i
THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY
(
TREATISE ON PAINTING
CENNINO CENNINI.
*
I
m
«
A
TREATISE ON PAINTING,
WRITTEN nv
CENNINO CENNINI
IN THE YEAR 1437 ;
AND FIRST PUBLISHED IN ITALIAN IN 1821, WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES,
Br SIGNOR TAMBRONI :
CONTAINING PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR PAINTING IN
FRESCO, SECCO, OIL, AND DISTEMPER,
WITH THE ART OF
GILDING AND ILLUMINATING MANUSCRIPTS
ADOPTED BY THE
©im Etaltatt M^^ttv»,
" Of all the modes of painting used by the masters of these times, as well as by
those who succeeded them, Cennino has composed the most complete treatise that
has ever been written." Tambroni.
TRANSLATED BY
MRS. MERRIFIELD.
WITH AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE, COPIOUS NOTES, AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN OUTLINE FROM
CELEBRATED PICTURES.
LONDON:
EDWARD LUMLEY, 56 CHANCERY LANE.
M.DCCC.XLIV.
1411
16+^
CEnV CENTER LIBRARY
TO
LADY FOLLETT
Creative
IS,
WITH HER ladyship's PERMISSION,
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY HER ladyship's
OBLIGED AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,
MARY PHILADELPHIA MERRIFIELD.
CONTENTS.
Authors quoted • . . . .
Introductory PREFACii by the Translator
SlGNOR TaMBRONi's PrEFACE
Notes to Signor Tambroni's Preface
PART THE FIRST.
Of drawing— commencement— motives for studying the arts
— what things are necessary — parts and members of the
arts — drawing on panels — the preparation and use of bone-
dust — drawing with stiles — of arranging the light to give
rehef— drawing on parchment with stiles, lead pencils, and
pens and ink — how to make a pen — to draw on tinted
paper and parchment — to tint paper and parchment— to
prepare transparent paper — the importance of practising
drawing from nature, and after good masters — how a
painter should live — drawing with charcoal — drawing on
tinted paper with water-colours — heightening the lights
with white — of a stone for drawing resembling charcoal . 1-19
PART THE SECOND.
•
Preparation of the colours — what are natural pigments
grinding pigments. Black pigments. Red pigments
— sinopia — cinabrese — cinnabar — minium — amatito
dragon's blood — lake. Yellow pigments — ochre
v
XXV
Ix
CONTENTS.
giallorino — orpiment — risalgallo — zalFerano — arzica.
Green pigments — verde terra — verde azzurro — orpi-
ment and indigo — verde azzurro and giallorino — azzurro
oltre marino with yellow — verderame — verde terra with
white. White pigments — biacca — bianco sangiovanni.
Blue pigments — azzurro della magna — how to imitate
it — azzurro oltre marino. Of haik pencils — to preserve
the tails of the minever from being moth-eaten
PART THE THIRD.
Painting in fresco — to paint the faces of young persons —
of old persons — hair and beards — proportions of the
human figure. To paint drapery. To paint in secco —
proper temperas — mixed colours — purple in fresco and
secco — to imitate azzurro oltre marino in fresco — to
make purple in fresco. Changeable draperies — green
cignerognolo — lake — ochre — berettino. Mantle for
the ViRGiN—black drapery. To paint mountains, trees,
buildings, &c., in fresco and secco — to draw a mountain
naturally
PART THE FOURTH.
Painting in oil — on walls — to prepare oil by boiling or
baking — to grind and use colours in oil — to paint in oil
on iron, pictures, and stones — to adorn walls with tin —
necessity of using fine gold and good colours — to cut and
use gilded tin — to make green tin — to gild tin, and lay
on gold with gold size — to cut and attach stars to walls
to make the glories of saints, &c. — to make a glory in
rehevo with lime — after painting on walls, how to proceed
to paint pictures
CONTENTS.
ix
PART THE FIFTH.
rp. . PAGE
lime required for learning to paint— what things necessary
to be learned. To make glue of various kinds — flour-
paste — glue for fastening stones — for joining glass vessels
— fish-glue — coUa di caravella, for tempering grounds on
pictures — for tempering azure and other colours— cheese-
gl^e 63-66
PART THE SIXTH.
To BEGIN TO PAINT PICTURES— to fasten linen on panels— to
prepare grounds of gesso grosso and gesso sottile— to
grind and temper the gesso for vi^orking in relief— to
smooth the surface — to draw on panels with charcoal,
and fix outlines with ink — to make outlines of figures
when gold grounds are to be used— to execute works in
relief on pictures and walls. Gilding on pictures— to
lay on bole and verde terra— to gild panels— what stones
are proper for burnishing — to burnish gold — what gold
is proper— to form glories— to shade the gold, and draw
outlines of figures on gold— to represent cloths of gold
and colours — to draw and engrave on gold — draperies
of gold, silver, or ultramarine — to imitate velvet, silk, or
linen. To paint pictures in distemper — to temper
the colours. Draperies, blue, gold, or purple. To
colour flesh generally— to represent a dead person— a
wounded person— to represent water with or without
fish. Mordants— to make and temper. Varnishing
— how and when to varnish pictures — to imitate varnish.
Miniatures — to paint — to make a colour like gold, and
to varnish verde terra. How to remove paint from the
human face — why women should not use medicated
waters on their skins. To take casts from the life
— of the face or whole figure — to multiply casts — to
make casts of seals, coins, plants, &c 67-107
b
J. CONTENTS.
PAG£
n ... 107
Conclusion
Notes ..••••'■*'
167
Index
AUTHORS
QUOTED.
Abbecedario (ed. Napoli), 129.
Alberti, Leon Batista, Treatise on
Painting, 142.
Amoretti, Life of L. da Vinci, 140.
Armenini, ,Gio. Batista, Belli veri
Precetti della Pittura, xxxiv., 128,
143, 159, 162.
Art-Union, Oct. 1841, v.
Baldinucci, Vite, xxvi. xxviii. xxxii.
xlv. Iv. Ixi., 120. Vocabolario del
Disegno, 121, 134, 143.
Bandini, Catalogo, xxvii. xxviii. Ixi.
Belli, Giambatista, MS. in the Maglia-
bechiana, 109.
Bisagni, Francesco, Trattato della
Pittura, XXXV.
Boccaccio, Decamerone, 113.
Boni, Elogio di Lanzi, Iviii. Ixix.
Borgbini,RafFaello, DelBiposo, xxviii.
121, 161.
Boschini, La Carta del Navigare, &c.,
xiii.
Bossi, Giuseppe, Cenacolo di L. da
Vinci, 136.
Bottari, Notes to Vasari, xviii. xxvii.
xxxii.
Bulengero, 122, 123.
Ciampi, Sagrestia Ec, xix.
Cicognara, Storia della Scultnra, vi.
xiv. xvi. li. lii. Ixv., 148, 158, 161.
Commissioners of Fine Arts, First Re-
port, 120, 128.
D'Agincourt, Ixvii.
Da Vinci, Leonardo, Trattato della
Pittura, X., 116, 127, 137, 140,
141, 146.
Davy, Sir Humphrey, Philosophical
Transactions, 1815, xii. xiii. xv.,
119.
De Dominici, Vite dei Pittori Napo-
litani, liii. liv. Ixvii.
Democritus of Abdera, 123.
De Piles, Elemens de Peinture, 122,
127, 131, 148, 154, 158. Com-
mentary on Du Fresnoy's Art of
Painting, ix.
Dioscorides, 118, 145.
Facius, Bartholomew, De Viris lUus-
trihus, Iv.
Federici, xviii.
Field, Chromatography, xi., 117, 120,
123, 125, 138, 157.
Ghiberti, Lorenzo, Commentaries, Ix.
Ixi., 111.
Guarienti, Abbecedario, Ixvi.
John, Dr., 123.
Lanzi, Storia Pittorica, vii. xii. xvii.
xxix. xlviii. Ixiii. Ixiv. Ixv. Ixvii.
Ixix., 113, 125, 132, 142, 143.
Lazzaroni, Dissertatione della Pittura,
118.
Lib. Ent. Knov^ledge, Pompeii, 152,
166.
Lomazzo, Paolo, viii.
Malvasia, Felsina Pittrice, xlvii.
Marcucci, Sagg. Anal. Ixii., 125, 129,
144, 163.
Mattioli, Erbario, 118.
xii AUTHORS
Merimee, Sur la Peinhire a VHuite,
161.
Mechel, Description of the Imperial
Gallery at Vienna, lii.
Mireus, Albertus, Chron. Belg., 1410,
Ixviii.
Morelli, Notizie d'opere di Disegno,
li. Iviii. Ixiv. Ixv.
Moreri, Dictionnaire Historique, Ixiii.
MS. Letter of Summonzio, collated by
the Abate D. Francesconi, Ixvi.
MS. in the Biblioteca Capitolare at
Lucca, Ixii.
MS. of Massimo Stanzione, preserved
by De Domiiiici, liii. Ixvi.
MS. in the Library of the Conti Sil-
vestri at Rovigo, 148.
Muratori, Antiq. Ital., Ixii.
Pandolfini, Del Governo della Fa-
miglia, 16.3.
Piacenza, xvii. Ixv. Ixvii,
Pliny, Natural History, 114, 117,
118, 129, 132, 144.
Pozzo, author of The Jesuit's Per-
spective, 122, 137.
QUOTED.
Raspe, on Painting in Oil, li. lii.
Requenos, Saggi sul Ristabilimento,
&c., Ixii. 138.
Rosa, Trattato delle Porpor, 122, 123.
Rosini, Storia della Pittura, xvii. xix.
Ixvi. Ixvii. Ixviii. Ixix., 109, 111,
113, 114, 135, 136, 147, 150, 151,
155.
Taylor, W. B. Sarsfield, The Fine
Arts in Britain, Ixviii.
Theophilus, Tractatus, MS., li. 129,
147, 159, 161.
Tilesia, Anton. De Colorihus, 120.
Ure, Dictionary of Arts, &c., 120,
121, 124, 129, 130, 132, 133, 157.
Vasari, Vite, xxi. xxv. xxvii. xxxviii.
xlvi.-xlviii. Ix. Ixiv., 109, 113, 121,
129, 134, 135, 137, 138, 140, 142,
146, 150, 151, 153, 158, 164.
Veneroni, Dictionary, 163.
Vitruvius, 136, 144.
Walpole, Anecdotes, &c., lii.
Wilson, Mr. A., Letter, 135.
Winkelman, 164.
Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, xvii. Ixv.
INTEODUCTORY PREFACE
BY
THE TRANSLATOR.
The Translator was induced to attempt making an English
version of the work of Cennino in consequence of the estima-
tion in which it appears to have been held by the Commis-
sioners on the Fine Arts ; and also in consequence of the high
commendation of the work by the Italian editor, the learned
Signor Tambroni (a member of several academies connected
with the arts and sciences). He considers this work of Cen-
nino " as a complete and precious memorial of the fine arts
in Italy in the fourteenth century ;" and that " of all the
modes of painting used by the masters of these times, and of
those who succeeded them, Cennino has composed the most
complete treatise that has ever been written." He calls it
" a precious and unique treatise ;" and says, " I am firmly of
opinion that the pubHcation of this work will prove of ines-
timable advantage to present and future painters, especially
as to the mode of painting in fresco ; this kind of painting
being almost, to our shame be it spoken, forgotten and lost."
The translation of the work is also recommended in a letter
which appeared in the Art-Union (October 1841), suggesting
the expediency of procuring translations of several works on
painting, in order to obtain practical information on the sub-
a
%
vi translator's preface.
ject generally ; and in particular, to discover, if possible, the
whole process observed by the painters of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries in painting those pictures, the colouring
and execution of which excite our surprise and admiration
even after a lapse of four centuries, and which have survived
the trials of exposure to the elements, and injuries sustained
from injudicious attempts to clean and restore them. As
the work is strictly practical, and, with one exception, en-
tirely free from the metaphysical disquisitions v^ith which
the early Italian works on painting so much abound ; and as
the book itself is rather a curious specimen, even in its Eng-
lish dress, of the style and manners of the time in which it
was written, it has been thought advisable to publish the
whole of it. Some extracts from the work have appeared in
the Report of the Commissioners on the Fine Arts ; but the
Translator believes the entire treatise is but little known in
England — certainly not to the extent it deserves.
The Italian editor has commented so largely on the work
in his very interesting Preface, that but little remains for the
Translator to point out for the observation of the reader.
A few points, however, not remarked upon in the notes,
suggest themselves. The first is, the religious feeling which
pervades the book, and which, at a cursory glance, and to a
Protestant reader, almost assumes the appearance of idolatry.
