Annotation - Distemper - Paint Layers - Shadow Layers
Author Practitioner Advice / Information in the Ms.
The main recipe I will follow has specific advice about the shadow layers:
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>
This suggestion of pigments for shadows in distemper (bistre, sap green, and ochre de rux) corresponds quite closely to the combination of pigments suggested for women’s shadows at 065r_1
‘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.’
Missing a possibly significant black pigment in this section, which is intriguing as in the 093v recipe no black is suggested.
The author-practitioner suggests a different combination of pigments for women’s shadows at 66r_2:
<id>p066r_2</id> <head>Shadows</head>
<ab>For woman: asphaltum, umber, and a bit of red lake.
The use of the term ‘asphaltum’ here raises questions about what the author meant by this. Elisabeth Kuiper and Ingeborg Kroon’s research on ‘spat’ (see document ‘What is ‘spat’?) raises the point the author-practitioner uses a variety of terms similar to asphaltum, spalt,aspalt, to refer to what might be a variety of materials. It is not unusual to find terminological or spelling ambiguities in historic painting treatises and manuscripts. This does however pose a challenge for interpreting what material to use here. Kuiper and Kroon point to three applications of ‘spalt’ in the Ms. 1) Asphalt as colour preparation, 2) Burned asphalt, which is added to the sand mixture as a binding agent for molds used to cast large metal objects. The author suggests specifically that it should be burned with the sand from a mine (folios 041r and 085v), Spat that is used as excellent sand for molding. It is said to be very soft and repeatedly said to originate in Augsburg (folios 106r until 137v). I am curious as to whether the use of ‘asphalt’ in women’s shadows is an expedient use of a material that the author-practitioner already had in his workshop, or he is referencing the substance more commonly used as a pigment (sometimes synonymous with bitumen). From the results of Kuiper and Kroon’s experiments, the most likely candidates for asphalt in the sense of a material for moulding are Feldspar or Calcite (calcium carbonate), although they describe neither as a perfect fit.
Other advice for distemper painting in the Ms that will apply to how I handle the paint in this layer:
tl_p056v
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
<note>
<margin>left-bottom</margin>
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>
I will use fine brushes as I am working on a small scale. The instructions for paint brushes for small paintings are as follows:
58v
<note>
<margin>left-bottom</margin>
To work properly on small scale you need some very fine brushes with a strong point. And because the <m>hair</m> taken from a <al>squirrel</al>’s tale is , the most quirky ones use the of oldest <m><al>rats</al>’ hair</m> and even of <al>dormouses</al> if they can find some and put two or three in the middle of a brush. These brushes draw a straight line like a quill and all the other <m>hairs</m> stick to them. The <m>hair of a <al>stone marten</al></m> or of a <al>weasel</al> and small animals used to make some <m>musk</m> are even better for just one <m>hair</m> is necessary in a brush</ >
Further note on working on a small scale:
059r
<ab>Colors for small scale works have to be very strongly ground and to be worked with a brush point if you want your work to be very fine</ab>
Further note on bistre
<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>
Skill building experience
Although it was not specified, from my own previous experience I instinctively felt that grinding the three pigments suggested for the shadow layers together (bistre, sap green and ochre de rux) in water, before combining with the binding medium, would be beneficial. This had the result of making sure the pigment particles were very fine, improving the aesthetic effect, and it altered the tone of the pigment mixture towards brown rather than red. This seemed to be a good thing, and I am considering doing the same thing this time.
I found that the paint often became sticky and hard to use, I think this will be less of a problem if I follow the instructions to keep the canvas damp and the brush damp.
Secondary Source Information
Susie Nash, ‘Pour couleurs et autres choses prise de lui ...’: The Supply, Acquisition, Cost and Employment of Painters’ Materials at the Burgundian Court, c.1375–1419’ in Trade in Artists’ Materials, Kirby and Nash
Ochre de rux - A more expensive and perhaps slightly brownish ochre. In the records of the Burgundian Court, it cost 10 times as much as other kinds of ochre listed. Admittedly, the record is from 1399 and somewhat north of where our manuscript was written.
Bistre
Asphaltum
Sap green
Conclusion for experiment
I will apply the shadows first using the ‘bistre, sap green, and ochre de rux’ pigment combination, and then also try the ‘asphaltum, red lake and umber’ combination, taking the ‘asphaltum’ in this case to be the substance familiarly used as a pigment. However, if time I may try later using the substances suggested by Kuiper and Kroon as ‘spalt’ for casting.
I will use a small brush, with a point, and keep it wet while painting.
I will keep the canvas damp by wetting the back with a sponge.