice :• for yourself a convenient plate of lead, and join two boards to it, one on each side, with a centre piece of iron, so as to keesf the lead steady ; for to the lead alone belongs the business of cutting, and the outer plates are as guides to make it ran round evenly. But you would not be able to overcome sQch great hardness by the unassisted softness of the lead, unless you join to it some powder, such as the pulverized fragment of a furnace, which you will be able to fasten to the tender plate, for this addition will make the lead sharp, and the fragments of brick also have equal force ; you must cut it, adding to it a little river water. But let the blood of a goat first temper it, for this blood makes the iron so hard that even adamant is soft compared with it. 1 See Wecker, p 449. Compare with Theophilus, lib. iii« cap. zciv. (£. Ed., p. 387). Crystal is defined by Theophilus to be '* water hardened into ice." In &tt, Mr. Hendrie observes, he has repeated the opinion of Pliny. The term " crys- tal *' was also applied to glass made from pulverized quartz or sand fused with an alkali. In an extract from the book of Mr. Colladon, quoted in the Mayeme MS. and by Mr. Hendrie (Theoph., p. 180), ciystal b de- fined to be ** very clear ^ass of Venice." ) BRACLIUS DB COLORIBUS BT ARTIBUS ROMANORUM. 195 XI. De viridi colore ad scnbendum} Si quttria riridi scriptura' colore notari^ Acri commiflsuin melli miscebis acetum ; Hitic ralde calido vas ipsum contege fimo. Sic et bissenis hoc extrahe Bolibofi^actis. • Sic R. ; adscribendianqumodoftt P. • ScnpteR. » Tidibus R. xn, Quomodo cristaUum possit secari} Cristallum tali facile ' valet arte secari/ Opportuna * tibi quseratur ' lamina plumbi f Huic ' etiam binae claves ' jungantur utrinque,® Ex ferro medium, quae firmant ^® undique plumbum ;" Nam plumbo soli ^ tribuetur cura secandi. Ipsi custodes laminae sint exteriores, Ut sibi dent rectum recto consumere ^' curBum. Sed nee duritiem '^ poteris praerumpere ^ tantura Mollitie pimnbi, nisi quaedam junxerig ^^ illi Tanquam pulverulas fomacis fragmine micas ^^ Quae tenerae poteris ktminae connectere plumbi ^^ Haec etenim plumbum conjunctio reddet *^ acutum. At quum rursus ^ habent lateris fragmenta vigorem Concidis adjuncta paulatim fluminis unda^^ Sed" vim cristalli cruor antea temperet hirci Sanguis enim facilem ferro facit hie adamantem.*' ^Sic R. Quomodo cristaOum posHs secare P. CristalH sectio W. • CristaUug taU dunts W. » Parari P. * Oportuna P. R. * QuiBre- tur W, • Ferri P. R. ' Hinc? P. R. « Sic R. Bene davoa P. ; Bim dam W. * Utrumque P. ^^ Qia aoUto medium consumad W. ^' Pbonbi P. "SotoP. R. ^ ConammeT.n. »* Dundam R. P. " Pnwtmgjcrc R. P. ^ Ita emendavi. Nee quidehm junxeru R. ; iVtsi quoddam junxeris P. ; Nisi qwBdamjunxeritf W. ^ Sic P. R. ; Tanquam puivereas fomacis frag- ndne mxttas W. *• Sic W. ; Contere, quas tenercB poteris [pasais P.] con^ neetere lamuuB P. R. ^* Hunc versum omittit W. Beddit P. *° Et quum tursum P. R. " Hunc vereum omittunt P. R. « &' W. « Sic P. W. ; Hunc versum omittit R. o 2 196 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGT7E. xni. Of tempering iron \hardfor cutting stonesSy [You must thus make iron hard fcnr scalptaring' gemsLJ Whoever wishes to cut stones with the solid iron, mnst observe the followmg rules to tamper its edge. At the time when tiie goat is in heat his fat alone is fit for this purpose. For if any one quenches the hot iron in its &t, it immediately becooMs hard with a firm edge. 1 See Theoph. p. 404. Wedcer, 428. XIV. Of the gems which you wish to make from Reman Glass. You will thus he ahle to make beautiful shining gems c^ every sort with Roman glass. Hollow out some day for your- self as a mould for the stone ; and put into it some glass brd^ea into small pieces. You may easily prepare this [the mould] by this artifice. Let a certain reed be skilfully turned roond and round, and when it [the clay] begins to harden, and the rod sticks tight, then fix it on the rod on both ades, and let the rod be held by the glass placed round it ; and then put the clay, guarded by a hollow iron, mto the fire, and when the glasB is thoroughly liquefied, press it into the hollow with a farig^ iron, so that you may have no bubble or flaw in it ERACUUS DE COLORIBUS ET ABTIBTJS ROMANORTJM. 197 xnr. De temperamento duroferri ad incidendum lapides} Qui quserit solido* lapides irrumpere ferro, Hob habeat ritus, ut acumen temperet ejus. Tempore quo solito magis uritur ' hircus amore, iSolus adeps hujus fit ad istos aptior usus. Hujus enim calidum ^ si quis pinguedine ferrum Extinguit,^ subito durescit acumine firmo. ' Sic P. ; De temperamento farri R. ; Gemmarum eculptura W., qui hunc venum alteris prsmittit — Sic gemmis durum scvlpendk effice ferrum. ' Qui ffuaretsoiido'R.jquisquisvuU ioKioW, ^ Uritur moffisF, * CkmdenaW, * JReatmguet R. ; refrigeret P. XIV. De Gemmis quas de Romano vitro facere quc^ris. Sic ex Romano poteris conficere vitro Splendentes pulcros generis cujusque lapUlos Ad modulum lapidis cretam tibi quippe cavabis ; Hie pones yitrum per quaedam frusta minutum. Hunc ergo facile poteris hac arte parare. Subtiliter ^ qusedam circumvolvatur arundo. Qui dum duresdt, dum virga firmius ^ haeret, Tunc ipsi virgse superimponetur utrinque,' £t circumposito teneatur virgula vitro ; Atque cavo tectam ferro post^ insere cretam Igni ; fit* vitrum ; cum fit^ penitus liquefactum, In fossam lato fulgenti ' comprime ferro ; Quo vesica sibi, quo lesio nulla supersit. >SiiktfeP. «2>iirTt«P. ^UtrumqueF, * Ferro past P. PenitusK » Fit. Sic emendavi ; codices sit habent. « Fit, Sic R. ^St^ P. ^ j?- gentiF. ( 198 ) H«RE BEGIN8 THE SECOIfD AND METRICAL BOOK, AND FIBflT XV. Of a colour resembling orpiment} You will easily be able to make a colour resembling oirpi- ment thus ; preserve it carefully in your memory. The gall cS a large fish is very useful for this art He liquor of the gall must be received in a marble stone, and you must mix a littk vinegar with it, and then add some white clay to the frtness of the gall, and this mixture will make the colour brilliant 1 A recipe similar to this is contained in the small Paris MS., No. yl MDCcxLix. B.y where it is called *' Colore aiireo XVI, 0/ copper gib with the fatness ofgaU.^ If you wish to prepare copper with the fiitness of gall, so as to appear gilt, you may do it in this way. Having scraped it with a knife, burnish it by rubbing it with a beards tooth* and then sprinkle it with a pencil [dipped in] the liquor of die ggll, and lay it evenly all over ; afterwards give it another smooth coat, and upon this a third ; and each time pass the quill evenly all over it, lest any scratch, or lump, or bubble should make the copper rough. > See Theoph., £. Ed., p. 406. S. Audemar, No. 204. ( 199 ) INCIWT IIBER SECUNDUS [METRICUS, ET PRIMO] ^ XV. De colore auripigmento simili. Sic facile silnilem poteris servare colorem Auripigmento ; memori tu mente teneto. Hinc piads magni fel multum congruit arti, Marmorea cnjus petra liquor excipiatur, Cui vetus et paucum tamen ' admiscebis acetum, Fellis et hinc albam turn ' cum pinguedine cretam. Reddet splendentem commixtio tanta colorem/ » In [ ] omittit R. • I\tm R. » Tcr P. * laquorem R. XVI. De cupro fellis pinguedine deaurato. Si velut auratum fellis pinguedine cuprum Condere curabis, sic hoc implore ipalebis. Cultello rasum splendens hoc office tactum. Ursi dente ; quidem calamo post \ sperge liquorem Fellis ;. et hoc eque tamen ' apponatur ubique. Appones alium poet' equo tramite. Rursum Huic alium junges ; yioe tamen undique duces Equali calamum, ne qua divisio cuprum Ne quis monticulus vol ne tumor efierat * uUus. » Past P. ; penitus R. « Tegmen P. » Pemius R. * Offerat P. 200 MANU8CRIPT3 OF JEHAN LE BEOUE. xvn. How to make a green colour for painting what you please} Thus, O painter ! you may obtain for yourself a green ooloiir! Grind white earth with the leaves of the black ni^xtshade.' Grind them both evenly together on a marble slab until they become liquid for the use of the pen, and afterwards take tins juice and try it with your paintbrush. Then adorn any writ- ings you please with the colour; but take care previously not to add too much earth. 1 See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 894. s This chapter must ha?e been written by a person who habitnallj wpAjB Italian or French, because the Solanum Nigrum is not known bj the naiie of ^' Morelia," or '^ Morelle,'* except in the countries where the Itsliui and French languages are spoken. The expression in the MS. of Theo- philus runs thus: ''herba quae vulgb morella nuncupalur." The tern " morelle " occurs more than once in the MS. of Le Begue, and also in the Bolognese MS. It must not be confounded with " Manrelle,** the by which the Croton Tinctorium is known at Montpelier. xviu. How gre^ glass is to be niade for painting earthen vases} By these things the effect of precious glass is shown. Take sulphur burnt in the fire, and [burnt] copper, and grind shining glass with the powder of these, and take care to make it liquid for yourself with gum only, and then place the jar, painted over with this, into the fire, for the painting will assume a green colour, when the outside of the jar begins to turn red. 1 See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 398. Wecker, p. 644. XIX. Of white glass for painting earthen vessels} You must thus make white glass fine enough for painting. Grind white glass mixed with sulphur. With these, ground 1 See Theoph., E. Ed., p. 400. Wccker, p. 644. This probably describes an opaque white glass, resembling those threads of white glass which Theo< \ ERACLIUS DE COLOMBUS ET AKTIBTJS ROMANORUM. 201 xviL De viridi colore quomodo fi&ri posdt ad qace volueria deptngere. Sic poteris viridem tibi pictor habere colorem. Cum foliis albam morellae^ contere cretam ; Hsc in marmorea pariter quoque contere petra, Usus ad pennse liquidum dum fiat utrumque.' £t post' hunc succum pincello sume probandum. Hinc quascunque cufMS scripturas conde colon/ Ne cretae nimium ponas tamen ante caveto. * MareBam male habet R. * Utrinque R. * Peniius R. * Sic emendavi. CahribusF.B,. xvni. De vitro viridi quomodo fieri debeatj ad vasa fiMia^ depingenda. His rebus vitri patet effectus preciosi : Igni combustum sulphur, quaerasque cupellum,' Atque teras horum splendens cum pulvere vitrum ; Hoc cures solo liquidum tibi ' reddere gummo. Attamen inde litam post ^ ignibus injice testam,^ Assumet yiridem quoniam* pictura colorem. Exterior tests cum cceperit ipsa rubereJ ' FiguK P. ' Quanuque cupreuttm P., assum quare agmtm W. ' Ter W. * Pemtus R. » Coctam P. R. « Qualan R. ? Rubore P. XIX. De vitro albo^ ad vasafijctilia^ depingenda. Album picturis vitrum sic' attenuabis' Candens permixtum cum sulphure contere vitrum * VaaaJiguK P., PictUia vaaaVf. * Sic vUrwn R. » AttemuM R. . philus (lib. ii. cap. 14) says were sometimes made to surround long-necked bottles. Le VieU (p. 27) says that white opaque glass was used for the windows in the churches belonging to the monasteries of the Bemardines and Cbtercians. 202 MANT7BCBIPT8 OF JEHAN LE BEQTTE. together until Aey are Gke doat, you must point a thick jar all over the outside. Then put it in to be baked by the flame of the furnace ; and when it is red-hot, and the painting adheres to it, take it out ; so also you may paint vases in die manner described in the first book. XX. Of black glass for painting earthen vases} In the same manner also you may make black glass useful for painting. Grind the azure that is found in the earth wiA gum ; and then breaking dear glass upon a marble slab, mix it up with it^ and grind them again. Tliis mixture will assume a blue colour, which, however, the force of the fire will turn to a beautiful black, 1 See Wecker, p. 646« XXI. Of glass which is very green} So also you may make glass of a very deep green. Take very small fragments of burnt copper, which you must after- wards mix with the rust of the same. Then grind it again, with an admixture of shining glass. Afterwards, pi^jt the jar, painted with this, into the furnace ; and when the flame makes it white hot, take it out. It will not be of a beautiful ap- pearance until it is cold ; for while the glass is made intensely hot, the violence of the flame takes away the real beauty of the colour. 1 See Wecker, p. 645. Theoph., £. Ed^, p. 400. ERACLITTS DE COLORIBUS BT ARTIBTJS ROMANORUM. 203 His simul attritis, postquam^ fuerint quasi pulvis Exterius spissam depinges' undique testam. Injice post ipsam fornacis ab igne coquendam. Ciim^ simul ipsa rubet, sabi cum pictura coheret, Extrahe. Sic etiam^ pinges bipc vascula qusdaiOt Ars velut in primo notat insinuata libello ^ Peniiusque R. * Depwrges P. » Qmm P. R. * Ea W. XX, De vitro nigro ad vaaajictilia} depingenda. Sic etiam nigrum pingendi tranaJBr in usum. Qui terra capitur cum gammo' oontere lazur ; £t sic' perspicuum fraagena in marmore vitrum, Ipsi miscebis, rursumque terendo parabis. Haec quoque caeruleam sumet^ commixtio formam Quam ^ tamen in nigrum vertet vi& ignia^ vitrum. ' VaaaJlg¥li?.,€ava$aW. •GvnmtR. "^ Ui n^W. *Smimiy^. ^ Qucd W. < Sic emenclaTi ; vertetur xndgnia P. R., eawertet sin- XXI. Ve vitro quod nimium viret} Sic etiam nimium tu virens effice vitnun. Accipies assi subtilia fragmina cupri, QuK tamen ejusdem post^ cum rubigine mitten ; Bursus et admixto splendenti contere yitro, Protinua hinc' pictam fomacibus injice testam/ Postquam lucentem dabit ipol flamma colorem, Accipe. Non^ pulcram capiet nisi* firigida formam, Nam dum fit vitrum nimis fervere, coloris "^ Huic aufiert propriam" flammss yiolentia formam. » Sic P. R. Dc vt/ro wite wr«i/c W. 'PemhwR. » ffic R. ^Flam- mam R. * Nam R. W. • HincVf, 7 Nimiofervore vaporis W. » Pro- pria R. ^ ( 204 ) HEBE BEGINS THE THIRD AND PROSAIC BOOK OF THE AFORESAID ERACLIUS, ON THE AFOBESAm COLOUBS AND ARTS, AKD PDUR I. [232]^ On pairding earthen vcLses with green glass.* — Take green glass and burnt thunderbolts,* and also burnt copper, in powder, and mix them with clear glass, previously ground on'a smooth stone. And if you wish to paint a vase with it, temper it with the aforesaid gum water, and lay it on the vase with a paint- brush, and put it into the furnace until it appears thoroughly red hot. When cool it will be of the colour of green glass. II. [233] To whiten earthen vases with white glau^ — If yon wish to make white glass for the purpose of painting, grind hot sulphur carefully with white glass, and lay it on a thick piece of earthenware, and put it into the furnace. And when it has run together, take it out of the fire ; and if you wish to paint saucers and phials, made of earthenware, with it, grind.it np as if for writing, and do as before directed for the green glass. in. [259] How earthenware vessels are glazed. — ^Take the strongest potter's clay you can procure, and put it into the fur- nace with the other vases, or in any other fire, and bake it until it is quite red hot. When it is cool, put it into any vase, and 1 The figures in [ ] refer to the numbers in the Le Begue MS. at Paris. ' See lib. ii. No. xviii. s The nodules of iron pyrites found about the chalk-rocks at BrigfatOB and other parts of the coast of Sussex, are still called by the lower orders <' thunderbolts.*' The same term is also applied to the fossils called " Be- lemnitSB ;" but I consider that, in the present case, it can apply only toxme of the minerab called '^ pyrites.", < See lib. ii. No. xiz. ( 205 ) ntciPiT TERCIUS LIBER ET PROSAICUS ERACLII, ANTEDICTI, DE COIORTBUS ET ARTIBUS PREDICTIS, ET PRIMO' I. [232] De vasts testeis depingendis ex viridi vitro.* — Viridis vitri et usti fulminis pulverem, item nsti cupri, aodpe, et misce cum claro vitro ' prins bene * super marmoream petram planam ^ trito. Si ex eo testam omare volueris,* cum gummi liquore supradicto temperes, et cum'' pincello testam ex his ° intinges, et in fomacem pones ut bene rubeat* Befirigerata vitri viridis representabit ^® colorem. n. [233] Ad vasa testea albo vitro dealbanda.^^ — ^Alburn vitrum si facere vis ad usum pingendi,^ calidum sulphur cum vitro albo diligenter tere, et super spissam testam pone, et i» fomacem mitte. Cum autem glutinatum fiierit, extrahe ab igne, et si ex eo scutel W arte figuli factas vis dipingere, illmd contere^^ ad usum scripturee, et &c quemadmodum^^ ante dic- tum est de viridi vitro. m. [259] Qfumwdo vasa Jiffuli^^ plumbeantur. — Acdipe terram figulorum qiumtum^'' fortem poteris invenire, et in fumo cum aliis vasis mitte,^^ ubi tantum lento igne coques, vel in alio igne, quousquetota sit rubea. Quando^'fri^dafuerit, mitte earn ^ £jL p. s Ex p. De vasis testeis pmgendis R. * Cum chro misce R. * Bene omittit P. ' Planam omittit R. * Tenqxres hie inserit P., et poet omittit. 7 Ctim omittit R. * Hie R. * Ut tantum mbea appareat R. *<> RespUndabit. Cant. *^ Ex P. Item ut supra R. » Tere hie inserit P., et poBt omittit. ^* Etjialas inserit P. ^* Contere (Hum P. ^ Scripturts guaHter K. >• Figmd R. ^7 Quantumvis R. ^' MUte omittit R. ^» Et gtumdo P. 206 MANUSCRIPTS OF JBHAN LE BEGUE. grind it until it is reduced to powder. Then take water and mix with it, and pour off the water into another vase, and let it remain so until the next day, and then throw away that water. Then take [some of] the clay that is left behind, and mix it with other clay without sand, and with two parts of the aforesaid very strong clay. Then pound it with a mallet, and make whatever kind of vase you like with it ARerWMrdsj take [some more of] that clay which you allowed to settle, and mix oil Mrith it, and spread it all over the vase which yoa have made, before it is baked. Tlien put it away in a secret place until it is quite dry, and do not let the draught get to it. if you wish to glaze the vessel, take wheat flour, and boil it in a jar, and let it cool^ and wash over the vessel with this wat»-. Then take lead well distolted. But if you wish to make the vase green, take copper or brass, wfaidi is better, and melt it with lead m the following mamier. Take lead and melt it well in a vase. When it is quite Kquid, diake it round the vase with your hands mitil it is rediu$ed to powder, and then mix six parts of brass filings with it, and while the vase is wet with the flour paste, you must immediately dust the lead over it [that is, dust it over with the aforesaid filings]. But if you wish it to be yellow, dust it over with the powder of lead alone, without the filings. Then place this vase in another larger vase, and put it into the furnace, that it may be more brilliaat and beautiful, but with a slow fire, so as to be neither too strong nor too weak. IV. [234] Alta to finish eaHhemDare vessebmihffreenfftass^ — ^Grind rust of copper and copper filings with dear glass, and afterwards paint a jar with them as before, and put it into a very hot furnace. Then take it out of the litmaoe, and yos will have a precious colour. i^>*MkB~aMMMI^h. I See lib. ii. No. xzi. KRACLIUS BE OOLCmiBUS £T ARTIBrS ROMANORUM. 207 in qnodam vase^ et tamdiu tere, quauaque tota sit quasi pulvis. Deinde acdpe aquam, et mifloe cum ea, et in alio T«se cola, et usque ad alinm diem sic earn dimittes. Postea iUam aqiutm projicies foras. Deinde aocipe illas feces, et cum alia terra quae sine aabnlo est misces, cum duabus partibus illius fortis- mosB teme sopradidse. Postea tere earn cum malleo. Deinde qualecunque ras volueris fiicies. Postea acdpe illam fecem qiuan sivisti quiescere, et cum oleo misces, et ilhid vas quod fecisti, antequam coquatnr, per totum limes. Deinde pones eum in secreto loco quoadusque totum siccetur, et ne ventus ei oontrarius sit Si vero eum plumbeum fiicere Tolueris, acci- pias^ farinam de frumento, et in oUam buUire earn facies, et refirigerari permittes, et de ipsa aqua earn per totum in cir* cuitu linies. Postea aocipe plumbum bene solutum. Si tamen viride eum volueris ' facere, accipe cuprum, vel auricalcum, quod melius eet, et cum plumbo misce sic. Acdpe plumbum, et in vase eum optime fimde. Quando totum liquefactum faerit, drcumrolye manibus tuis illud in vas usque dum pulvis fiat et ita' VI partes limaturae auricald^ cum eo misces« Cum vas illud de aqua farinse humefitctum fberit, statim pul- verabis de plumbo [id* est, suprascripta limatura pnlverabis]. Si vero vis ut croceus sit, de puro plumbo,' et nne ^ limatura, pulverabis. Deinde in majori vase intus vas illud rep<»e, et in furno mitte ut sit plus splendidum et pulcrum, laito tamen igni, ut non nimis fertiter nee nimis flebiliter.* IV. [234] Item^ [ad* testea voxo, id e$i^ Jiguli^ viridi vitro perficienda.^ — Bubiginem cupri et pulverem ejusdem,^^ cum vitro claro tere, et postea ex hoc " testam ut supra pinge, et in fixnacem valde succensam mitte. Deinde a fomace extrahe,*' et predosum liabebis colorem.^' ^ Accqnes P. * Virideum vobieris eum P. ' Itay sic P. ; R. lucimam habet. * Auricald Umature P. ^ £x P. ' Deinde ponet pktmbo. Cant. ' Suprascripta. Cant. » Nimus fortiter nee minus fldm R. • Ex P. '• BuMgmem vitri R. " Ex Jtoc omittft R. " Abetrahe R. >' Precwnm eokrem habeas viridem P. 208 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN L£ BEOUB. V. [255] How and when glass was inveniedL — GlasB is so called, as Isidorus says, because it has the property of being transparent to the si^t ; for with regard to other metals, what-* ever is inclosed in them is concealed. But with regard to giaa^ whatever liquid or substance is contained in it, appears inaide jost as it appears outside, and is visible, however it may be indoeed. Its origin was as follows : In the part of Syria which is called Phoenicia, and which borders on Judea, at the foot of Mount Carmel, there is a swamp, in which the river Belus nses, wfaidi after a course of 5 miles flows into the sea just by Tholoouus [Ptolemais], the sands of which are washed by the wat^r flow- ing over them. At this place, as it is reported, a vessel of nitre-merchants was wred^ed, and when they were preparing their food here and there upon the sands, having no stones to support their [cooking] vessels, they placed lumps of nitre [natron] under them ; whidi being ignited, and mixed with the sand of the shore, streams of a new and transparent liquor began to flow, and this is asserted to have been the origin of glass. Then as the ingenious skill of men was not contented with the glass alone, endeavours were made to extend and improve this art, with other mixtures ; for it is heated with light and dry wood, together with copper and nitre, and is melted in constant fomaces like brass, and is made into lumps. After- wards these lumps are again melted in the workshops, and some is formed into shape by blowing, some is ground on a lathe, and some is sculptured like silver. It is also tinged in many ways so as to imitate hyacinths and green sapphires and onyx stonesi and other colours of gems. And there is no material fitter ftr mirrors, or for pictures especially, than the white glass, and particularly that which is made like crystal ; so that for drink- ing cups it has driven gold and silver quite out of use. GU» was formerly made in Italy, and throughout Gaul, and in Spain. Very soft white sand was triturated with a pestle and mill. It was then mixed with three parts of nitre, by weight or measure, and when melted was transferred to other ERACLIUS D£ COLORIBUS ET ABTIBUS ROMANORUM. 209 V. [255] Quomodo et quando inventum fuerit vitrum. — ^Vi- trum dictum,^ ut ait Ysidorus,* quod visui perspecuitate trans- luceat In aliis enim metallis quicquid intrinsecus continetur ab- Bconditur. In vitro rero,' quilibet liquor vel species* interius, talis* exterius declaratur, et quodam modo clausus* patet^ Cujus origo haec fuit^ In parte Syriae quse Fenicis vocatur, finitima Judeae, circa radicem montis Carmeli, palus est, ex qua naadtur Belus amnis,* V millium passuum spatio in mare fluens, juxta Tholomaida, cujus arenae, decurrente^ fluctu, Bordibus eluuntur. Hlc ^® fama est, quod, expulsa ^^ nave mer- catonun nitri,^ cum sparsim ^' per lituis epulas pararent nee essent lapides ^^ pro attollendis vasis^ lapides, glebas nitri vasi subdiderunt^ Quibus accensis, permixta arena littoris, trans- lucentis novi liquoris, vitri scilicet,^^ fluxisse rivos,^'' et banc fuisee originem vitri. Mox, ut ^ ingeniosa hominum ^' solertia non fuit contenta solo vitro, sed et aliis mixturis banc artem studuit ^ [in melius ampliare, levibus enim et] aridis lignis concoquitur, adjecto Cipro ac nitro,*^ continuisque fomacibus, ut aes, liquatur, mas- sseque fiunt Postea ex massis rursus funditur in oflBdnis, et aliud flatu figuratur, aliud tomo teritur, aliud argenti modo celatur. Tingitur etiam multis modis ita ut jacinctos saphi- rosque virides imitetur,** et onichinos, et aliarum gemmarum colores. Neque est alia speculis aptior materia, vel picturse accommodatior. Maximus tamen in candido vitro, proximaque in cristalli similitudine, unde et ad potandum argenti et auri 'metalla'* repulit. Vitrum olim** fiebat** in Italia, et per * Demde P. * Prcprietaiem habet supplet P. ' Verv omittit R. * Qwb- Kbet supplet R. ' TaHter R. • Clamu R. ^ Inter haec duo verba lacu- nam habet R. > Bdus rivus R. * Decrescente R. *^ H^k P. " Quod expidsa P. ; pulsa R. '* Mercatorum nitri omittit P., et loco ejus ibidem supplet. " Sparsim R. >* Lapides omittit R. ^' Ex R. ; cum ad ignem, m nam apponi debereni pro feradis decoquendis, glebas igitvr nitri, loco lapidum utendas, navi subcHderwit ; P. '* Vitri scilicet omittit, R. ^^ As* teritur supplet P. " Est supplet R. " Hominum omittit R. » Ex P. ; nam R. " ^/ vitro supplet P. " Immittetur P. ■ Argenti metaUa et am R. " Enim P. « Et supplet R. VOL. I^ P 210 MANUSCBIFTS OF JEHAN LE BEOUE. furnaces. This ma£» was called ^^ Admovitrius,'' and fivm this, when re-melted, pure and white glass was made. Amoos the kinds of glass, the stone obsidian^ is also eoumerKteiL This is black and occasionally greenish, and sometimes lucent, and of a coarser appearance, and when used for shows a shadow instead of an image. Many persons make gems of it. It is said that this stone jb produced both in Ijodia and Italy, and in Spaia near the ocean. VI. [256] Him thcU a per$(mtoas beheaded bjf order of the peror became he had discovered the art of making flexible giUug^^ — ^It is related that in the reign of Hberius Caesar a certain artist had discoyered a way of making ghiss flexible and ductfle. When he was admitted into Caesar's presence, he banded a phial to him, which Caesar indignantly threw on tbe grcrand, and it bent like a brazen vessel. The artist took up the phial from the payement, and then taking a hammer out of his bosom he repaired the phial. Upon this Caesar asked tbe artist whether any other person wa6 acquainted with that method of making glass. When he affirmed with an oath that no other person knew the secret, Caesar ordered him to be beheaded, lest, when this was known, gold and silver should be held dirt cheap, and the prices of all tlie metals be reduced* And, indeed, if glass vessels did not break, they would be . better than gold or silver. 