But this impression soon disappears, when we consider that
to this feeling of devotion we are principally indebted for the
preservation of the arts during the dark ages, and their sub-
sequent revival. This preservation and revival we owe to
the monks and rehgious communities of those times; who,
at once the legislators of states (see Cicognara, Storia di Scul-
tura, vol. i.), and directors of the spiritual and temporal con-
cerns of man, kept his mind in the trammels of ignorance and
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
Vll
superstition, while they addressed themselves to his imagina-
tion, and worked upon it by the pageants and pictures which
they presented to his senses, and through the medium of
painting and sculpture made known the remarkable events
recorded in Scripture history. It was principally by this
means that the great truths of the Gospel, — tinctured, it is
true, with the prevailing errors of the age, — became known
to the common people.
For some centuries painters were occupied solely in adorn-
ing the walls of churches, chapels, and convents ; and their
subjects were entirely limited to illustrations of Scripture
stories, pictures of the Virgin and saints, and miracles. At
length they began to introduce into their pictures portraits of
themselves, and of their patrons and friends ; and this cir-
cumstance has been the means of making us acquainted with
the personal appearance of many great men of that period,
as well as of the painters themselves. Cennino's invocations
and addresses to the saints, &c., will therefore cease to asto-
nish us. It will be observed, that he speaks of painting none
but religious subjects and persons.
In the pictures of the period of which we are now speak-
ing, we meet with none of the beautiful demi-tints and
broken colours observable in pictures of a later period ; every
colour is distinct and forcible, and the figures appear as if
inlaid upon the ground. There is no harmonising, or lower-
ing, or reflecting of one colour upon another ; no optical ar-
rangement or balancing of the colours, and a glimmering only
of the light of perspective and chiaro-scuro. The pictures
can scarcely be said to consist of a whole, but of various
parts ; and we find, accordingly, that they can be, and have
been, cut down into smaller pictures without suffering mate-
rial injury. We are told by Lanzi that a sort of manufacture
Vlll
translator's preface.
of paintings was carried on in Italy, in which one picture was
cut and divided into several ; but that no one ever succeeded
in dividing pictures of the Venetian school, the various parts
of which were so harmonised together that they could not be
separated without destroying the effect.
It is to be observed that Cennino does not once allude to
the theory of the art, or give rules for composition; but this
does not diminish the value of his practical instructions, since
mechanical dexterity is indispensable to the artist; and the
works of the most accomphshed theoretical painter would be
looked at with contempt, if he did not possess the requisite
facility of hand and skill in expressing his conceptions. A
practical treatise on the art must be considered as the steps
to the temple of painting of which Paolo Lomazzo speaks ;
every step of which we must climb, if we expect to obtain ad-
mission to, and distinction in, the temple to which they lead.
Yet, deficient as the art then was in theory, the painters
of the school of Giotto possessed a manual dexterity, and a
certainty of producing a good and durable effect, which arose
from a knowledge derived from the tradition of preceding art-
ists, and confirmed by experience, of the nature and properties
of their colours and materials, to which the modern discoveries
in chemistry have been able to make few additions.
It is evident from the work of Cennino, even were other
proof wanting, that the colouring of these old pictures was
extremely vivid and bright, and of a light tone. The darkest
shades are produced by glazings of the pure colour alone,
and the lighter gradations by the same colour made lighter
with white.
One cause of the purity and beauty of the colours in
ancient paintings, is the care with which the grounds were
prepared. When these were not of gold, they were inva-
translator's preface.
riably white ; and we find from the work before us, that no
pains were spared to preserve them pure, clean, and bright ;
for on this the success of the painting appeared in a remark-
able degree to depend. " All they," says De Piles, the com-
mentator on Du Fresnoy's Art of Painting (Dryden's transla-
tion), " who have coloured well, have had another maxim to
maintain their colours fresh and flourishing, which was, to
make use of white grounds, upon which they painted, and
oftentimes at the first stroke, without retouching any thing,
and without employing new colours, Rubens always used
this way ; and I have seen pictures from the hand of that
great person, painted up at once, which were of a wonderful
vivacity. The reason why they made use of those kinds of
grounds is, because white not only preserves a brightness
under the transparency of colours, which hinders the air
from altering the whiteness of the ground, but also repairs
the injuries which they receive from the air, so that the
ground and the colours assist and preserve each other. It is
for this reason that glazed colours have a vivacity which can
never be imitated by the most lively and most brilliant co-
lours ; because, according to the common way, the different
tints are simply laid on each in its place, one after another.
So true it is that white with other strong colours, with which
we paint at once what we intend to glaze, gives life, spirit,
and lustre to the work. The ancients most certainly found
that white grounds were much the best ; for although they
were conscious of the injury which their eyes received from
that colour, yet they did not forbear the use of it ; as Galen
testifies in his tenth book Of the Use of the Parts. ' Paint-
ers,' says he, ' when they work upon white grounds, place
before them dark colours, and others mixed with blue and
green, to refresh their eyes ; because white is a glaring colour,
X
translator's preface.
which wearies and pains the sight more than any other.' "
To this recommendation of white grounds for painting, we
must add the precept of Leonardo da Vinci, cap. 100 ; " Sem-
pre a quelle colore che vuoi che habino bellezza, prepararai
prima il campo candidissimo, e questo dico de' colori che
sono transparenti, perche a quelli che non sono transparenti,
non giova campo chiaro :" and the example of Paul Veronese,
Correggio, Rubens, and many of the great masters of the
Itahan, Flemish, and Dutch schools. The advantages of gold
grounds, to which Cennino gives the preference, are stated by
the Translator in a note.
Another point worthy of our attention is, the long and
perfect grinding of the colours, and their preservation in the
state of powder in bottles under water. This must have been
attended with the double advantage of shewing the tone of
the colours when wet, and also of preserving them from dust.
We must also remark the extreme accuracy with which the
tints are made and proportioned ; and as the quantities of each
may be measured, it is possible to produce, from the descrip-
tions of Cennino, an exact imitation of the shades of colour
described by him, as well for complexions as draperies.
It is to be observed also, that Cennino gives particular
directions not to torture the colours with the pencil, but to
paint them in the proper places at once ; a practice to which,
says Lanzi, Titian and the Venetian school were indebted for
one of their chief excellences, and which was strictly observed
by Rubens, and advocated by Du Fresnoy and De Piles.
On a careful examination of the colours used by Cen-
nino, we shall find that, in addition to the causes above men-
tioned, the permanence of the colours in ancient pictures may
be attributed to the knowledge possessed by the painters of
the properties of the pigments they employed, and also to
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
xi
the few colours used by the best painters, and all who were
desirous of securing the durability of their pictures.
Cennino enumerates twenty-four pigments in the whole ;
but those which he considers his best pigments are but twelve
in number, namely, the carbonaceous blacks, sinopia and
cinabrese (which were merely two shades of the same colour),
ochre and giallorino (Naples yellow), verde terra and verde
azzurro (cobalt green), azzurro della magna (cobalt blue), and
ultramarine blue, biacca (white lead), and bianco sangiovanni,
and amatito ; the last two being only used in fresco. On
comparing these pigments with the tables of colours in Mr.
Field's Chromatography , it will be observed that all except
amatito (which is not known as a modern pigment), giallorino,
and azzurro della magna, will be found in table iv., that is,
among those pigments not affected by light, oxygen, pure air,
or the opposite influences of shade, sulphuretted hydrogen,
damp and impure air, the action of lead and of iron. Giallo-
rino is, it seems, liable to change when brought into contact
with sulphuretted hydrogen or with iron. Cennino also differs
from Mr. Field in regard to the permanence of vermilion, which
was found to lose its colour under certain circumstances.
Of the other pigments mentioned by our author, the lac
lake, as observed by Mr. Field, is affected by lead ; the kermes
lake by light and sulphuretted hydrogen ; while minium, dra-
gon's blood, yellow and red orpiment, and verderame (verdi-
gris), are affected by light, oxygen, sulphuretted hydrogen,
and lead ; and orpiment and verdigris by iron also. Of the
remaining colours, zafferano, which was a vegetable yellow,
and arzica are no longer in use. The caution given by Cen-
nino to preserve all the colours generally from the contact of
iron is noticed in the notes to the work. There is no hrown
pigment among the colours mentioned by Cennino, although
Xll
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
the moderns possess at least fifteen pigments of this colour.
Of the multitude of pigments which the discoveries of che-
mistry have added to the palette of the painter, the madders
and some browns only can be considered as real acquisitions,
and pigments upon the durability of which artists may securely
depend, and hazard their fame as colourists. The yolk of
egg tempera might be used with all the most valuable pig-
ments ; but orpiment, indigo, zafferano, and verdigris, re-
quired to be mixed and diluted with glue only. Bianco san-
giovanni, a paint used only in fresco, was diluted with water
alone.
In chap. 72, Cennino gives a list of colours that were used
in fresco-painting, namely, verde terra, bianco sangiovanni,
giallorino, ochre, cinabrese, sinopia, amatito, and black. The
list, it will be observed, contains no blue ; but in chap. 75, we
find that indigo with bianco was sometimes used for the first
colouring of blue draperies in fresco, and was afterwards
glazed in secco with ultramarine ; and in chap. 83, that the
dead-colouring of a blue mantle for the Virgin consisted of
sinopia and black, and that it was glazed in secco with blue.
The greens also in fresco must have been far from brilliant,
since verde terra is the only natural green pigment used ; and
the brightest that could be formed artificially would arise
from the mixture of black with ochre, giallorino, or verde
terra. This dull colour of the greens accords with the obser-
vation of Sir H. Davy, quoted in the following paragraph : —
" Another cause of the preservation of these ancient pic-
tures is to be found in the few colours used in painting. The
earlier Grecian masters used but four colours, namely, Attic
ochre for yellow, sinopis (the sinopia of Cennino) for red, the
earth of Melos for white, and black." " It is known," says
Lanzi (vol. iii. p. 70), " that Titian and Giorgione used but
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
Xlll
few colours, and these they did not seek for or procure from
other places, but they were such as were sold by all the shops
in Venice." Boschini relates an observation of Titian, that
whoever would be a painter should be well acquainted with
three colours, and have perfect command over them, namely,
white, red, and black. " The azure, the red and yellow
ochres, and the blacks, are the colours which seem not to
have changed at all in the ancient fresco-paintings. The ver-
milion is darker than recently made Dutch cinnabar, and the
red lead is inferior in tint to that sold in shops. The greens
in general are dull. Massicot and orpiment are probably
among the least durable of ancient colours. If red and yellow
ochres, blacks and whites, were the colours most employed
by Protogenes and Apelles, so are they likewise the colours
most employed by Raffaello and Titian in their best style.
The St. John and Venus in the tribune of the gallery at
Florence offer striking examples of pictures, in which all the
deeper tints are evidently produced by red and yellow ochres
and carbonaceous substances." — Davy on the Colours used in
Painting hy the Ancients, — Phil. Trans. 1815. Of this de-
scription (with the exception of amatito) were the colours used
in fresco-painting by the school of Giotto, and recommended
by Cennino.
The propriety of using different vehicles on the same
picture has been lately much discussed, and the general opi-
nion appears to be unfavourable to it. Under these circum-
stances the practical directions of Cennino will be read with
much interest. In chap. 35 he informs us that some colours
must be used with one vehicle, and some with another ; and
on referring to the different chapters in which he treats of
the colours individually, we find that " some will bear any
tempera (vehicle or medium), some can be used with glue
xiv
translator's preface.
only, and some with yolk of egg only while in chaps. 142
and 143, we find that pictures were sometimes painted on a
gold ground in distemper (which Count Cicognara thought
impracticable, Storia di Scultura, vol. iii.), and the glazings
were done with colours ground in oil. The note to chap. 1^4
contains a description of an ancient picture still in preserva-
tion, painted in this manner ; and still more curious on account
of the gem-like ornaments in rehef which are affixed to it,
and which are doubtless the precious stones alluded to by
Cennino in this chapter.
The vehicles used with white lead are particularly worthy
of remark. Cennino says (chap. 59), " it will bear any tem-
pera;" and we find accordingly, in the course of the work,
that it was used with water, with glue, with yolk of egg, and
with oil. He says that it is the only white pigment that can
be used on pictures ; therefore, as the whites are generally
very well preserved in old pictures, we require no further
proof of the durability of this pigment when used with other
vehicles besides oil. One cause, perhaps, of this durability
may be found in a practice mentioned in chap. 62, of shading
white draperies with ultramarine, which we know has the
property of preserving colours upon which it is used. We
have a good example of this in the manner in which Rubens
coloured flesh, which in his pictures is always fresh, and the
colours well preserved. " He placed white on the lights,
next to that yellow, then Kght red, making the tint darker
as he went into the shades, and painting the carnations
brighter than nature. He then passed over the whole with
a cool grey (ultramarine and white), until he had softened
and mellowed the whole." In this he imitated nature ; for
if we break or remove the skin, we find the flesh red and
high-coloured. It is this skin which gives the semi-transpa-
translator's preface.
