makingandknowing - Annotation Plans Cleo

1. Cleo Nisse (partly with Sophie Pitman?)
2. Distemper, Shadows and Black Pigments

How could investigating these areas most benefit from laboratory experimentation?
Distemper
Following the various instructions for distemper, and perhaps supplementing these through additional research into distemper recipes in other treatises, I could try to paint using a glue-based medium. I could compare my results to extant artworks that are thought to have been made using a glue based medium. If time, I could compare this to painting with other water-based media such as egg, both the understand the differences in handling properties and final results but also because the line between these two techniques seems to have been blurry, and sometimes continues to be so. Perhaps it would be helpful to try to follow the 'distemper' instructions in the manual using first glue, and then again using egg. Perhaps following the recipes will help me to understand how the author is using the word 'distemper' which seems to have multiple possible meanings both in the text and in general usage.
Comparing these with practical experiments in oil painting might deepen my understanding by providing a further point of comparison. In practical/ experiential terms, do glue-based and egg-based painting have more in common with each other than with oil painting? Is this the same in terms of final appearance? Or is the basis of their being grouped together to do with their solubility in water in contrast to oil painting?

Shadows
I would be interested in following some of the instructions about painting shadows to see what results can be achieved. Trying out different small paintings of shadows in oil and 'distemper' could be combined with the experiments suggested above to provide experience of both different media and different shadow techniques.

Blacks
I am very interested in the differences in hue between the following blacks
<id>p058v_1</id>
<head>Blacks</head>
<ab>Coal black, ordinary black lead black, burnt ivory black, peaches stones black,
black smoke, black light, burnt oxes’ feet bones black</ab></div>
Would it be possible to make some or all of these blacks and compare the tones achieved ?
The reference to 'peaches stones black' is particularly interesting because Cennino Cennino specifically mentions a black made from peach stone. He associates it with one made from almond shells, and differentiates it from blacks made from vine twigs, one made from a 'black soft stone' and a lamp black.

I am also very interested in the suggestion of a black made from 'jet'. I would like to find a way to experiment with making a pigment from 'jet'. This will require research to find other sources that indicate more directly how a pigment was made from this.

It would also be interesting to combine experimentation with shadows with the question of the tones of different blacks by trying to paint according to these instructions:
065r_1
Shadows
‘Because blacks produce various colors, some reddish black, others bluish, and others greenish, choose those verging on yellow in order to obtain beautiful shadows in oil, for men’s shadows are similarly yellowish, and for this effect use very strongly crushed … which you mix with a bit of yellow ochre and white lead, that is after you have crushed your white lead and gathered with the (figure) crushed with the … This way it <sup> the black <sup> will be more desiccative, and on its own producing a yellowish black, when mixed with a bit of white it will be perfect for men’s shadows. Blacks which produced a greenish black are appropriate for women’s shadows. Take then some black of <a gap was left here as if he wanted to add something> a little sap green and some bistre, and you will have a perfect woman’s shadow in distemper.’

066r_2
Shadows
‘For woman: asphaltum, umber, and a bit of red lake.'

This would include experimenting with asphalt/ bitumen which is a pigment with an interesting history.

In terms of dyeing, this recipe could be followed:
<head>Black color for dyeing </head>
<ab>Take <m>lye made from quicklime</m> and <m>white lead</m>, mix and leave to soak and you will have a dark brown dye, and reiterating the same you will make black. Try other colours with the <m>lye made of lime</m>.</ab>
Black clothing was very important in this period, and often the subtle variation between blacks seen in sixteenth century painting focuses on clothing. We might learn something about the gradations of intensity that could be achieved from brown to black.