1 Mr. Philltpfl observes that obsidian occasionally bears a great blance to common glass. The origin of thia substance has been warmly contested : it is common in the neighbourhood of voloanoet, and has been considered as vitrified lava, whence it has obtained the ftmiliar name of vokcmic glass. It is found on Hecla, and m almost eveiy part of Iceland, in tbe Lipari Islands, in one of which it constitutes the greater part of the mountain ** della Castagna*'; near the Peak of Teneriffe ; in Peru, Mexico, and New Spain. In Europe, obsidian is made into reflecton for telescopes ; in Mexico and Peru, it was made into looking-glasaee and knives. Phill. Min. p. 135, 136. s It is merely necessary to observe with respect to this tale, which is repeated by every writer on the subject, that it is universally disbelieved. The XmACUTTS DB COLORIBUS ET AKTIBTJS HOMANORUM. 211 Gallias, et in Hispania. Arena alba mollissima pila molaque terebatur. Dehinc miscebatur tribus partibus nitri pondere vel mensura, ac, liquata, in alias fornaces transfundebatur qu» Massa vocabatur Admovitrius,^ atque hsec recoctafiebat vitrum purum et candidum. In genere vitri et obflianus lapis ad- niuneratur. Est autem yirens interdum, et niger^ aliquando et translucidus crassiore visu, et, in speculis parietum, pro imagine umbras reddente.' Gemmas multi ex eo faciunt. Hunc lapidem et in India, et in Italia, et ad Ooeanum in Hispania nasci tradunt VI. [256] Quod quidam decapitahu fuit jussu Imperatoris^ quia modum faeiendi vitmmjlexibib invenerat* — Fertur autem sub Tiberio Cesare quendam artificem excogitasse vitri tempera- mentum ut flexibile esset et ductile. Qui, dum admissus esset ad Cesarem, porrexit ' fialam Cesari, quam iUe indignatus in pavimento projecit, quae complicaverat se tanquam vas leneum. Artifex autem sustulit fialam de pavimento, deinde martulum de siDU protulit, et fialam correxit Hoc facto, Cesar dixit artifici, numquid alius sdt banc condituram vitrorum? Post- quam ille jurans negavit alium ^ hoc scire, jussit ilium Cesar decoUari, ne, dum hoc cognitum fieret, aurum et argentum ' pro Into haberentur, et omnium metallorum precia abstrahe- rentur. Et revera quod si vasa vitrea non firangerentur, meliora essent quam aurum et argentum. ^AdmonitemT. * ReddereV, » Sic P. De artifice B,. *ProrrexitF. * AUemm R. * St argmtum omittit R. The problem, however, of making malleable glan was always a favourite subject with the alchemists, and Raymond Lully expressly de- clares, that '* one of the principal effects of the philosopher's stone was to render glass malleable.** The Hon. Robert Boyle mentions (Philosophical Works, vol. i. p. 6S), on the authority of an expert chemist, a piece of transparent red glass which, after receiving several strokes with a hammer, was found to have stretched under it (although it had begun to crack on the edges), growing more thin on the beaten part, and leaving visible im- pressions made on it by the edge of the hammer. Mr. Boyle, verj prudently, declines expressing his own opinion on this subject. P 2 ■■I ^' 212 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGXJB. VII. [257] How to make white glassj and glass of colours. — ^Glafis is made with the ashes both of fern and rf " faina " *— that is, of the small trees which grow in the wo«1b- The fern is cut before the Feast of St. John the Baptist, and weD dried, and is then put into the fire and reduced to ashe& also the ^* faina " is reduced to ashes in the fire. Tlien two parts of fern, and one-third part of *' &ina," and mix tfaena together. Then make a ftmiace of stones, &oed with daj^ mixed with horse-dimg. You must make the foundation qmte smooth to the height of half a cubit, and leave a hollow in the fiimace without any materials — ^that is, you must put nothing in the middle of the furnace, because the fire must be in the middle of the furnace while it is at work. Upon the foundaticHi of the furnace you must begin to make three small conqiart- ments, which are called *' archse,'' in which there must be small windows. You must make the middle arch large, with two win- dows in it, one on one side, and one on the other. In the middle arch, just opposite the door of the arch, must be placed two jars, very well baked, which they call '^ mortariola," in winch the ashes, or sand, as it may be called, is melted, and the glass is made. And you must make the other arches, one on the right hand and one on the left of the middle arch, and the one on the right hand smaller than ihe one on the left» In the arch on the left hand side you must heat the ashes fiir a day and a night; and you must heat them until they cohere into a mass. In this arch also you must bake your melting pots per- fectly, in order that they may be firm and hard, so as to hold and melt the glass without breaking. When the whole of the ashes haye been well baked, and for a very long time, put them into your melting pots with an iron spoon, and melt them until they become white. If you wish it [the glass] to become red, > Theophilus employs the ashes of beech-wood, *' ligna faginea.** It seems to me, therefore, not improbable that '* fidna " may have beeo an old French term for the seedling beeches which grew wild in the woods, the beechnut being still called in French ** falne." The ashes of the beech-tree are mentiuued afterwards, in treating of the purple and flesh-coloured glass. SRACLIUS DE GOLOBIBUS ET ARTIBUS ROMANORUM. 213 VII. [257] Quomoda effhiturvitrum [alburn^ et etiam de di-- versts cohribtu], — ^Vitrum efficitur de cineribus, id est,' de filicis cinere,' et de faina, id est,^ de parvulis arboribus quae sunt ▼el crescunt in sylvis. Acdpitur autem filix ante Festum S. Johannis Baptiste, et optime siccatnr, deinde ad ignem mittitur et fit cinis. Similiter et fSedna efficietur cinis per ignem. Accipied itaque duaa partes de filice, et terciam partem de faina, et simul misces. Deinde &cie8 fumum de petris argilla linitis mixta de steroore jumentorum. Funda- mentum ejus altitudine dimidii cubiti totum planum fades; profundum fumi dimittes rine materia, id eet,^ in medio fumi nihil facieSy quod in medio ejus ignis quando operatur semper feciendus est Super fimdamentum fumi incipies &cere tres mansiunculas, quae arche nominantur, in quibus erunt fenes- trellae. Mediam archam magnam faunes, in qua duse fenestne erunt, una ex parte una, et alia ex parte altera. In istam archam intus ante os arch® duas oUas optime coetas ponunt,* quas mortariola vocant, in quibus dnis siye "^ arena, ut dicetur, fimditur, et vitrum effidtur. Alias autem archas fiides unam a dextris mediae archae, et alteram a sinistris. Illam autem quae est a dextris minorem fades ilia qu« a sinistris est.^ In archa sinistrae partis una die et una nocte dnerem coques. In tantum vero coqui fades, ut simul * sit agglutinatus.^^ In bac quoque archa mortariola tua penitus" coqui feides, et, ut finna sint et duriora ad vitrum sustinendum et coquendum, ne frangantur. Quando autem cims totus et diutissime et optime coctus fiierit, tunc mittes eum in mortariolis tuis cimi codea ferrea, et funde eum tamdiu, donee effidatur album. Si vero vis ut effidatur rubeum, de dnere non*' bene cocto, sic &de8. Accipe limaturam cupri, et arde eam quousque pulyis sit, et mitte illuin in mortariolis, et erit vitrum rubeum, quem Galie- num vocamus. Viride vero vitrum ita facies.. De eodem > Ex P. * Id est?.] Et R. • Cmere omittit R. * Id est P. ; Aut R. ^Idett?. Et R. <* Ponunt omittit R. ? Sen P. » Qikb est a smistris R. » SimUUer R. *• ConghUinatus P. " Primitus P. " Tamen. Cant. 214 . HANUSCORIPTS OF JBHAN LE BEGUE. you will do as foUows, with ashes not well baked* Take per filings, burn them until they are reduced to powder, throw them into your melting pots ; and this will make red glass, which we call " galienum.'' Green glasB you will make thus. Throw, of the same powder of burnt copper into yo«r melting pots, as much as you think prop^, and stir it, and it will be green. Yellow glass is thus made. Take raw asbei^ and put them into the melting pot and melt ihem, and throw a little sand in with them, and a little, if I am not mistaken, of the powder of copper^ and stir the whole together ; and it will make a yellow glass, which we call *^ cerann." Purple and ^^ membranaceum '' are made diffidently, with the ashes of tiie beech-tree> which are baked like white ashes, and pot into a melting pot, and melted and boiled until they bum to a purple colour. While the glass is boiling, stir it about frequently, like the other glass, as we have said before. When you see it torn to a purple colour, take what quantity you like of it, and do whatever you like with it, until you see it turn pale. From this pale colour it changes to another colour, which is called " membrun." But when you wish to make tablets or plates, take iron tubes of the length of one cubit, more or less, as you may think fit, and at the end of each tube a little wooden tube, having a very small hole, through which you must blow when you wish to make a vase. When you begin to work the glass, take one tube, and look into the melting pot to see whether the glass is well cleared and melted. Then dip the tube into the melting pot and take up a little glass upon it, like dough, and whirl it round in your hand, and form whatever you please upon the iron slab which is placed at the mouth of the furnace. And you must make a screen of brickwork, to avoid being scordied by the fire ; and inside this you must put the iron slab^ whidi is called *^ marmor," upon which you must shape the glass which you are working, and you may form whatever kind of vase you like. When your vase, or cup, or saucer, or phial, is made, you must put it into the arch which is on the left hand BRACLIU& DB COLORIBUS £T ARUBUS BOMANOKUM. 215 piilyere cupri combusti^ in mortariolo pones quantum tibi visum fuerit, et movebis, et erit' Yiride. Croceum quoque vitrum dc efficitiir. Cinerem crudum aocipies, et mittes in mortariolo, et fundea eum, projicies que modicum sabuli intus cum eo, et parum, ni &llor, de pulvere cupri, et moyebis simul, et efficietur croceum yitrum, quod noe Ceraain vocamus. Pur- pureum et Membranaoeum' aliter efficiuntur* de cinere arboris fagi, et, fticut cinis albus^ ita coquitur, et mittitur in olla, et tamdiu fimditur bulliendo, quousque vertatur in colorem pur- pureum. Dum bullit sepe movebis, sicut et aliud vitrunii ut* supra docuimus. Quando videbis^ eum verti in purpureum jcolorem, illico toUe quantum vis, et &c opus quod volueris usque dum videris eum mutari [in pallorem.'' De colore pal« lido mutatur] in aliud quod membrun^ vocatur. Quando vero vasa vel tabulas facere volueris, habebis virgas ferreas intus cavatas longitudine unius cubiti, aut plus, vel minus [ut Tidebis opportunum*] et in summitate virgaj parvu- lum ligniun intus cavum, habens^® unum foramen parvissimum per quod su£Sabis quando operari volueris aliquod vas; et quando de vitro operari incipies, accipies virgam unam, et in mortariolo, si sit^^ bene purgatus vel fiisus^ fuerit cinis, aspides. Tunc mittes virgam in mortariolo, attrahesque modicum vitiri quasi parumper pasts, et circumduces manu tua in girum, et formabis quod tibi placuerit super marmorem fern qui positus est juxta OS fumi. Nam ibi^' facies obstaculum quoddam^^ ma- cerie, ne ab igne consumeris, in quo pones tabulam ferri quae manner vocatur, super quem formabis vitrum quando opera- beris, et taxAes qualecunque vas placuerit tlbL^ Facto autem vase veP* cipho vel scutella vel fiala, mittes in arcba quae est in sinistra parte fumi ut ibi temperetur donee refrigescat « - ^ Cupri combusti omittit R. ' Et erU R. ; eritgue P. * Membrtmum, Cant. * EfficUur vd efficiuntwr P. * Sicut R. « Videria R. » Ex R. • Membra/ntm. Cant. * Ex P. ^^ Concavwn habentem P. *^ Sit Inserit P. » Fondatus vdfonditus P. » Ubi P. ^* Quadam R. » Qualecunque vas sicut placuerit in ocuUm tuis P. ^*/emque R. " Facere vas R. " Posthcec R. '• PistOj Cant. " GrossinOj Cant. " Sic R. ; in P. vero, de isto vitro plttm" beo, Ulo iciHcet qui cceruleus esty qua de duobus coloribus potest Jieri^ poteris, si vis, cum pulvere saphireo miscere ad pingendum m vUro, *' Sic P. In [ ] omittit R. Ad vitrum incidendum C. *' Saraceni acriter urticant sic C. ; urticaniur R. ; acriter vrticantur P. ^^ Tenduntur P. R. '' In ea C. '" Ex eis supplet P. ^ Sic C. ; mulgetur m vas R. ; mulgatur in vm P. VOL. I. * P 3 218 MANUSCRIPTS OP JTBHAN LB BEGUE. milked into a vase, into which the glass, with the iron with which it is to be cut, is to be put for one night until it becomes soft. The iron must be tempered in the milk itself, l^^boi necessary the milk should be warmed to the same degree cf heat which it had when first milked. The glass must be al^vajs kept warm in it, and so it must be cut Other stones are eof in the same way. The goat must be fed on iyy. X. [236] How precious stones are cut and polished and made brilliant} — Sume hircum qui nunquam coierit, et pone in e immediately preceding. The oorrespondo • ence of the other parts of the recipes will also be observed. Salt, which is mentioned in the first, is substituted for the sal gem (the purest kind of rock salt) of the second, and the brass filings of the first recipe for die > calcanthum (sulphate of copper) of the second. £BACLIUS DE GOLORIBTJS ET ARTIBUS B011AJ70BTJM« 223 XV. [252] Quomodo deauraiur cb*^ vel aurnxdcumy vel argenr turn} — Accipe faliginem et purum sal ; teres fortiter, accipiesque glaream otI et distemperabis. Deinde linies aunun, vel argen- tum, vel cuprum, vel aUud quod volueris deaurare, et ibi ubi Yolueris interim deaurare illam distemperaturam superpones,' et super carbones mittes. Cum fuerit siccatum, deaurabis ubi non fuerit positum, et quando deauratum fuerit, ablues distem* peraturam, et bumie& XVI. [249] Qfiomodjo deauratwr auricalcum? — De atramento tres partes, et salis unam partem accipies, et cum [aceto ^ fortiter teres, deinde argentum vivum cum eis misces, et in simul iterum teres]. Postea accipe pannum nitidum, et intinges in atramen* turn, et auricalcum fortiter firicabis. Deinde mitte in ignem quousque totum rubeum fiat Postea retrahe ^ ab igne, et sine refrigerari. Tunc poteris deaurare sicut aurum vel cuprum. XVII. [237] Quomodo ferrum deauratur,^ — Eris [pulvis' Yel] limatura teritur* cum aceto in mortario aereo,* et ^^ cum sale et alumine, usque ad mellis spissitudinem. Aliqui pro aceto aqua utuntur. Deinde ferrum bene purgatum,^^ et leriter calefactum, hac mixtura inungitur,^ et fricatur, donee colorem seris^^ accipiat Posthaoc^^ abluitur aqua,^ et tergitur,^^ et sicut es vel" argentiun deauratur^^ et calefactum^ recedente^* vivo argento, sicut mosest,*" ut splendorem accipiat, ferro defricatur. XVIIL [238] Aliter,^ — ^Alumen rotundum, et sal, quod gem* ma Yocatur,'' et calcanthum," ex aceto acerrimo teruntur in sreo — _ . — — ■ - - - ■ _ _i - _i * Quomodo deauraiur vd aurum vd argentum R. ' Stqapones R. * Oru cakum R. * Ex P., R. habet eia itisces et insmiHter terchan teres. » Trahe P. • Sic P. R. ; mauroHo ferri C. (p. 64). In C. (p. 87) partem alterius capituli facit. ? c. (p. 37). • Teraiur P. R. • In eneo mortario C. (p. 37), m hereo mortario C. (p. 64). >• JEt omittit C. " Sic C. (p. 64) ; Deinde ferrum muUum purgatum P. R. Denigue bene purgatum ferrum C. (p. 37). » Inungatur P. » JSis P., Heris C. (p. 64) ; eris C. (p. 87). " Posthoc P. ; posthac R. ; tunc C. (p. 37). » Abhaa aqua R. , aqua abhatur C. >• Teritur C. (p. 37). >' Aurum et K. ; es velCr, oinittit P. ^ Deauratum P. » Recedendo R. » Et supplet P. " Sic P. R. C. (p. 64). In C. (p. 37) partem facit capituli cxivj. ^ £x C. (p. 37). Glumen rotundum et salvandum, quod sal Gemma vocafur P.R. ; ahanen rotundum et sakandumf quod saUs gemma vocaturQ, (p. 64). " Cakantum C. 224 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGTTE. in a brass mortar. This is rubbed over the dean ircm la^ti * cane or any other light stick, and, when it has the colour of braaB» it is washed and gilt- The quicksilver is then driven off, axMi it is cooled with water, and then rubbed down with a very fas^ooA and bright iron until it is well polished. XIX. [239] Haw ivory u hent cmd amamenied.— If yoa wish to bend and adorn ivory, put it into the aforesaid mixture for three days and three ni^ts.* Having done thiB, hollow^ out a piece of wood in whatever manner you like, and th«i pot the ivory into the cavity, and turn and bend it just as yon like- A plate of copper, 10 inches in breadth, and the same in length, can be gilt with [the wei^t of] one denarius' of gold. XX. [250] Bow to restore gold, — ^If you have gilt any vase which, through negligence, has lost the gilding, take atramentom and salt, well ground together, and spread some of it over the YBBi^. Then place it before the fire to dry ; and give it another coat, then place it again before the fire. Do this three or four times, Itnd it will recover its former colour, which it had loeL XXI. [267] How to varnish gold so that it will not lose its colour. — If you wish to varnish gold that has been laid upon gypsum, varnish over the gold, not with pure varnish, but wiA that colour which is made for preparing auripetrum,' mixed, however, with oil, and a little varnish, lest it should be too thick. And so, if in any part the colour of the gypsum should appear through [the gold], it may be covered with this colour. But you may varnish figures and other colours with pure varnish or with thick oil. XXn. [248] How to solder gold, or silver ^ or copper ^ or brass, — Take three parts of brass, and three parts of tin, and melt * See Clavicula, p. 64. r .,/. ^ » - ^^ ' It is obvious that the author is here speaking of the weight of the coin, for the denarius was not a gold coin. Celsus informs us that, from the time of Tiberius to that of Vespasian, seven of them were made from one ounce Troy weight. At a later period eight were made from the ounce Troy. In the lower empire thej scarcely weighed half so much in pure silver. s The composition of this colour is described in No. liiv., which is not in the Cambridge MS. From this it would appear that the MS. puUisheil bj Raspe was really defective. ERACUUS BE COLOiaBUS £T ARTIBUS ROMANORUM. 225 mortario. Ex ^ his ferrum purgatiim, cum ferula,' vel alia qualibet levi hastula,' defncatur, et, cum seris habuerit colorem,^ detergitur,^ et deauratur ; deinde,*' exfumigato yivo argento'', aqua refiigeratur," et* usque ad splendorem, ferro valde piano et limpido, defricatur. XIX. [239] Qaomodo dirigitur et omatur ebur?^ — Quod si Yolueris ebur dirigere et ornare,^^ in hac supradicta confectione mittatur tribus diebus et tribus ^ noctibus. Hoc facto, cavabis lignum quali modo yolueris ; deinde, poeito ebore in cavatura,^ diriges illud, et plicabis ad placitum.^^ Tabula cupri quae decem poUices habet in latitudine, et totidem in longitudine, denario auri deaurari ^^ potest. XX. [250] Quomodo recuperatur deauratura. — Si aliquod vas habueris deauratum, et per negligentiam deauraturam per- diderit, accipe atramentum, et sal cum eo bene tritum, et lini illud vas. Post«a pone ad ignem seccare, et iterum linies, et ad ignem pones. Hoc facies tribus vel ^^ quatuor vicibus, et recuperabit colorem pristinum.^^ XXI. [267] Quomodo vernicieturaurumneperdat colorem. — Si aurum super gypsum positum vemiciare yolueris, non de ^ puro yemicio, sed de illo colore qui efficitur ad auripetram ^* faciendum, mixto tamen ^ cum oleo modico yemicio, ne nimis sit spissum,'^ yemidetur ^ super aurum. Xdeo si aliquid ^ g^psei coloris apparuerit,^ hoc colore operiri poterit. Imagines yero et alios colores de puro yemicio, yel de crasso oleo, poteris yemiciare. XXH. [248] Qaomodo poteris solidare aurum vel argentum vel cuprum^ vel auricalcum. — ^Accipe tres partes de auricalco, et » Ex omittit C. (p. 37). • Ferura C. (p. 64). » Hattida R. ; aOvla P. * Cum eranmns colorem habuerit C. (p. 37) ; cum heris cohrem habuerit C. (p. 64). » JExtergiiur C. (p. 37) ; retergitur C. (p. 64). • Ac deinde C. ^ Argento vivo C. (p. 37). • Refrigeratum C. (p. 37). » Et omittit C. ^* Sic P. ; omittit R., qui septem prima verba capitali rubri- cavit. De ebore C. (p. 64). » Vd carvare C. " Tribus omittit C. » Cavitura R. P. " Quod sequitur omittit C. »* Decorari R. " Et R. *' Pristinum colorem quern perdiderat R. ^^ Circumde (conde) R. '* Au- rum petrum R. ^ Unde R. ^ Ne sit spissum nimis P. " Vemiceter R. " AUqui R. •* ApparuerwU R. ■* Vd cuprum omittit R. VOL I. Q 226 MANUSCRIPTS OF JKHAN LE BEOXTE. them together in a ladle over the fire, and reduce the mmsB to powder, and put it away in a box. Then take three parlB « paramentuin, and bum it in an earthen vase in the fire like atramentum. Then take salt, and dry it well npon Then grind the salt and paramentum together with When you wish to solder brass or copper, put some of preparation, made with the salt, upon the brass or capper^ wherever you wish to solder it Then immediately piut some of the aforesaid powder on it, and heat it in the fire and it will be firmly soldered. XXni. On trying gold and silver.^ — ^AU pure gold, of what- ever weight, is denser, by one-twentieth part of itself, than nny silver, similarly pure. This may be proved as follows : If one pound of pure gold be weighed in the balance, under water, with an equal weight of pure silver, the gold wQl be found heavier than the silver, or the silver lighter than the gold, by xii denarii, or one-twentieth part of its weight Wherefore if you have any article made of gold, with which silver appears to have been mixed, and you wish to know how much gold, and how much silver, is contained in it, take silver or gold, and having found the weight of the said article, make a raaas of either of the metals, of exactly equal weight, and, putting tb^n into the scales, immerse them in the water. If the mass whidi you made is of silver, the said article will preponderate. If the mass is of gold, the gold will preponderate, throwing up {the scale containing] the said article. And it will happen, that by as many parts as the gold is heavier, by so many parts the silver is lighter ; for whatever there may be in the said article, under water, besides the usual weight, belongs to the gold oii ^ This chapter does not form part of the MS. of Le Begue ; but it vill be found, with some variations, in Mappee Clavicula, p. 45.^7^ rom the chapter in the text, it will be seen that the value of the denarius was ranch diminished, since, at the time the above was written, 20 denarii were equal to an ounce, and 240 to a pound. BRAca:jns db coloribus bt artibus romai^orum. 227 ires partes de stagno, et funde ^ simul in conca ad ignem, pul- yeremque facias, et in buttam ' recondes. Postea accipe para- mentum ti^s partes^ et quasi atramentnm in testeo vase arde in igoe. Accipiesqne sal, et super carbones optime siccabis. Deinde paramentnm et sal * macerabis simul cum vino. Cum vero auricalcum vel cuprum solidare yolueris, pones super auricalcum yel cuprum de ista confectione, et de sale, et tem- peramento facta ubi volueris solidare. Statimque de pulvere supradicta ^ pones, et ad ignem calefacies, et firmiter solida- bitur. XXni. De probatiom auri et argenti.^ — Omne' aurum purum, cujus libet ponderis, omni argento similiter puro, ejus- dem ' tamen ponderis, densius est parte aui vicesima ;' quod ita probari potest. Si purissimi auri libra cum equo '^ puri ^' argenti simili pondere^* sub aqua conferatur in statera, xii denariis,^^ id est *^ vicesima ^ sui parte, aurum gravius argento, vel argentum levins auro invenietur. Quapropter si in veneris opus aliquod ^* auro formattun, cui argentum permixtum esse^^ videatur, scireque ^' volueris quantum auri, quantumque ^* in eo argenti contineatur, sume argentum sive aurum, et examinato supra- dicti operis^ pondere, ncc** minus pensantem massam de utro- vis^ metallo fabricato, atque utraque et opus et^ massam staterae** landbus impomto,*^ aquisque immergito. Si argentea fderit [massa quam fecisti, opus preponderant; si aurea fuerif ] alleviato" opere, aurum inclinabitur. Hoc tamen ita fiet, ut quot partibus inclinatur aurum, totidem partibus sub- levatur ^ argentum ; quia^ quicquid in ipso opere fuerit sub aquis prster solitum pondus,*^ ad aurum, propter densitatem, ^ Fonde P. * Buscam P. ' Tres partes paramentum P. * Sal et para- mentum P. " Sfuprascripta P. * Sic R. ; de auri pondere C. (p. 45). ' Omnem. Cant ' Eidem, Cant. * Parte sui xxHij, et insuper ccxL C. »• Eqfie C. » Ptin. Omittit Cant. » Ex. Cant. " xj. denarUs C. " Et R. " xxmj. et ccxl, C. " Opus aliquod inveneris C. *' Per com- mixtionem inesse C. '* Que omittit R. *' Quantumf>e C. ^ Examinato inspectione C. ■* Hon C. *• Utrius R. ■• Utrumque opus scilicet^ et C. ^'StantemC. ^IrnpositoR, » Ex R. ^AUevatoC. ^ SuUevetur C. ^ Quod li, » Ponderis C. q2 228 MANUSCItlPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. account of its greater density ; and whatever deficiency there may be is to be attributed to the silver, on account of iii greater rarity. And in order that you may perceive it more eeis\]j^ you must bear in mind that, in weight fcHr gold, and in lightness for silver, x denarii signify a pound, as I have already stated in the former part of this chapter. XXIV. [268] How wood is to be prepared before painting om it^ — ^Whoever wishes to adorn any wood with divers colonra^ Irt him hear what I say. first make the wood very flat and amooth by scraping it, and lastly by rubbing it with that herb wliidh is called shave-grass. But if the piece of wood is such that you cannot smooth down its inequalities, or you have reasons tar not wishing to do so, and at the same time are not willing to cover it with leather or with cloth, grind dry white-lead upon a stone, but not so finely as if you were going to paint with it Then melt wax over the fire in a vase, add tiles gromnl fine. Then mix it with the white-lead which you had ground, stirring it firequently with a small stick, and so let it cool. Tlien heal an iron, and with it melt the wax into the little fissures, until • they are level, and then scrape off the rough parts with a knife. And if you hesitate about mixing white-lead with the wax, know that the more you mix with it, the harder it will be. And when you have made it smooth, as I was saying, mix plenty of white-lead very finely ground, with linseed-oil, and lay an excessively thin coat of it wherever you intend to pfuot with a brush of ass's hair adapted for that purpose. Whea this is dry, lay on, as you did before, another and a thicker coat of it, not thicker by having a greater quantity of colour, but by having less oil in it. For you must take very great ^ The mode of preparation described in this chapter di£Pers effientially from those usually followed ; inasmuch as several coats of white lead and oil are Idd immediately on the wood, without a previous preparation of glue and gesso. ERACUTIS DB COLORIBUS ET ARTIBUS KOMANORUM. 229 pertinet ; quicquid autem levitatis, ad argentum, propter rari« tatem, conferendum est.^ Et, ut hoc ' facilius possit adverti, considerare debes, tarn in gravitate auri, quam in levitate argenti, x denarios' significare libram, sicut in^ prima lee- tionis hujus fronte prefixum est XXIV. [268] Quatnodo aptetur Kffnum anteqvam pinffotur.