XV
rency observed in flesh, and which Rubens has happily imi-
tated in his cool grey tint, and the flesh tints, in many of his
pictures, which, after standing the test of 200 years, are now
as bright and transparent as when first painted.
The use made by the early Italian artists of lyes {lisciva)
is deserving of our notice and consideration. Cennino does
not inform us how this lye was prepared; but it has been
ascertained that lye produced from pouring water on wood-
ashes, from solutions of borax, and also of soda in water, were
then used. We find from Cennino's book that ultramarine
(of which soda is a constituent part) was prepared with it ;
that it was also used in preparing azzurro della magna (an
ore of cobalt) and zafferano. It has likewise been ascertained
that soda has a preserving influence on red, yellow, and black
pigments; and the result of experiments on these colours
has been so satisfactory, that a certain quantity of soda, — or,
to speak more correctly, of soap, which is a compound of soda
with fat or oil (but not drying oil), — is now used in preparing
pigments for painting sails for the British navy. It is also
used in the manufacture of printing-ink ; and we have now
Cennino's authority for using it with blue pigments. Sir
Humphrey Davy informs us, that the Vestorian or Egyp-
tian azure, the excellence of which is proved by its duration
of 1700 years, may be easily imitated by carbonate of soda,
opaque flint, and copper filings. The Translator has made
many experiments on the effects of the alkalis and neutral
salts when mixed with colours, and has every reason to be
satisfied with the addition of soda, when properly used.
The question as to the propriety of early or late varnish-
ing has been recently much discussed: it will be seen that
in chapter 155 Cennino strongly recommends delaying this
as long as possible, and he gives his reasons for so doing.
xvi
translator's preface.
It is to be observed, that he directs the pictures to be pre-
viously warmed in the sun ; and that the gold, where visible,
was not to he varnished. The practice of varnishing parts of a
picture, and not the whole, seems a relic of the old Egyptian
manner of painting, which passed from Egypt into Greece,
and from Greece into Italy ; for we find, within the cases of
mummies, coloured drawings on grounds of the purest white.
The coloured parts only are varnished with a brilhant and
transparent varnish, but the white is left unvarnished.
The practice of painting in encaustic seems to have been
discontinued previous to the time of Giotto, since Cennino
does not mention wax, except in two places, neither of which
has any reference to painting ; and this agrees with the expe-
riments recorded by Lanzi, in which no wax was found in
pictures painted after the year 1360. Nor does Cennino
mention essential oils, which, we therefore conclude, were
not used in painting at that period.
Painting in distemper in this country appears to have
been chiefly confined to scene-painting; but it is still prac-
tised in Italy. The great objection to it was, that pictures
painted in this manner could not be washed ; but as Cennino
informs us that they could be varnished, this can no longer
be considered an objection. Of the durability of this kind
of painting there can be no doubt ; since Cicognara mentions
some old paintings in distemper at Venice, by Maestro Paolo,
who was living in 1346; and by the Vivarini da Murano,
dated 1445, which are still in excellent preservation.
It has been said that Giotto was the pupil of Cimabue (a
Florentine, who died in 1300), to whom the revival of paint-
ing in Italy has usually been attributed. It has also been
said that he was taught by the Greeks ; but later researches
have shewn that Giuiita, of Pisa, who painted in 1202, is the
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
XVH
most ancient Italian painter whose name is inscribed on pic-
tures. He was a disciple of the Greeks (see Rosini, vol. i.
p. 104; Lanzi, vol. i.). Although deficient in design and in
drawing, and entirely ignorant of the theory of the art, these
early painters were acquainted with some method of painting
which preserved the durability of the colours of their pictures
in a most extraordinary degree.
As the painters of the early Italian school acknowledge
their manner of painting to have been derived from the Greeks,
it may not be uninteresting to see what light has been thrown
upon this subject by modern investigation.
Lanzi (vol. i.) relates that many old pictures were ana-
lysed by the celebrated chemist Signor Pietro Bianchi, and
they appeared to have been painted in oil ; and it was found
that the oldest pictures, which were usually the most brilliant,
gave indications of wax, a material used in encaustic painting,
and not forgotten by the Greeks, who instructed Giunta and
his contemporaries. It seemed to have been used as a varnish,
with which the painting was glazed, and which gave it a con-
sistency that resisted moisture. It is observable that the
quantity of wax used in the fourteenth century continually
lessens, until in 1360 it fell into disuse, and was succeeded by
distemper-painting, which did not shine. In these experi-
ments no oil was found, except a few drops of essential oil,
with which the learned professor conjectured the wax was
dissolved to facilitate its application in painting. Cicognara,
Piacenza, Zanetti, and all who have studied the subject,
agree that it is impossible to decide whether the pictures
were painted vdth colours mixed with oils and resinous var-
nishes, or whether these were applied after the picture was
finished. " Much," says Lanzi (vol. i.), " would he benefit
the art who could inform us with what gums, with what mix-
XVIU
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
tures, these Greeks painted. They eertainl}'^ inherited some
valuable methods, which had descended to them by traditions,
and which, though altered in part, were certainly derived
from their ancestors. Even since the discovery of oil-paint-
ing, we feel a degree of admiration at the colouring of their
pictures. In the Museo Medico is a Madonna with this
Latin inscription, ' Andreas Rico de Candita joinxit.' The
forms are common, the folds of the drapery ungraceful, the
composition unskilful ; but the colours are so fresh, so vivid,
so brilliant, as to surpass all modern pictures ; and the tex-
ture of the picture is so hard and compact that it does not
yield to iron, but rather chips off in minute sparkling scales.
The frescoes of the ancient Greeks and of the oldest Italian
artists are also very hard ; and those of upper Italy are
harder than those of lower Italy. Some pictures of Saints
in St. Nicole di Trevigi surprise us by their durability. Of
these, P. Federici (vol. i. p. 188) writes: ' I have been told
by professors that the consistency of the tints seems to have
been owing to some portion of wax used in those days ; but I
must confess that we have made but little progress in dis-
covering these ancient methods of painting. When they shall
have been discovered, they will be found very useful in re-
storing old pictures, and in preserving that solid, fused, and
lucid colouring, which in various pictures of the Lombard
and Venetian schools, and especially in those of Correggio,
was so much esteemed.'"
Of the paintings of Cimabue, who died in 1300, M. Bottari
writes, that " they appear as if painted but a few years ago ;
and this preservation is chiefly to be attributed to the great
quantity of ultramarine he employed, in which he shewed a
liberality only felt by those who have a lofty idea and sincere
love for the art. And these pictures must have appeared, to
translator's preface.
xix
the religious persons for whom they were painted, quite won-
derful, not only on account of the superior design, but also
from the splendour and vivacity of the colours." The Christ,
which about this period (it is dated 1272) Cimabue painted in
Perugia, and which, like that of the Santa Croce at Florence,
is quite resplendent with azure (I repeat the expression of the
Florentine prelate, M. Bottari), seems painted but yesterday.
Although we have not succeeded in ascertaining the Greek
method of painting, we have no doubt respecting the manner
in which the grounds were prepared ; and we shall find that
Cennino describes and recommends the process adopted by the
Greeks. The materials also of which the grounds were made
are considered evidence of the period when the pictures were
painted. Rosini (vol. i. p. 122) makes the following observa-
tions on this subject: —
" The pictures of Giunta, and those painted at this period
(1202), were executed on linen cloth, stretched on a panel,
prepared with two or three coats of gesso (see the Christs in
San Frediano, San Francesco, Santa Marta, &c.). This is
a regular practice, and is noticed by Mariotti, Morena, and
others." We may also add, by Cennino, in chap. 114.
" If, then, we find them prepared in a different manner,
this should signify that they are either anterior or posterior
to this time.
" But among the Crucifixions posterior to Giunta, we
find that which is preserved in the church of San Matteo,
illustrated by Professor Ciampi, which he believes (and I
think correctly) to be an Italian, and not a Greek picture.
The proof that it is later than Giunta is, that the feet of
Christ are not fastened with two nails, but with one, a
practice which began after Cimabue.
" Now this Crucifixion (continues Ciampi, Sagristia, &c.
XX
translator's preface.
p. 87), is not painted on wood, or on linen, but upon a large
skin of parchment, carefully stretched upon wood." Direc-
tions for doing this will be found in chap. 17 of this work,
which proves that the practice was then in use.
" If then the form of the feet indicate a period posterior
to Giunta ; and if the mode of painting be different from that
which was usually followed (that is, on parchment, and not on
linen), it is probable that the method did not precede, but
that it followed the other.
" Hence we conclude that paintings upon parchment are,
in all probability, posterior to the time of Giunta.
" Now, who would believe that the Crucifixion in the
Campo Santo at Pisa, which is undoubtedly a Greek work,
is also painted on parchment, stretched upon a plank ? Yet
it is even so. And this being the case, we attribute it with
good reason to an artist posterior to Giunta.
" After a lapse of six centuries this picture is in a won-
derful state of preservation. The Christ is inferior to that
of Giunta ; but in the different subjects which are on each
side of the Crucifixion and above the head of the Redeemer,
the Greek who executed it shews a desire to compete with
and emulate the artist of Pisa.
" The existence, then, of this picture, which is visibly of
Greek origin, although it bears a Latin inscription (of which
we have many examples when the sacred effigies were in-
tended to be sent into Italy ; and we may here allude to the
before-mentioned picture by Andreas Rico, of Candia), and
the circumstance of its being executed on parchment, which
indicates, as has been said, a later period, lead us to believe
that the Greek school continued some years after Giunta,
who must also have founded a school, as is evident from the
monuments which remain of it.
translator's preface.
xxi
" It has also been remarked of a picture anterior to the
time of Giunta, that besides the gesso, which covered the Hnen
cloth stretched upon the panel, it had been covered with ^oZc?-
/ea/ previous to the painting.
" A Crucifixion, still preserved in the private chapel of
the noble family of Rosso, in the convent of San Matteo, is
painted on linen stretched on a panel, as is the case with the
most ancient pictures ; and according to the opinion of che-
mists, the varnish is mixed with oil.''''
The Translator abstains from entering into the controversy
relative to the vehicle of Van Eyck, which seems inappro-
priate on the present occasion. Should the result of the
experiments which have for some years occupied her leisure
hours be ultimately successful, a future opportunity will be
taken of discussing the subject. It may, however, be pro-
per to observe, that Cennino does not mention the practice
of mixing liquid varnish with colours (except in that re-
markable chapter, 161, in which he speaks of the custom
of painting the living face with oil-colours, or colours mixed
with varnish, in order to make the complexion appear more
brilliant) ; and to suggest to the artists who paint with the
composition called megelp (mastic varnish and boiled oil),
whether that can be a good vehicle which had been tried
and rejected by the painters who flourished previous to, and
during the age of, Van Eyck. In Vasari's Life of Antonello
da Messina, he informs us, that the painters, when seeking
for a vehicle, had, among other things, tried the experiment
of mixing liquid varnish with their colours, and that the
result had been unsatisfactory. It is probable that their
varnish was composed of some kind of resin dissolved in
linseed-oil; but that varnish, when dry, could have varied
but little from the vehicle made by mixing boiled linseed-
b
XXll
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
oil with mastic dissolved in spirit of turpentine; for the
latter being an essential oil, would evaporate as it dried, and
leave the resin and linseed-oil on the picture. The addition
of the htharge, on which the modern drying oil is boiled,
and which occasions the gelatinising of the megelp, is known
to have a deleterious effect on colours, by causing them to
change. It is somewhat curious that the painters of the
nineteenth century should have revived and practised, as a
new invention, what those of the fourteenth century had
tried and rejected; and more extraordinary still, that, un-
warned by experience, they should continue to use it, in
spite of the awful gashes and cracks that disfigure the pic-
tures painted with this vehicle.
As the utility of a work so entirely practical as that of
Cennino depends in a great measure on the fidelity of the
translation, it has been the endeavour of the Translator to
make the present version as literal as the idiom of the two
languages will admit.
The learned Editor has remarked that the style of the
original work is unpolished, that it abounds in provincialisms,
and that it contains many new words and terms of art. Many
of these have escaped his research, and are not to be found
in any dictionary, as he informs us in several notes, which
have been omitted in a translation where the original words
are not retained. In such cases the Translator has endea-
voured, by maturely considering the context, and by consult-
ing other eminent works on the same subject, to express
what is conceived to be the meaning of the Author; and
though aware of many imperfections in the work, no care
and attention has been spared to prevent any material mis-
interpretation of the text on any essential point; and the
Translator relies on the indulgence of the liberal-minded to
TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.