3. a. Relevant recipes from MS Fr. 640
Distemper

56v_1 Heading - To Paint…
Someone who works <add> operates with</add> <m>oil</m> will not work properly with <m>distemper</m> if he has not been trained well during his youth. The manner of working is indeed very different because the brush point always has to be moisten for working with <m>distemper</m>. While when one cleans the brush in some <m>oil</m> to soften it, one should dry it well. Otherwise the work would drip and soon be damaged.</note>
... Later on same page...
With <m>distemper</m> do not mingle your various colors together for they will die but use each separately and in order to stop them from drying and to have time to soften, moisten the back of the canvas.</note>

58r:
<head>First whitening of the painting</head>

<ab>Apply two or three layers of <m>chalk</m> distempered with <m>glue</m> on the painting, not with a paintbrush but with a <sup>large<sup> brush as if you intended to rub it down, and leave to dry. And repeat this two or three times, then make the last layer quite even using a knife, <add>then apply a layer of <m>glue</m></add> upon which you will later be able to put your underlayer and then paint. But make sure that your first white layer is not too thick for it would break easily. Flemish painters have such paintings made by the dozen.</ab></div>

<id>p062r_1</id>
<head>Perspectives</head>

<ab>Painting perspectives in <m>oil</m> takes a long time because of the many lines that need to be drawn with a ruler, and for that reason one generally paints them in distemper. One chooses the <sup>vanishing</sup> points at will. The main thing is to know <sup>where</sup> the point is. One commonly sets two or three, sometimes <sup>up to</sup> five.</ab>

<id>p064v_3</id>
<head>Softening</head>

<ab>To soften well, you must not lay the colors thick, but rather lay them twice, except for </m>azure enamel</m>.</ab>

<note>
<margin>left-middle</middle>
All colors that lack body in <m>oil</m> also lack body in distemper. In distemper they even sink to the bottom. <m>Distempered colors</m> [Les couleurs a destrempe] want to be fat, which you can tell when they stick to the palette after being distempered in <m>oil</m>.</note>

<id>p064v_5</id>

<head>Distemper</head>

<ab>It is necessary that <m>distempered colors</m> are kept darker while you distemper them, because they become lighter when they dry. But <m>oil colors</m> remain the same colors.</ab>
<note>
<margin>left-middle</margin>
One cannot lay down <m>oil</m> on cut <m>paper</m> or make a stencil as in distemper because the colour will run. Thus, in order to <m>gild</m> with matte <m>gold</m>, one has to pounce and then lay in the colors with the brush.</note>
</div>

93v: <title id=“p093v_a1”>Faces [painted] with distemper</title>

<ab id=“p093v_b1”>Because colors [painted] with distemper dry quickly and one would not have enough time to complete the shadows and touches on the face, one wets the reverse of the face, on canvas, with a wet sponge. Then, with a small brush, one does the shadows, which don’t come off. Then one lays the flesh tones, which does not prevent the already painted shadows from showing [through]. And one touches again the more prominent areas with brighter flesh tones. And with another brush one does the shadows in hatching. The strokes [that make up] the shadows do not come off because they are [made] of bistre, which stains the canvas like rust. The said bistre is good for painting the shadows in distemper, for in oil it lacks body and would dry with great difficulty. One should mix the said bistre for shadows with ocher de rux and a little sap green. The best bistre is the fat shiny one from the fireplaces of large kitchens. It is difficult to grind and grates on the marble slab.</ab>

Shadows

56_v_1<note>
<margin>left-middle</margin>
The Italians hatch with a flatten rough brush which makes some serration.</note>
<note> <margin>left-middle</margin>
And do not apply their shades at once like the Flemish but apply them by hatching from the lighter towards the light then a darker and then an even darker to make more contrast.</note>

<id>p057v_2</id>
You must make at least three layers of flesh color in order to paint faces in <m>oil</m>, and to begin, one places the black and shadow where it is appropriate. After, the highlighting with <m>lead white</m> must not be placed on the black. Where <m>ceruse</m> penetrates, the flesh colors and will yellow in five or six months, but the <m>lead white</m> does not change.</ab>

058v_2
’When you are making a painting with several persons shadows as well as skins have to be different.’

059r_1
‘First shadows which are closer to the daylight have to be light and very faint then the last ones very dark to enhance strongly the relief. The Italians usually make three shadows, the first one very faint, the second one darker and the third one very dark, then put these three shadows together by hatching them from the darkest to the lightest.’