—* Quicnnque aliquod lignum omare diversis coloribus satagis, audi quae dico. Imprimis ipsam lignum multum rade equalem, et planissimum radendo, et ad idtimum iricando cum ilia herba quffi didtur asperella. Quod si ligni materies talis fiierit, ut non posffls equare ejus asperitates,' vel non velis, propter ali- quas occasiones, nee tamen* cum corio illud'' velis cooperirCy' yel panno ;* album plumbum teres super petram siccum, sed non tantum ^° quantum si inde pingere ^^ velis. Deinde ceram in vase supra ignem ^^ liquefacies, tegulamque tritam subtiliter ; albumque plumbum, quod ante trivisti,^' simul commisces, se- pius movendo cum parvo ligno, et sic sine refngerari. Postea aliquod ferrum fac calidum, et, cum ipso, ceram ^^ fiinde in ipsas cavemulas donee equales sint, et sic cum cultello desuper abrade ea quae sunt scabrosa. Si autem album ^ plumbum miscere cum cera dubitas, scito quod quantum plus miscueris, tanto durius erit. Et, sicut dixi, jam equali fieusto, babundan- cius plumbum, valde subtilissime tritum cum oleo lini,^* de- super, per totimi ubicunque pingere vis, tenuissime exten- dendo " cum pincello asinino,^^ sic aptato ; deinde ad solem ex- iccari bene permitte. At post,^* ciun siocatus fuerit color, iterum superpone, sicut prius fedsti, de eodem, et spissiorem pones ; sed non ita spissiorem, ut abundandus"^ colorem super- ^ Esireferendumli. « iJoc omittit R. " JDenoruw xj. C. * /n omittit C. * Atperiiatem P. • Id supplet P. » lUud omittit P. • Operire R. » Quod sequitur novum capitulum facit P., cum titulo '' Quomodo ligni cavema- ctdas geufoswlas impldnar *® TmOum omittit P. " Inpinge P. » Super tgne R. " Trivisses P. " IpMon supplet P. " AWum omittit R. »« Lini omittit R. *' Extendo P. Exterende Cant. "* Afomio vel Afaiino P. ^' Post omittit R. ^ Abundandorem R. 230 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAK LE BEGUE. care never to lay on the colour too fat, for if you do this, oad lay on a great deal of it, when it begins to dry, wrinkles vill form on the surface of it.^ But now, in order that I nothing that relates to the subject, I b^ you will let me to where I was speaking of the bare wood [if you were willing to cover it with a leather or with a cloth]. If the wood, whicb you wish to paint upon, is [not] smooth, cover it with leadier made of horse-skin or with parchment XXV. [262] How a column, is prepared for painting. — ^If yoa \ wish to paint on a column or slab of stone, first let it diy rerj perfectly in the sun or before afire* Then take white, and grind it very finely with oil upon a marble slab. Afterwards, the oo- lumn being well smoothed and polished, without any crevioes, lay on it two or three coats of that white, with a broad paint- brush. Then rub very stiff white over it with your hand or with a brush, and let it remain a short time. When tolerably dry, press your hand strongly over the white surface, drawing your hand towards you. Continue to do this until it is as smooth as glass. You will then be able to paint upon it with x)* all colours mixed with oil. But if you wish to imitate the veins of marble on a general tint (brown, black, or any other colour), you can give the appearance, when the ground so pre- pared is dry.' Afterwards varnish it in the sun. XXYI. [280] If you wish to paint a linen doth^ and to lay gold upon it^ prepare it thus. — Take parchment, or dippngs of parchment, and put them into a jar with water, which must be placed over the fire and made to boil as before directed ; then dip a cloth into it, take it out immediately, and stretch it out on a wet panel, and let it dry. Then burnish or pdish it all over with a ^ass muUer, and stretch it out, fSistening it on to a * See Mr. Eastlake's f^marks on this- subject, in his recent woii, Mate> rials for a History, &c., p. 37. ' I have adopted Mr. £astlake*s translation of this sentence. lUd. p. 34. EUACLIU3 DE COLORIBUS ET ABTIBUS ROMANORUM. 231 ponas^ sed ut oleum minus babeat. Nam et in hoc multum cavendum est ut nunquam crassiorem colorem euperponas; quod si feceris et abunde poBueris, cum exiccari cceperit, rugae desuper erunt. Nunc autem ut ea quad 8upersunt^ simul omnia dicam, superius queso me redire permitte, ubi de llgni nuditate locutus sum, [si* illud oorio vel panno operire vo- lueris]. Quod si lignum, quod pingere volueris, non' fuerit equale, corio equino vel percliameno operi illud. XXV. [262] Q^onu>dopreparaturcolumpnaadpinffendum. — Si vis aliquam columnam vel laminam de petra pingere, inprimis optime ad solem vel ad * ignem siccare permittes.' Deinde ' album accipies,^ et cum oleo super marmorem clarissime teres." Poetea Ulam columpnam jam bene sine aliqua fossula planam et politam, de illo albo cum lato pincello superlinies duabus vel' tribus yicibus. Postea imprimes cum manu vel brussa de albo spisso, et ita dimittes paululum. Cum vero modicum siccatum fuerit,'' cum manu tua album '' planando fortiter re- trahes. Hoc tamdiu hcie& donee planum sit quasi vitrum. Tunc vero poteris desuper ^ de omnibus coloribus ^ cum oleo distemperatis pingere. Si vero marbrire volueris, super unum ^* colorem, vel brunum, vel nigrum, vel alium colorem, cum sic- cata fuerit '' marbrire poteris. Postea vemicia '' ad solem. XXVI. [280] Si vis pingere lini parmum^ et aurum in ipso pomre^ sic prcepara, — ^Accipe pergamenum vel minutias perga- menorum, et mitte in ollam cum aqua, et pone ad ignem, et fac bullire sicut suprascriptum est, et mitte in ea pannum, sta- timque extrahe, et desuper tabulam in aquam extende, et ita dimittes siccare, et tunc cum petra vitrea bumies, sen lissabis, per totum ; postea extendes ipsum, ligando in lignis cum filo, ^ Supenm R. * £z P. ; omittit R. ' Volueris, fum P. ; ru R. * Ad omittit P. * Permittas P. • Dem R. ^ Acdpe P. » Tere P. » Vd omittit R. ^^ Fuerit album suxahan P. " Album omittit P. ^' Denqter poteris P. « Et supplet P. »* Unum omittit R. " FuermU R. »• Ver- ma P. 232 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. wooden frame with the thread. You may then paint upon it with colours distempered with size, or ^g, or gum.^ XXVII. [281] How to lay gold on the doth, — And. if jtm wish to lay gold on the cloth, apply it with the before-men- tioned size, and polish it. XXVin. [285] Of the general practice in grinding oB co- lours.— ^You must know, however, that all colours maj be ground with clear water, if they are afterwards allowed to diy ; and then with white of ^g, or oil, or gum-water, or wine, cr cervisia, when they are mixed or tempered. XXIX. [260] How oil is prepared for tempering colours. — Put a moderate quantity of lime into oil and heat it, ccmtiiiiiallj scununing it ; add ceruse to it according to the quantity of cH, and put it m the sun for a mondi or more, stirring it fie- quently. And know that the longer it remains in tb» sun, the better it will be. Then strain and keep it, and distemper the colours with it. XXX. [263] How alumen ' is distempered — Grind the alu- men with gum and water upon marble, and let it dry ; and when you wish to do anything with it, distemper it with whit« of egg. XXXI. [284] Of the manner of preparing white of egg far tempering colours. — When you are going to prepare white of egg, take a filter, and dip it in water, and wet it well, and after- wards receive the white of egg mixed with water in this filter, which must be folded up so as to be pointed at the bottom and open at the top ; and so, squeezing it, make it pass through seven or eight times, or ofliener or less frequently, if necessary, for you must do this until the white of e^ becomes like water, and runs through without drawing into threads. Then take it and put it by ; or, if you wish, write with it. Two vases arc necessary for preparing it. ' The sized cloth mentioned in this recipe was probably used for the transparent painting practised by the English and Germans. See East- lake, Materials for a History, &c., p. 100. ' See No. L., where alumen is said to be a white colour. ERACLIUS DE COLORIBUS ET ARTIBUS ROMANORUM. 233 deinde cum coloribus, cola, vel ovo, vel gummi distemperatis, desuper pingere poteris. XXVII. [281] Quomodo aurum ponitur in panno, — ^Et si aurum desuper ipso panno ponere cupis, cum distemperatura suprascripta pones et polies. XXVin. [285] De pratica generali in movendo amnes ealores. — Sciendum autem est quod omnes colores cum aqua clara moli possunt, si postea exsiccari permittantur^ ut postea glarea, yel oleum, vel aqua gummata, aut acetum, seu vinum, necnon cer- vesia, quomodo misceantur aut temperentur. XXIX. [260] De oleoj quomodo aptatur ad distemperandum colores. — Calcem in oleo mensurate pone, et illud despumando coque ; cerosium in eo secundum quod de oleo fiierit pone, et ad solem, per mensem, vel eo amplius, frequenter removendo, pone. Scito quod quanto diutius ad solem fuerit, tanto melius erit Postea cola, et serva, et colores inde distempera. XXX. [263] Alumen quomodo debet distemperari.'^Ahxnii&a cum gumma et aqua super marmorem tere, et dimitte siccari, et cum aliquod ex eo fisu^re volueris, cum glarea ovi distempera. XXXI. [284] De modo parandi glaream ovoruTn^ ad colores ex ea temperandos. — Glaream paraturus sume staminium, et in aqua intinge illud ; et madidum sit, ut postea glaream aque mix- tam, in eodem staminio duplicato, subter summato (acuminata f), desuper autem expanse, excipe, et sic exprimendo, fac transire yel septies vel octies, yel sspius, yel minus, si necesse fuerit, tamdiu scilicet debes hoc facere, donee glarea quasi aqua fit, et tenuis, sine filo, distillet. Hinc susceptam reconde, yel, si yis, scribe. Ad banc autem parandam, duo yascula sunt ne- cessaria. 234 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGTJK XXXn. [270] How yoJh of egg is prepared. — Qrpimem k ground and prepared with the yolk of egg b the foUowii^ manner, and the yolk of egg is dius prepared : — ^Take dbe yolk in the middle of your hand, and prick it with a thorn or a needle, and, putting your finger upon it, press it out, and receive it in a vase ; and, addmg a drop of water to it, mix it with tlie orpi- ment If you mix oil with it, it will never dry. Mix it there- fore with yolk of egg. XXXm. [258] How Cordovan leather is dyed.—T3kjQ the leather which is called ** Cordovan," not dyed with oolour, but pure and white, and wash over the side on which the haira grew with alum. Then take madder, and heat it over the fire in a brass vessel with wine or with water, so that yon can just bear your finger in it. Then dip the aforesaid leadier into the vessel, and take it out ; see if the colour is sufBciently deep ; if it is, well and good ; if not, dip it in again. Then spread it out on a smooth table, burnish it with a piece of box-wood ; and then take fat, and grease the skin all over, and sdBer it to dry. XXXIV. [277] How to make use of brasUium, — Take a brass dish, and scrape as much brasilium into it as you may think necessary ; then fill it up with urine ; add powdered alum to it, and so let it remain for a night. The next day set it upon the coals, make it boil up once or twice ; remove the dish fixmi the fire, and put a little quick-lime with the brasilium and alum and stir it up, and so let it stand till it settles ttiick, and the water floats on the top ; then throw away the water, and let the remainder dry in the sun, and keep it as long as you like. You may use this colour both on wood and on walls ; but with greater brilliancy on parchment. XXXV. [289] To make a rose-coloar with braxiKum.— To make rose-colour, add urine to the braxilium before yon put the alum ; and this is the way it is to be done. XXXVI. [288] How cei'use is made^ and how red minium is made from that. — ^If you wish to make red minium, or the white which is called ceruse, take lead plates, and put them into a ERACLIUS DE COLOBIBUS ET ARTIBUS ROMANORUM. 235 XXXU. [270] Qaamodo viteUum avi parahir. — ^Anripg- xnentum cum vitello otI molitur et distemperatur sic, et Yitellus hoc modo paratar. Sume yitellum in media manu, et spunge vel spina vel stila, et digito superposito, exprime, et in vase recipe, mittens gattam aque ex auripigmento misce. Si autem oleum miscueris, nunquam siccabitur. Idee misce cum vitello. XXXni. [258] Quamodo carduanum tingitur, — ^Accipe ce- rium, quem corduanum vocant, nondum coloribus tinctum, sed purum et album, illamque partem, quee prius pilis tegebatur, de alumine ablues. Accipiesque Waranciam, et ad ignem in vase sereo cale&cies cum vino, vel cum aqua, et tantum ut digitum tuum in ea mittere possis, et tunc cerium antedictum in vase merges et trabes, videbisque ; si fiierit rubeum, bene quidem ; si non, iterum merge, dimittesque siccare ; postea super tabu- lam planam extendes, et cum baculo buxeo bumies ; deinde adipem accipies, et pellem per totum inunges, sicque siccare permittes. XXXIV. [277] Quamo€lopoter%sdebrenliooperari. — Accipe patellam sream, et brasilium intus rade, quantum tibi visum fuerit Postea imple eam luina, pulveriza desuper alumen, et sic una nocte dimittes. In crastino super carbones mitte, unam aut duas imdias bullire fisu^ies, et retrahe ab igne patellam, et pone pammper de viva calce cum brisillio et alumen, et in- simul move, et ita dimittas ; dum spissum fuerit, et aqua de- super nataverit, projice foras, et reliquum ad solem permitte siccum fieri, et serva quantum volueris. De hoc colore in ligno et in muro operari poteris, mirabilius tamen in perga- menis. XXXV. [289] Quamodo rasa color ft de ligno braxillii, — Rosam faciendo, urinam pones cum brixillio priusquam pones alumen, et sic faciendum. XXXVI. [288] Quamodo jUcerusa^etde ipsa rvieum minium. — Si vis facere rubeum minium, vel etiam album, qui cerusa dicitur, accipe laminas plumbeas, et mitte in oUam novam, et 236 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BBGXJK. new jar, and so fill the jar with very stroi^ vinegar, and cover it up and set it in some warm place, and leave it so for sl month. Then open the jar, and put what you find adhering to ihe sSfR of lead into another jar, and place it upon the fire, and keep stirring up the colour until it becomes as white as aaow» 'nien remove it from the fire, and take as much as you like of that colour, which is called ceruse. Put the rest back over tbe fire, and keep stirring it until it becomes red mininm, I re* commend you to continue stirring it, because, if it is not stirred^ it turns back again to white lead. Then take it from die &e and let the jar cool. XXXVn. [265] Haw terre verte is dutempered, — ^Takc mallow, and distemper it with vinegar or with very good winc^ and with this juice distemper the terre-verte, and it will be a good colour for walls. XXXVni. [273] How to make a green colour from salt, — ^I have often mentioned a green colour, and now I will tell you bow I make it I take a piece of oak, of whatever lei^th and breadth I please, and scoop it out into the shape of a scrinium. I then take copper, and cause it to be hammered out into plates as long as I choose ; that is, so that their length may cover the breadth of the hollow wood. Afterwards I take a ladlefol o[ salt, and pressing it strongly down, I put it into the fire for a night, and cover it up with coals ; and the next day grind it very carefully upon a dry stone. I then take small twigs, and place them in the aforesaid wood, so that two parts of die hollow wood may be underneath and the third above. Then smearing the copper-plates on both sides with honey, I sprinkle the salt all over the honey, then shake the plates over the ladle to avoid waste, and then place the plates upon the twigs. 1 next cover up the hollow wood with another piece made for this purpose, and lute it all round with clay well mixed with asses*- dung. But before I cover up the hollow wood, I pour into it hot vinegar or hot urine, so as to fill one-third part of it, and then cover it up, and afterwards do as before directed with this colour. ERACLIUS DB COLORIBUS ET ARTIfiUS ROMANORUM. 237 sic imple illam oUam fortissimo aceto, et cooperi, et mitte in aliquo calido loco, et sic uno mense dimitte ; et tunc aperies ollam, et quod inveneris in circuitu laminarum plumbearum mitte in aliam ollam, et pone super ignem, et semper movebis ipsum colorem, donee efficiatur albus sicut nix, et tunc tolles ab igne, et sumes de ipso colore quantum vis, et iste color vocatur cerusa ; reliquam partem pone super ignem, et semper movebis donee efficiatur rubeum minium. Fropterea moneo ut moveas, quod si non moveris, semper iterum vertetur in album plumbum, et sic toUe ab igne, et ipsam ollam dimitte refrige- rari. XXXVII. [265] Quamodo distemperatur viride terrenum. — Accipe malvam, et distempera cum aceto, yel optimo vino, et de isto jussu terrenum yiridem distempera, et erit boni colons in muro. XXXVin. [273] Qiumriodo effwitur viridis color cum sale. — • Sspe tractavi de viridi colore, quali modo efficiatur. Nunc vero quomodo id ipsum facio narrabo. Lignum quercinum sumo quantae latitudims et longitudinis yoluero, et illud in modum scrinii cavo ; deinde cuprum accipio, et facio illud attenuari in laminas tam longas quantum mihi placet, scilicet ut lon^tudo ejus operiat latitudinem concavi ligni. Posthoc accipio scutellam plenam salis, et, comprimens eum fortiter, mitto in ignem per noctem, et cooperio carbonibus, et in crastinum super lapidem molo diligentissime siccum. Postea accipio surculas graciles, coUoco eas in predictmn lignum, tamen ita ut duae partes ligni cavi sint inferius, et tertia superius, sicque liniens laminas cupreas utraque parte melle, et desuper mel sal aspergens per totum, moxque excutio laminas in scutellam, ne pereat, sicque super surculas illas laminas pono. Tunc lignum concavum altero ligno adhuc aptato cooperio, et in circuitu totum argilla bene fimo asini mixto linio. Antequam autem lignum illud concavum cooperuerim, ponam intus vel acetum calidum, vel urinam calidam, ita ut tertia pars impleatur, et mox cooperio ; tunc deinceps facio quod de hoc colore suprascriptum est 238 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAX LE BE6XTE. XXXIX. [287] A manner of making green with copper or hraei. — Fill a basin with white wine vin^ar, and put into ^ strips of copper, and throw into it any other copper that yon. procure ; let it remain there for the space of one, two, ur months, and you will then find an excellent green oolotir. XL. [261] How orpiment is prepared for uee^—Cmaih the orpiment in leather, and afterwards grind it with water upoo marble, adding to it a little calcined bone, and so let it 3ry there. Distemper it afterwards with egg for painting on m or on walls ; but on paper, distemper it like ceruse. K it is good, mix ochre with it, and then it will do. XLI. [264] How to lay on gold} — ^Take ochre and per it with water, and let it dry. In the mean while make ^ne with vellum, and afterwards whip some white of egg. Tlien Dnx the glue and the white of egg, and grind the ochre (which will by this time be well dried) strongly upon a marble slab, and, as soon as the ochre is dry, lay it on the parchment with a pain^ brush, wherever you wish to lay the gold on the parchment, and then apply the gold, and let it remain so without pressing it with the stone. When it is dry burnish it well with a tooth. Tins is what I learned by experiment, and have frequently proved, and you may safely believe that I have told you the truth. XLII. [278] How to gild on parchment.^ — ^Take gypsum and white of Apulia, and carminium,* that is to say, cinnabar, namely, one third part of gypsum, and two equal parts of white and of carminium. Mix them well, and grind them on a marUe slab, and add to them ouly a little thin glue; and with tfak mordant you may lay on gold wherever you like, and you may keep it a long time. > See Sloane MS. No. 1754. ' Ibid. * CarmiDium is here represented to be synonyoious with Cinnabar ; but at p. 252 it is said to be composed of white and ochre. ERAGLIUS DE COLOHIBUS ET ARTIBUS R0MAN0RX7M. 239 XXXIX. [287] Modus faciendx viridem cupri vel cms. — Imple pelvim de aceto albo ymiyyet quioquid cupri poteris habere, projice intiis» et sic stare permittes per spatium miiiiB inensis vel duonim vel trium, et postea optimum viridem pro- creatum in^nies. XL. [261] Quamado auripiffmentum prteparatur ad operanr dunu — ^Auripigmentum confringe in corio, postea tere cum aqua super marmorem, addens ei parum oesis combusti, et ibidem siecare permitte. Postea distempera cum ovo ad ponendum in ligno vel in muro, sed in carta pone sicut cerosium. Si non est bonum, misce ocrum ; poetea valet XLI. [264] Quomodo ponitur aurum^ — Accipe ocrum, et distempera cum aqua, sicque dimittes siecare. Interim de per- gameno * vitulino colam facies. Postea glaream de ovo facies. Tunc colam et glaream iusimul misces, et ocrum jam' bene siccatum ^ fortiter super marmorem teres, et ubi voluerisponere aurum in pergameno, statim ut molitum fuerit ocrum, super pergamenum cum * pincello trahes, sicque aurum desuper illico pones, dimittesque siecare ^ ita sine impressione cotL^ Postea, cum siccatum fiierit,^ cum dente fortiter burnies.* Ecce ut saepe experimento didici, multociens probavi, et tua certa fide verum dixi. XLn. [278] Quamodo aurum in pergamenU ponitur}^- — Accipe gipsum, et album de PuUia" et carminium, i. e. cino- brium," tertiam partem de gipso, et de albo, et^' de carminio*^ duas partes equales, et misce simul, et tere super marmorem, adjungesque eis^'^ modicum coUe, tenue tamen,^^ et de hac distemperatura poteris aurum ubicunque volueris ponere, et multum^'' diu servare. ^ Sic P. ; De temperamento attri S. No. 63. ' Peroameno passim S. ' Jam omittit S. * Teres hie inserit et post omittit P. * Pereameno iUo S. * Siecare omittit P. ' £t supplet S. ' Cum siccatum fuerit omittit S. ' Qus sequuntur omittit S. ^® Sic P. Item de distemperatura ami S. " Apuileya S. No. 64. ^' Caromimum id est suwbium S. " Quod P. >< Caromimo S. ^ Cum iis S. *« Tbntum P. ^ Multum omittit S. 240 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEaUE. XLni. [279] Haw to write with goW—Take a glasB we and fill it with urine, and let it rest until it appears dear. Then take the white of an egg well whipped, and divide it mto two parts, and mix it with the urine, and stir them both toge- ther, and put them into a horn with gold diasolred, that k, ground, and then washed. You may write with this gold as with any other colour. XLIV. [274] Of auripetrum. — Secundum Magistmm B. Take oil made from linseed, and put it into a new jar, and take the bark of 'Wesprum " very well dried and well ground in a mortar, and let it He for a night in the oil. The next day bofl it as long as you may think proper, but not much, and then pas it through a cloth into another jar, and boil it agam a little orer the fire with myrrh and aloes. Strain it again, and immediately put vemix with it, and heat it upon the coals. But if you have no vemix^ take glassa^ and put it with the aloes and myrrh in- "Btead of vemixj and, as I said before, strain it again. If you have not the bark of vesprum take dry incaustutny or else the bark of black-thorn dried and ground, and, as I said before, boil it with the myrrh and aloes, and afterwards remove it from the fire, and when it is cold, put it away in a vase to preserre as long as you like. You must collect the bark in Mardi or April, and dry it in May, and keep it as long as you like. XLV. [275] How to gild upon tin. — ^Take tin and place it on a tablet well whitened for this purpose, and well dried. Hammer the tin out well, and polish it with water and flint, rubbing it both along and across. Then take a polished inm made for this purpose, and polish it again with water. When it is very bright, let it dry, and then take it again and lay it on a table and burnish it with flint And you may work with this gold on wood or on walls, and wherever you wish to gild. > See Sloane MS. No. 1754. ERACLIUS DE COLORIBXTS ET ARTIBUS ROMANORUM, 241 XLIU. [279] Quamodo scribitur de auro} — Sume tibi vas vitreum, et urinatua illud imple ; sioque, donee appareat clara, requiescat ; postea accipe glaream ovi optime fractam,' et fac duas partes, miscesque cam urina, et movebis utrumque ' insi- mul, et pone in comu cum auro soluto \i,e. molito et postea la- vato ^], itaque ' poteris de tali * auro scribere sicut de alio colore. XLIV. [274] De auro p^ro. — Secundum magistrum R. Accipe oleum de lini semine factum, et pone in ollam novam. Accipies que corticem de vespro optime siccatam, et in mortario bene tritam, et in oleo earn unam noctem jacere permittes. In crastino ad ignem bullies; quando satis tibi visum fuerit, tamen non multum, protinus per medium pannum in aliam ollam tran- sire facies, deinde iterum ad ignem cum mirra et aloe parum- per bidlies. Iterum colabis, statimque vemix cum eis pones, et super carbones calefacies. Si autem vemix non habueris, acci- pies glassam, et pones cum aloe et mirra pro vernix, et, ut dixi, iterum colabis. Si autem corticem de vespro non habueris, accipe incaustum siccum, vel etiam corticem de nigra spina siccatam et tritam, et, sicut supra scripsi, cum mirra et aloe bullies, post hoc retrahes ab igne, et, cum frigidum fuerit, ad servandum in vase, quanto tempore volueris^ repone. Cortices autem in Martio vel in Aprili accipies, et in Majo siccabis, et servabis quamdiu volueris. XLV. \21b'\Q^onu>dop(m%taraurummper8tagnufn. — ^Accipe stagnum, et pone super tabulam ad hoc opus optime dealbatam, et bene siccatam, extende, et cum silica et aqua in longitudinem et latitudinem poli ; deinde sume ferrum totum aceratum, ad hoc opus factum, et iterum cum aqua poli. Cum multum et stans fuerit, sic siccare dimittes ; postea accipies iterum, et super tabulam pones, et cum silice bumies eum. Poterisque de hoc auro in ligno vel in muro operari, et ubi volueris ponere. » De omittit S. No. 66. » Factum S. » Utrumque omittit S. * Ex P. Omittit S. » J?if S. • Tcdi omittit S. VOL. r. R 242 MANUSCBIPTS OF JEHAN I^ BEGUK XLVI. [246] How borax^ is distempered and iepL — Take bean-ashes, and strain them through a doth into a jar tiiree or four times, and afterwards boil them [with water] over the fiiv unt*^ the ley is thick like ink, and then take the liquor wloA is called borax, and grind it in a vase or cup like cmniDixi or pepper, and then mix it with the aforesaid ley. Then make k boil again, and keep stirring it, and then remove it from the fire, and put it into a leaden vase, and you may keep it as long as you like. XL VII* [247] Abo on the same subfect in another nuamer, — Also, take the same ley, fresh made, and mix it with a little borax previously well ground in a shell, and then take eapfia reduced to powder of the weight of 12 denarii, ( \^ \ and grind it well in a shell, like pepper, and mix it with the ley and borax, and boil it over the fire, and afterwards let it cool, and put it into a copper vase, and preserve it as long as any remains. XLVin. [248] How to make nigeUum. — When you wi^ to make nigellum, take quicksilver, and copper, and lead, in equal quantities by measure, and put them into a shell to fuse together. Then take 6 denarii by weight of sulphur, and mix with the other ingredients, and stir them well. Then remove the mixture from the fire, and let it cool, and put it into a vase ; then take atramentum distempered with wine, and draw what you like upon the silver with the atramentum, and imme- diately lay the powder made of the quicksilver, copper, and lead upon it [and heat it] until it melts, and it will make a beautiful nigellum. XLIX. [272] How to paiM upon glass. — ^I must tell you how to paint upon glass. Take a grossinum of sapf^re, and the scales which are beaten off red-hot iron upon the blacksmith's anvil ; and you must put one-third part of this with the grossi* ' I have no doubt that '* Bares " should be read '^ Borax,'* and I refer to the note on this subject in the Table of Synonymes. It will be obKrved that the Bures of the text is said to be a liquor ; it is unnecessary to remark that this is scarcely consistent with the direction to *' grind it like cumininor ERACLIUS BE COLORIBXJS ET ARTIBUS ROMANORUM. 