XXlll
excuse unimportant errors in the translation of a work more
than 400 years old, which contains many words unknown to
the learned Editor and countryman of the Author, and many
forms of expression, which, though formerly in use, are now
obsolete.
The Translator has spared no pains to illustrate the work
by notes and quotations from the best writers on the art,
which, it is hoped, will be found of practical utility.
Many of the Italian terms of art have been retained, the
Translator considering that by those conversant with art the
original words will be better understood. The meaning of
such expressions, where not added to the text, will be found
in the Notes or in the Index.
There is much of the Introduction, by Tambroni, which
does not apply to the practical part of the art of painting ;
but as it shews the importance which was attached to every
thing connected with the fine arts in Italy, and, consequently,
the high estimation in which they were held in that country,
and as the reflections of this learned and accomplished Editor
are so excellent in themselves, it has been thought desirable
to retain the whole of the Introduction in this translation,
considering it, independent of its intrinsic merit, a literary
curiosity, and otherwise historically interesting.
The Notes by the Italian Editor are distinguished by the
name of Tambroni, and those by the Translator by the word
Translator, at the end of each note.
The Plates which accompany the work were drawn on
stone by the Translator, and were selected chiefly from
Rosini's new work, Storia della Pittura.
PREFACE
BY THE
CAVALIERE GIUSEPPE TAMBRONI.^d
Giorgio Vasari is the first author who has mentioned Cen-
nino, son of Andrea Cennini da Colle di Valdelsa, a painter,
who was the- disciple of Agnolo, son of Taddeo Gaddi, the
scholar of Giotto. In the life of Agnolo Gaddi the following
passage occurs :
" Cennini, son of Drea Cennini, of Colle di Valdelsa, who
studied painting under the same Agnolo, being very fond of
the art, wrote with his own hand, in a book, directions for
painting in fresco and in distemper, with glue and with gum,
also how to paint in miniature, and various ways of laying on
gold ; which book is in the hands of Giuliano, a goldsmith of
Siena, an excellent master and friend to the arts. And in the
beginning of his book, he treats of the nature of colours, mine-
ral as well as those prepared from earths, as he was taught
by Agnolo his master, being desirous (although perhaps he
did not succeed in learning to paint perfectly) to know the
different kinds of colours, vehicles {temper as), glues, and
plaster {gesso) ; also what colours to avoid, as being injurious
when mixed with others; and much information besides, of
which it is not necessary to speak, all these things being now
well understood, although in his time they were considered
great secrets, and were known only to a few persons.
" We must not omit to state, that he does not mention (and
perhaps they were not in use) certain colours prepared from
earths, such as dark red earth {terre rosse scure), cinabrese,
and certain vitreous greens. Umber, which is an earth, has
xxvi
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
also been found since his time;^^) also yellow lake {giallu
santo), smalts, used both in oil and fresco, and some vitreous
yellows and greens, which were not known to the painters of
that age. He also treats of mosaic painting, of grinding
colours in oil to make grounds of red, blue, green, &c., and
mordants for laying on gold, but not for painting figures.
Besides the works that he painted in Florence, in conjunction
with his master, he painted with his own hand, under the
loggia of the Hospital of Bonifacio Lupi, a picture of the
Virgin with certain saints, so well coloured that it is at this
day in good preservation. ^^'> This Cennino, in the first
chapter of his book, makes use of these words : ' Cennino di
Drea Cennino,' &c. [here Vasari quotes from the beginning
of the work to the end of the first paragraph ; he then adds :]
" These are Cennino's own words ; to which (as those who
translate books from the Greek into Latin, for the use of those
who do not understand Greek, confer a great benefit on the
arts) we add what was accomplished by Giotto, who advanced
the art of painting, from a manner not understood or known
to any one (unless perhaps for its barbarism), to an easy and
most pleasant manner, known and approved of by persons of
judgment and information."
This is all that is said about this painter and writer ;
and we now despair of finding any notices of his life and
works ; for whoever has since written concerning him, has
copied from Vasari ; as Baldinucci confesses, in his short note
entitled the Life of Cennino.
I am firmly of opinion, as I shall hereafter shew, that
Vasari never read the work of this artist ; and although he
transcribed a few lines of the first chapter, he either did not
set any value on the remainder, or read so little of it that he
did not understand it. Nor shall we hesitate to believe, that
his knowledge of it was limited to what he was told by the
goldsmith Giuliano ; whence the serious mistakes he made,
and the many errors into which he fell, especially concerning
the mode of colouring in oil.^^^ But we shall speak here-
after on this subject.
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
XXVll
And I believe that the reason why the work of Cennino
is now published for the first time is to be attributed to the
small value set on it by this same Vasari, who here says, " and
in short, many other recipes of which it is not necessary to
speak, these things being now well known, although they were
considered great secrets in his days, and were known but to
few persons."
Those two learned men, Bandini and Bottari, however,
thought differently. For the first, in his catalogue of Italian
manuscripts of the Library Mediceo-Laurenziana, shewed a
great desire that the manuscript of Cennhio should be tho-
roughly examined : " quum male," said he,^^) " compactus
sit codex ac multa secreta contineat non contemnenda, dignus
est qui ab aliquo bonarum artium cultore diligenti examine
perpendatur." And the second, in his notes to Vasari's Lives
of the Painters, where, in that of Agnolo Gaddi, speaking of
Cennino, he says, " it would be very useful to publish this
book on the arts, since we have so few writers in the Tuscan
language on the arts in comparison with the Greeks."
These remarks of Bottari long since awakened in my mind
a great desire to become acquainted with this work, in which
I hoped to find some information relative to the mode of
colouring practised in that age, and also relative to the nature
of the colours, which we see still existing in great brilliancy,
to the extreme regret of the painters of the present day, who
have lost all remembrance of the vehicles and of the mode of
using them.
And it was a great source of wonder to me to see, that,
among so many writers, who either combated or defended the
assertion of Vasari, giving to John Van Eyck (Giovanni da
Bruggia) the honour of having first invented the art of paint-
ing in oil, after having said that Cennino had shewn in his
book how to grind colours in oil, it never entered the mind
of any of them to read attentively the manuscript which had
caused so many disputes. Nor can we help believing that
Borghini knew the work of Cennino, although he does not
mention either him or John Van Eyck, and likewise omits
XXVlll
TAMBRONI S PREFACE.
any notice of Agnolo Gaddi. This silence, I am led to be-
lieve, was wilful; because, in reading his second book Del
Riposo, I found in many passages a literal copy of the work
of Cennino, principally where he speaks of drawing pictures
with a silver stile, of bones for rubbing on pictures (inossare),
of making crayons, of tinting paper, or making transparent
paper, of glues, of painting in fresco and distemper, and also
of colours ; and among other things which induced me to sus-
pect his artifice, was his mentioning paper made of cotton
{carta hambagina), which was no longer used in his time.
And where he speaks of cinabrese, he says that it was made
of sinopia ; but he does not tell the nature of the colour, nor
does he place it in the number of dark reds. He also erred
in calling porporino a perfect red colour, whereas it is the oro
musivo, as I have remarked in the note to chap. 159 of the
book of Cennino. Whoever reads both books attentively will
see whether I am deceived.
Baldinucci, at the instigation of Antonio Maria Salvini,
as he himself declares in the above-cited life of Cennino, seems
to have investigated the manuscript with greater curiosity;
for besides having repeated the part transcribed by Vasari, he
added the title and the last rules of the work. He then touches
slightly upon the question of painting in oil ; and transcribes
part of chap. 89, in order to shew that in Italy this art was
derived from the Germans. He then discusses two other pas-
sages of the treatise, namely, those on the lapis amatito and
acquerelle (water-colours), to which words he gives the pre-
ference over matita and acquarelli, which were in use both in
his own time and since that period. But he either did not
understand, or he concealed, what he had read, that he might
not contradict Vasari ; or he quoted these few passages on
which he has remarked, to induce the behef that he had
examined the whole manuscript.
Bandini alone, as appears from his Catalogue, gives proofs
of having minutely examined this work; because, besides
having diligently transcribed it from beginning to end, he
says, as we have before noticed, " ac multa secreta contineat
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
XXIX
non contemnenda." These words are an incontestable proof
that he had studied it more thoroughly than any other person.
The celebrated Abate Lanzi at length induced the Abate
Moreni to consult the treatise of Cennino. But it appears
that he did not examine it very minutely ; for, except having
copied the end of chap. 89, of w^hich Baldinucci had written
only part, Lanzi makes no other reference than the following
passage : " In the subsequent chapters he says that this ought
to be done by boiling the hnseed-oil.''^^") And thence Lanzi
(who was himself mistaken) drew the conclusion, that the
mode described by Cennino could not have been that of John
of Bruges, and was fit only for coarse works. This very
learned author could not, then, have been perfectly acquainted
with this book on the art.
Of the remaining writers who have had occasion to quote
the book of Cennino, all have done so on the authority of the
above-named authors, without having felt themselves stimu-
lated by the just and laudable curiosity of examining the work
itself.
I was mentioning this circumstance one day to that ever-
increasing light of Italian literature, Signor Angelo Mai,
praefect of the Vatican Library, of whom it is difficult to
decide whether his learning, his courtesy, or his love for the
glory of our name, is most eminent; and I respectfully en-
treated him to search whether the precious treatise of Cennino
might not perchance be found concealed among the immense
treasures of the Vatican manuscripts. But a short time
elapsed before he announced to me that he had discovered it
among the Ottobonian manuscripts, numbered 2974.
I immediately began to read the most ancient written
monument of the fine arts since their revival ; ^^^^ and finding
that it contained many things highly useful, but now lost, I
requested permission of Monsignore to publish it for the
benefit of the world at large ; and he, who is all politeness,
graciously acceded to my request. For this he deserves the
thanks of aU Italy, and of all artists, as well as of myself, who
will study carefully to make known the name and work of
XXX
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
Cennino, and rescue in some measure this worthy Italian from
the ungrateful oblivion in which he has been left for about
four centuries.
I shall, in the first place, make such remarks on this ma-
nuscript, as that all who feel the inclination may consult and
examine it.
It is registered, as I have said, among the Ottobonian
manuscripts, and numbered 2974 ; and from the coat of arms
affixed to it, is known to have belonged formerly to Baron
Stosch. It is on paper, and was recopied less than a century
ago from some old manuscript, because it bears in front the
date 1737. From the initial letters of the name of the amanu-
ensis, P. A. W., it appears that he was not of Italian origin.
In the first two pages, and in part of the third, are transcribed
the notices which P. Orlandi and Giorgio Vasari left of Cen-
nino. The writing is that of the last century, very clear and
large. But whether it was that the amanuensis was not very
learned, or that he had but Httle knowledge of the things
belonging to painting, or that the manuscript, from which the
present is transcribed, was written in characters difficult to in-
terpret, as manuscripts of the fifteenth century generally are,
— it has occasioned much labour to bring it into a legible state.
For this reason I determined to recopy it entirely with my
own hand, to examine and studv it diligently, endeavourino*
to supply, in the best way I possibly could, the ignorance or
absolute negligence of the foreign transcriber. And but for
this care my labour would have been in vain, because, as may
be seen, the order and arrangement of the precepts are con-
fused, and the orthography incorrect. In setthng the read-
ing, therefore, I found the works and advice of the Abate
Girolamo Amati and Salvatore Betti, — names dear to the re-
public of letters and my intimate friends, — extremely useful.
Nor shall I suppress that, from the notes both on the margin
and the text, it is known that this copy was taken from ano-
ther, which perhaps was examined with and corrected from
the original manuscript. And yet the greatest difficulties are
not removed ; for either the difficulty of the original writing.
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
XXXI
or the ignorance of the amanuensis, is perceptible. And
because I wished to profit by the observations of others, I
must add that it was the opinion of the before-mentioned
Salvatore Betti, that we should consider as interpolations of
the amanuensis the repetition of words or synonymes which
are met with at every page ; as, for example, miolo over
bicchiere, sinopio over porjido, colla over tempera, Sec. ; ^'^^
although I do not entirely agree with him on this point ; for
I think that, as Cennino wrote in the dialect of his native
place, he wished to explain the provincialisms which escaped
from his pen by words then in use in polite Florentine con-
versation ; and I am the more inclined to this belief by re-
marking how many times he repeats, and how minute he is in
his writing.