063r_4
Shadows

‘German painters shade their flesh tones with jet, crushed with scudegrun and ochre’

065r_1
Shadows

‘Because blacks produce various colors, some reddish black, others bluish, and others greenish, choose those verging on yellow in order to obtain beautiful shadows in oil, for men’s shadows are similarly yellowish, and for this effect use very strongly crushed … which you mix with a bit of yellow ochre and white lead, that is after you have crushed your white lead and gathered with the (figure) crushed with the … This way it <sup> the black <sup> will be more desiccative, and on its own producing a yellowish black, when mixed with a bit of white it will be perfect for men’s shadows. Blacks which produced a greenish black are appropriate for women’s shadows. Take then some black of <a gap was left here as if he wanted to add something> a little sap green and some bistre, and you will have a perfect woman’s shadow in distemper.’

066r_2
Shadows
‘For woman: asphaltum, umber, and a bit of red lake.

p059r_1 <head>Shadows</head>
<ab>First shadows which are closer to the daylight have to be light and very faint then the last ones very dark to enhance strongly the relief. The Italians usually make three shadows, the first one very faint, the second one darker and the third one very dark, then put these three shadows together by hatching them from the darkest to the lightest</ab></div>

60r_3
<margin>left-middle</margin>
Do not apply color on color which are not similar like white on black. The same applies to skin color on flesh and the others. And leave empty space for the shadow or a different
color. By doing so, laying each colour on the underlayer, they will not damage each other and you will work precisely.</note></div>

<id>p060v_4</id>
and unite it well and being quite dry, they draw their portrait and apply their natural skin color, leaving the areas of shadow like the forehead and the of the cheek and the empty space around the eyes and drying until they have filled the rest. Afterwards they apply separately the shadows which they do not make as dark as they could naturally be. In sum, they don’t apply shadow on skin color nor skin color on shadow. So white is on white and black is on black and each <sup>color</sup> is separate, and in this way their work is neat and colors don’t fade away.</ab>

<id>p064r_1</id> <head>Working neatly</head>
<ab>Never apply, if you can, two colors one on top of the other. But after you make your drawing with great care, keep the shadowed areas separate for themselves and the lights and highlights as well, particularly without smoothly laying a color, then add to this highlighting or shading. And in this way, you further your hard work, spare your colours and work cleanly, which as a result, the colors are not muddled nor mixed together, they do not decay and you soften then better, thus finding it not so thick.</ab>
</div>

Blacks
<id>p058v_1</id>
<head>Blacks</head>
<ab>Coal black, ordinary black lead black, burnt ivory black, peaches stones black,
black smoke, black light, burnt oxes’ feet bones black</ab></div>

063r_4
Shadows

‘German painters shade their flesh tones with jet, crushed with scudegrun and ochre’
065r_1
Shadows

‘Because blacks produce various colors, some reddish black, others bluish, and others greenish, choose those verging on yellow in order to obtain beautiful shadows in oil, for men’s shadows are similarly yellowish, and for this effect use very strongly crushed … which you mix with a bit of yellow ochre and white lead, that is after you have crushed your white lead and gathered with the (figure) crushed with the … This way it <sup> the black <sup> will be more desiccative, and on its own producing a yellowish black, when mixed with a bit of white it will be perfect for men’s shadows. Blacks which produced a greenish black are appropriate for women’s shadows. Take then some black of <a gap was left here as if he wanted to add something> a little sap green and some bistre, and you will have a perfect woman’s shadow in distemper.’

<div>

<id>p038v_1</id>

<head>Black color for dyeing </head>
<ab>Take <m>lye made from quicklime</m> and <m>white lead</m>, mix and leave to soak and you will have a dark brown dye, and reiterating the same you will make black. Try other colours with the <m>lye made of lime</m>.</ab>

<id>p063r_5</id>
<head><m>Bister</m></head>
<ab>It is only used in distemper. One gets from it a <m>wood</m> color.</ab> </div>