243 XLVI. [246] Quomodo distemperatur bures et servattir. — Ac* cipe cinerem &baruin, et cola per pannuin in ollam tribus vicihus aut qnatuor, postea ad ignem bulllre facies donee spissum sit quasi incaustum ; deinde accipias ilium liquorem qui Yocatur bures, et teres in vase vel cipho quasi caminum vel piper ; tunc misces cum laxiva suprascripta, iterumque bullire facies, sem- perque movebis. Postea toUe ab igne, et in plumbeo vase pone, et poteris servare quamdiu volueris. XL VII. [247] Item de eodem aliter. — Item accipe eandem laxiram cum nuper fuerit facta> et misces cum ea parum de bures bene in conca prius maceratum ; deinde accipies pulve- rem de cupro fiEictam pensantem xii^*" denarios, et macerabis fortiter in conca velut piper, et cum lexiva bures misces, et ad ignem bullire facies. Postea sine refrigerari et in vase cupreo mitte, et serva quantum duraverit. XLVIII. [248] Qualimodonigellum facies. — Quando volu- eris nigellum facere, accipe de argento vivo, et de cupro, et plumbo, equali mensura, et mitte in conca, ut simul coquantur. Tunc accipe sulphuris pondus vj denariorum, et cum eis misces, et movebis. Postea retrahe ab igne, et sine reirigerari, in vase pone ; deinde accipe attramentum cum vino distemperatum, et facies quod volueris super argentum de attramento, statimque pulverem de argento vivo et cupro et plumbo superpones, donee fundatur, fietque pulcrum nigellum. XLIX. [272] Qiwmodo pingitur in vitro, — Dicendum quo- modo pingere debes in vitro. Accipe grossinum de sapbiro, et palleam, quae excutitur de calido ferro super incudem fabri, cum grossino tertiam partem pones, et plumbeum vitrum, Judeum pepper." A similar direction is repeated in the following recipe, I con- sider that in both cases the Borax was prepared as a flux for the nigellum in No. xlviii. r2 244 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGTJE. num, and mix it with lead glass, that is, Jewish glass,^ and grind it well on an iron slab, and so you will be able to paint. L. [240] On the various kinds and names of the principal and intermediate colours. And on the advantage of mixing tltem together ; and on the places in which they are founds and are produced, or exists and on the means of knowing the goodness of them. — Of colours, some are white, and some are black, and some are intermediate. And the species of white are ceruse, lime, and alumen. The blacks are fuscus and those which are made from twigs. The intermediate colours are red, green, yellow, purple, prasinus, azure, and Incicus [Indigo ?], which are each of them, in themselves, beautifiil ; but are more so when mixed, because, by their variety, they give beauty to one another. And then, in composition they have a difibrent hue, for as in medicinal preparations the various drugs mixed to- gether modify each other ; so colours of different kinds are mixed together, in order that they may partake of the nature of the others as well as of their own, and make as many, and beautiful, and pleasing, varieties as possible. In this mixture, and in the order in which one is laid over another in painting, great skill is exercised. For after white, black or red should be put as an intermediate, hecause yellow, in composition, is in the second degree of mediocrity, for a colour too thick or too thin, soon alters. Reds are produced in many places, but the best are found in Pontus and Spain.* ^^ Paratonium " ' is named from the place where it is dug. In the same manner, also, ^' Meline earth," a kind of metal, is found in some of the Cyclades, and receives its name from it. Green earth ^ is found in many * In an extract published by Mr. Hendrie from a copy of the MS. of Le Begue, *'judicatim scilicet"' is inserted instead of *' Judeiim scilicet." So little is known of the history of glass-making, that it is im- possible to say whether the glass mentioned in the text resembled in any respect the '* Jews* gl&«s," which used to be sold at Birmingham. — (See a paper in the ' Philosophical Magazine' for Dec. 1836.) The latter was a ruby-coloured glass, coloured with gold ; but as Bulengerus says (* De Pic- tura/ &c. lib. ii. cap. v.), *' Sine plumbo nullum metallum in vitrum transire ERACLIUS D£ COLORIfiUS £T ARTIBTJS ROMANORUM. 245 scilicet, misces, et super marmorem fortiter teres, sicque pingere potes. L. [240] De diversis colorum principalium et irdermediorum spenebus et nominibus et de utilitate mixtianis eorum ad inmcem^ et de locis in quibus inveniuntur^ et nascuntur^ vel sunt^ et de coffni- done perfectionis eorum. — Colorum alii sunt albi, alii nigri, alii sunt medii. Et albi quidem species, cerusa, calx, alumen. Nigri vero, fiiscus, et qui ex sarmentis componitur. Medii, rubeus, viridis, croceus, purpureus, prasinus, azur, et incicus ; quorum expressio per se cujuslibet pulcra est, sed interdum sic invicem permixti pulcriores fiunt, quia sua varietate graciam alter alteri prsestant : Dein compositi aliud monstrant, nam ut in medicinae confectionibus species sibi permixtae invicem confernut, sic colores non ejusdem qualitatis, ut partem ex alterius natura, partem ex sua trahant, et quam plurimas eorum varietates pulcras et delectabiles reddant, simul commiscentur. In qua commixtione^ et in eo modo quo in pictura alter alteri post se ponuntur, summa est subtilitas ; siquidem post album, niger, aut rubeus medius, convenit ; quoniam crocus, in temperacione, mediocritas secunda est, quia color nimium spissus, et nimium tenuis, cito deficit. Rubi itaque multis locis generantur, sed optimi Ponto, et in Hispania, nascuntur. Paratonium ex ipso loco unde foditur babet nomen. Eadem racione et melinus quidem, metalli species, per insulas Cycladis, inde dicitur. Creta viridis plu- ribus locis nascitur, sed optima in Creta Cirina, quae Graece dicitur Theodote quaedam, in cujus solo primum est inventa. Arzicon, id est, auripigmentum, in Ponto nascitur. Sandaraca potest/* it 18 not improbable that glass coloured with gold was composed partly of lead ; and if, as appears from the text, lead glass was called '* Jewish glass/' this may safficiently account for the appellation given to the glass made at Birmingham. " See Vitruvius, lib. vii. cap. vii. ' Paratonium and Meline earth, or Melino, are both white minerals. * The author of the French Commentary on Pliny, published at London in 1725, observes that Isidore mentions green earth, which he calls '* Pra- sinus/' 246 MANUSOBIFTS OF JEHAN LB BEGUK. places, but the best in *^ creta drixia," vriiidi in Greek is cslkd Theodote,^ in which territory it was first found. ** Arziooo,*'* that is, orpiment, is foimd in Pontus. ^* Sandaraca " ' is foimd in many places, but the best is found in Pootos, and by iSbt river Ysparis/ Azure is mentioned as haying been first fonsd in the Ephesian territory and afterwards in Spain, and widi it are connected the following inventions.^ / / LI. [241] On trying azure, — Now azure must be tried in liie K following manner : Put it on an iron plate, and hold it over the fire until it is red-hot. Thea take it out and let it cooL If it does not change colour, it will be good ; but if it does chai^ cdiour, it is adulterated. When ice,' therefore, is first cut off metals, drops of quick- silver are pressed out, which artificers collect for various par- poses, fbrneither silvernor brass can be giltwithout it. When the drops of quicksilver are run together, so as to fill a measure of 4 sextarii, they will weigh one hundred pounds. If upon this liquor you place a stone weighing a hundred pounds, it will float on it. If you put a scruple into this liquor, it will sink, whence you may see that the differenoe does oot ooiDsist in the weight of the substance but in the nature of it Also, if the goldsmith wish to obtain the gold fi*om the tindor of burnt frieze, let him wash it, and mix it with quicksilver, and then press it in a linen or cotton cloth, so that the quicksilver may be expressed, and the gold remain. ^ Vitruvius says it was called ^ Thefxlotion," because the name of the owner of the estate where it was found was Theodotns. * The word Arzicon appears to be a corruption of ** Arsenicoo,** the Greek name for Orpiment. " The term *^ Sandaraca" is applied to red orpiment and also to red lead ; T)oth are occasionally found native. * Hypanis, according to Vitruvius. ^ A native mineral azure is here described, which appears, from the test mentioned in the next chapter, to be Lapis Lazuli. The author of this work appears to have been unacquainted with the azure described by Vitruvios, which consisted of a blue glass formed of nitre, sand, and copper filings. * This obscure passage appears to be an abridgment of cap. viii. of the 7th book of Vitruvius. The original MS. may have been imperfect, or EKACLIUS DE COLOBIBTJS ET AETIBUS ROMANOEUM. 247 pluribus locifi generatur, sed optima in Ponto et pxta flumen Yaparim. Azurii autem natural primum Ephesiorum solo reperta, memoratur dmcaps in Hispania^ cujus natura has^ iny^cioQes babet * LI. [2dl] De probatima azurii. — Yerum probado azurii sic erit obeervanda. In lamina ferrea mittatur^ et super ignen ponatur, tamdiu donee lamina nibescat Tunc retrahatur ut refirigescat. Si iCoLorem non jnutayerii^ optimum erit s si aut^n mutayerit, viciatum erit Glades itaque, vel glaciens, cum ex metallis primum e^d- duntur, argenti vivi guttas exprimuntt quad artifices ad plures U8UB colligunt. Neque ^m ai^ntum, neque ses, sine biis inaurari possunt Nam oonfuse in unum guttas argenti vivi, ita ut quatuor ^extariorum m^asnram habeant, centum librae pondus efficiunt Supra cujus Itquorem c^atenarium saxi pondus si posueris, sustinebit ; serupulum »i posueri^, descendit, Unde intel%e9 pon p^deris es^e, sed naturae distinctlonem. Itaque si aurifex pannis tostilibus adustis ex friso in rudi vase fictili soUdari pulv^rem yoluerit» laya, postea mixtum argento vivo, yel in panno, yel in linthiolo, cumprimis, ut liquor argenti yivi expressus emanet, et aurum extrinsecus jremaneat something may bave been omitted by Le Begue, for this paragraph is eridentiy uneonnected with the first part of the chapter. The following extract from Yitravius (lib. vii., cap. viii.) may render the passage more intelligible : — *' Ingrediar nunc Mini! rationes explicare Foditur enim gleba, quffi Anthrax dicitm* antequam tractionibus ad minium perveniat, vena uti ferreo magis subrufo colore, habens circa se rubnim pulverem ; cum id foditur, ex plagis ferramentorum crebras emittit lacrymas argenti vivi, quae a i'o88oribus statim colliguntur.*' 248 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LB BEGUE. LIL [242] On the mixture of colours, and what the eoioMrsaref particularly lakes, which are used for want of other Jit is evident that all colours are corrupted by Tnixing although, indeed, in tempering ^' folium,''*lime made firom hard stone is used, lest the colour should &de for want of bodj. For when ^'folium" is distempered with a pemidoos quantity of albumen, that is white of e^, it can [not?] be employed with great beauty and advantage. The juice of dragon's blood, and '^sandis," that is, madder — is used either pure or with red chalk ; other juices of a similar kind are also mixed with greeo or yellow earth. ^' Crisicula^" [chrysocoUa] comes from Mst- cedon, and is dug in copper mines. Indicus by its name shows whence it is brought Lin. [243] How atramentum of various kinds is made.* — The method of making ink is as follows, for it is necessary, not only for use in painting, but even for every day writing. A vase is put into a hollow chamber ; and a furnace is made so as to have nostrils, that is, apertures, through which the smoke can penetrate into the vase. Some tiles must then be laid in the furnace, and upon these hot tiles resin must be put, so as to drive all the smoke and soot into the vase. Afterwards grind the soot very fine, and you will make a very bri^t atramen* turn, with which you must mix painter's size. To accelerate the process, soft charcoal of wood, or of peach-stones, ground up with glue, is useful. Charred twigs also will imitate the appearance of atramentum ; but the blackest twigs must be used. If good wine is poured over tliem, and glue be added, they will foi*m a colour which will appear to imitate the soft- ness of daylight LIV. [245] How to make a ^^purpurino^^ colour out of various things in various ways, — Stones or flints, that is, stones emittiog fire, seem very necessary for painting, when they are heated in the fire, and quenched with very strong vinegar, and they wiD give * See Vitruv., lib. vii. c. ix. • Ibid. c. x. ' Ibid. cap. xi. This chapter treats of red or crimson coIourS| aod sot of the '* Purpurino *' of the Italians. BRACLIUS BE GOLORIBUS £T ARTIBUS KOMAKORUM. 249 JAI. [2421 ^^ colorum eommixtionej et quales ipn cobres 9uniy prcBcipue infectivij qutbus tUitur propter (diorum colorum tm^am.— Colores autem onmes commixtione corrumpi mani- festum est Siquidem in temperamento folii utilitur calx ex duro saxa facta, ne minus pressus pereat Quippe aqua dis- temperato folicio, cum pemiciosa quantita albuginis, id est, glarea ovi, pulcherrime et utiliter miscetur. Sanguis dra- chonis aut sandis, id est, garancia ; ejus autem purus succus, aut creta rubea, viridi quoque, et croceo, alii suse qualitatis penniscentur. Crisicula a Macedonia venit, foditur autem ex metallis aerariis. Indicum ab ipsis ostenditur ubi nascitur. Lin. [243] Quomodo Jit attramerUum diversarum specie- rum. — Attramenti vero compositio sic erit obsenranda, quae non solum ad usum picture necessaria videtur, sed etiam at cothi- dianas scripturas. Vasculus curva camera servatur : fornacula i^ic componatur, ut nares, id est, suspiracula, habeantur in vas- culo, quibus fumus possit intrare. Tegulae in eadem fornace intendantur. Super tegulas ardentes resina mittatur, ut omnem fbmum et fuliginem per nares in vasculum exprimat. Postea fuliginem diligenter conteres, et attramentum facies nitidum, pictorum autem gluten misceas ipsi. Ad accelerationem etiam opens, carbones molles ligni, et ossium persicorum, cum glu- tino contriti, valent. Nee minus sarmenta exusta attramenti qoalitatem imitabunt, sed sarmenta quae nigrioris coloris sunt, A in optimo vino perfundantur, postea exusta fuerint, addito glutino, imitari etiam diei suavitatem monstrabunt. LIV. [245] Quomodo Jit purpurinus color ex diversis diversi' mode. — Utique plurimum necessaria in operibus picturse yidentur glebae vel silices, id est, lapides ignem emittentes, cum inigne cocuntur, tunc, aceto acerrimo perfuso, extinguimtur, et 250 BfANUSCBIFTS OP JEHAH LB BEGUE. a purple colour. Copper burnt becomes ceruse.' The also, the blood of which is used for a purple colour, is tousd m many places, but the best are found in the island of Cyprus^ when they grow with the mm [i e. in the spring]. Hxna^ therefore, cut tbem round, pound t]iem» and they will ffve out drops of a purple colour, which, being mm togedier, are tem- pered as a purple pigment Hue pigment is called ^ oster," because it is obtained from the above liquor, whidb soon 8cili£- fies on account of its saltness. LV. [245] (y lakes; and ioto they are nuiie of varUms sub^ gkinces in variatu moamen? — Pnrple colours are also made bj straining [a decoction of ] boiled madder roots. So also other co- lours are dyed with flowers. Thus, when painters wish to imitate sU atticum they put dried yiolets^ into a vase of water over the fire to boil, and, when boiled down, they are strained throng a linen cloth, and rubbed down in a mortar with chalk, and so a colour like sil atticum is made. In the same manner, tem- pering ^^ yaccinium" with milk, a very elegant purple colour is made ; so the herb which is called ^' litea"^ giv^ out an azure juice ; and a very deep green colour is also made. These are called ^^ infectivi ;" and are used for want of simple coloura. . In the same manner, also, mixing formosa or angularia* with glass, they make colours with it. LVL [282] On mixing colours together in painting^ and m illuminating ; and of the ways in which pictures are fitted in with tkemj and how the lights and shades are laid onJ — iliL azure with ceruse ; shade it with indigo ; lay on the lights wi& white- lead. Shade pure vermilion with bninum or with dragoa'a ^ There is probubly eome mistake here. See Yitmr., lib. vSi. cap. lii. ■ Ibid, cap, xUL ' Ibid. cap. xiv. * The Viola lutea, or Wall-flower. » Lutea— The Reseda Lul^ok—Dyer's weed, Weld. See Vitniv., ibid. • The annularia of Vitruvius and Pliny. ^^X.This chapter and the next are certainly translations from some Bjzan- /"^tinc MS. The term Bisctum, Biseth, occurs frequently. It is A comi[)tioD ^ \ -'■ . ^ •'^ •. '. > \ UK ]"^ \X/^S^K^ U. '^ v^v-^. < •: .-..^ -■•■'• a ERACMUS DE C0L0BIBU8 BT ABTIBUS ROMANORXJM. 251 reddent purpureum ediorem. CupramadustamfitceroBa. Osier autem, cujub Hangoinem qm pro colore purpurse temperatur, pluribus lociB naflcitur, 9ed optimum ia insula Cipri, cum solis cur8um habentur. CoDCute itaque, cum drcumcisae fuerint, lacrimas io purpureum eolorem emittunt, quibus ooUectifi, pur- pureus color temperatur. Hoe autem OBter est appellatum, quod ex humore licetor, qui eito ex ealsugjbe inhaeresdit LV. [245] JDecolaribmif^l»stivt$^etqu(modofiuntexdiversi$ diversimode. — Huntetiaia purpurei coloreB, infectacoota rubea radioe. Similiter ex floribus alii eolores loficiuatur. Itaque pictoresy cum Toloerint ailvaticum imitari, riola arida in aqua cum vase ad ignem ponatur, ut fenreat, et decoctam in linteolo exprimunt, et in mortario cum creta terunt, et facinnt silasa* cetum colorem. Eadem ratiooe, Tacdnium cum lacte tempe* rantes, purpureum faciunt el^jaoter, uti berba qu« litea appellatur, succum effidt cvrulemo, et utuntur viridieBimo colore. Haec infectiya appellantnr^ qnibus utitnr propter in- opsam colorum aimplidum. Simiii modo cum in formoBam aeu angulariam yitro miscentes, inficiimt ex ea colores. LVL [282] De miscendis inter se eokribiit pinffendo et ittund'' nando, et de modxg cam de ipsis trnplentur opera et tnatizantur et inciduntur alter ex a&ero. —Azurinm miflces cum cerosio; inddes de indico; matizabis de idbo plumbo. Vermiculum porum inddes de bnmo, aut de sanguine draconis; matizabis of Pezzctte, the Italian name for those pieces of rag dipped in the jnice of certain plants, which were used in painting, and for other purposes. The Turks and inhabitants of the I«vant still call diem " Bezcrere Rubrd " (see Pierre Pomet, Histoire G^ndrale des Drogues, Tit. TomesoleJ. In the west of Europe they were called Bezette or Bezeth. From the term " Vergaut," which occurs in this recipe, and which appears to signify ** Vert bleu," " blue green," or " Verde azzurro," I should think the trans- lation was by a Frenchman. 252 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGI7E. blood ; lay on the lights with orpiment or mininin. Also mix yermilion with white-lead, and make the colour which is called rosa ; shade with yermilion ; lay on the lights with white [and] rosa, or with white-lead. Also make a colonr with dragoons blood and orpiment ; shade it with brunum ; lay on the lights with orpiment. Shade carmioiam with Immum; vary with mimum. Shade folium with brunum ; lay on the li^ts with bisetum folii. Also mix folium with white ; shade it with folium ; lay on the lights with white-lead. Shade ochre with ^ y^nnilion ; lay on the li^ts with white [and?] ochre. Also shade ochre with green ; lay on the li^ts with white. Shade white with pure minium ; and vary with azure. Shade bnmum with black ; lay on the lights with azure or minium. Also mix brunum with white, and it will make a beautiful rose colour ; shade with brunum ; lay on the li^ts with white or with bise* turn folii. Also mix brunum with minium ; shade with black ; and lay on the lights with red minium*.. Mix orpiment with azure or indigo, or ocbrQ with indigo, or green, and it will be good *^ vergaut ;" then vary with brunum or black ; lay on the lights with orpiment or with bisetum. Shade green with blad^ ; lay on the lights with bisetum. Mix green ^th white ; shade with green ; lay on the lights with white. Shade brunum with black ; lay on the lights with vergaut or with minium mixed with brunum. Shade indigo with black ; lay on the lights with azure, or vergaut, or bisetum. Shade orpiment with vermilion ; lay on the li^ts with white [and ?] orpiment Carminium is made with white and ochre. LVII. [283] Oncohursincompatibletmth each other. — Now, if you wish to know which are the colours that are incompatible with each other, they are these : — Orpiment does not agree with folium, or with green, or with minium. Nor does green agree with folium, namely, in the mixture of the materials of the said pigments, and in the works in which they are employed togeUier. ERACUTTS DE COLORIBUS ET AKTIBUS ROMANORTTM. 253 de auripigmento aut de minio. Item, vermiculum misce cum albo plumbo, et facies colorem qui vocatur rosa ; incide de ver- miculo ; matizabis de [alba^ roea, aut de] albo plumbo. Item, facies colorem de sanguine draconis et de auripigmento ; incide de bruno ; matizabis de auripigmento. Carminium incide de bruno; de rubeo minio undabis-^^'Tolium incide de** bruno; (}^^ o>o matiza de biseto folii.' Item, mlsce folium cum albo; incide ^ \ \ de folio ; matiza de albo plumbo.* Ocrum incide de vermi" q*^ culo ; matiza de albo ocro. Item, ocrum incide de viride ; ^ • ^ y-f^ -^ matiza de albo. Album minii purum incide, et undabis simul de azuro. Brunum incide de nigro; matiza de azurio vel minio. Item, misces brunum cum albo, fietque pulcra rosa ; incide de bruno ; matiza de albo, vel de biseto folii. Item, brunum misces cum minio ; incides de nigro ; matiza de rubeo minio. Misce auripigmentum cum azurio vel indico, aut ocrum cum indico, vel viride, et erit Ixmum vergaut ; inde de bruno, aut de nigro, undabis ; auripigmento aut de biseth ma- tizabis. Viride incide de nigro, et matizabis de biseto. Misce viride cum albo ; incide de viride ; matiza de albo. Brunum incide de nigro ; matiza de vergaut, aut de minio mixto cum bruno. Indicum incide de nigro; matiza de azurio, vel de vergaut, aut biseth. Auripigmentum incide de vermiculo; matiza de albo auripigmento. Carminium fit de albo et ocro. LVII. [283] De colaribus sibi contrariis. — Modo si vis scire qui sunt colores qui sibi invicem alter alteri sunt contrarii, hi sunt. Auripigmentum non concordat cum folio, nee cum viride, nee cum minio. Nee viride concordat cum folio, scilicet in mix- turis materiarum ipsorum colorum, et operationibus mixtis eorum, quae discordantise non sunt in qualitatibus colorum, nee * Ex P. ; in alteris omittitur. • Matixabis de rubeo minio, C. • De aBfO piumbo C. * Albo folio F. 254 If ANTJ8CRTFTS OF JfEHAN LE BEOX7E. And these discordances are not in the mere [optical qualities of the pigments, nor in their accidents of colour ; for lliere are colours, or qualities of colours, eittier simple or mixed, which, regards the colour only, do not agree wiiii any oth^ sorts of colours in mixtures, namely, for comporaig other different mix- tures ; and you may thus have at pleasure almost inonmeraUe varieties of colours. But the said discordances are, and are to be understood as being, in tiie other natural condititns, incideiit to the substance of the said pigments, they being contrary to each other in such manner that, if they are mixed together, one sub- stance, by a certain natural inoompatilnlity, either changea the other or is changed by it ; and so the quality and beauty of the pigments themselves, as well separate as mixed, and their own substance, and the work done with them, are lulled and destroyed. They tiierefore do not bear to be mixed together ; and so, in the art of painting, beddes the oonaderation that is to be had for the varieties of colour, and these and other things relating to the said art, we must not fcx^get the propor and necessary considerations, drawn firom a true theoretical and practical knowledge of and acquaintance with the natural con- ditions and contrarieties existing in the materials and liquors of the said colours, and of the contrarieties of the other things in- cident to that art. » LVIII. [286] Of the care which must he taken with regard to the TuUure of the colours and of the way of mixing them together^ and of the method to he observed in shading and laying on the lights^ on which another chapter has heen inserted, — ^If you wish to know well the natures of the colours, and the mixtures of them, as whether they are transparent or opaque, give attention to what follows. And note, that you must shade azure with black ; and lay on the lights with white lead. Also mix azure with white lead ; and shade [with azure, and lay on the li^ts] with white lead. Shade vermilion with brunum ; and lay on the li^ts with orpiment. Also mix vermilion with white lead, and make the colour which is called rosa ; shade it Mrith vermilion ; lay on the lights with white lead. Shade orpiment with vermilion, and orpi* ERACLIUS DE OOLOBIBUS ET AETIBUS ROMANORUM. 255 ex aocidentibus coloratiyig eorum ; quia nuUi colares, nee co* lorum qualitateSy sixot, simplices' aut mixtae, qu«e et qui, quantum ad colores, non conveniant quibuslibet aliis in mix'^ turis, ad componendas, scilicet, alias diversas et quasi innume* rabiles qualitatum varietates ad pladtum babebis : sed dicta diacordantis iutelliguntur et sunt, quantum ad ceteras natu* rales conditiones inaistentes in mateiiis ipsorum oolorum in* vicem taliter contrarias/ quod, si simul miscentur, una materia, ex contrarietate quadam naturaK alterius, vel alterat alteram, et altera alteram, et colorum ipsorum qualitas et pulcritudo, tarn distincta quam mixta, necnon eorum materia, et opus ex ea factum, vastatur et deletur. Igitur mixtiones ad ineimul invicem non tolerant; et sic non praetermittendum est, quin in arte pictoriie, ultra delntas considerationes quantum ad colorum varietates, ac eorum et aliarum rerum in ipsa arte concuiren- tium differentias, babeantur etiam debite et necessarie consi- derationes, ex vera theorecaH vel practical! sdentia et cogni* tione conditionum et contrarietatum naturalium, insistentium materiis et liquoribus ipsorum colorum, et rerum contrarialibus in ipsa arte inter?enientium. LVIII. [286] De diligentia qtuB haberi debet circa natunzs coloruniy et de modis miscendiy eos inter se^ et incidendij et mati" zandi, cum in operibus distinguwntur^ ut etiam aliud eapitum de hoc antepositum est, — Si vis bene scire naturas colorum et mix- tiones eorum, ut hi sunt clan et spissi, diligenter autem intentum appone. Et nota quod lazurium incides de nigro ; matizabis autem de albo plumbo. Item, misces lazurium cum albo plumbo [incides^ de azur, matizabis] de albo plumbo. Vermiculum incides de bruno ; matizabis auripigmento. Item, miscebis ver- miculum cum albo plumbo, et facies colorem qui vocatur rosa ; incides de vermiculo ; matizabis de albo plumbo/Auripigmen- tum incides de vermiculo ; et illi matizatura non est, quia ster- corat omnes alios colores. ^^^um si vis facere gladium viridem, » Ex. T. ; et incides P. 256 MANUSCBIFTS OF JEHAN LE BEOmS. ment has no light tint, because it mars all colours* Hieo, if you wish to make lily-green, mix orpiment Mith indi^; shade it with black ; lay on the lights with orpiment Shade dragon s blood with black ; lay the lights on with white lead. Abo mn dragon's blood with orpiment ; shade with dragon's blood; liiy on the lights with orpiment You must shade green with black, and lay on the lights with white lead. Also mix green with white lead ; shade with green ; lay on the li^ts with white lead. Shade granetum with green ; lay on the lights with 'white lead. Shade indigo ?dth azure ; lay (m the lights with white lead. Also mix indigo with white lead ; shade with indigo ; lay on the lights with white lead. Shade flesh colour with black ; lay on the lights with white lead. Also mix saffiron with white lead ; shade with saflron ; lay on the li^ts with white lead. Shade folium with black; lay on the lights with white lead. Mix folium with white lead; shade with folium; lay on the lights with white lead. If you wish to make a colour like lily- green, mix azure with white lead ; shade it with azure ; lay on the lights with white lead ; and when it is dry, coTer it aver wztb clear saffron. Orpiment does not agree with green, or with folium, or with red minium, or with white minium, as we have already said. ERACLIUS DE COLORIBUS ET ARTIBUS ROMANORTTM. 