However this may be, with some study and diligence it is
possible to render our text intelligible. I shall say, in fine,
that it contains 142 folio pages ; that the whole work is
divided into one hundred and seventy-one chapters, and these
into books as far as chap. 113, where the fifth book termi-
nates, after which there are no more divisions ; and I strongly
suspect that the divisions into books, chapters, and rubrics of
this manuscript, were not originally made by Cennino, but by
the amanuensis. And my reason for this is, that some rubrics
are begun in the third person, as in chap. 36: " come ti di-
mostra i colori naturali." And at chap. 116 these rubrics are
found no longer ; and I have thought proper to supply them,
for the convenience of the studious, and to facilitate the un-
derstanding of the work. It is nevertheless true, that such
omissions are met with in many ancient manuscripts ; because
the letters being either illuminated, or the titles written in
red characters, the amanuenses omitted them, that they might
afterwards add them at their leisure, or that others more
expert in these arts might do them. And it might happen,
that sometimes being prevented by various causes from doing
this, the books remained imperfect.
But let these things which we now discuss be as they
may, they are of little or no importance to the arts, and no
XXXll
TAMBRONI S PREFACE.
defect to the work, which makes us intimately acquainted
with the state of the art of painting in the days of Cennino,
the natiu-e of the colours, and the manner in which these old
masters executed those works which astonish us, considerinsr
the age in which they were painted. And we desire anxiously
to know how they laid gold on pictures and books, what glues
they used, what vehicles and mordants, since they have re-
sisted the accidents of many centuries, and the gold and
colours preserve still such great freshness on pictures and
on walls.
I have not yet been able to ascertain that there are more
than three copies of this work. The first is in the Biblioteca
Laurenziana at Florence, mentioned by Baldinucci, Bandini,
and Bottari, banco Ixxviii. n. 24. The second is in the man-
sion of the Beltramini of CoUe, as we collect from a note to
the index of the works of Baldinucci (Florentine edition),
under the word Cennino, unless this should have passed into
the B. Laurenziana, of which Bandini, in his Catalogue, does
not inform us ; and from the preceding note it appears that
this last is the autograph that Vasari says he found in the
hands of Giuliano the goldsmith of Siena. The third is in
fact the Ottobonian manuscript.
This book of Cennino's is of use not only to the arts, but
it is also useful to the language. For although the style be
unstudied, and without any ornaments, and is such as a writer
ignorant of the belles lettres, and even of the language, might
use, and is besides full of common expressions and provincial-
isms, it is nevertheless good upon the whole, and contains
many new and excellent words, especially in the arts, as
Signer Bottari has wisely remarked. I shall give an index
of these words at the end of the book, for the use of the
compilers of dictionaries, and also that philologists may
employ them in elucidating some of those questions which
relate to the formation and origin of the language.
Nor will there be, in my opinion, any one who, on account
of the language, can deny Cennino the authority of a writer
of the fourteenth century. For although he wrote his book
TAMBRONI S PREFACE.
XXXlll
in the year 1437, it is certain that he was born soon after
1350. It is true that Vasari does not name the year of his
nativity ; but it seems to me there is no difficulty in forming
an approximation to it in the following manner.
Cennino finished writing his book on the arts the 31st
day of July 1437. In this he says, that he was for twelve
years the disciple of Agnolo Gaddi, who died in 1387. Sup-
posing that he was with his master at the moment of his
death, he must then have been in his service in the year
1375 ; the period at which he began to reside with Agnolo,
between the twelfth and eighteen years of his age, will deter-
mine the period of his birth about 1360. And if we allow
some years to elapse between the termination of the pupilage
of Cennino and the death of his master Agnolo, we shall
soon arrive at 1350. Consequently he lived at least forty
years in that golden age of our language. Men do not, at
such an advanced age, change the mode of speaking which
they have learned in their infancy, and confirmed in their
youth and manhood. And we know it by experience, be-
cause we hear from our old men expressions which were used
in the days of their youth, and which are now obsolete.
For this cause, then, we esteem it a labour of general
utility to publish the book of Cennino.
As in passing through life we learn many new things, so
do we forget many old things, and gradually the remembrance
of them is lost from among men. Therefore those persons do
not reason well who do not study to perpetuate useful things
by writing ; because in such case posterity will hereafter seek
in vain for their origin, perfection, and use. This would
have been the case with the method of painting in the four-
teenth century, which followed soon after the revival of the
fine arts, if Cennino had not preserved a complete and pre-
cious memorial of it in his book.
It was, then, very fortunate that our author conceived the
idea of writing a work on his art, which he had been taught,
and which had descended directly to him from Giotto, through
Taddeo Gaddi, and Agnolo his son; and this he did with so
xxxiv
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
much love, so much order, and with such minute particularity,
that our astonishment is excited. For, as is apparent to every
one, the most ignorant person in the art of painting could by
himself, assisted only by this book (except as to the practical
part of the art), become expert and familiar with all the
modes of painting used by the masters of those times, of
whose method, and that of those who succeeded them, Cen-
nino has composed the most complete treatise that has ever
been written. For, not content with teaching minutely all
those things which ought to be acquired, he also adds those
which should be avoided ; and he discourses con amore, not
only of causes, but also of their effects. Nor is it enough for
him to have demonstrated how things are to be done, but he
condescends to specify how the means of doing them are to
be prepared. He prescribes the quality of the materials, the
dimensions of the instruments ; and he advises the reader at
every step as to what, according to his doctrine, he should
prefer. But not tenacious of his own precepts, he quotes
also the practice of the old masters, although he did not con-
sider it good, nor did he adopt it himself.
Among all those who have written treatises on the art of
painting, Gio. Battista Armenini of Faenza (who was a painter,
and who flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century),
was the only one who approached Cennino in giving precepts
concerning the practical parts of painting. Vasari touches
briefly on these subjects ; and all the others, endeavouring to
subtilise and mystify, enter into disputes concerning ideas,
and lose sight of the principal objects. Therefore we may
say, that in proportion to their endeavours to speak of sub-
lime and fantastic subjects, did the art, which owed its im-
provement more to practice than to theory, become lost.
For we know that Raffaello and many others of the great
masters drank at no other fountain than that of nature and
practice ; and that so many treatises of the beautiful and the
ideal have not been able to produce one single great man.
We return from our digression, by observing of Armenini,
that he certainly did not know Cennino's book, because he
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
XXXV
says, in the preface to his work, " the art of painting has not
yet had any one who has collected instructions and precepts
for the utility of mankind, or published them in a single
volume;" and elsewhere, " this I do the more willingly,
because no one that I am aware of, previously to myself,
has distinctly and fully made these things known in writing."
And to speak the truth, he deserves much praise for his
work, although it may not be so easy, and clear, and full
of precepts as the book of our author. I cannot, however,
pardon him two things. The first is, for having ungratefully
and harshly spoken of those old and venerable masters who
flourished between Giotto and Pietro Perugino ; and for
having entangled himself in the metaphysics of the arts, and
having clothed a few ideas with a great many words.
We shall not stay to say more respecting the treatise of
Francesco Bisagni, than that his own work chiefly consisted
of a compendium of that of Armenini. And I must here
observe, that I intend to speak of Italian writers only.
In reading the book of Cennino, we acknowledge the truth
of what Vasari asserted, namely, that the things comprised in
it were considered great secrets in those ancient times ; for in
every page we find proofs of the great jealousy with which the
masters concealed their knowledge, which they communicated
only step by step to their disciples. And this mode of instruc-
tion, by placing students in a state of servitude, as is observed
in the second chapter, was well adapted to youths desirous of
learning. The word creato has no other origin than that given by
Vasari and other writers to the disciples of the old masters, and
which, being derived from the Spanish, was adopted into the
Italian language as the synonyme of servant. Cennino repeats
in two places that Taddeo Gaddi was the disciple of Giotto for
twenty-four years, and that he himself was that of Agnolo for
twelve years. In chap. 104, he afterwards discourses on the
time in which he thought the art might be acquired, and he
determines on thirteen years ; namely, one whole year to be
devoted to drawing ; then six years to learning the mechani-
cal and more common parts of the art ; and another six years
«
XXXvi TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
to practising colouring, adorning with mordants, making dra-
peries of gold, and practising painting on walls. And for this
reason I think that the discipHne of the art was taught to
the disciples with great caution and by gradual steps, the
masters being always the depositories of the old traditions of
practice. Hence the laboratory of a painter must have been
of difficult access to all those who were not initiated in the
school ; and to this they were led, not only by the works of
design and of colouring, but they were also prepared for them
by the preparation of those things which at present are sub-
servient to painting, and are now supplied by various arts.
For this cause we should not be surprised to observe, that
our author employs the two chapters, 12 and 14, in teaching
how to efface, with a piece of crumb of bread, the marks made
by the leaden stile, and how to make a pen; because it is
necessary to return in thought to that period of the infancy
of painting, and to remember that all the parts of the art
were concealed with the greatest care.
In chap. 60, for example, Cennino says, " Cinnabar is a
colour which is made by alchemy, prepared in an alembic, of
which, &c. . . because if you choose to fatigue yourself, you
will find plenty of recipes, and especially among the monks."
And in chap. 44, in speaking of lac, he says, " which is an
artificial colour. There are many recipes for making it." In
chap. where he discourses on the mode of preparing ultra-
marine, he recommends keeping the secret, saying, " And
keep it to yourself, for it is a great acquirement to know how
to make it well."
But I am also led to believe that the same Cennino was
very ignorant of many things relating to the nature and origin
of the colours ; and for this reason, that he sometimes evaded
the question, and more frequently recommended his readers
to purchase the article ready made. In chap. 46, treating of
the colour giallorino, he gives evident proof that he did not
know how it was made, and that he only judged of it by the
weight. " And I believe," says he, " that this colour is a
true stone, produced in volcanic districts ; for this reason I
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
xxxvii
say that it is an artificial colour, but not prepared by alchemy."
Nor can we wonder at his ignorance respecting many colours ;
because the Venetians, who alone navigated the eastern seas,
had the right to distribute over Europe the merchandise of
Asia ; and no inconsiderable portion of this consisted of co-
lours, which were afterwards made in the laboratories of
Venice, where even at that early period some colours were
prepared, and from whence the apothecaries throughout Italy
(of whom the painters purchased their pigments) were sup-
plied. And in fact, in chap. 10, Cennino mentions the colour
called pezzuole, which was then, and now is, used by minia-
ture-painters, and which is at present called pezzette di Le-
vante ; it is of a red colour like carmine, and is used by women
to increase the beauty of their faces.
In order to prove that Vasari had never read the whole of
Cennino's book, as I have before asserted, I shall allege some
reasons, which I believe cannot be controverted. He says, in
the first place, " he (Cennino) does not mention (and perhaps
they were not in use) certain colours prepared from earths,
such as terre rosse scure, cinabrese," &c. Now, chapters 38
and 89 are devoted to sinopia, or terre rosse scure, and cina-
brese. In the second place, Vasari continues, " he also
treats of mosaic painting ;" and Cennino has not a single word
on this manner of painting. In the third place, the same
Vasari asserts that Cennino treats of grinding colours in oil to
make red, blue, green, and other kinds of grounds {campi), and
of mordants for laying on gold, but not for figures ; while six
entire chapters, that is, from 89 to 94, are all employed in de-
scribing the mode of preparing good oil for mordants, not only
boiled on the fire, but baked in the sun, for painting on walls,
on pictures, on iron, on stone, and on glass ; and also of
grinding colours with the same oil to paint flesh, draperies,
mountains, trees, and whatever you please. Nor is that sufii-
cient ; for although" Cennino has written at the end of the
book nine whole chapters on the manner of casting, in plaster,
heads and entire figures from the life, coins, and seals, and of
making casts in metal, Vasari does not make the least mention
c
XXXVlll
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
of these subjects. Whence we are constrained to believe,
that he merely glanced lightly over the titles to the chapters
of part of the manuscript ; and that thinking it useless, he did
not care to examine and investigate the whole work. For
this reason it cannot be supposed that this noble-minded man,
so zealous for the honour of his country, and whose every
effort had been directed to make it pre-eminent, would with-
hold from one of his fellow-countrymen the just fame which
he deserved by so valuable a work. Nor do I here intend to
reprove him, or to lessen his glory. I shall say only, that he
committed a great error in not having examined the work of
this old master ; for then perhaps he would not so easily have
given the credit of those things to strangers which certainly
were known in his own beautiful Tuscany, and in all Italy,
as I shall hereafter study to prove.
We must now speak of the work. I think it would be
superfluous to enter too minutely into it, since it would de-
prive the reader of the pleasure of studying it himself; be-
sides, it is not difficult to understand, but, on the contrary,
is quite simple, plain, and clear. Where I have thought it
right to illustrate and make the text more clear by annotations,
I have endeavoured to be moderate and brief; and I have
sought to lead the readers, as much as I possibly could, to the
customs, the practice of the arts, and to the forms of expres-
sion of that period. Nor do I consider that I have commented
upon every point : many new lights may yet be thrown upon
this precious and unique treatise on painting.