<id>p063v_1</id>
<head><m>Velvets</m> and <m>blacks</m></head>
<ab>One must make the main layer very thick, and the folds and highlights of the lighten a lot with white and on the ends of its light, you apply a white line. For blue and green velvets, with coal made from peach pits which is very black. Concerning the <m>lacquer</m>, the <m>carbon black</m> that produces a reddish black on lacquer for velvets. The common charcoal produces a whitish black.</ab>

63_v_2
<head>Armour<head>
<ab>Soft wood charcoal appears bluish. It is for depicting armour.</ab> </div>

63v_ 5
<head>Snow-covered landscapes</head>
<ab>One only uses three colors: white, black and bister.</ab> </div>
<div>

3. b. Relevant recipes from other sources
Distemper
De Mayerne Manuscript, in Lost Secrets of Flemish Painting, 2001, Donald C. Fels Jr.
(Ms. p. 148)
'For Tempera Painting (324)
Since paints made with glue, egg white or gum are much darker in the damp state than when they dry, one should, after the canvas has been undercoated, dampen it from behind and paint on it. Thus you will not be deceived.
Also when improving [that is painting over] a tempera picture, dampen the painting from behind, so that the penetrating moisture makes the colors on the canvas appear as they are in pots of shells and the eyes will not be deceived and the improvement will not have unequal places, then paint as you think useful. So the whole work after drying will be equal and in agreement.
Remember the tin palette made with various depressions that Bleyenberg used for tempera.'
(Ms p. 148 verso)
With regard to the liquid for dissolving paints, besides fish glue and glue made of glove leather scraps, egg white thinned with fig juice that the old painters used should be considered. This is stronger or at least as strong as fish glue and always stays fluid.
Method for Varnishing Illumination. (324a)
For this a sticky liquid that has body and that is transparent so that it in no way alters the color is necessary above all. This liquid can mainly be very light and clear fish glue boiled to a thicker, stronger consistency. See whether common strong Flemish glue which is clear and light is suitable. Likewise the strong gelatine of stag horn. Likewise gum tragacanth thoroughly dissolved in some distilled water (or if the work is worth it) rose water. Likewise egg white. Likewise gum arabic, plumb resin, cherry tree resin, dissolved into the consistency of syrup, but especially the Arabian gum.
This liquid is put into a bowl, into a basin or into a tub and the illumination lightly drawn through it, or if the piece is big, it is laid at an angle over a sufficiently large basin and the… (Ms. p.149)
… liquid is deftly poured over it with a spoon in such a way that the liquid flows over it all at once and then the piece is set immediately on a [table] top and allowed to dry.
If one had a very large long haired squirrel tail brush, it could be useful for this, but it would have to be done in one very light motion. I believe the other method of pouring it over is surer.
The well dried piece is painted over with a varnish that be very desiccating like those made without turpentine, with gum, mastic, benzoin purified in ethanol and very light and pure oil of turpentine and spikenard oil.'
[Base coat of gum Tracacanth] (324b)
A very good strong base is made when gum tragacanth is soften and dissolved a whole night long on warm coals in pure water. Take white starch flour and dissolve it in clear water very thinly, as if it were to be used for laundry starching, to this mixture add your solution of gum tracaganth, and boil it down to the desired consistency, the starch becomes very white and clear, so it makes the laundry very white,. but makes it brittle and spoils it greatly; for our trick its not so and it can perform good service.
If you want the glue very fluid, than add a little of the above dissolved starch, a lot of the gum tragacanth solution, simply boil it down to the (syrupy thickness) that can easily be stroke on and sticks very hard.’

Cennino Cennini, Thompson p.22 (Need to look this up in Lara Broecke translation of Cennini)
‘Know that there are several kinds of black colors. There is a black which is a soft, black stone; it is a fat color. Bearing in mind that every lean color is better than a fat one…
Then there is a black which is made from vine twigs; these twigs are to be burned; and when they are burnt, throw water on them, and quench them; and work them up like the other black. And this is a color both black and lean; and it is one of the perfect colors which we employ, and it is the whole… There is another black which is made from burnt almond shells or peach stones, and this is a perfect black, and fine. There is another black which is made in this manner: take a lamp full of linseed oil, and fill the lamp with this oil, and light the lamp...'