257 auripigmentum misce cum indico ; incides cum nigro ; matiza- bis auripigmento. Sanguinem draconis incides de nigro ; mati- zabiB de albo plumbo. Item, misces sanguinem draconis cum auripigmento ; incides de sanguine draconis ; matizabis de albo plumbo. Item, misces sanguinem draconis cum auripigmento ; incides de sanguine draconis ; de auripigmento matizabis. Vi- ride incides de nigro; matizabis de albo plumbo. Item, misce- bis yiride cum albo plumbo ; incides de viridi ; matizabis de albo plmdibo. Granetum incides de viridi ; matizabis de albo plumbo. Indicum incides de lazurio ; matizabis de albo plumbo. Item, misce indicum cum albo plumbo ; incides de indico, ma- tizabis de albo plumbo. Carminum incides de nigro ; mati- zabis de albo plumbo. Item, misces crocum cimi albo plumbo; incides de croco ; matizabis de albo plumbo. Folium incides de nigro; matizabis de albo plumbo. Misces folium cum albo plumbo ; incides de folio ; matizabis de albo plumbo. Si vis facere colorem similem gladio viridi, misce lazurium cum albo plumbo ; incides de lazurio ; matizabis de albo plumbo ; et quando fiierit siccus operi de daro croco. Auripigmentum non concordat cum viridi, nee cum folio, nee cum rubeo minio, nee cum albo minio, ut antea jam dictum est. 1 •J .'J V VOL. I. S ( 258 ) THE FOLLOWING IS A TREATISE UPON COLOURS OF VARIOUS KINDS. AMD FUtfr THE INTRODUCTION. 290. In the year of the Circumcision of Christ 1398, on Sunday, the 2Sth day of July, John Archssics wrote and noted down, at Paris, the following chapters concerning colours for painting, according to the words and instructions given him by Jacob Cona, a Flemish painter then residing at Paris, who, as he said, had himself tried, and used, during the whole period of his life, the recipes contained in the foUowing pages. And afterwards in the month of December, in the year of Christ 1411, the said John, more than a year after his return from Lombardy, corrected them in se- veral places, according to various information which he had since received, both from other authentic books relating to such things, and otherwise ; and which he copied fairly as follows : — 291. For laying gold in different toags upon various articles so t/iat it mag be burnished^ and the cautions to be observed concerning this in painting, — For laying gold on parchment,^ ^ Ckirta et papiro. It is difficult to translate these words accurately : there is no doubt that in this sentence carta means parchment, which would otherwise be omitted in enumerating the substances on which gold was laid. Papirus also may be undentood to mean paper, since cotton and linen paper were both in use at this time. The next time the author mentions the word <* carta" he explicitly speaks of that kind called ( 259 ) DE COLORIBUS DIVERSIS MODIS TRACTATDR IN SEQUENTIBUS. ET PKIMO MODUS PROHEMII. • 290. Anno circumcisionis Christi 1398 die dominicsB 28 Julii, Johannes Archerius scripsit et notavit in Parisiis sequeutia capitula de coloribus ad pingendum, per verba et signamenta quae sibi dixit Jacobus Cona flamingus pictor commorans tunc Parisiis, qui toto tem- pore suo ut dixerat temptaverat et usus fuerat ipsemet de contentis in sequentibus. Et post ea anno Christi 1411 de mense decembrisy idem Johannes re versus de partibus Lombardis jam per plusquam unum annum, correxit ea in pluribus locis secundum plures informa- tiones, quas inde postea per ceteros libros autentiquos de talibus narrantes et aliter habuerat, et ad nettum rescripsit ut sequitur. 291. Ad panendum aurum burniendum super diversis diverse mode et de cautelis hdbendis circa hoc pingendo. — Ad poneDdum aurum in carta, papiro, tela linea ; sindone, et in ligneis tabulis ^* parchment" (pergamenum), of the clippings of which, he adds, the size might be made. In the earlier part of this MS. I haye translated the word *' carta" always hj " parchment," but it appears that it was also applied to paper at this period, 1382—1411. The exact date when the Egyptian paper, made of the papinis, fell into disuse in Europe is not known, but it appears from the testimony of Eusta- 82 260 MANUSCRrPTS OF JEHAN LE B fBGUE. r paper, linen clotb, sindone,^ and on prime ^ wooden panek, which gold may be burnished, that is polished. Take the whhe gersa, which is otherwise called wEte chalk, ^r^Ssh is fcnid in abundance at Bologna and at Paris ; and a little Armemao bole, in quantity about one-fourth of the chalk, or sl little erona, which is commonly called saiiron. This Armenian bole and this saiiron are not added because they cannot be omitted widi- out great inconvenience by any one who wishes to do so, hat merely that the colour may not be white, but yellowish or reddish ; and not for any other reason than this, name! j, that when it is laid upon the paper, it may differ from the whiteness of the paper, and thus the things which are made of it are better seen than they would be if ibe colour of it was wlnte like that paper which is called parchment. Grind all these things very fine upon a hard stone, well polished, and broad, with another stone to be held in the hand, polished in the same manner with clear water from a well or a spring, and let the chius, the learned commentator on Homer, that it was no longer in his time, 1170. The invention of paper made from cotton is believed to have occurred m Greece in the tenth century. The most ancient MS. that Montftiacon saw on this paper, with the date, was written a.d. 1050. Theot)hilus, lib. i. c. zziii., mentions ^^ pergameman grtdcam quaJHtx lana ligni,** This is the reading of Raspe, from a MS. of the thirteenth century, and may certainly be understood to apply to the cotton paper made in Greece, which was called by the Italians " Carta Bambagina ;" bat the copy of the MS. of Theophilus, which formed part of the MS. of Le Bc^gne, which is of the fifteenth century, and which is in his hand-writing, instead of ** ligni," has the words '* bm id est papirum,*^ Le Begue then may be considered to have understood this passage, if indeed he did not interpolate the words *^ id est papirum" as applying to paper made of rags or linen. We may therefore, I think, consider that, where /xi^'rtis is used in the MS. of Jehan Le Begue, paper made of rags is meant. I am the more strongly inclined to this opinion, because the author of the article ' Paper ' in the * Encyclopcedia Britannica,' quoting the work of the Abb^ Andrez, published at Parma in 1782, entitled * Dell' Origine, Pro- gressi, e Stato attuale d*Ogni Letteratura,' says that paper made from silk was anciently fabricated in China, and that the art of making this paper was ' Sindone, a kind of very fine linen, such as cambric or lawn. ALCHERIUS DE COLORIBUS DIVERSIS, ETC. 261 dealbatis, quod aunim bumiatur, id est, poliri possit. Accipe gersam albam qiusaliter dicitur creta alba de qua habundanter reperitur bononicB et Parmis,^ et accipe parum bularmenii circa quantitatem quartae partis cretse, vel parum croci, qui vulgariter dicitur safran et qui bularmenius et safiranus non ponuntur quia non possunt absque magno inconvenienti dimitti qui vult, sed ponuntur solum ut ipse color non sit albus sed sit croceus Tel rubescens et non per alia causa, ad hoc quod dum ponitur in opere super cartam quae differenciet ab albedine cartas et quod per hoc melius videantur quad fiunt de ipso quod videri possent si ipse color esset albus ut est carta quae dicitur pergamenum. £t ea omnia tere valde subtiliter super lapidem durum bene politum et latum et cum alio lapide manuali similiter polito, Yiz, cum aqua clara putei vel fontis et fiat tempera seu color qui in gallico dicitur assietey quae postea si vis tamen antequam penitus siocet, dum tamen induratus jam sit, quia postquam siccus sit potes distemperare cum aqua colata, ex cola facta de carried from China to Persia about the year 652, and to Mecca in 706, The Arabs substituted cotton, the production of their own country, for silk, and introduced the paper into Spain. The Spaniards, from the quantity of linen to be found in the kingdom of Valencia, seem first to have adopted the idea of using linen rags, and the most ancient paper of this kind is that of Valencia and Catalonia. From Spain it passed into France, as may be learned from a letter of Joinville to St. Louis about 1260. It is discovered to have been in Germany in 131 2, and in England in 1320. In consequence of the paper made from cotton in the Levant, the paper from linen was introduced much later in Italy. " Carta Bambagina " is frequently men- tioned in the MS. of Cennino Cennini, written at Florence in 1437, and it is still made in the Levant. The precise period of the introduction of paper made from rags into France and Italy is not known, but Montfaucon could find no book on this ])aper antecedent to the death of St. Louis. Wc may then conclude, that during the time of Jehan Le Begue, paper made from linen rags was used in France and Germany, and that in Italy paper was made from cotton, while parahment, which had become scarce, was employed occasionally throughout Europe. It will be observed that in the following chapters Alcherius writes " per- gamena seu carta." * Sic sublin. in MS., sed in atramento recentori. 262 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAK LE BE6XJE. mixture or colour be made, which in Frendi is called auiiUi which you may afterwards, if you like, before it is qi^ dry, but after it has set, distemper with glue water, made with glue from cuttings of the white leather of which glova are made. Clippings of parchment also are good for this pur- pose, but the cuttings of the white leather make the glue stronger. Lastly, let the size, or sized water, be warm ; I ssy warm, lest it may be conglutinated, because if the si^e is as it ought to be, when it is cold it will be congealed like jelly fior galantina [brawn] not very hard, and this on accoimt of the glue which is made to enter into the water by the deooctioa of the cuttings of leather or of parchment in that water, which i» congealed by cold. And therefore summer weather is veiy conyenient for this, both because it does not allow the oolonr to congeal or chill, and because it makes the colour dry quickly when it is laid on. And with this warm size, you must, as has been said before, distemper the said powdered cokmr or tern- . pering for laying on gold, so that it may be soft and liquid Kke good ink for writing, or as it may seem conyenient Having done this, write, draw, and fill in or paint whatever you wish with it, and rather with a paintbrush than a pen, because if it were done with a pen, and were to become chilled in the pen, it would not flow so well as witli a paintbrush ; moreover, when using a paintbrush, the colour may be held in the hand, which, by its warmth or heat, will not allow it to congeal ; this, how- ever, can also be done well with a pen, but a paintbrush is much more convenient. And, in painting with a pen, as well as with a paintbrush, it is a good thing to keep the colour over a slow fire of charcoal, at such a warmth, that it may not c»^ *^y'» <"»^ «/»« varioua articles^ when it is not to be bumU^Hi^^^^ laying gold oo parchment, paper, cloth, and sindone, wit^^ ^^^^ ®' ^* * mordant tempered with size, and this by a sh!?'^ "^ quick me- thod, but so that it ought not, nor can be bui*™^*®*^ partica- larly on cloth and sindone, which, on account of^®*^ flexibility, instability, softness, and porosity, can ill bear the ^^® ™^ F®*" sure of the burnisher, nor can they stand it so thJI *® ^^^ ^^ not be spoiled in burnishing ; and also because the s?® ^^™* ^ ^ be used for laying on the gold, or for tempering P^ colour on which the gold is to be laid, is not strong enough *° *^^ ^ gold agamst the stroke of the burnisher, as white ¥ ^Sg ^™W be, if it were tempered with white of egg. Take tSfS'"® ^^ which bows and spears are glued, and put it to soa^xP ^^^ ALCHBRIUS DB GOLORIBUS DIVBRSIS, ETC. 267 launtur pro operando suit bene texti et fortes, et minus ran in eorum teztura quam possunt. Sed neque etiam debet ipse color esse nimia grossus seu spissus et fri^dns, ne ex ductu plicationum contingentium eis, ut necessario conveiuty cadat et resiliat color cum auro, et spedaliter ad strepitus bumissoris, quando aurum desuper, ut dictum est, burnitur, et quod sic opus perdatur. Et dato quod tela, sindon, papirns, et carta in quibus positom erit aurum modo quo dictum est complicentur aliquantum m rogas sicut a casu per se aocidit dum modo non viol^ito et voluntario rigore confringendo plicentur et frioentur, aurum tamen non cadit nee resilit a locis in quibus positum est 292. Ad ponendum aurum diversi mode super diversisy quod rnn humiatur. — Ad^ponendum aurum in carta, papiro, tela et in sindone cum cola tantum vel cum colore de cola temperato et hoc brevi modo et reloci, quod burmri non debeat, nee pos- nt, pnecipue in tela et sindone qui pro eorum flexibilitate due- tibilitate mollitie et raritate stre{Htum et impressionem bumis- Borismale sustinent nee possint pati quin bumiendo aurum dele- retiu*, et etiam quia cola imponenda ad ponendum aurum vel ad temperandum colorem, de quo poni debet, non est fbrtis ad tenen- dum aurum ad strepitum bumissoris ut esset clara ovi si de clara OTi distemperetur. Acdpe colam de qua colantur arcus et hast» et pone ad distemperandum in aqua fn^da, et quum est bene mollis pone ipsam in rase cum circa totidem de dicta aqua, quo- tidem debito respeeta est coUa et non plus, et pone ad ignem 268 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN IB BEOUE. water, and when it is well softened put it into a vase with about an equal quantity of the said water, that is, as much as the ^ue requires, and no more, and put it on the fire so as not to bdl, but only keep hot, until the glue is dissolved in the water, or is melted, and incorporated with the water. And having done this, not allowing the glue to cool, but keeping it at a moderate heat with a slow fire, for fear it should be congealed, so that it could not be used, write and draw whatever you wish with this glue, upon a linen or other cloth, or upon sindcme, or even on parchment, or paper, with a soft pen, or a small paintbmdi of hogs' bristles, which brush must be obtuse, that is, must have short bristles which are stiff or hard, that is to say, like those which are used to mark the canvass upon bales of goods with ink ; and write, fill in, or paint, and draw any letters or other broad designs, whatever they may be, with the said stiff and blunt paintbrush. But if you are working on fine cloths or sindone, and on parchment and paper, it is better for the paintbrush to be made of the hairs of the tails of minever, blunt or pointed as you see best, according to the nature of the work you have to do. When you have done this, leave it to dry, and aft;erwards with the same glue go again over those things which were drawn before, particularly on cloth and sindone, which usually absorb the first coat of size so strongly, that scarcely any of it remains upon the surfiu*e to hold the gold which is to be laid on them. It is therefore proper to lay it on twice, if it should seem necessary ; afterwards at the last coat, before the letters and drawings are dry, apply the gold and allow them to dry. And know, that if the cloth, sindone, paper, and parchment, on which the gold is laid in the above men- tioned manner, are folded into a crease, and rubbed, as some- times happens accidentally, and not by violent and voluntary force, yet the gold laid on in this manner will not fall off, or be spoiled. This is because the size, with which the gold is laid on, or with which the mordant is tempered, if a mordant is used, makes the mordant itself less rigid and more flexible and yielding, by reason of its soft condition and nature, than the white of egg, which is firmer and stiffer. ALCHERIUS DE COLORIBUS DIVER8IS, ETC. 269 ita quod non bulliat sed solum calefiat, usque ad hoc quod colla fundatur in aqua seu sit liquefacta et incorporata cum aqua. £t hoc facto, non permittendo infrigidari colam, sed tenendo ipsam ad temperatam caliditatem cum lento igne, ne congluti- netur, ita quod de ipsa possit operari, scribe et pertrahe quod ▼is de ipsa cola super telam lineam vel aliam, vel super sindo- nem, aut etiam super papirum, aut pergamenum, seu cartam cum calamo non duro rel cum pincello parvo setarum porci, qui pincellus sit obtusus, id est, habeat setas curtas ut sint rigidae seu diurae, yiz., sicut sunt pincelli ad signandum balas mercium super earum cavenatiis [canevatiis 7] cum incausto ; et scribe, imple, seu pinge et pertrahe, quascumque literas et alias per- tractiones grossas, quaeque sint, fac cum dicto pincello sicrigido et obtuso. Sed si operaris in telis subtilibus ; vel in sindone, et in carta, aut in papiro, melius est quod pincellus sit de pilis cau- darum vayrorum, obtusus vel acutus secundum quod videbis magis convenire juxta qualitatem operum fadendorum. £t hoc facto dimittas siccari, postea de eadem cola rescribe et re- imple iterum semel, et repertrahe quae pertracta jam fiierant ; specialiter super telam et sindonem quae solent lambere tarn fortiter primam colam, quod de ipsa quasi nil remanet in super- ficie eorum quo possit aurum desuper ponendum teneri. Ideo advertatur de ponendo vis si necesse videatur, et postea, ad ultimam vicem, antequam siccentur literae et pertractiones pone aurum desuper et dimitte siccari. Et scias, quod dato quod tela, sindon, papirus, et carta, ubi positum erat aurum modo supradicto, complicentur in rigam et fricentur sicut accidit a casu, et non cum rigore yiolento et voluntario, tamen aurum illo modo positum, non cadit, seu non vastatur, etiam quia cola qua positum est aurum, vel qua temperatus est color de quo positum est aurum si de colore ponatur, reddit colorem ipsum magis flexibilem, non rigidum, et consentientem contingentibus ilexionibus ex sua moUi conditione et natura, quam facit clara ovi quae fortior et rigidior est 270 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN US BEOUS. 293. A good rote colour for linen cloth, nndcney ment, or paper, end primed paneU, i$ made in this wtof. — Take braeilium rasped or scraped with a knife, or widi ^>Bsm, pounded in a mortar ; but it is much bett^ to bare it scraped ; then let it be put with a little raw alum in powder into a ley, or into urine. Then make it boil for a loi^ time OYet a -charcoal fire, not a wood fire, lest by chance the smoke, which the wood makes, should spoil the colour. Afterwards let it be strained through a linen cloth, retaining in tiie cloth the substance of the wood brasilium, lest it should be mixed with the colour that is to be made, and then let it be put into a glazed jar with white chalk or gersa [gesso], in powder, or with powdered bracha [biacha — ^biacca], whidi is otherwise called white lead, otherwise ceruse, otherwise Spanidi white ; and let it be allowed to incorporate with the said chalk or c»tua Next let it be ground altogether upon a hard stone widioiit add- ing water or urine, on the contrary, keeping it as little liquid, t.e., as thick as it can be ground ; and althou^ it should be less liquid than it was at the begmning before it was ground, and yet not sufficiently thickened in the grinding, because the water of the ley or the urine had not been sufficiently poured off or dried ; let the colour be put to dry upon a hollow stone of dialk or gersa, or upon a concave brick made of clay, and baked in the furnace, which will immediately absorb the mcnstnre of the ley, so that the colour remains suddenly almost dry, t.e., inspis* sated. Afterwards let the colour be put away ; and when it is necessary to use it, take whatever is wanted of it and temper it with white of egg, or with gum water made of gum arabic, in the way cinnabar is used. But if it is used with white of egg, it shines where it is used, and is more beauti- ful. And write and draw and paint with this colour what- ever is wanted on parchment, and primed panels, as well with the pen as with the paintbrush. And the less cenue or chalk there is in it the darker will be the colour ; and so, on the other hand, the more there is of it the lighter the colour will be. ALCHEEIUS DE COLORIBUS DIVBRSIS, ETC. 271 293. Color roses boims in tela lineoj sindonej papirOf perffa- menOj seu carta et in tabulis dealbatisjit hoc modo. — ^Aocipe bri* silium raspatum seu rasum cum eultello vel cum vitro aut pis- turn in mortario, sed multo melius tamen est habere rasum ; deinde cum pauco aluminis crudi pulyerizati pouatur in lexivio vel in urina hominis ebriatoris quae optima est, et melior est Vetera et diu facta quam nova. £t fac bullire diu ad igoem carbonum ; non lignonmi, ne iumus quern ligna feununt vastet oolorem. £t postea coletur dictus color ita callidus per telam lineam, dimittendo in tela substanciam ligni brisilii ne immis- ceatur colori {ajciendse, postea ponatur in vase vitreato cum creta seu gersa alba pulverizata vel cum bracha pulverizata quse aliter dicitur album plumbum aliter cerusa, atque aliter album Hispanic, et dimittatur incorporari cum ipsa creta vel cerosio. Et postea teratur totum simul super lapi* dem durum absque addendo aquam nee urinam ymo minus liquidum, i.e,j magis spissum quam teri poterit vel possit; deinde si minus liquidus erit quam sic esset a principio ante- quam tereretur, et quod terendo nou satis inspissatus fuerit, quod aquositas lexivii vel urinae non erat satis comminuta et desiccata ponatur ad siccandum super concava lapide cretse vel gersse aut super latere concavo facto de terra et cocto in fomace, qui subito bibunt humiditatem lexivii taliter quod remanet color subito quasi siccus, viz., inspissatus. Postea reponatur et quando oportet operari accipiant de illo quantum necesse sit, et distem- peretur cum clara ovi vel cum aqua gummata de gummi arabico ut distemperatur cinobrium. Sed si distemperatur cum claro ovi, relucet cum in opere est, et pulcrior est. £t scribantur ex eo et pertrabantur ac pingantur in carta in papiro et in tabu- lis dealbatis de ipso colore, quae velint tam cum calamo quam cum pincello. £t quanto erit in ipso minus de cerusa aut de creta, tanto erit color plus obscurus ; et quanto plus, sic con- verso magis clarus. 272 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. 294. A blue colour^ that isj azure, which is -not uUramariae^ nor is it so beautiful, but which is good en linen^ sindtme^ parchment, or paper, and primed panels, that is panels covered with gersa. — Take fine indigo, which is called by the iian^ of Bagadely and Spanish white, otherwise called cerate or blacha, and mix both together, and grind them on a hard stone, with white of egg beaten and mixed widi pure water, or with gum water, made with gum Arabic, and in tiie manner in which sinobrium, that is, sinopis is ground when alone. When it is ground, temper it in a shell or a horn with the clear part of beaten white of egg, not mixed with water, as has been already directed for the rose colour, and write or draw what- ever you want with this colour. This is Ihe way in whidi it must be made if you wish to use it immediately. But iTyoo do not want this colour for immediate use, but wish to keep it, you must not add any egg or gum water to it when you grind it on the stone, but only mix it with pure and clean water ; and when it is ground up with water, let it dry up or inqpiraate upon a brick of baked clay, or a hollow stone of white chalk, which immediately absorbs the moisture in sudi a manner, that the colour remains thickened and like juice, and afterwards allow it to dry completely in the shade, or in the sun, and put it away and preserve it And when you wish to use it, take some of it and temper it in a shell or a horn, with white of eg^ not mixed with water, or even with the said gum water, and make it of a reasonable and moderate softness or liquidity, ac- cording to what is required for the work you intend to do with it, and just as you would do with sinopis. And the lighter or less dark you require it, the more blacha or ceruse you must mix with it ; and, on the other hand, the darker you wish it, the less you must put of the said ceruse, that is, white-lead, that is to say, while you are -grinding the colour upon the stone. 295. To make letters of a green colour, and to draw and paint all other things on linen^ parchment, or paper, primed panels, and sindone. — ^Take fine indigo, called Bagadel, and ALCHERIUS DE C0L0RIBU8 DIVERSIS. 273 294. Color blauetus id est celestis, qui non est de lazurio^ nee tarn pulcher^ et est bonus in tela linea^ sindone^ papiro, perga- meno seu carta et in tabulis dealbatis^ id est gersatis. — ^Accipe Indicum finum qui cognomine bagadellus vocatur, et de albo hispaniae aliter cerusium vel blacham^ et misc^ ambo simul et tere super lapidem durum cum claro ovi spongiato et mixto aqua clara, aut cum aqua gummata de gummi arabico, et ad modum quo teritur siuobrium solum, id est sinopis ; et post- quam erit tritum, distempera in conehilla yel in comato cum claro oyi spongia liquidato, non mixtum aqua ut dictum est antea de colore rosse, et scribe et pertrahe qu^ vis cum ipso colore. £t hie est modus quo fieri debet, volendo ipsum de prsesenti ponere in opere. Sed si non vis ipsum colorem de prsesenti ponere in opere et quod velis ipsum servare, debes isto modo nullum ovum nee aquam gummatum ponere quum ipsum teris super lapidem, ymo solum ponas de aqua mimda pura et simplici, et cum tritum sit cum aqua, fac ipsum siccari vel inspissari super laterem terrse coctum aut super laterem coctse albae concarum qui subito bibit humiditatem aquae taliter, quod remanet color subito inspissatus et quasi succus ; et postea desiccari penitus permittas ad iimbram aut ad solem et repone et serra. Et cum vis operari accipe de ipso et distempera in conehilla rel in cometo cum claro ovi non mixto aqua, vel etiam mixto vel cum dicta aqua gummata, et fSsu; ipsum de ra- tionabili et moderata moUitie, seu liquidate secundum quod requiritur in faciendo ea quae vis de ipso facere et sicut de sino- pide faceres. £t quanto vis clariorem seu minus obscurum, taato pone plus de blacha seu cerosio ; et e converse, quanto vis magis obscurum, pone minus de dicto cerosio, id est de albo plumbo, scilicet quando teres ipsum colorem super lapidem. 