In the introduction to his book, Cennino shews that he
was but little acquainted with literature ; for, desirous of imi-
tating the writers of his times, who began all their works with
the creation of the world, he entangles himself in a thorny
labyrinth, from which he issues with weariness, and in a weak
and obscure manner; nevertheless, he deserves much credit
for the reverence with which he speaks of Giotto, of Taddeo,
and of Agnolo Gaddi, whose praises he repeats in many places,
— in chap. 4, for example, saying, " and this is the precept
of the great masters, among whom," &c. And in chap. 67,
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
xxxix
he says, " Giotto, the great master." And when an oppor-
tunity occurs of rendering homage to these ancients, he never
defrauds them of the gratitude he owes them. I think I
ought to present to the minds of modern students of the noble
arts of design these facts, whence they may learn the great
utility of those lessons of love, and fear, and obedience towards
their masters, of which our author speaks in chap. 3.
The whole of the first part of the book, consisting of thirty-
four chapters, is dedicated by Cennino to the first rudiments
of design. After having enumerated all the parts into which
the art of painting is divided, he proceeds to describe the
manner of drawing pictures, of which he prescribes the dimen-
sions. He then directs how to use bone-dust (inossare), and
what stiles should be used. He gives the rules of light, of
chiaro and scuro, and relievos. From pictures he proceeds to
parchment and paper made of cotton {carta hambagina) ; the
latter, at that time much used, was imported into Italy from
the Levant previous to the paper made of rags, now in use,
becoming common.
And the varnish used by writers (vernice da scrivere), which
he mentions in chap. 10, was that with which they rubbed
over the paper made of cotton in order to prepare it for writ-
ing on ; it was a kind of resin, powdered very fine, which is
still in use. He then teaches how to draw with a pen on
paper; and then, advancing progressively, he shews how to
tint paper of all colours, and to make transparent paper for
tracing the designs of the best masters, and strongly recom-
mends drawing from nature.
He then advises his pupil, and admonishes him as to living
temperately ; what company to select ; and how he should first
draw with charcoal, and then fix his drawing with the stile.
He next directs how to determine the proportions of things
seen at a distance ; and concludes with instructions for paint-
ing in water-colours, and for making charcoal crayons.
These things should be borne in mind by modern artists,
as they cannot deny that many of them, useful and deserving
praise for their simplicity, are now wholly lost.
xl
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
In the second part of the book, which terminates at chap.
66, Cennino teaches first how to grind colours; then their
names and properties ; and points out which are durable, and
which fugacious ; which should be used on pictures, on walls,
in fresco, and in secco, and which on paper : and he is so exact
in the most minute particulars as to excite surprise. He then
directs how to unite one colour with another, so as to form a
third. He next shews how to make pencils of minever and
of hog's bristles ; for in those days they had no others. And
whoever considers the subject must be astonished to see, that
with so few colours these masters could produce works which,
by their brightness and high state of preservation, awakened
the envy of artists after a lapse of four centuries. And if we,
who think we have conquered them by our new discoveries in
chemistry, could see, after the lapse of an equal space of time,
what would become of modern pictures, we should perhaps
be persuaded of the great esteem in which this ancient sim-
plicity should be held. For example, to speak of black pig-
ments only, it will be found that they had but five, while we
have as many as sixteen. ^^^^
The third part of the book begins with instructions for
painting on walls in fresco ; and treats of the colours, of
covering the wall with mortar, of proportioning the space,
and of drawing. He then proceeds to colouring, after the
manner taught by Giotto to Taddeo Gaddi, and by him to
Agnolo his son, the master of Cennino. And it is here that
we learn, from the dictum of Cennino, that Agnolo coloured
better than his father. I shall not be diffuse on this part of
the art, that I may not repeat the precepts of the author. I
shall merely say, that those which he lays down in this part
of his treatise are so many, and so well arranged, as to be of
great advantage to living artists, who too frequently are in
want of precise and practical instructions in the highest
branch of painting. It is in this part of the work that the
author establishes the canon of the proportions of the human
body with much simplicity and clearness. It is singular,
that in speaking of the female body, he says, " leave that
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
xli
of the woman, for there are none perfectly proportioned;"
which sentence being, as it appears, common to those times,
may prove a good criterion in judging of pictures of that
age. He continues afterwards to shew how to paint on walls
in fresco and in secco, and to mix the colours, pointing out
which may or may not be used in fresco. And let me call
the attention of artists to the egg-tempera, which is hinted at
in colouring walls in secco.
When the author has shewn how to colour flesh, he pro-
ceeds to shew how to paint draperies of all kinds of colours ;
but he speaks more at length of a drapery of ultramarine
blue, which, in those times, was called by a figure of speech
{antonomasia) a mantle of the Virgin.
He concludes this part with directions as to the manner of
colouring mountains, trees, grass, and buildings ; and gives
directions for drawing them in perspective, from which the
low state of that science plainly appears. This is the reason
why, in very old pictures, the architecture always appears de-
fective and disproportioned ; for these masters made the point
of sight too near, and too much below the buildings.
In the beginning of the fourth part, and in six whole
chapters, Cennino teaches the manner of painting in oil on
walls, in pictures, on stone, on iron, and on whatever you
please.
He teaches how to grind the colours, and says, they can
all be used in oil except bianco sangiovanni. And he speaks
not only, as Vasari asserts, of painting grounds {campi), but
also of painting draperies, flesh, mountains, trees, &c. And
what is more astonishing still, is to see that these old masters
painted also on walls with oil baked in the sun, and not pre-
pared by fire, which no one, that I am aware of, ever sus-
pected, as it is said that painting in oil was invented by John
of Bruges. Whence it is still more evident to me that no
one ever read beyond chap. 89 of this book ; or if any persons
have read the five following chapters, that they affected to be
ignorant of them, as I shall hereafter shew.
In the eight following chapters the author treats of the
xlii
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
mode of ornamenting paintings on walls with gold, with tin,
and with relievos. And this is a proper occasion to notice a
passage in chap. 96, which, in my opinion, displays the honest
and religious character of Cennino. He strongly inculcates
the constant use of good colours and fine gold, especially in
the figures of the Virgin, which, besides the fame that it
brings the artist, consoles him with the hope of obtaining
for his soul and body the mercy and bounty of God and of
the Virgin.
He afterwards, in teaching the method of painting in dis-
temper, discusses first (in eight chapters) all kinds of glue,
which are, says he, the foundation of this part of the art."
He then proceeds to state how wood is prepared for pictures,
and how cloth is glued on it. This art will be considered a
novelty by many ; and it may be useful in some circumstances
to know that it was practised, as it may enable one to judge
whether a picture be ancient or not ; because the question
whether canvass was stretched upon panels before the ground
was laid, has been much discussed among us moderns; and
frequent frauds have, on this account, been attributed to
picture-dealers. (^^^ Speaking afterwards of the grounds, he
begins by informing us of the nature of plaster, of its pre-
paration, the manner of using it, and how the surface is to
be planed, and with what instruments. He speaks at length
on these subjects, as far as the end of chap. 122.
From thence unto the end of chap. 131 the author treats
of drawing on panels on which grounds have been laid of
plaster, and also on walls; of relieving them with fringes
and other delicate ornaments made of plaster, varnish, or
wax, as was the custom at that time.
In nine other chapters Cennino gives us afterwards a com-
plete treatise on gilding, and on tempering and laying on
bole ; he tells us how to gild, and how, and with what kind
of stone or teeth, to burnish gold. Among these stones he
instructs us to form one of lapis amatisto, which was probably
used by the greater number of painters. And having at heart
the perfection of the art, he condescends to tell us how to
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
xliii
repair those parts which are not neatly covered with the gold ;
and frequently recommends, for the artist's benefit, to cover
the whole ground with gold. He then teaches us how to
burnish it, and points out what gold is the best for covering
flat grounds, what is used for cornices, and what for fringes
and delicate works.
The details of the art of engraving [granare) upon gold,
of marking the outlines of the figures, of making draperies
of gold and silver, or colours of various kinds, are minutely
described as far as chap. 143. Then follows how to paint on
gilded tin on walls, and the manner of covering it first with
colours in distemper, and afterwards of glazing it with oil-
colours. And certainly this passage, which is contained in
chap. 143, settles many questions, and proves that the cele-
brated Count Cicognara was right in saying, that he found
many different methods of painting on a single picture. ('^^
With the same diligence and love of the art does Cennino
teach us in the next seven chapters to imitate velvet and
stuffs on walls, and silk on pictures, and the quality of rich
draperies of ultramarine blue, of gold, and of purple. Then
he teaches us how to paint flesh in distemper, to imitate a
dead or wounded man, and all kinds of beards and hair;
and that he might not omit giving precepts on any branch of
the art, he describes the manner of painting water, rivers, and
fish, on pictures and on walls.
And as persons sometimes wished (such being the custom
at that period) to enrich pictures with ornaments of gold, for
the laying on of which mordants were necessary, Cennino
meets this want in three chapters, in which he teaches the
nature of mordants, and the manner of tempering them.
In three other chapters he then teaches how, and when
it is necessary, to varnish painted pictures. And on this sub-
ject only does he seem to me to have failed, in not having
preserved the remembrance of what kind of varnish was
used by that school, as I have observed in the note to this
chapter.
We derive no small advantage from chap. 157 and the
xliv
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
three following, where he speaks of painting in miniature,
and of laying gold on paper and in books. For we despaired
of discovering the method of gilding in that beautiful and
brilKant manner practised by the ancients, with which they
illuminated their manuscripts ; and we are under great obli-
gations to Cennino, who has rescued this secret of the art
from oblivion. We find that great part of the skill depended
on the nature of the plaster {gesso) they used, on their dili-
gence in smoothing the surface, and on the goodness and
thickness of the gold. The last of the four chapters above
mentioned is employed in teaching how to grind gold and
silver, and how to temper them for the purpose of illumi-
nating. And as verde terra takes the varnish with difficulty,
the author terminates with pointing out a perfect method of
varnishing it.
Chap. 161, which is indeed very curious, makes us ac-
quainted with the custom that existed in the times of the
author, of painting the living human face by artists; but
what is still more curious, it was painted with oil-colours,
and varnish to strengthen the colours, " ad olio ed a vernice
per caleffare." Now no one ever imagined that this also
was a secret of John of Bruges. And if the painters of that
age had attained the art of grinding colours in oil for this
purpose, it is no mark of wisdom to suppose that if they
could apply them to the faces of living men and women,
they could not also make imitations of such faces with them
on pictures.
Having thus terminated his precepts respecting every kind
of painting, Cennino gives, in the last nine chapters, a short
treatise on the method of taking casts of a head, and of the
whole naked figure, of the artist himself, or of another person,
which he considers useful and necessary to artists. He then
teaches us how to take casts of medals, seals, and coins,
making us acquainted with the secret of a kind of ashes,
equally fit for moulds of small things for making casts, as
bronze or other metals are for large things ; and if the
methods described by him are not now practised, the know-
TAMBRONl's PREFACE. xlv
ledge of them will be useful, and will conduce towards the
advancement and history of the art.
Here Cennino ends the practical and mechanical treatise
on the different modes of painting practised in his times, — a
treatise similar to which has not been written by any one
since the revival of the fine arts until our own era, — a trea-
tise, in fine, which the art of painting yet wanted ; for all the
other writers on the subject, as I have before said, have lost
themselves in the mazes of metaphysics, instead of instructing
us in the practical parts of the art.
Every compassionate and noble mind must grieve to re-
flect, that the author to whom we are indebted for this trea-
sure composed the work in the confinement of a prison, in
which he was cast for debt at the great age of eighty years, or
thereabouts, according to the calculation we made in another
page. The prisons, delle Stinche, in Florence, were destined
to receive prisoners for civil debts, as noticed by Bottari. Nor
can we forgive Baldinucci, who, in his Life of Cennino, says,
with cold indifference, " we may say that Cennino composed
this work without any disturbance or occupation of mind or
body ; and this he owed to his poverty, since his treatise is
dated from the Stinche, prisons in Florence, thus called by
the first prisoners who were confined there, and who had been
formerly in the castle of the Stinche of Valdigreve."^'^*) And
is it not sufficiently melancholy for a man so venerable on ac-
count of his grey hairs, — and an artist also, who, by the con-
fession of Vasari, had painted in Florence many works in
conjunction with his master, and a picture of the Virgin
entirely with his own hand, which was under the loggia
of the Hospital of Bonifazio Lupi, so well coloured, that,
adds the same Vasari, "it is to this day in good preserva-
tion,"— to lose his liberty on account of his poverty ? While
his master died leaving his sons immense riches, the unfor-
tunate disciple remained to the end of his life a beggar, or
perhaps died in prison, or in some hospital. We cannot con-
jecture what reduced him to so hard a fate. For if we con-
sider his skill in painting, he seems, by the above-cited testi-
xlvi
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
mony, not to have been an indifferent painter. If we consider
his book on the art, we see that he had a complete and uni-
versal knowledge of all branches of his art. And if, in fine,
we consider his style of writing, which is the only point of
comparison of the minds of authors, we shall find that modesty,
gratitude, integrity, good manners, and religion prevail in it.
