Paint colours according to Cenninni

I am getting towards the painting stage of my first helm crest so it is time to start thinking about pigments. I have some ready ground pigments to mix into tempera paints and other forms of decoration, but want to check out what Cenninni has to say on the subject.

There is a long list of colours that Cennini instructs his readers to mix and use in specific styles of images. I like reading about the words he uses to describe different colour beards - ruddy, russet, black.

"Chapter XXXVI 

Know that there are seven natural colors[23], or rather, four actually mineral in character, namely, black, red, yellow, and green; three are natural colors, but need to be helped artificially, as lime white, blues--ultramarine, azurite[24]--giallorino"

He lists violet, blue, green, purple, 'ocher', ash grey, greenish grey, red and black made from a combination of lac, ultramarine blue, orpiment, pink, flesh colour, vermilion, red lead, white lead, verdigris, indigo, hematite, lime white, terre-verte, charcoal, malachite, turnsole, black, giallorino, cinabrese, sinoper, ocher, and azurite mixed with lye, water, egg yolks, egg whites, gum or size.

"This Shows you the Natural Colors, and How you Should Grind Black. 

Chapter XXXVI "

To find out the Cenninni's recommended method for mixing black relies on the purpose. He says to mix it on a hard flat stone using another, rounded stone. Amusingly, Cenninni says that if you were to grind it for a year, it would only improve the depth of the colour - I have an image in mind of a team of apprentices working around the clock, trying to beat the boredom. Once ground, it is to be stored in a pot of water with a dust cover over the top. He talks of using burnt peach stones, vine twigs and almond shells, as well as a black stone.

I will need a decent volume of both white and black paint for the badger crest. Hopefully the weather will stay good so I can work on it some more tomorrow.

Book: Medieval Craftsmen - Painters

This is a fantastic little book that I was lucky enough to chance upon in a second hand book shop, yesterday.

Binski, Paul (1991). Medieval Craftsmen: Painters. British Museum Press, London

It set me back a whole $4 but it is worth much more because it has information on mixing paint, artist contracts, Ghent and Flanders, a helm crest, gesso, utensils, easels and gilding. Jackpot!

Some of the interesting tools shown are two brush rests, as used by painters. They are both pictured as grey. The same colour is used on several containers of different sizes around the studio tables, making me think that they are either representing a metal or pottery. I have seen small pigment pots of ceramic or stone in other images, though metal could make sense as well. In the case of the painting of Thamar, the brush tray is grey while the pigment pots are brown, like a earthen ware clay, and some smaller vessels are more white, like oyster shells. In another image, also from the Boccaccio manuscript, Marcia uses a stick to rest her brushes, to keep the heads from contact with the table. This method is shown in other images of painters studios during the middle ages.

The blue lines show how the brushes rest. The right hand side of each blue brush is resting in to a part of each tray that is tilted down. It doesn't seem that there is any liquid in these depressions, and some of the brushes appear loaded.

There are some spectacular easels, too, but that will have to be a post for another time.