295. Ad faciendum literas viridis coloris et ad protrdhendum et pingendum omnia alia in tela in papiro in carta seu perga- meno in tabulis ligneis dealbatis et in sindone. — Accipe Indicum VOL. I. T 274 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BECUCL orpiment, and mix and grind them together upon a bard stooe with clear water from a well or a spring, and it will be a grea colour, and the lighter yon require it, the more orpiiiieBt you must add ; and the darker you require it, the less aqnnieot you must put, and the more indigo. When jou have gnnnid it very fine, let it dry ; and if it is put upon a stone of white chalk, that is gersa, or upon a clay brick baked in the fbmaoe, and concave so that it may hold the colour, the moisture will directly dry up or be absorbed into the stone, and tbe ooloiir itself will remain hard and thick, and you may then allow it to dry by itself, and when it is dry, put it away and keep it. ^nd when you wish to use it, take as much as you want of if^ and put it into a horn, or into a shell which is found in firesh wat^, or even a sea-shell that is fit for this purpose, and temper it with white of egg, or with gum water, as is done with sinopis, and with it write and draw whatever you like, in the same manner as is done with vermilion or sinopis. But if, oraittn^ and not putting the indigo, you mix fine ultramarine witb the said orpiment instead of indigo, you will have a much finer green. 296. To prepare parchment, or paper, primed panels^ and linen, so that you may be Me to draw upon them in blaA, with a pencil or stile of gold, silver, bronze, or brass, as is dcme upon panels of boxwood whitened or covered with bone or sta^s- horn burnt and whitened in the fire. — Take bones of any animal or bird, or stag's-hom, which is better, and bum it, and make it wliite and friable and soft by long and violent boiling, and afterwards grind it upon a hard stone with pure water. Then put it on a brick of baked clay or of white chalk, that the moisture may enter into it, and that the bone may remain thickened and almost dry. Remove it from the stone, and bum it a second time in a charcoal fire, and make it perfectly white and fine in a crucible in which silver or gold is usually melted, and aft;erwards, that it may be made still more fine and white, grind it a second time upon a stone with water, in the same way as you did before ; and then if you wish to use ALCHERIUS D£ COLORIBUS DIVER8I8. 275 finum quod bagadellum nominatur, et auripigmentum, et misce et tere simul super lapidem durum, cum aqua putei vel fontis clara et erit color viridis. £t quanto volueris ipsum ma^ clarum, pone magis de auripigmento. £t quanto magis obscu- mm pcHie minus de dicto auripigmento et plus de Indico. £t cum tritus sit valde subtiliter, pone ad siccandum, et si po- natur super lapidem album cretae i. e. gersae aut super laterem de terra coctum in fomace et concavum ita quod capax sit colons, subito aquositas siccabitur seu intrabit in ipso lapide et color remanebit durus et spissus, et postea permittas per se siccari et cum siccus sit repone et serva. Et quando vis de ipso operari, accipe quantum vis de ipso et pone in cornu vel in concbilla quae reperitur in aquis dulcibus vel etiam in mari apta ad hoc et distempera cum claro ovi, aut cum aqua gum- mata ut fit sinopis, et de illo scribe pinge et pertrahe quae vis ut fit de vermiculo seu sinopide. Sed si cum dicto auropig- mento, loco Indid, praemisso Indico et non posito, misceris finum azurium multo pulcriorem viridem habebis. 296. Ad aptandum papirumj et pergamenum^ teu cartam^ td- hulas liffneas et telam^ modo quo possis super ipsas protrahere nigrOj cum grossio seu stilo aurij argenti, latonis^ vel csrisj sicut super tabulas busuli dealbatas seu intinctas cum osse vel cornu cervi combusto et deaJbato in igne. — ^Accipe de osse cujusvis ani- malis vel avis, aut de cornu cervi, quod melius est, et arde illud et albifica et tritibilem et dulcem facies longa et forti de* coctione, postea tere super duro lapide cum aqua clara ; postea pones super latere terrae coctae, aut cretae albae, ut in ipso entret humiditas et inspissetur et remaneat ut quasi siccum : postea eleva a lapide, et iterum in ignem carbonem secundo decoque et perfectissime albifica et subtilem facies illud in cru* sibulo in quo solet fondi argentnm vel aurum ; postea ut iterum magis subtilietur et dealbetur, tere illud secundo super lapidem cum aqua ut piius feceras ; deinde si prompte vis operare, de ipso distempera quantum velis in concbilla vel in scutella figuli t2 276 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGUE. it immediately, wet up as much of it as you require in a sheB or a glazed earthen jar, with size made from glue or from (dip- pings of white leather or parchment, and which must be of a moderate consistence and warmtk Having done ibis as di- rected, paint or draw with it, with a broad paint-brushy upoa paper which has been polished with a boar's tooth. Also by it over parchment, cloth, sindone, and wooden panels, and permit it to dry. And then, if the first coat is not sufficient ftr it (which may be known by drawing on it with a stile of brassy or bronze, or copper, or still better of silver, and seeing whetber it makes black marks or not), you must give it another coat of the said bone-dust, keeping it warm in the vase in which it stands over a slow fire, particularly in winter, lest it should be congealed by the cold, on account of the glue with which it is mixed, which hardens with cold ; afterwards let it dry, and try it again by drawing upon it with a stile as before. And so you must apply this bone or horn as many times as you see neces- sary, though it is true that the second coat usually suffices, and frequently the first. And note, that if you wish the paper, after it is thus painted, to be very smooth and polished and with- out any inequalities or roughnesses, that it may be better to draw upon, you must polish and burnish it, holding it under another paper not painted on, upon which you must rub a boar's tooth, or a hard and polished stone, or any other instrument fit for burnishing. And know, that if you wish to make this pre- paration of various colours, it is necessary, while grindii^ the horn or bone upon the said stone, and wetting it in a shell or a glazed earthen vessel, when you wish to paint the paper, that you should mix with the horn or bone whatever colours you wish, separately, which must however be ground very fine upon the said stone with pure water. Afterwards, if any of the said horn remain, whether white or coloured, it can be preserved, because, although what remains becomes dry by keeping, it may still be of use to lay upon other paper, like any other colours, by being wetted up with pure water, not sized; because, although the water of the first wetting dries up, yet the glue of ALCHERIUS DE COLORIBUS DIVERSIS. 277 vitriata, cum aqua colata de cola seu de incisuris corii albi vel pergameni, et quod sit colata moderato modo et tepida. His itaque talimodo factis pinge vel pertrahe de ipso cum pincello grosso super papyrum quod primo sit lissatum cum dente apri. Item pinge de eo pergamenum telam sindonem et tabulas lig- neas, et permitte siccari ; postea, si prima depinctio facta non sufficit, quod scitur protrahendo desuper cum stilo aeris vel latonis aut cupri ; et melior esset de argento ; si non bene per- trahit nigros tractus. Quod si sic sit debes iterum repingere de eodem osse, tenendo ipsum tepidum in vase in quo est lento igni, praecipue si sit in hyeme ne conglutinetur ex frigore pro cola qua temperatus est, et quae pro frigore induratur ; postea dimitte siccari et iterum tempta protrahendo desuper cum stilo ut prius. Ita sic ipsum ossem vel comu totiens ponas quotiens videbis esse necessarium, dato quod verum est quod si secunda vice pingatur, solet sufficere et multotiens pro prima. £t nota quod si velis ipsum papirum postquam taliter pictus sit esse valde politum et equale absque fossulis et scabrositatibus ut melior sit ad protrahendum super, ipsum Hsses et bumias te- nendo ipsum sub uno alio papiro non picto super quem trahes imprimendo dentem apri, aut lapidem durum politum, aut aliud instrumentum ad bumiendum aptum. £t scias quod si de diversis coloribus ipsas depictiones facere velis, oportet quod terendo comu vel osse super dictum lapidem distemperando illud in conchilla vel scutella figuli vitriata, quando papirum vel cartam vis pingere, quod in ipso comu vel osse misceas separatim quales colores velis, tritos tamen ut subtiliores super lapidem cum aqua clara. Postea si de dicto comu tam albo quam de coloribus remanent partes illae residuae possunt ser- vari, quia dato quod resedentiae postea stando siccentur, possunt tamen sicut est de omnibus aliis coloribus adhuc alias valere ad ponendum in opere, scilicet distemperata cum aqua clara non colata ; quia dato quod aqua primse distemperaturae sit desic- cata, tamen iterum remanet ibidem cola ipsius primae distem- perationis, quae sufficit; quia in exbalatione et desiccatione aquositatis primae distemperaturae, non frustrata nee exalata 278 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. the first wetting still remains there, and in sufficient quandtv ; for in the exhalation and evaporation of the moistore of the first wetting, the strength or substance of llie glue is not ex- haled or evaporated, but only the water. And if any of the first quantity of bone or horn, not mixed with any colour cr glue remains in the vase, shell, or saucer, you may put it on a lump of chalk, or on a brick of baked clay, that the wato" which is contained in it may be dried up, and may be exposed to the air or the sun, that it may dry completely ; and after- wards, when you wish to use it, you must temper it ^wiih size as originally directed, as there is not any size or glue mixed with it. You can also colour it with various colours, Tnixrng them with it, as before, according to your taste, as above men- tioned. And note, that if you have no stag^s-hom, tbe bones of the stag are good, as also those of any other animal or bird, as has been already mentioned. ) ALCH£RIUS D£ COLORIBUS DIVERSIS. 279 est virtus nee substantia colse, sed solum aqua. Et si de primo osse vel comu non mixto de colore uUo et in quo non est cola remanebit uUa pars in vase seu scutella vel in conchilla, potes ipsum ponere super lapidem cretae, aut super laterem terrse coctae, ut siccetur aqua quae in ipso est et reponere ad aerem vel ad solem, ut ex toto desiccetur, et postea quum de ipso eges ad operandum, debes illud distemperare cum aqua colata ut prius dictum est. Ex hoc quia in ipso non Aierat umquam cola seu aqua ulla colata. Et potes etiam colare illud de diversis coloribus, ut prius commiscendo eos in ipso ad libitum tuum, ut dictiun est supra. Et nota, quod si non babes comu cervi, pro faciendo quod dictum est, bona sunt ossa sua et etiam ut supra est declaratum ossa aliorum animalium et avium. ( 280 ) A TREATISE UPON VARIOUS COIOUBS, AND FIB8T THE INTRODUCTION. 297. In the year of the Circumcision of our liord Jesus Christ, 1398, on Thursday, the 8th day of Au- gust, Johannes Alcherius wrote, and noted down, at Paris, in the house of Anthonio de Compendio, an UJu- minator of books, and an old man, according to the words told him by the said Anthonius, who, as he said, had tried, during the whole time of his life, all the fol- lowing recipes, namely, the following chapters concern- ing colours for illuminating books. And afterwards, in the year 1411, in the month of December, the same Johannes, who had then returned more than one year from Lombardy, namely, from Bolc^a, where there was a curia apostolica newly united, corrected them in many places, according to further information, which he subsequently received by means of several auth^itic books treating of such subjects, and otherwise; and copied them fairly as follows : — 298. For laying gold upon various articles, so that it may be burrdshedy and various cautions concertdng it, for iUund^ noting. — To lay gold on parchment, or paper, and on wooden panels primed with white chalk, which gold may be bumiabed or polished. Take gersa, or white chalk, and a little ocra de ru, equal to one-third part of the chalk, and pound them botb together, and grind as thick as you can, i. e. with little water, ( 281 ) DE DIYERSIS COLORIBUS m SEQUENTI TBACTATU, ET PRIMO MODUS PBOHEMII. 297. Anno circumcisionis domini Jesu Christ! 1398 die Jovis octavo Augusti, Johannes Aherius scripsit et notavit in Parisiis in domo Anthonii de Compendio il- luminatoris librorum, antiqui hominis, a verbis qusa ipse Anthonius sibi dixit. Et qui omnia quae sequuntur ten- taverat toto tempore vitae suae, ut dixit, de coloribus scilicet ad illuminandum libros, sequentia capitula. Et postea anno 1411 de mense decembris, idem Johannes qui jam per plusquam annimi reversus fuerat a partibus Lombardisa^ viz., a Bononia, ubi erat curia apostolica noviter unita, correxit in pluribus partibus ea, secundum plures informationes quas inde postea per plures libros autentiquos de talibus narrantes, et aliter habuerat, et rescripsit ea ad nettum ut sequitur. 298. Ad ponendum aurum super diversis quod bumiatur, et de diversis cautelis utendis super hoc, illuminando. — Ad ponen- dum aurum in papiro, in pergameno, seu carta, et in tabulis ligneis, creta alba dealbatis, quod aurum bumiatur seu polia- tur. Accipe gersam seu cretam albam et modicum ocrse de ru, per tertiam partem quantitatis cretae et totum simul sub- tilia, et tere cum aqua clara magis spissum quam poteris, 282 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGUE. upon a smooth hard stone, with a muller also made of Afterwards put the colour, which is otherwise called the pera or size of the gold, in a shell or a glazed earthen saucer, or a glass vase. And when you wish to use it, take as mwch as you like of it in another smaller shell, and temper it to a. reasonable softness or consistence, with whipped white of egj^ in order to paint or write with it ; and if you hare time, allov the mordant to get stale, for several days or weeks, for it will be better putrid than fresh. Afterwards write, paint, and draw whatever you like, and where you like, and let it dry. Then* when you wish to lay on the gold, go into a closed place and choose a proper time, as has been before mentioned. And having chosen a fit time and place, and used the proper precaufioos, lay the gold on those parts of the parchment or paper on which you put the colour or mordant, and draw over it, first pre^if lightly, and aft;erwards more forcibly, the burnisher^ namely, the tooth of a boar or a horse, and polish the said gold mitil it adheres to the colour, and becomes shining, a3 was said befiire. Therefore, when the gold is to be laid on, the mordant which was left from a previous gilding is better than any other, pro- vided that in the interval, by looking at it, stirring it and mixing egg or water with it, it has been kept sufiiciently liquid, so that it may not be completely dried up, or have been too much putrified or altered. 299. To make a rose colour. — To make a rose colour for painting on parchment, paper, and wooden panels primed with chalk. Take brixillium scraped very fine with a knife or with glass, and tie it in a fine piece of linen, not tight, but loose and easy. And put it, tied up in that manner, into a new glazed earthen jar, to soak in ley, or in urine : and if the urine is stale, so much the better. If you cannot have any such, take very strong ley and put with the said piece of linen containing the brixillium, some of the white chalk of three or four times the weight of the brixillium, more or less, as by looking at it you may think fit, accordii^ to the goodness of the brixillium. Afterwards add some ALCHEBIUS D£ COLORIBUS DIVEBSIS. 283 i. e. cum pauca aqua, super lapidem equalem durum cum mol- leta lapidis similiter. Poetea pone ipsum colorem qui aliter tempera vel assisia ami dicitur, in conchilla aut in scutella figuli vitriata, aut in vase vitri. £t cum operari vis, accipe de ipso in concIiiUa alia parviori quantum yis et modera ipsum cum claro ovi spongiato ad rationabilem mollitiem seu liquida- tem pro pingendo aut scribendo de ipso, et si babes tempus cum temperaveris, dimittas inveterari per plures dies vel septi* manas ipsam temperam, quia melior erit putrida quam recens. Postea de ipso scribe pinge et pertrahe quae vis et ubi vis et di- mittas siccari. Postea sis in loco recluso cum aurum vis ponere et elige tempus idoneum ut supradictum est Et habitis idoneis loco et tempore et remediis; ponas aurum in locis cartas aut pa- pyri quibus ipsum colorem vel assisiam posuisti, et super trahe, et premendo primo leviter, postea fortius bumissorem, scilicet dentem apri vel eqid et polias tantum dictum aurum quam ad- baereat colori et lucidum fiat ut supra jam dictum est. Ideo cum aurum poni vult, color talis remansus de alia positione auri alias facta melior est dum ex interpolata visitatione de- ductione et ovi aut aquse interpositione conservatus sit in debita liquiditate, ita quod ad totalem siccitatem vel nimiam putre- factionem et alterationem deductus non sit. 299. Ad faciendum Bosam. — Ad faciendum rosam pro ope- rando in carta, et in papiro, et in ligneis tabulis creta dealbatis. Accipe brixillium rasum subtiliter cum cultello vel cum vitro, et liga in subtili pecia lini non stricte sed late et fluctuanter. Et sic ligatum pone in vase figuli vitriato novo ad temperan- dum in lixivio aut in urina hominis ebriatoris potantis forte vinum, et si urina sit Vetera tanto melius, et si non possis habere talem, accipe lessivium fortissimum et pone de creta alba in ipso lessivio, cum dicta petia in qua &st brixillium et per quantitatem de tribus vel quatuor ricibus quantitatis brix- illii ad pondus et etiam sicut inspiciendo melius videbis cbnve- nire plus et minus secundum bonitatem brixillii. Postea pone f 284 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUC. pulverized raw alum, in quantity about ooe-fourtli part of chalk or thereabouts, more or less, and mix all tiiese tldn^ together, always leaving the said brixillium tied up in the said piece of linen, and leave it so for about one hour. Next^ place the jar upon a fire, not of wood, but of charcoal, let it boil, but not too fast, for the space of a qnaFter of hour or less, so as just to melt the alum. Then take the said bag of brixillium out of the vase, and press it and screw it out well, in order that the whole of the colour may run out of it into the said vase ; and then remove the colour, hot as it isy from the fire, and put it on a hollow lump of chalk or upon a brick of baked clay, in order that the urine or ley may be im- mediately absorbed into the stone, and the colour itself remaia thickened and half dry. Afterwards let it dry completely in the sun, and then remove the colour, which is of a rose colour, from the stone or brick virith a knife, and put it by for use. When you widi to use it, take as mudi as yon require and powder it, that is, grind it upon a hard and smooth stone with gum water, which must be made of two-thiid parts of gum arabic dissolved in so small a quantity of water as barely to cover the colour when the water is added and stnuned through a linen cloth, and one-third part of clear water mixed with the said gum so dissolved and strained. And with the gum water, thus made, temper your rose colour to a proper consistence, and use it for whatever you please, as well for writing, as fa- painting and drawing. 300. To make corrosive ffreen^ without substance or body, — To make a green transparent in its nature, and without body, that is, having no substance, such, for example, as is the colour of safiron, t. e. of crocus, which does not cover up other colours so as to conceal them, on account of its thinness, transparency, and rarity, owing to which other colours appear through it, wherefore this colour as well as the said green colour is over- powered, and shows little or not at all, nor can it be much seen over other colours. But this green colour is not mild like saffron, on the contrary it is, by nature, acrid and corrosive, so ALCHERIUS DE COLORIBUS DIVERSIS. 285 de alamine glaro crudo pisto in pulverem, quod sit tantum quantum est quartum dictae cretas vel circa, et autem plus quam minus, et misceas haec omnia insimul dimittendo semper ligatum in dicta pecia dictum brixillium et dimittens sic per horam unam vel circa. Postea ponas vas ad ignem non ligno- rum sed carbonum et bulliant non nimis fortiter et per spatium quartse partis hor« vel minus, ita quod solum alumen fondatur. Postea de ipso vase tollatur dicta peda brixillii et exprimatur et extorqueatur fortiter ut color de ipsa totaliter exeat in eodem vase ; postea tollatur ipse color ita callidus ab igne et ponatur super lapidem cretse ooneavs vel super lapidem de terra &c^ ad boc quod urina seu lessivia intret in lapidem subito et color ipse remaneat ibi inspissatos et semisiccus. Postea facias ex toto siccari ad solem, deinde eleva ipsum colorem, quae rosa est cum cultello a lapide vel latere, et repone servando pro usu. Et cum de ipsa operari vis, accipe de ipsa quantum vis et subtilia, id est tere super lapidem durum et planum cum aqua gummata quae fit per duas partes gummi arabici fiisi in tam pauca aqua, quod pene cooperiatur ipsa aqua cum in ipsam po- nitur aqua, et colati postea per telam lineam, et per tertiam partem fit aqua clara insimul cum dicto gummi fiiso et colato ; et de ipsa aqua gommata ipso modo factam distempera dictam rosam ad debitam moUitiem et operaberis de ipsa qus volueris, tam scribendo quam pingendo ac protrahendo. 300. Ad faciendum viride corrosivum absque eubstantia $eu corpari. — ^Ad faciendum viride in substantia clarum et non cor- pulentum id est substantiam non habentero, ut verbi gratia clarus atque sine substantia est color safran, i. e. croci qui non cooperit alios colores pro ejus subtilitate claritate et raritate, qua alii colores apparent per medium ipsum, et ex hoc ipse pro raritate sua ut et dictus color viridis remanet obfiiscatus, et nil vel minimum apparet, neque multum apparere potest super alios colores. Sed ipse color viridis non est dulcis sicut est dictus color croci, ymo ex sua natura est acer et corrosivus. 286 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN L£ BE6UE. that it destroys and corrodes otber colours if it is pot orcr them, or they over it^ and this on account of the Terdigris which is in it ; and such is its nature, and it is used npoo parchment and paper. Take verdigris and a little of the dried lees of wine, which in Latin is called tartarus, and ii French gravelled and pulverize it and grind both the ing;red]eoti together ijpon a hard and smooth stone with vinegar. After- wards draw all those things which you wish, both in pardunent and paper, and the empty spaces which are between the lineg of black ; afterwards fill in with the green colour made in tke above manner, and colour according to your taste, tiie things which you have so drawn as aforesaid. And note, that no other colour can be laid over this green colour, as has beea already observed, nor can it be laid over others ; nor can it be used otherwise than by itself and upon white paper and paidi- ment, because this green colour, made as above, is ccMrrosive and acrid, and, by reason of its acrid nature, it destroys other colours, as has been already mentioned above. 301. To make a green colour^ which has body and is not cot" rosive. — To make a mild green body colour, for painting on parchment, on paper, on linen, and on primed wooden panels. -Take verdigris and the juice of the herb which is called in French Jlamma^ and strain the juice of the herb through a linen cloth, and grind up the aforesaid green with it upon a stone, adding a little gum water to it. Then put it into a shell or a glazed earthen saucer, and temper it with the gum water, and the juice of that herb. The gum water must be made of clear gum arabic, and must be strained, lest, when tbe gum is poured into the colour, it should contain any straws, eartli, or other impurities. Aft;erwards write, draw, and paint what- ever you like with this green colour, and note, that the juice of rue would be better than that of the above written herb fer putting into the above-mentioned composition of the sidd greeo » Anglice " Tartar." * Flambc, Glayeul. It. Gladiola ; E. Comflag ; L. Gladiolus Comraoois. ALCHERIUS D£ COLORIBUS DIVEBSIS. 287 taliter quod destruit et rodit alios colores si ponatur super ipsos, vel ipsi super ipsum, et hoc pro viride seris qui in ipso ponitur et est talis conditionis et ponitur in carta et in papiro. Accipe viride seris et modicum de fsece vini sicca, quae dicitur in latino tartarus et in gallico gravella^ et subtilia et tere super lapidem durum et planum insimul quae dicta sunt cum aceto. Postea omnia quae in carta et in papiro protrahere vis, protrahe, ac va- cuum, viz. per lineas de colore scilicet nigro, postea de ipso colore viridi sic facto ut dictum est colora ad libitum ea quae ut dictum est protraxeris. £t nota quod super ipsum colorem viridem ut dictum est, nullus alter color debet poni neque ipse super alios nisi solum super cartam albam vel papirum, et non super colorem aliquem album artificiatum seu pictum, quia ipse color viridis illo modo factus est fortis seu acer et pro sua acri- tudine destruit alios colores ut supra jam dictum est. 301. Ad faciendum colorem viridem cum corpore et non cor- rosivum, — Ad faciendum colorem viridem dulcem et corpulen- tum, pro operando in pergameno, in papiro, in telis, et in tabulis ligneis dealbatis. Accipe viridem aeris seu arani et succum herbae quae dicitur in gallico flamma et ipsum succum herbae cola per telam lineam et cum ipso tere super lapidem viridem suprascriptum addendo aliquantulum de aqua gom- mata, postea ipsum pone in conchella, vel in scutella figuli vitriata, et distempera cum dicta aqua gummata et cum dicto succo ipsius herbae, et dicta aqua gummata debet fieri de gum- mi arabico lucido, et coUata, ne cum infusum sit gummi in ipsa, adsint in ipsa uUaepalleae, terra vel aliae turpitudines. Et pos- tea de ipso colore viridi scribe protrahe et pinge quae vis. Et nota quod succus rutae esset melior quam suprascriptae herbae ad po- nendum in dicta compositioni dicti viridis colons. Et alii sunt 1 288 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BBGUE. colour. There are some persons who put the juic5e of oerfaa other herbs. Hie aforesaid colour is such that you may paint upoa it with other colours, and lay gold upon it, &c, in the saxK manner as upon sinopis or idtramarine, or upon rosa, and other similar things, because there is no vinegar in it, and the acrid nature of the verdigris is corrected by the juice of the said herb. 302. Introduction to the foUcwing chapter ^ ayfuxmiing th^ tnarmer of moMng writvy inL Also in the aforesaid year, 1398, on Saturday tlie xijth daj of Octo- ber, the aforesaid Johannes Alcherius wrote at Paris, and a this place, after the preceding^, added this chapter conoemiBg^ the way to make good atramentum, or incaustum, which chapter had been long previously, even before the year 1382, given to hni in writing at Milan, by the since deceased Master Alberto Pat- zello, who was most perfect in all kinds of writing and fonn of letters, and who, while he lived, kept a school at Milan, and taught boys and young men to write ; and who, as he said, had frequently tried and made ink in the manner described in thii chapter, and had found it very good, as he told the said Johanaec And the said Johannes, himself, afterwards tried this method al Milan, and also found it very good. And afterwards in the aud year, 1382, in the month of March, when the said Johannes Alcherius went from Milan to Paris, he carried with him a copy of the said recipe, which is as follows. But afterwards, in the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 1411, in the month of Decern- ber, having then been returned to Paris more than one year from Lombardy — viz., from Bologna, from the newly-formed Apostoiica] ctota, he corrected in some places the following recipes, and copied . them fairly as follows : — 303. To make ink for writing. — Observe that dioice and tried writing ink must be made in this way. Take iij ounces of galls, the goodness of which may be known by their being wrinkled. Take an equal quantity of gum arable, the good- ness of which may be known by its being bright and easily broken, and the smallest is the best. Item. Take 3]^ oz. of Roman vitriol [sulphate of copper ?], the goodness of which may be known by its being of a blue colour, and solid, and coarse after the manner of coarse salt. Afterwards take four pounds, ALCHERIUS DE C0L0RIBU8 DIVERSIS. 