We are then obhged to conclude, that some great misfortune,
or sickness, or old age, reduced him to this miserable condi-
tion, which he certainly bore with great fortitude, since not a
single word of complaint escapes him in the whole work against
the adversity of fortune. But that evil destiny which some-
times persecutes the good even after their death, not content
with having rendered him unhappy in his old age, pursued
him for four centuries, burying in obscurity the greater part
of his genius, which will for ever render him illustrious, and
commend his name to the remembrance of posterity.
I am firmly of opinion that the publication of this work
will prove of inestimable advantage to present and future
painters, especially as to the mode of painting in fresco, this
kind of painting being almost, to our shame be it spoken,
forgotten and lost ; and on this subject we should have con-
fidence in the words of Cennino, on account of the above-
cited passage from Vasari, who calls him a great colourist,
because of that work of his which he had seen. I conclude
every one may turn to his own advantage the secrets and
precepts of the author respecting other modes of painting.
I have now only to say something on painting in oil, as
I promised ; for I cannot endure that, with this indisputable
evidence, another should pretend to the glory of having taught
our Italy an art that was always known and practised by the
sons of this mistress of nations.
Vasari, in his life of Antonello da Messina, and in the
Introduction to the Three Arts, cap. xxi., relates that John
Van Eyck, otherwise John of Bruges, having spoiled a picture
by exposing it to the sun in order to dry the varnish, was
much vexed, and bent his mind on seeking for something
which should dry the colours ; when, after he had tried many
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
xlvii
tilings, both in a pure state and mixed together, he found at
length that linseed-oil and nut-oil were more drying than any
others he had tried. And this discovery is, by most writers,
said to have taken place about the year ]410. Vasari con-
tinues by informing us, that John having improved this mode
of painting by experience, filled the whole world with his
fame, and excited the envy of other artists, " especially as for
a long time he would not suffer any one to see him work, nor
would he teach any one the secret. But having grown old,
he at length taught it to Roger of Bruges, his disciple." Now,
take notice that John was born in 1370, and consequently
must have been forty years old when he made the discovery.
Now, continues Vasari, one Antonello da Messina, who
had studied design many years at Rome, and resided for many
years at Palermo, and afterwards at Messina, his native place,
came from Sicily to Naples ; and having heard that a picture
painted in oil had been sent to the king Alphonso, he made
a point of seeing it ; and having seen it, he went to Flanders
and to Bruges, where he became intimate with John, then an
old man, and, by means of presents, succeeded in inducing
him to teach him this mode of colouring. From thence he re-
turned to his own country, lived there a few months, and then
went to Venice, where he determined to fix his abode. It
was there that he became acquainted with Domenico Vene-
ziano, to whom after a short time he communicated the
secret. This Domenico Veneziano, who afterwards went to
Florence, contracted an intimate friendship with Andrea del
Castagno, " and being really very much attached to Andrea,
he taught him how to paint in oil, which was then unknown
in Tuscany." Finally, Andrea, excited by envy, treacher-
ously murdered the unfortunate Domenico.
This is the history of the discovery of painting in oil, as
related by Vasari, without quoting either his authority or the
evidence or writings of any author who had been his guide,
and whose writings would confirm what he had said. Mal-
vasia, in the life of Lippo Dalmasio, justly blames him for
this negligence ; and this tale, repeated by succeeding writers
xlviii
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
in every corner of Europe, established the universal and erro-
neous tradition of these circumstances. Many endeavoured
to combat it, but unsuccessfully ; ^^^^ for when an error is once
promulgated by the pen of a writer of eminence, such as
Vasari was, if it be not instantly destroyed by criticism, it
becomes confirmed by time, and the endeavours of posterity
to eradicate it will be ineffectual. But it will not be difficult,
by the assistance of chronology and of facts, to prove that
the narration of Vasari is one of those romances which will
not resist the ordeal of criticism, because it had its origin in
those times of credulity when genius was more under the
guidance of good faith, and of the love of the marvellous,
than of sound judgment.
Nevertheless, it is said by some, and among them Baldi-
nucci and Lanzi, that Vasari never intended to deny the use
of such painting in oil in Italy, even before J ohn of Bruges, ^^o)
The politeness of those authors is to be praised, who, endea-
vouring to cure the gross blindness of their predecessor, force
themselves to find means of reconciling his assertions with
facts that prove the contrary. But I adhere to the letter of
his opinion, because in things of this kind one cannot give
place to various interpretations, comments, or hypotheses.
Criticism is founded on what is said, not on what is intended
to be said. If any other person makes the same objection to
me that Lanzi makes in the life of Antonello da Messina,
saying, " And how, if the fact be denied, shall we give the
lie to a tradition sanctioned by so many schools ?" I will
reply, that criticism values that author only from whom a
fact is derived, and not those, even if there were a million of
them, who have copied and repeated what he relates.
Vasari says, in the Introduction to the Three Arts, &c.,
chap, xxi., " that the first inventor of painting in oil in Flan-
ders was John of Bruges;" and in the life of Antonello da
Messina he tells us, that the said John " at length found that
linseed and nut oil were more drying ; that he (John) would
not let any one see him work, nor would he teach the secret
to any one ; but being old," &c. And in the life of Andrea
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
xlix
del Castagno, that *' Domenico Veneziano, while in Florence,
contracted a friendship with Andrea, and, as he really loved
him, he taught him the method of colouring in oil, which
was not then known in Tuscany."
Now, we shall see whether this story of Vasari's is recon-
cilable with chronology.
John of Bruges was born, as we have mentioned above,
about the year 1370, and discovered the art of painting in
oil in 1410. He was then in the fortieth year of his age.
He, it is said, sent a picture painted in oil to Alphonso, king
of Naples ; but that monarch did not begin to reign until
1442.(21) John was then seventy-two years of age. The at-
tention of Antonello da Messina was attracted by the rumour
which arose respecting this picture, painted in the manner
invented in Flanders, that is, in oil. But when was this
Antonello born ? According to most writers, in 1449, and in
1447 according to the Annals of Messina, written by Gallo,
and quoted by Hackert, that is, nine or eleven years before
the death of King Alphonso, for this prince died in 1458.
Supposing that Antonello saw the picture of John also after
Alphonso began to reign, he could not certainly remove to
Flanders before he became adult and a painter, that is, be-
tween the twenty-fifth and thirty -fifth years of his age. Let
us take the mean, that is, thirty years, and add the five which
elapsed between 1442, the first year of the reign of Alphonso,
and 1447, the epoch of the birth of Antonello. According
to the Annals of Messina, we shall then have a period of
thirty-five years to add to the seventy-two which John of
Bruges had attained when Alphonso ascended the throne.
By this calculation, Antonello would have found the painter
in his 107th year, and have learnt from him only in 1477 his
celebrated secret, " that linseed and nut oils were the most
drying." But suppose pictures are to be found in Venice
painted by Antonello, and by him marked 1474? and sup-
pose that Domenico Veneziano, to whom he communicated
the secret, was killed in Florence by Castagno in 1470 ? how
can we reconcile the age of only thirty years, which I assigned
1
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
to Antonello, with those many years that he had previously
spent in drawing at Rome, and with those he afterwards
passed in working at Palermo and in Messina, where he ac-
quired the name of a skilful artist, according to the account
of Vasari ? how reconcile the epoch of 1437, in which Cen-
nino wrote his work, in which he describes painting in oil at
length, on walls, pictures, &c., with the birth (which hap-
pened ten years after) of this Antonello, who was to travel
into Flanders, and be the first to bring into Italy the great
secret of painting with linseed and nut oils, which before this
period was not known in Tuscany, and was then made known
(about 1470), by the works of Domenico Veneziano.? How,
in fine, shall we reconcile the more than centenary age of
John of Bruges with the traditions, which certainly say that
he died old, but not so very old ?
We are forced to conclude, that this tale was a mass of
chronological contradictions, and consequently erroneous and
inadmissible. And it is another proof that Vasari never read
the work of Cennino.
Passing from times to facts, we must first prove what was
the real opinion of Vasari. It was, that painting in oil was
not known in Tuscany before John of Bruges, Antonello da
Messina, and Domenico Veneziano, to whom he assigns the
date of 1470, and who taught it to Andrea del Castagno.
Nor can we retrench a part of this narration, and say, that he
only intended to speak of a greater perfection in this method
of painting. His words are clear and plain ; and according
to his account it was John of Bruges " who first found, after
many experiments, that the oils of linseed and of nuts were
the most drying ; he was the first who saw that mixing the
colours with these oils gave them great brilliancy, &c. ; and
what appeared to him very admirable was, that they united
together infinitely better than colours in distemper. John was
much delighted with this invention," &c. And all this, after
having said, previously, " but although many had experimented,
and sought much for this secret, yet no one had found any
good method, either by using liquid varnish or other sorts of
TAMBRONI S PREFACE.
li
colours mixed with the vehicles," &c. (^^^ Hence some writers
have endeavoured to defend him, though unsuccessfully, by
supposing that he did not mean to exclude every other way
of painting in oil.^^^^
In order to shew by facts the inconsistency of the narration
of Vasari, the work of Cennino would alone be sufficient ; but
nevertheless, in order to prove my argument more indisput-
ably, I shall here record some principal facts, which, although
related and repeated by many others, when added to the au-
thority of Cennino, will for ever settle the question of paint-
ing in oil having been first invented by John of Bruges.
And first of all comes the monk Theophilus, called also
Ruggiero, who before the eleventh century wrote a work
in Latin divided into three books, the first of which has this
title : Incipit tractatus Lomhardicus qualiter temperantur co-
lores S"^^^ This book was first described by Abraham Lessing^^^)
in 1 774, in a dissertation printed at Brunswick ; it was after-
wards published in part by Raspe, at London, in 1781 ; and
at length the whole was published by Cristiano Leist, in the
sixth volume of the collection of Lessing. Of this Theophilus,
the learned Morelli and Cicognara speak at some length.
This monk, who was certainly an Italian, according to the
correct and reasonable opinion of Cicognara, taught how to
paint entirely with oil ; for at cap. 22 he says, " deinde accipe
colores, quos imponere volueris, terens eos diligenter oleo lini^
sine aqua, et fac mixturas vultuum ac vestimentorum, sicut
superius aqua feceras, et hestias sive aves aut folia variahis
suis colorihus, prout libuerit."'-^'^^
This passage silences Budberg and many other panegyrists
of John of Bruges, who maintain that the method of Theo-
philus was fit only for coarse works and painting grounds
[campi), as Morelli wisely remarks. ^^^^ Here is a very early
notice of the method of painting in oil brought into Germany
by an Italian, and which must have been common enough,
since copies of this manuscript are found at Wolfenbuttel, at
Vienna, and at Cambridge ; and it is of no importance that
Theophilus says, pictures painted in his manner should be
lii
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
exposed to the sun to dry. Cicognara^^^) has replied like a
wise and learned man to this objection, which overcame and
somewhat embarrassed Morelli. Cennino (chap. 90) does not
recommend exposing pictures painted in oil to the sun, but
desires they may be covered over and left to dry naturally.
We come, in the second place, to the picture in the im-
perial gallery of Vienna, described in 1783 by Mechel, and
which was painted in oil by Tommaso da Modena in 1297.^^"^
Then the picture of Serafino Serafini, also a native of Modena,
painted in oil in 1385, and so considered in 1789. ^^^^
The pictures mentioned by Raspe^^^^ follow next. This
author refers to an order of Henry III., king of England
(quoted by Walpole in his Jnecdotes), directing his treasurer
to pay a certain jeweller named Odo, and his son, the ex-
penses incurred for oil and varnish used in the pictures at
Westminster.
Then an historical picture of King Richard II., who died
in 1399, done in oil, and preserved by the Earl of Pembroke
at Wilton. (^3)
Nor must we be silent concerning the pictures of that
master, Giorgio da Firenze, who was invited into Piedmont
by Amadeus V., and who painted in oil in 1314 at Chambery,
in 1318 at Borghetto, and at Pinerolo in 1325.^34)
After them comes Lippo Dalmasio, who painted in oil at
Bologna a picture of the Virgin on the arch of the Porta di
S. Procolo, and which he painted about the year 1407. The
testimony of Tiarini, whose name was eminent among the dis-
ciples of the Carracci, leaves no room for doubt on this subject.