289 qui ponunt succos quarundam alianim herbanira. Et color Buprascriptus est talis qilod potest super ipso pinge cum aliis coloribus, et super ipso pooi aurum etc. sicuti posset fieri super sinopide vel super lazurio, vel super rosa et aliis similibus, quia ibi non est acetum, et acritudo viridis aeris mitigata est ex dicto 8U0C0 herbae. 302. Prohemium super capitulo sequenti de modo ad facien- dum, incatutum pro scribejido. Item anno pnedicto 1398, die sabeti xii. Octobris, antedictus Johannes Alcherius acripeit in Parisiis, et hie post preoedentem addidit hoc capitulum de modo faciendi bonom atramentum sen' incaustum ad scribeudum, quod capitulum jam diu usque ante annum 1382 sibi dederat in scriptis in Mediolano nunc quondam magister JJbertua Pcrzdbu perfectiasimus in omnibus modis scribendi et formis lite- rarum, qui tunc dum vixit tenuitscolas in Mediolano et docebat pueros et juvenes ad scribendum. Et qui temptaverat ipsemet multotiens et fecerat attramentum in modum in ipso capitulo con- tentum, et invenerat valde bonum ut dixit dicto Johanni.' £t postea dictus Johannes ipsum modum temptavit Mediolano et invenit similiter valde bonum. £t postea dicto anno 1382 de mense Martii, quum dictus Johannes Alcherius ivit a Mediolano Parisiis, portayit secum copiam dicti capituli que talis est ut sequitur. Sed postea anno ejusdem domini nostri Jesu Christi 1411 de mense decembris dum jam per plusquam annum de partibus Lombardise viz., a Bo- Donia veniens, ab apostolica Curia noviter unita, rediisset Parisiis, in aliquibus partibus ea qusB dicta sunt sequentia, et rescripsit ad nettum ut sequitur. 303. Ad faciendum incaustum seu atramentum pro scri- ienJt?.— Nota quod atramentum electum et probatum hoc mode debet fieri. Accipe unciae tres gallse, cujus bonitas ap- paret si minuta in crispa est. Toiadem accipe de gummi ara- bico, cujus bonitas apparet si lucidum et de fiicili frangatur, et minutum magis valet. Item accipe oncias tres et dimidiam vitrioli Romani, cujus bonitas apparet si est coelesti coloris et soliduin etgrossum, quasi in modum salis grossi. Postea accipe quatuor libras de onciis duodecim per libram aquae clarae, quae si VOL. I. u 290 BIANUSCBIFTS OF JEHAN LE BBGUE. of twelve ouncee to the pound, of clear water, wfaicdi if it ^ rain' water, or water from a cistern in which rain water is keyl^ is better than well, spring, or river water ; and pat into a mew metal or glazed earthen jar, which has never been used lor sbj thing else, in order that it may be pore and dean from all filth ; and into this water, pat the galls roughly poonded so that each grain of gall may be broken into four or five pieee^ and then let the galls boil in the water without gum or vitriol, until the water is reduced to one-half. Then let it be strsined through a cloth or piece of linen, and be put back withost the substance of the galls in the vase over the fire^ and let it remain there until it begins to boil, and then put into it ti» gum ground and pulverized, and let it boil gently for a Aad time, namely, until the gum is dissolved. Having done tfab^ pour into it directly two pounds of the best pure and white wine, and stir it a little, and immediately add the vitriol well pulverized, stir it again a little, and then immediately re- move the vase from the fire, and mix the whole together in order that the vitriol may be well incorporated with the galk, and the gum, and the water. Having done all these things id order, put the vase with the ink in the open air, and let it stand for one night, in order that the air may make it brilliant and more black. And therefore if it be done in fine weather, it will be better and finer. Afterwards strain it through a cloth, and put it by, and keep it for use. 303a. ^ Another Recipe to make Ink. Another recipe for making one quart of good atnuDentum, or incnis- turn, which, however, does not belong to the present treatiae ; bot was added in this place on account of its connexion with the matter of the preceding chapter, by me, Jehan Le Begue, licentiate in lav, who wrote with my own hand, although not accustomed to it, the present work, or the chapters in this volume contained, in the Year of Our Lord mccccxxxj, and in the year of my age Ixiij, as I found the same recipe elsewhere, written as follows : — Take a quarter of a pound of gall-nuts of the weight of iiij. ^ The succeeding chapters, to the end of the volume, were added by Le Bcguc. ALCH£RIUS D^ COLORIBUS DIVEBSIS* 291 est pluvialis vel de cisterna reservante aquas pluviales melior est quam ptitei nee fontis nee fluvii et pone earn in vase metallino vel figuli vitriato novo, quod non sit alteri usui deputatum» ut sit pnrum et mundum ab omni sorde, et in ipsa aqua nutte gallam grosso modo tritam, ita quod de quolibet grano gallse fiant quatuor vel quinque particulae, et sic bulliat galla in aqua absque gummi et vitriolo, donefsc aqua reddatur ad medium Gomminuta. Postea coletur per paonum sen telam et absque substantia gallae reponatur in vase ad ignem et sic tantum stet quod incipiat bullire, et tunc gummi tritum et pulverizatum mittatur in ipsa et bulliat aliquantulum, scilicet leniter usque : quo gummi liquefactum sit His factis, immediate apponas duas libras optimi vini puri et aibi et aliquantulum misce, et immediate mitte vitriolum bene pulverizatum et misceas pa- rum, et statim eleva vas ab igne, et misceas simul totum, ita quod bene incorporetur vitriolum cum galla^ et gummi, et aqua. Omnibus his peractis ex ordine pone vas cum ipso attraraento ad aerem serenum, et stet per unam noctem, ut sere- num reddat ipsum lucidum et magis nigrum. Et ideo si fiat sereno tempore, magis valet et pulcrius est. £t postea coletur per telam, et reponetur, et usui servetur. 303a. Autre Recepte pourfaire encre. Alia recepta pro faciendo unam quartam attramenti seu incausti boni, quffi tamen non est de prsesenti compilatione, sed hie, propter con- nexitatem materiae capituli precedentis, fuit addita per me Johaiinem Lr B^gue Hcentiatum in legibus qui prsesens opus seu capitula in hac Yolumine aggregata, propria manu, licet non assuetus, scripsi Anno Domini mccccxxxi setatis vero me« Ixiij, prout eandem reoeptam alibi scriptam reperi sub bac forma. Prenes ung quarteron de noiz de galle de iiij deniers parisis v2 292 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BE6UE. Parisian deniers, and let them be beaten to powder. Fat k [the powder] into a quart and a half of water, and let it bcal for an hour and a half or more on a good charcoal fire until tiie water is reduced to a quart ; and when it has thus boiled pat into it a quarter of a pound of gum of the weight of iiij. Parbiaii deniers and a cup full of vinegar ; and then make it boil another hour, and when it has boiled, take it off and put into it a quarter of a pound of copperas in powder of the weight of iij. Pansian deniers, and let it cool, and then put it into an inkstand. And if it is too pale add to it a little more copperas, and you wiD have good ink. 304. To make a rose colour from Brazil wood. — ^Take a mix- ture of equal quantities of water from a dstem, and wine, and boil in it shavings of the said brexillium ; and, having extracted and pressed out the colour, and strained the red liquid throng a linen cloth, and removed the substance of the wood, add to the water a little roche alum in powder ; and when it is dis- solved, put in some white gypsum, which has been ground upon a stone with pure water and dried, or some Inracha pie- pared and ground in the same way as the gypsiun isdirected to be done, in sufficient quantity, and mix and incorporate them all well together, and keep for use. This water can also be used with- out putting in gypsum or bracha, but only for shading, and not as a body colour, for it has no body or substance ; and when the bracha or gypsum is added, then it can be used as a body colour as well as for shading, because the gypsum or bracha, which have body, give their body to the colour. 305. TVadng paper^ through which all things are visible that are drawn and figured on other parchment or on paper or on panels when laid under it, and therefore all drawings which are put under it, or all drawings or pictures over which it is put, can be drawn correctly and perfectly on this tracing paper. It is made in this way. Grease thinly with mutton suet a smooth and polished stone of the breadth and length you wish your tracing paper to be. Then, with a broad brush, spread clear and transparent melted glue over the stone, and let it dry. ( MANUSCBIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGUE. 293 et faltes batre en ponldre, puis la metez en quatre et demie diaue et la ikites boulir une heure et demie ou plus a beau feu de charbon et jusques atant que leaue soit revenue a la quarte ; et puis quant elle aura ainsi bouli, y mettez un quarteron de gomme de iiij deniers et plain gobelet de vin aigre ; et puis le faites boulir une autre heure et puis quant elle aura boulu, la descendez et y metez un quarteron coperose en pouldre de iij deniers parisis, et le laissiez refroidier puis metez en un cellier. Et se elle est trop clere blanche si y metez encore un pou de coperose et vous aurez bon encre. 304. Adfaciendtim colarem ligni Brexillii rosaceum. — Acci- piantur aqua cistemse et vinum album per medietatem, et in ipsis coquatur rasura dicti brexilii et extracto colore postea ex- pressa et colata dicta aqua rosacia per telam et ablata substan- tia ligni suprascripti ponatur in ipsa aqua parum aluminis rosise triti quo fuso ponatur in ipsa aqua de gipso albo bene trito su- per lapidem cum aqua clara et desiccato aut de bracha eodem modo ordinata et trita quo dictum est de gipso ad quantitatem quae sufBciat et incorporentur et misceantur et operetur de hoc, et etiam potest operari de ipsa aqua antequam ponatur gipsum nee bracha, sed solum umbrando, et non ad corpus, quia corpus seu substantiam non habet, et quando apposita est bracha yel gipsus, tunc potest operari ad corpus et etiam umbrando quia gipsus seu bracha qui corpus habent incorporant colorem ipsum. 305. Carta lustra, per quam transparent quae sub ipsam sunt posita protracta et figurata in aliis cartis vel in papiris aut in tabulis et possunt igitur in ipsa carta lustra penitus et recte ab- strahi qualia sunt quae sub ipsam ponuntur protracta vel pro- tractiones et picturae super quas ipsa extenditur. Fit hoc modo. Perungas subtiliter sepo arietino lapidem aequalem et politam latitudinis et longitudinis tantae quantae vis facere cartam. Postea cum pincello lato lineas ex coUa liquefacta clara et lucida lapidem ipsum et ^mitte siccari. Postea eleva ab uno angulo 294 MANUSCBIPTS OP JEHAN LE BBGUE. Afterwards lift up from one of the corners of the stone a tit& of this skin of dried gliie» which unll be as thin as paper, \mi transparent ; and see whether it is thick enon^ tiiat is, vbe- ther it is not too thin ; if so^ do not pull it o^ but leave it iher^ and give it another coat of the same glne, and let it dry ; and then again, as before, try whether it is tbick enongfa. And repeat this until it is sufficiently thick. Aft^erwards take it quite off the stone, because the above-mentioned greaang wi& mutton fat will enable you to take off the said coat of g|Iae easily, for it will not allow it to fi^tstenor stick to tiie stone ; and so joa wiU have tracing paper for the purposes aforesaid.' 306. How the colottrt are tempered. — ^All colours axe disteoH pered with the gum of the pine or of the sapn,* except mimira and ceruse, which are tempered with white of egg. AD kind. of green must be tempered ?nith glue except Spanish green, which must be tempered with vinegar. 307. To clean and renovate minium that is too old and dirty. — Put it into water mixed with one-fourth part of wine in a horn, and stir it up well ; tiien let it settle well and pour off and re- move tiie water, and pulverize tiie colour and distemper it widi whipped white of egg, and do as you please with it. 308. To make a colour which makes aU other coloursj except orpimentf sinople, and saffron^ bright^ briUiant^ and lustrausj and which is called ^^ Claret — Put gum arabic to soak in clean water in a clean vessel, xmtil it is dissolved, and with this distemper your colours, or stir them with it and leave them moist for a day or two ; and if you wish the clare to be made quickly, place it over hot ashes. 309. To make a very good take. — ^Take an ounce of lake," and * Compare this with Cennino Cennini, chap. xxv. \ ' The ^icle being repeated, it would seem that the author intended two kinds of pine resin. The latter was the Finus Picea of LinnaBiis, the Silver Fir of the English, the Abete of the Italians — whence they procured the Olio di Abezzo, which was used in making varnishes. See Nemnich, art. * Pinus;' and see Matthioli, pp. 118, 120. * The lac lake. MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. 295 lapidis aliquantulum linituram illam collie siccats quae erit sub- tilis ut carta sed erit lustra, et vide si non sit satis grossa sea spissa, viz., quod sit niniis subtilis, et non eleyes sed permittes, et adhuc linias desuper de eadem cola et permitte siccari, et ut prius tempta si satis grossa sit. £t totiens hoc reiteres quod fiat anfficienter grossa. Postea ex toto eleva a lapide quia su- prascripta perunctio lapidis ex adipe arietino facta dabit facili- tatein elevandi ipsam cartam quam non permiserit lapidi glu- tinaii nee adhaerere et sic habebis cartam lustram ad ea quae dicta sunt fadenda. 306. Toutes couleurs sent destrempees de gomme de pin ou de sapin, fbrs mine et ceruse qui se destrampent de glaire doeufs. Tout vert droit estre destrempe de glux, se ce nest vert des- pague qui doit estre destrempez de vin aigre. 307. Se mine est trap meUe et trop orde pour la renouveler et abellir. — Mettez le en yaue ayecques la quarte partie de vin, en un comet et la mouvez tres bien, puiz la laissiez bien ras- seoir, puis purez et ostez leaue et le brisiez et destrempez de glaire doef et en faites vostre volente. 308. Pour faire une cculeur qui fait toutes autres couleurs reluisans clers et replendissans qui est nommee clare; hormis orpiment sinople et safran. — Mettez tremper gomme arabice en eaue nette en un vaisseau net tant que elle soit fondue et soit expresse par raison, et de ce destrempez yos couleurs ou Yous les mouYCz ayecques, et les laissiez moitier par img jour ou deux. £t se yous youlez qu'il soit tost fait si le mettez dessus les cendres chaudes. 309. Pour faire tres bonne laque. — Prenez une once de laque 296 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. rasp finely a little Brazil wood, put it into a clean resBel, tiiea add to the Brazil wood some clean and dear beaten white of eg^ and a little alum ^water. Grind the lake wifli that water aoi dry it in the sun, and when you wish touseit, distemper it witk this water, especially on parchment ; and the more you grind k up with this Brazil wood water, the better it will be. 310. To write or paint with gold. — ^Put quicksilTer with pow- dered gold into stag's leather, and press it ; Ihe quicksilver wiO pass through the leather, and the gold will remain ; then {Kit the gold with the quickdlver over the fire, bat take care tfial the crucible does not bum. And you must add to it a little wdl- pulverized salt, until the mercury evaporates, which you may catch in a vessel anointed with grease, and suspended aboive it Then wash the powdered gold with water in a basin as yon would wash minium ; and when it is dry, stir into it a glue made wiA parchment or vellum, which you must put into a vessel o?er hot water, and it will presently be dissolved. When this is dw case, grind it well, and fill with it your pen or pencil, and write or paint with this distempered gold. 311. To illuminate a book or other thing with minium.^ — Do not use minium alone, for the letters would be too li^t coloured, and would not look well, but put minium with vermilion ; and if the vermilion is very red and new, put two parts of that to one of minium. And if it is old and brown, put equal quantities of each, or two-thirds of minium, for the older the vermilion the darker and browner it is. When it is ground up with clear water and dried in heaps, if you wish to use it and to have it appear brilliant, distemper it with varnish and white of egg beaten to a froth, and add a little clean water ; with this you may write large letters [initial] and small qu parchment. If die colour is * This is nearly a repetition of No. 177. MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BE6UE. 297 et ray ez un pou de bresil soubtillement et mettez le en un vais- sel nett, puiz mettez dedeDS le bresil glaire doef batu clers et net et pniz un pou deaue en quoi il ait un pou dalun mis avec- ques, et puis de celle eaue monies le laque, puiz le laissiez se- dier au soleil et quant vous en voulez ouYrer yous le destrem- prerez de ceste yeaue especialment en parchemin. £t quant plus de foys le ferez broyer et mouldre a cette yaue de bresil, et resuer, tant mieulx vauldra. 310. Pcfwr escrire ou paindre dor. — Mettez argent vif avec- ques or molu en pouldre en cuir de cerfs, et le espraignez si passera largent vif par le cuir et lor demourra ou cuir, puis mettez lor avecques largent vif sur le feu maiz gardez bien que le crosel narde. Et mettez avecques un pou de sel bien moulu et crible tant que le vif argent se parte par fumee, lequel vous pouez recevoir en une escuelle ointe de graisse pendue au hault au dessus puis lavez la pouldre dor en un bacin en yaue, comme vous feriez mine. Puia mettez la pouldre dor quant elle est seche en glus fdte de parchemin orculin [ou velin] lequel mis en vais- sel sur eaue chaude est tantoet resolu et quant tout sera resolu moelez bien et mettez en vostre plume ou pincel et esorisiez ou paindez dicellui or trempe. 311. Pour enluminer de mine, sait livre ou autre choee. — ^Ne mettez pas mine par soi, car la lettre en seroit trop clere et mal parant, mais mettez mine avecques vermilion, et se le vermilion est bien rouge et novel si en mettez deux parties etle tiers de miDe. £t sil est viel et obscur ou bnm mettez de mine la moiti^ ou les deux pars, car plus est vermilion viel et plus est noir et obscur, et quant il sera mouluz ensamble a leaue clere et sec par monseaux se vous voulez eu ouvrer et quil soit luisant trempez le de vemix et de glaire doeu& rompue a lespurge, et y mettez pou deaue clere et de ce escrisiez en parchemin grosse lettre et menue et quant il est sech, sil nest bien luisant, et que 298 4m[ANU8CRIPT8 OF JEHAN I£ BB6UE. not brilliant when dry, and the weather is moist, dry it by tlie fire, and thus it will shine; but if the weather is dry and hot, it will be better to dry it in the sun. 312. To torite with brass, ffdd, and siher. — ^Ille some bcaas of a good colour very finely, then grind it on the porphyry, which is a very hard stone ; put it into a dean vessel and let it settle ; then pour off Ihe water and prepare your tempera of gum arabic. Distemper it with this, and use it on your pencil^ and when it is dry you must rub and burnish it well with the stone which is called ametide [hiematite]. You will act m the same manner for writing with gold and alver. 313. Orpiment \atramenium\ is thus wade} — ^Take oil sad ink, and juice of the blackthorn, and its middle bark well ground in a mortar ; put the whole together in a pot, and let it stand for a night Then boil it gently and strain it ; boQ it gently again with myrrh and aloes, and again strain it. Tlien add to it a little verjuice or glace,' and put Ihe iriiole to boti gently over the coals without flame; then take it ofiT and keep it 314. To mahs a blue colour like azure* — ^Take the juice oi the Qom-flower,' and make on wood or parchment a ground of white-lead ; lay the juice on the said ground, three, four, or five, or more times, if necessary, and thus you will have an azure colour. 315. To paint walls. — Put a little lime with ochre, that it may be lighter coloured, or mix it with simple red or prasin/ or with a colour which is called posce,' which is made with ochre, green, and membrayne ;' or you may take of a colour ' See ante, No. 189. * Glaoe, probably Alumen Glacie, or glanim, as in No. 41. * The blue-bottle, the Corn Centaury, the oom-flower. Ciano deUe biade, Ciano cemleo, Blaveolo, Fiore di Zaccaria, Centanrea cyaniia. ^ Prasinus. See Theophilus, lib. i. e. ii., and see ante, pp. 236 and 244. This colour was sometimes called ** Piusmineifi ;" and by the Italians " Verde Porro." ^ Posce, See Theophilus, lib. i. c. iii. ^ See Thcoph., lib. i. c. i. See also afUe, pp. 144 and 180, where tbk MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LK BE6UE. 299 le temps soit mpite, seches le au fen, si resplendira ; et se le temps et sech et chaut elle seroit mieulx sechee au soleil. 312. Powr escrire de laton et pareiUement dor et dargent, — Liimez tres subtilement laton de tres pure couleur et puis le molez soutiliment sur le porphire qui est pierre tres seure, puis le mettez et un net vaisel et le laissiez asseoir, puis ostez leaue et ayez vostre detrempe de gomme arabiche, et len des- trempez puis en ouvrez de vostre pincel, et quant ce sera fait et sech, si le firotez et bumissez tres bien, d'une pierre qui est nommee ametiste et ainsi poyez vous escrire dor et dargent 313. Orpiment zefait ainsi. — Prenez oille et encre et jus despine noire et son escorce moienne bien broyee en un mor- tier et mettez tout ensemble, en un pot, et li laissiez une nuit reposer, puis le metez un poi boulir, puis le colez, puis le metez boulir un pou avec mirre et aloes et derechief le coulez. Puis metez avee un po de verjus ou de glace, et remetez tout ensemble sur les charbons sans flamme un petit bolir, puis le ostez et le gardez. 314. A faire couleur blauet comme d'azur. — Prenez jus de bleues net et Mtes en bois ou en parchemin un camp de blanc de plomb, puis mettez le jus dessus le dit champ, trois ou quatre ou cinq lis ou plus si mestier est ; si avez couleur dazur. 315. Pourpeindre murs. — Mettez. un po de chaux avec ocre pour avoir plus grant clarte, ou vous la mellez avec rouge simple ou avec prasin ou avec luie couleur qui est nommee posce qui est faite de ocre vert et de membrayne ou vous pouvez colour 18 described by S. Audemar under the name of '* Olchus sen Mem- brana.'* The method of mural ])ainting described in the teit was probably that which was generally practised by the painters of the middle ages ; and there is reason to suppose that the old paintings recently discovered on the walls of churches in so many parts of England were painted in this manner. 300 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BBGUEL which is made of sinople, ochre, lime, and pose, &c Ani walls should be painted rather moist than otherwise, because tfe colours unite together better, and are firmer. And all the colours for walls should be mixed with quicklime. 316. Black is made with charcoal ground with crater or wine, and distempered with oil or garUc; but die best is made with atramentum, unless it is charcoal which is made of scales of iron boiled and heated with oil. Or take the bark of alder and grind it with iron filings in water, and put it wiA atramentum, and distemper it 317. The flesh colour of images is thus made. — ^Take terre verte, white, and lake, mix them together, and fill what yon please with them. Then make a shade [tint] of green and ochre so that it may be like green, and mix with it a Kttie lake, and mark out the shadows with it ; then make the rose colour with white and synople, and lay it wherever yon may think proper. Then make the flesh colour of ochre and white, with a little synople, and fill up the solid parts, but that which is laid on the rose colour should be very thin. Hien take some of that colour and lay it on the eyebrows, and nnder the feet, on the mouth,* chin, neck, and ears. Then draw as it were veins, and then with pure lake mark the eye-lashes, nos- trils, eyes, and limbs. Then shade again lightly with lake mixed with a little oil ; then whiten the lights wilh pure widte, and then draw the eyeUds, eyes, and other members. 318. To -gild with gold leaf. — Grind well some gypsum with pure clean water, dry it ; then grind it with synople like rose, and with fish-glue dissolved in very good white wine, and wifli the pencil spread it where you please, covering well with it the part to be gilded. Then dry it, and make it smooth with the knife, apply the gold, fix it with the haematite and polish it, MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN L£ BEGUE. dOl prandre dune oouleur qui soit faite de synople et docre et de chaux et de poBC etc. ; et doivent estre murs paint plus moiste que atdtre chose pour ce que les couleurs se tiennent mieulx ensembles et soient plus fermes. £t doivent toutes couleurs pour murs estre melles avecques chauz viye. * 316. Noir est fait de charbon broye avec eaue ou vin et destrempez doile ou deil, nuds le bon est fait darrement,^ etc. Se ce nest carbon qui est fait de paille de fer boulu et cuie avec oille. Qu vous prenez escorce dalne et le broiez en cue avec molure de ferre en yaue, et mettez avec arcement et destrempez. 317. Chamure dymages se fait ainsi. — Prenez vert terrin blanc et laque, et mellez ensemble et emplissiez la ou tous vouldrez, pius faictes ombre de vert et ocre en telle maniere que ce soit comme vert et mellez avecques un po de laque, et signez vos lits, et puis ombre et puis rose de blanc et de synople, et roses la ou vous plaira, puis faites chamure docre et de blanc et dun po de cinople et mettez dedans les signe* mens espes et cil qui sera sur la rose sera tres sutil, puis prenez de celle couleurs et mettez sur les surcils et dessoubs les piez et sur la bouche et au menton et a la goUe et aux oreilles. Et en faut si comme se fiist vains, puis designez de pur lac les cilles et narines et les yeulx et tous les membres. Et metez de rechief dedens umbre legierement et de lac loig- nez un petit, puis le blanchissez de blanc pur, puis designez les cilles et les yeulz et les autres membres. 318. Pour mettre or de feuiUes battues. — ^Molez gipse tres ' bien avec yaue pure et nette, puis le sechiez, puis le molez avec cinope si coinme rose, et avec cole de poisson qui soit fondue avec tres bon vin blanc et le mettez au pincel la ou vous vouldrez et soit bien convert et le sechiez puis le raez dun coustel plainement et mettez lor dessus et le fermez de ame- ^ That this word is really " atramentum," is proved by a similar passage in S. Audemar— see ante^ No. 172. See also < Materials for a History of Painting in Oil,' by Mr. Eastlake, p. 132, n. ; and Halliweirs * Dictionary of Archaic and Provindal Words.' 302 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGUE. and if it does not succeed weU, take the above-mentioiied ^ve, spread it over the drawing, and over that the gold lea£ 319. Ifycu wish to prepare oil for didemperinff all kuuU if colours. — ^Take quicklime, and equal quantitieB of ceruse and oil ; expose these to the sun without moving it for a moatli or more, as the longer it remains the better it. will be* jTben strain it and preserve the oil welL With the oil, thus kept and prepared, you may distemper all colours either separately or mixed. 320. To write with gold and silver, — Take leaf gold, grind it with salt on the marble, leave it for a long time in water, stir it and let it settle. Then pour off the water to remove the salt, and the gold will remain at the bottom, jyist&aaper it with gum for writing,, and the letters you make will be dark ; but when they are dry, polish them with a tooth and they will be of a beautiful yellow shining gold colour. If you chooee you may write with silver in the same manner. 321. To make silver letters without silver, — Grind alum with salt ; then wash it in order to remove the salt ; then distemper it with gum and write with it. When it is dry, if you polish it with the tooth, it will lose its darkness, and will take the colour of silver. 322. A recipe for ffrinding gold, — ^Take some very fine and pure gold filings, grind them in a mortar such as is used by the apothecaries, which is made of three parts copper and one part of tin or lead ; such are their mortars. But previous to this, your gold filings should be well washed in a basin or in a shell with a pencil. Then grind all your gold in the above- mentioned mortar, so that when finished it shall be left dear. And in like manner you may grind copper, silver, brass, pewter, and all other metals ; but take care that the gold does not bum, as it would then be necessary to regrind it When the operation is finished, remove the water and impa- rities, let the gold settle, then place it over the coals with water, and warm, and stir it. MANUSCBIPTS OF JEHAN LE BE6UE. 308 tiste, et le lissez. £t se il ne vient bien prenez de la cole deasus dicte et metez au deasein, et tantoet la feuille de lor dessiis. 319. Si vatis voulez appareiUer die pour destremper totttes manieres de couUurs. — Prenes chaux vire arec autant de ce- ruse comme est de loile, puiz metez au soleil et ne le movez jueques a ung moyt ou plus tar quaat plus y sera, et mieulx vaudra, puis le colez et gardez tres bien loile, et de celle oille gardee et ainsi preparee, povez destremper toutes couleurs en* semble et chacun par soy. 320. Pout escrire dor et darpent.— 'PTen feuille dor et la broye sur le marbre avec sel, puis le fay estre longuement en eaue, et le leve et laisse rasseoir puis prenez leaue pour oster le sel, si demourra lor au fons. Si le destrempe a gomme et en escri, si auras lettre noire et quant elle sera seche, si la poll dun dent, si sera belle et gaune et luisant en bonne cou- leur dor, et ainsi puez tu escrire de argent se tu yeulz. 321. Pour faire lettre dargent sans ardent. — Broyez alun avec sel, puis le leve pour oster le sel puis le destrempe a gomme et escri et quant il est sec, si le poli du dent, si perdra sa Dovete et ara couleur d'argent. 322. Pour or motder recipe. — R. tres fin or lime bien menu et le broyez en un mortier suzille tel que les appoticaires ont, cilz de cuivre les trois pars et la quarte partie de staing ou de plomb, tels sent leurs mortiers ; mais avant ce doit estre votre limeure d'or bien lavee en un bachin ou en une conche de limeterie a un pincel et en ce mortier dessus dit, molez tant or que have qui y sera mise soit au departir clere. Et en telle maniere pourrez molez cuivre argent loton estaing et tout autre metail^ mais gardez que lor ne se haerde car il le faul- droit remouldre de rechief. £t quant ce sera fait, ostez liaue et les ordures et laissiez lautre rasseoir, puis le metez sur les charbons avec eaue et le chauffez et mouvez. 304 ACANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. 323. To grind goUy and haw it should be softened. — ^Take well-filed gold, grind it well on a porjAyry slab with two parts of sal gem [rock salt], a little yellow sulphur in & glaA vessel, chan^g it frequently from one vessel to another until it is well washed and purified. Then put it into a horn, and when you wish to use it, distemper it with gum arabic, wfaicl] must be put into a glass vessel with water and exposed to the rays of the sun, until it is dissolved. When it is dissolved pot it into a saucer with as much silver as water, and let it be tepid when you write with it, which you must do tbe asaae day before the fire. When dry, let it be burnished with a tooth. 324. To make what appear to be gold and silver letters^ tntM" out the use of either gold or silver. — Make very thin plates of fine brass for gold letters, of fine tin for silver letters, and each .separately ; and let the plates be as thin as gold leaf, and let them be well ground and bruised with water and dried in the Sim, and then strained through a cloth ; afterwards regrind the coarser portion which remains in the doth in a mill or mortar of iron or copper, such as is used by the apothecaries. Then fill the letters or portraits with minium, if you mean to gild, but if you intend to lay on silver put no minium ; and when the minium is dry, fill those letters or portraits, by means of an ass'-hair pencil, with a glue made in the following manner. Boil some dean and white pieces of the leather of cows, oxen, calves, or sheep, early in the morning, until two-thirds have evaporated. Then pour off that water, add some fresh water, and boil again for an hour. Then pour off one-thiFd of the water and let the rest boil for two hours more, ^en yon must take out the leather and keep it in a clean vessel ; and if it is then thick and sticks to the fingers, it is good ; if it does not do so, you must boil it again. Then take some of this glue and put it into a vessel over the coals, and while hot or tepid, lay it on those portraits or letters with the pencil. Afterwards dust on to it the said brass powder or tin powder, and leave it for a day to dry, then polish it with a tooth. Again, an- 4 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BE6UE. 305 323. Pour escrire dor et comment il se doit mollir. — Recevez or bien Iime> et le moulez ires bien sur une porfire avec ij pars de salgemme et un poy de souffire jaiine et moulez tout ce tree bien essamble avec lor puis en vaissel de voire, et le mettez souvent de vaissel en autre tant qu'il soit fort bien lavez et bien purifiez, puis le mettez en un comet. Et quant vous en vonldrez ouyrer si le destrempez de gomme arabic et lequel mettez ayec yaue en ung vaissel de voire au soleil afin quil fonde. Et quant il sera fondu, mettez avec argent autant comme et de leaue en une paelle et faites que elle soit tiede quant vous vouldrez escrire et escresiez ce jour devant le feu. Et quant elle sera seche si le bumissez dun dent. 324. Pour /aire lettre qui semble dor et dargent^ qui na ns or ne argent, — Face plattes moult tenues de fin loton pour lettre dor, et de fin estaing pour lettre dargent^ et chacun a part, et soient les plates tenues comme feuille dor a dorer, et soit molu tres bien et crible avec yaue et laissie seichr au soleil et coule par ung drapel et remoler le plus gros qui demorra en le drapel et moule tons dits en ung moulin ou mortier de cuivre ou de fer tel quil sont chieux les appothicaires, puis emplissiez les lettres ou pourtraictures de mine, en cas que veuillez faire dor ; et se dargent, ne y mettez point de mine, puis quant le mine est mis et est sech, mettez a un pincel de poll dasne en icelles lettres ou pourtraictures cole ou glus facte en tele maniere. Faites boidir pieces de cuir de vaiche ou de boeuf ou de veau ou de mouton purs et blans, du matin jusques a tierce, pus ostez leaue et metez de lautre et faittes boulir une heure puisostez le tiers de leaue et laissiez boulir lautre encore ii heures puis ostez les cuirs et gardez leaue en un vaissel pur et net, et se lautre tour elle est expresse et que elle se tienne auz doiz elle est bonne. Et se non fidctes boulir de rechief puis prenez une partie de ceste cole et la mettez en un vaissel sur les cbarbons et la mettez chaude ou tiede a tout le pincel sur icelles lettres ou pourtraictures. Et tantost mettez dessus de la dicte pouldre de loton ou de celle de estaing et laissiez VOL. I. X 306 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. ot^er way, without using brass powder : boil parchment with the said glue, then take out the parchment, and put much saffi*on with the glue, and let them oool together. In the morning give your parchment a coat of glue on a very smooth table, lay your tin powder on it, and then leave it exposed to the sun for four or five hours, that it may dry ; after fliis you must polish it with a boar's-tooth, when it will be of the colour of gold* Or thus, scrape your parchment with a knife where you wish to draw, and make the glue with the saffiron boil a little. Then put a little of this into an iron spoon, warm it over the coals, and while tepid, lay it where you please, by means of the pencil, having your powdered tin in the other hand, which you must then apply all over it, and burnish it with a tooth. Also, if you wish to make gold letters, put saffiron with your tin and glue ; but if you wish them to be of the colour of silver, use no saffiron; after this you may put on other colours. And you must know that sometimes the letters become pale ; this arises either from its not being sufficiently polished, or from the too small quantity of saf- fron. 325. Ifycu toish to make a water proper for distempering all colour B^ — Take a pound of lime and 12 pounds of ashes ;^ then take boiling water and put the whole togetiier, makii^ them boil well ; afbr which let the mixture settie and strain it through a cloth ; then take four pounds of that water, heat it well, take about two ounces of white wax, and put tiiis to boU with the water ; then take about 1^ oz. of fish-glue, put it in water, and leave until it is well softened, and as it were melted^ when you must manipulate it until it becomes Uke paste, and throw it into the water with wax, and make all boil together ; then add to it about an ounce and a half of mastic, and bdl it with the other ingredients. Take some of this water on a knife-blade, or piece of iron, to ascertain whether it is done : if it is like glue, it is all right. Stnun this wat^ while hot or ^ I haye no doubt that the word originally written was cendreSy and not Flandres, MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. 307 secher par un jour, piiis polissiez dim dent. Item autremont sans pouldre de latoa boulez parohemin avec la dicte cole et ostez le parchemin et metez foison safran avecques la cole et laissdez refroidier eoBamble, et au matin Metes ou liniez le parchemin de roatre cole sur ime table bien pleine, et mettez Yostre pouldre destaing dessus, et puis le laissiez au soleil secher par quatre ou cinq heures, puis le polissiez dun dent de pore et sera couleur dor. Ou ainsi ; raez yostre parchemin dun coustel la ou yous youldrez pourtraire et fiiictes la cole ayec le safran un tant et boulir et en mettez un poy en une cuiller de fer et fidctes a tiedir sur les charbons, et en prenez tout tiede et en mettez au pinceau la ou yous youlez et tenez la pouldre de yostre estaing en lautre main et le appUquez tantost dessus et laissiez secher et bumissez a xm dent Item se yous youlez fidre lettre dor mettez safran ayecques yostre estaing et yostre cole. Et se yous youlez dargent, si ny mettez point de safran. Et apres pourrez yous mettre les autres cou- leurs, et est a sayoir que la lettre aucune fois palist, et cest quant elle nest mie bien polie ou quant on ni met pas le safran a point 325. Se V0U9 voulezfaire yaue conoHte a destremper toutes couleurs. — Prenez une Hyre de chaux et douze de Flandres puis prenez eaue boulant et metez tout ensamble et les faictes assez boulir puis le laissiez bien reposer, puis le coulez bien parmy un drapel et de celle yaue prenez liyres quatre et la faictes bien ardoir, puis prenez cire blanche enyiron ii. onces et la mettez boulir ayec lyaue puis prenez cole de poisson enyiron j once et ^, et la mettez en eaue et U laissiez tant queUe soit bien emollie et si comme fondue puiff la maniez tant que elle soit comme paste puis la mettez en lyaue ayec la dre et la faites ensamble boulir, et mettez mastic dedens enyiron once et demie et fiiictes boulir ensamble, puiz prenez de ceste eaue et mettez sur un coustel ou sur fer pour sayoir sil est bien cuit et sil est comme glue il est bien. Puis adonc coulez celle x2 308 MANUSCRIPTS OP JEHAN LE BEGUE. tepid through a linen cloth, let it settle, and coyer it well. With this water you may distemper all kinds of colours. 326. To make skins and all other things of a red colcur^ or any other colour. — ^First put the skins in alum-water which has been boiled with some bran, and then skim it well and let it settle, and when the heat of the water is so reduced that it is just tepid, so as not to bum the skins, throw them in. After this you must dry them ; then boil some brazil wood in the above-mentioned water, and when it is well boiled sew your skins into the form of bags, and fill them with the said water while tepid and not boiling, as in that case the skins would bum : they will thus be well coloured. And in this manner you may stain anything with any colour. 327. To gild copper or brass without gold. — Take clean and pure brass or copper, and scrape it well with a knife, and bur- nish it with a boar's tooth ; then grind some ox-gall or other suitable thing ; then take your pen or pencil, soak it in the gall, rub it on the above-mentioned brass or copper, and let it dry. Do this three times and you will have a colour similar to gold. 328. To make fine letters of gold. — Grind gold and mercury together, put them into a crucible over the fire until the mercury is evaporated ; then stir the gold well until it is reduced to powder, when you must grind it up with saffi*on boiled in water, and expose it to the sim in a phial with gum-water. When you use it, take it from the sun and write with it. 329. If you wish to make three kinds of vestures on parch- menty one purple or redj another violet^ and another white, — Mix together a green made from the juice of any herb with a little ochre, and with this fill the vesture of the pourtrayed image. As to the second mix a little cinople with orpiment, and with this fill the dress of the other image. For the third mix orp* ment with the juice of a tree called in Latin sambucus, and in MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN J£ BEGUE. 309 yaue chaude ou tiede parmi ung drap linge, et laissiez reposer et la covrez bien et de celle eaue povez destremper toutes manieres de coxdeurs. 326. Pour taindre peaux et toutes autres choses en couleur rouffe^ et en toutes autres coufeur^.— Mettez les peaidx premiere- ment en eaue alumee, qui soit boulie et du son dedens et puis laissiez bien escumer et reposer, et quant leaue ne sera que tiede tellement que en mettant les peaulx dedens elles nardent, mettez lors dedens celle eaue les dictes peaulx puis les mettez sechier, puis fidctes boulir bresil dedens leaue dessus dicte et quant elle sera tres bien cuite cousez vos peaulx en naaniere de sacz et mettez leaue dessus dicte dedens, tiede comme dit est et non boillant afin que les peaulx nardent, et ainsi seront elles tres bien coulorees. Et par ceste mani^e povez taindre toutes choses et de toutes couleurs. 327. A dorer cuivre ou arain sans or, — ^Prenez arain ou cuiyre pur et net, et le reez bien dun coustel, puiz le bumissiez dun dent de pore puis moulez fiel de torel ou autre chose con- venable, puiz prenez vostre penne ou vostre pincel et le moil- liez au dit fiel et en frotez sur le cuivre ou arain dessus dit, et laissiez secher, et se faictes pour trois fois, si aurez couleur semblable dor. 328. A f aire lettre dor Jin, — ^Molez or etvif argent ensamble et mettez en un crosol sur le feu tant que le vif argent soit evapore, puis le movez tres bien tant que ce soit pourre, puis molez safran avecques et les cuisez en yaue, puis le metez en yaue de gomme au soleil en un fiale, et quant vous vouldrez escrire prenez la fiale au soleil et du dit or escrisiez. 329. Se vous voulez /aire trois manieres de vestemens en parchemin^ lun pourpre ou rouge^ lautre moiety et lautre blau. — Mellez ensemble vert avec jus daucune herbe et y adjoustez un po docre et emplissiez le vestement de limage pourtraicte. Et en aprez pour le second, mellez un po de cinople avec or- piment et emplissiez le vestement de lautre ymage. Tierce- ment mellez orpiment avec jus des feuilles dun arbres qui es 310 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BE6UE. French seur/ and fill the third dreas with this. But these are not good on walls. 330. To make a colour which is called venede or veneia?^ — Take black, and mix white lead with it, if it is to be used on parchment, but if it is to be used on walls employ lime instead of the said white lead. 331. To make a green colour for writinff. — ^Mix good vin^ar with sour honey, and put it in a [copper] vessel under very hot dung. In 12 days it will be of a beautiful green. 332. Jh make a Nood-like colour which is called lake. — ^In the month of March cut some ivy, which in Latin is called edera, and which climbs on the trees and forests, and put tibe juice which exudes into a glass vessel eveiy Uvee days; then boil it in urine and use it in drawing with the pendL 333. The following is for tempering iron and steeL — ^When the he-goat is in heat take his blood and temper your iron or steel in this ; it tlien becomes veiy hard, llie he-goat is an animal whose Latin name is hyrcus. 334. To make the colour of red roses. — Put some Brazil wood raspings into an earthen vessd grazed with lead, adding urine and powdered alum ; let it stand for a ni^t, and m the morning place it over the coals without flame and boil it weO for a little ; then take it off the fire, add a little powdered quick lime, and mix it well with the other ingredients ; llien pour off the clear part, and diy that which is thick so that you may use it when necessary. 335. ijT you wish to redden tables or other things. — ^Take linseed, or hemp-seed, or nut-oil and mix it with mimum or cinople on a stone without water ; then witii a pendl illuwnate what you wish to redden with this. 336. To write with gold. — Grind gold with dear and puie wine, then pour off the wine and distemper it with gum or ox- gall. When you desire to paint or write with it, you must stir 1 llie elder. * See Theophilus, lib. i. c. vi. MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUB. 311 nomme en Latin sambucusy et en Francais seur^ et empliasiez le tiers vestement, mais en murs ils ne sont paB bons. 330. A /aire une cauleur qui se nomme venede au veneda. — Prenez coulenr noir et y mellez un pou de blanc de plomb avec pour mettre en parchemin, mais ae yous voulez le mettre en mnr, mettez en lieu du dit blanc plomb de la chaux. 331. Afaire cauleur verde pour escrire* — ^Mellez ban vin aigre ayee miel aigre, et le mettez en un yaissel en fiens bien chaut et li laiasiez douze jours et sera bon yert 332. Pour faire couUur sanguine qui est appelee laque.-^ Trencbiez du mois de mars yerre, qid est une herbe en Latin appelee edera^ et rampe sur les arbres et forets, et receyez en un yaiflsel de yoirre le jus qui en ystra de iij jours en trois jours, et le cuisiez en orine et puis en ouyrez au pineeau yos portraictures. 333. Treaqmtre defer et dacier forte se fait ainsi, — Quant le bouc est en amour, se on prent son sang, et on y trempe de- dens fer ou acier. H est moxdt dur, et le bouc est beste que on nomme en Latin yrchus. 334. Afaire cauleur de rases vermeilles. — Baez bresil en un yaissel de terre plomme et y metez de lorine et aussi pouldre dalun, et le laiasiez ime nuit reposer, et a landemain le mettez sur les dbarbons sans flambe, et le &ites tres bien boulir une onde ou deux, puis lostez du feu et mettez ayec un pou de chaux yiye en pouldre, et mellez tres bien ensamUe, et ostez le cler, et mettez lespez secher pour garder et pour en ouyrez quant est besoing. 335. Si vaus votdez rougir tables au autres chases. — Prenez oile de lin ou de cbanyre ou de noiz, et mellez ayec mine ou dnope sur une pierre sans yaue. Puis en luminez a un pinoel ce que yous youlez rougir. 336. Pour escrire dor. — ^Molez or ayec yin cler et pur, puis lostez du yin et le destrempez de gomme ou de fiel de torel, et quant yous youldrez paindre ou escrire, si le mouyez et en 312 MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGUE. it and use it with a pen or pencil, and when dry polish with a boar's tooth. 337. Several modes of distempering sc^ron. — Saffiron is sometimes distempered with water, sometimes with egg, some- times with wine ; but the best way is to put the saffitn into a clean vessel with a great quantity of witter until it is soaked, and then to boil it over the coals. You may then write or paint with it whatever you please, and you must know that saiiron is redder when distempered with wine. 338. To make green,— ^il the leaves of the Morelle [sa- lanum nigrum] with ochre and grind them on a stone. If yon were to put saffix>n instead of ochre, or safton and ochre, the cdour would be very good. 339. To paint and write with gold on cloth^ parchment^ tables, and everything ebe, — Fill a glass vessel with urine and let it settle until it is clear, then take two parts of white of e^ and mix it with your fresh urine and put it with some dissolved or ground gold into the horn ; and with this gold you may write as with any other colour, and paint on cloths and all other tilings. 340. To make the colours qfjlowers, — ^At the rising of the sun go into the fields and collect divers com flowers and other herbs ; bruise and grind each kind of flower separately with well-baked gypsum, then dry them and keep each colour se- parately so as to be ready when wanted for use ; and if you wish for a green colour mix qiuck lime with the flowers and you will have a good colour. 341. To make a good liquid varnish for painters. — Take glasse aromatique, which is dark or dull outside, and inside when broken is clear and shining like glass ; put some of it in a new jar, which must stand on the mouth of another jar, which must be well luted to it. The upper jar must be well covered so as to be smoke-proof, and its bottom must be pierced. Then light a fire beneath it, and leave it until the glasse is melted, when you must take two parts of linseed, or MANUSCRIPTS OF JEHAN LE BEGU£. 313 ouvrez a la penne ou au pincel et quand il est sec polissiez le dun dent de sangler. 337. A dedremper mfran en pltisieurs manieres* — Safran est aucunefoiz destrempez dyaue aacunefois doeuf aucunefois de vin, mais la meilleur maniere et de mettre le safiran en yaue en im vaissel bien net jnsques a tant quil soit confis et fault quil ny ait une grant quanlite deaue, puis le mettez sur les charbons boulir un po ensamble et puis en ecrisiez ou paindez ce que tous vouldrez ; et est a savoir quant le safran est de- strempe de vin, il est plus rouge. 338. Pour /aire vert, — Cuisez feuille de morelle avee ocre puis le broyez sur la pierre. Et cui y mettroit safran en lieu de locre, et autour avee locre, bon seroit. 339. A paindre et escrire dor mr telles, parcheminsj ou tabksy et toutes autres chases. — Emplissiez de votre orine un vaissel de Yoirre et si le laissiez reposer tant que elle soit bien claire, puis prenez glaire doefe ,tres bonne deux parties et les meslez avee vostre orine novelle ensemble, et le mettez avee or solut ou broye, dedens le comet et de cest or povez escrire comme dautre couleur, et paindre sur draps et toute autres choses. 340. A f aire catileurs dejUurs, — ^Alez au matin soleil levant aux champs et assemblez diverses fleurs de bles et dautres herbes, et criblez bien et molez cbacun par soy avee gips bien cuit, et mettez le sechier et gardez chascun par lui et en ouvrez quant est besoing. Et quant vous vouldrez avoir couleur verde, meslez cbaux vive avecques les dictes fleurs, et avez bonne couleur. 341. A fairs bonne vemix liquide pour paintres. — Prenez glasse aromatique qui est obscur par dehors et par dedens quant on le brise il est clair et luisant a maniere de voirre et en mettez une partie en un pot neuf qui soit assis sur la bouche dun autre pot et aoient bien lute ensamble, et le pot denhault bien convert que fumee nen ysse et soit percie au fons et faites feu dessoubz, tant que vous santez que la glasse sera fondue. Puis prenez oile de lin, ou de chanvre, ou de noix deux parties, 314 MANUSCBIPTB OF JEHAN LE BBGUE. hemp-seed, or nut-oil, and heat thk oil slowly orer a fire, not making it too hot. You must then pour it cm to die said glasse, make the fire hotter, and let it boil for an hour, taking care that the flame does not touch it Thai take it off the fire and put it into a clean vessel, and when you widi to vamisfa any dry painting take some of this liquid and qnread it over the painting with your fingers, for if you were to do it with a pencil it would be too thick and would not dry. Yon will thus have good varnish. 342. To mahe a yeUow coiUnur. — Gx>k some vemide well in a clear ley, add to it a little verdigris, and distemper it with black, and the more verdigris you add the redder it wiU be ; for instance, 2 oz. of verdigris and 5 of vercande, pat the thread in while it is hot or boiling and it wUl give you satis- fiicdon. 843. The nature and condition of nunium, satidaraeoj^ and ceruse^ and the way to distemper thenL'^Thej are all of the same kind and nature, but when exposed to heat they diange their name, strength, and colour ; for that which is the most heated is the reddest, and that which is the least heated ia the whitest or palest, and they should be distempered with water for mason's work, with egg for parchment, and with
    wtt and 8oki« Stamford SCrast. LONDOM : Mated by Wii.ua m Clowmm and Som. SUimrord StrMi. /