For he took a ladder and mounted on it, to make a close exa-
mination of the picture ; and he found that not only the figure
of the Virgin, but the ground of the picture also, was painted
in oil.(^^)
It is sufficient to refer, in the last place, to the San
Grirolamo, painted in oil at Naples by Colantonio del Fiore,
and marked at the foot by him with the date 1436; that is,
six years before King Alphonso received his present of the
picture of John of Bruges.
TAMBRONl's PREFACE. liii
De Dominici, an accurate writer of the lives of the Neapo-
litan painters, after having quoted the follov^^ing passage from
the manuscripts of Marco of Siena (a painter who worked in
Naples in 1550), namely : " in the beginning of that (the
fourteenth) century, there were painters who made known
sufficiently, by their works in fresco and in oil," &c., records,
in the life of Colantonio, the notice of Eugenio quoted in the
Napoli Sacra, p. Ill : " In the chapel of the family of Rocca
there is a picture in which the saints Francesco and Girolamo
are represented so naturally in the act of studying that they
appear alive ; this was the work of Colantonio, an illustrious
Neapolitan painter, the first who painted in oil at Naples,
whatever foreigners may say to the contrary." And in the
Kfe of the Cavaliere Massimo Stanzione, a painter and archi-
tect much praised, and called the Guido of Naples, who flou-
rished about the first half of the seventeenth century, he
relates that certain ancient manuscripts on the art had come
into the hands of the Cav. Massimo from those of Paolo Por-
poro, a painter, upon which he began to compose lives of some
of the painters, and he wrote certain memorandums and notes
which afterwards came into the hands of De Dominici, and
served as a foundation for his work. Among the notes, some
are written to rectify the errors of Vasari ; one of them is as
follows : " Thus, above every other thing, does he refute the
account of John of Bruges and of Antonello da Messina with
the fact, that painting in oil has always, — that is, from time
immemorial, — been practised at Naples, at least since 1300;
for the S.S. Nunziata painted at that period are painted in
oil, and other ancient pictures that I remember ; and 1 think
I am not deceived in the pictures of our painters of the thir-
teenth century. But I know it is written that Antonello, (^''^
who was the son of an engineer named Giuseppe, although
born in Sicily, went with his father into Flanders when he
was a man and knew how to paint, and was a disciple of
Colantonio del Fiore in Naples, and that he was taught by
John of Bruges, a Fleming, who painted well in oil; and
John went mad in endeavouring to make colours and var-
d
liv
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
nishes that would always remain fresh. Oil-colours were
used in Flanders and in Italy, but they did not know how to
use them properly, having always the same difficulty that was
experienced by painters who did not know how to paint in
fresco. Antonello afterwards returned to Italy, and lived at
Venice, where he taught some persons to paint, but not to
paint in oil, which, as has been observed, had been always
practised in Italy ; and whoever reflects, will remember that
there are (at Bologna, for instance) pictures in oil painted
before the time of John of Bruges ; and if Vasari and Ridolfi
assert that painting in oil has only been practised since the
time of Antonello, they have erroneously given credit to the
fact without proper reflection or diligent observation ; for it
was practised in Bologna, and in Rome, and, as I can prove
with the greatest accuracy, in Naples. Moreover, the picture
given by John to King Alphonso I., said to represent the
three magi, did not become famous from the king's having
seen it, but because it was considered a fine picture ; and the
colouring in oil was not looked upon as a novelty. It is true,
also, that Zingaro and Donzelli repaired several parts of it
which had been damaged in the journey, and the portraits of
himself (Alphonso) and of Ferdinand his son were substi-
tuted for those of the magi, with the same oil-colours, such
colours being common in Naples."
I have with great pleasure quoted the whole of this note,
in order to shew that in this part of Italy, which Vasari does
not sufficiently illustrate, painting in oil was always practised.
And the evidence of Massimo is worthy of confidence, because,
as De Dominici says, " he was considered a just and good
man, and was esteemed very skilful in his profession."
I might strengthen my remarks by quotations from Delia
Valle, Tiraboschi, Vernazza, Federici, and even from Lanzi
himself; but I think it superfluous and pedantic to quote un-
necessarily ; it is sufficient for me to have proved clearly, that
the account given by Vasari is not reconcilable with chrono-
logy ; that it is contradicted by facts ; and that it is only, as
he relates it, a romance, or tale of the imagination.
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
Iv
I will not certainly omit that Bartolomeo Faceo (B. Facius),
who wrote in 1456, and was consequently contemporary with
John of Bruges, and who says many and great things concern-
ing him and his genius, does not mention him as the inventor
of painting in oil. And it would really be a great omission
in this writer not to mention this circumstance, which has
been notorious all over Europe, and was sufficient to entitle
the person who claimed this invention to immortality.
I shall only add a few brief remarks, extracted from the
book of Cennino, which will completely establish my argu-
ment.
In the first place, I shall notice what Cennino himself has
left in writing concerning those parts of the art which he
teaches in his book. In chap. 1, he says openly, " I shall make
notes concerning those things which were taught me by the
before-mentioned Agnolo my master, and which I have proved
with my own hand ;" then in chap. 4, he says, " and these
are the precepts of the great masters before mentioned, of
which, with what little knowledge I have acquired, I shall
discourse step by step." Whence we cannot help believ-
ing that, if the method of painting in oil had been recently
discovered in Flanders, this author, who is so minute and
exact in describing the practices of other masters, would
not, when speaking on the subject, have omitted to men-
tion the circumstance. It is true that he says in chap-
ter 89, that the Germans practise it much — " che 1' usano
raolto i Tedeschi." Baldinucci does not let slip this oppor-
tunity of defending Vasari, and remarks, " by Germans he
meant also the Flemings." But he — I speak it with all
the respect to which he is entitled — did not understand the
force of this phrase, which is in the words " che 1' usano
molto ;" that is, that it was practised almost universally among
the artists of that nation. We have seen that if we desire to
know the method of painting in oil in 1410, and of which
John of Bruges pretends to be the inventor, " he would not
let any one see him paint, nor would he tell the secret to any
one; but being old," &c. Now how could Cennino have
Ivi
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
said, " which was much practised by the Germans," if it were
practised by John only ? And we cannot be surprised if it
were practised generally by the Germans, since we know that
the treatise of Theophilus was much diffused, and that there
were many copies in that country.
Baldinucci afterwards says, " It must be remembered, that
this invention, having already, since 1410, run its course in
Italy and Tuscany, and Cennino being acquainted with it, it
was possible for him to notice it in his book, and also to prac-
tise it ; and this hint will be sufficient to remove every shade
of difficulty in a thing of so much consequence." ^^^^ But he
either dissembled, or forgot the writing of Vasari. How could
this method have run its course in Tuscany in the year 1437,
if it was still unknown there in 1470 ? How could Cennino
have spoken of linseed-oil only, if John of Bruges had dis-
covered that this and nut-oil were the most drying? Why
should we be told now for the first time, that linseed-oil, with
which Cennino teaches us to paint, is to be baked in the sun,
and not boiled on the fire ? Why does he say the best was
prepared at Florence? These remarks shew that it was an
old practice. Who has ever said, that to prepare oil in such
a manner was taught by any person, — even by John of Bruges ?
And is it known that he ever taught to paint in oil " on walls,
on iron, on stone, on glass, or on what you please V May I
be forgiven for my suspicion of the fidelity of Baldinucci,
because he no where mentions this practice of painting in oil
on walls, and because he makes it appear that he has read
nothing but this chapter, and not even the whole of this to
which he refers ? This I cannot believe ; and I am convinced
that he purposely concealed the contents of the six chapters
of this part of the work (which he must certainly have read).
That he might not contradict Vasari, or mutilate the sentence,
he assures us that Cennino " does not mention either walls or
pictures." But could it be thus, if the invention of John of
Bruges took place in 1410 ? If he guarded his secret jealously
until his old age, how was it possible for this secret not only
to traverse all Italy before 1437, but to become gigantic, and
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
lyii
be applied to painting on walls ? To this the picture of Lippo
Dalmasio, painted in oil on a wall in Bologna about 1407, and
the chapters 143, 150, and 151 of Cennino's hook on the art,
will reply.
In conclusion, what will the apologists of J ohn of Bruges
say when reading the precepts contained in chapter 143, con-
cerning glazing the draperies with oil-colours in pictures
painted in distemper ? '^^^ Is not this perhaps the sword which
will sever the knot ; since if oil-colours were in use for glazing-
pictures painted in distemper, what doubt can remain concern-
ing the practice of using them on the whole picture ?
And in order to make this properly understood by the
students and amateurs of painting, it should be stated, that
some writers who discuss the question of the origin and in-
vention of the mode of painting in oil were mistaken as to a
principal part, namely, as to the oil itself ; since some person
has said that this monk Theophilus, or Ruggiero, treated of
tempering the colours with linseed and nut oils ; others, that
Cennino likewise taught how to paint with nut and linseed-
oils. These fallacious assertions may perhaps mislead the
readers of the works of these authors, whose names I shall
conceal out of respect ; my object not being to play the censor,
but solely to investigate the truth, and display it in a full
light.
It appears to me, therefore, evident from chapter xxii. of
the first part of the treatise of Theophilus, to which I have
before referred, that linseed-oil only is there mentioned ; and
we are directed to temper the colours with this in the same
manner as we were formerly directed to mix them with water.
Nor does Cennino, in his whole book on the art, as may
be seen, ever mention any other oil than that of linseed.
Vasari considers that John of Bruges was the first who
worked with both kinds of oil, and was the first to dis-
cover that the oil of Hnseed and that of nuts were the most
drying. It is, then, evident that Theophilus and Cennino
either were not acquainted with any other oil, or that they
preferred linseed - oil ; and that the merit of having mixed
Iviii
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
colours promiscuously with either of these oils was given by
Vasari, for the first time, to John of Bruges, although it is not
known, as I have before shewn, from what source he drew his
information.
For this reason, it seems to me that I have proved, even
more fully than was necessary, that the narrative of Vasari,
of the invention of painting in oil, is no more than a fable,
to unveil which for ever we require no assistance but that
of chronology and facts ; that the practice of painting in oil
is at least as ancient as the monk Tlieophilus ; and that since
his time it was continually in use among artists until the
time of Cennino; that, in fine, the method taught by our
author was not certainly derived by him through the Flemish
painter.
If any one should inquire of me. Why, then, should his
name, and that of Antonello, be so famous — and why should
they write on the monument of the latter in a solemn epi-
taph, ^^^^ " sed et quod coloribus oleo miscendis splendorem et
perpetuitatem primus Italicce pictures contulit ?" '^'^^'> — I shall
reply, that this epitaph is certainly reported by Vasari in the
life of Antonello ; but as the Cav. Morelli {Notizie d' Opere,
&c., p. 190) remarks, " it is not to be seen, and it has been
sought for in vain, in our times." It is, then, doubtful whe-
ther it ever existed ; nor do we know who placed it, or in what
place it is to be found. Now, being willing to act with gene-
rosity towards this noble writer, and to believe that his reli-
gion was not overcome by deception, we should perhaps be
able to admit that we were indebted to John of Bruges for
the practice of tempering colours with both nut and linseed-
oils, and to Antonello for having used and made common
through all Italy a method which in beauty greatly exceeds
distemper-painting, which until his time had always been
preferred.
Whereupon I agree with the opinion of the Cav. Boni^*'')
and others, who endeavour to reconcile these facts. But I
shall always firmly beheve that either the writings in which so
many authors agree are false, or that Antonello of Messina
TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
could not have known John of Bruges, or taught painting in
oil as a thing new and unknown in Italy ; for this great obli-
gation we owe to Cennino, whose book is a perpetual and in-
destructible monument, sufficient to revenge the loss of that
glory of which he has been robbed by the foreigner. ^^''^
NOTES
TO THE
CAVALIERE TAMBRONI'S PREFACE.
W Member of several learned societies ; among others, associate
of the Academy of St. Luke, of the Fine Arts at Vienna, of the
Archeologica of Rome, of Literature and the Fine Arts at Paris, &c.
(2) CoUe is a city of Tuscany.
(3) It is to be observed that Cennino and his predecessors did not
possess any brown pigments. — Translator.
W Cennino does not treat of mosaic painting. — Translator.
(5) This picture was, by the order of the Grand Duke Leopold,
removed and fixed upon canvass by Pacini, and is now preserved in
the Florentine Gallery. Rosini, vol. ii. p. 195, n. 16. — Translator.
(") In Vasari's life of Dello we find the following notice of Cen-
nino's book : " And of these works [ornaments in relievo which
were afterwards gilded], and many similar, Drea Cennini discourses
at great length in his work, which we have before noticed suffi-
ciently." It is to be observed that Vasari here calls the author
" Drea Cennini," which was the name of his father. See chapters
1 and 45. — Translator.
C) It is somewhat singular that another ancient manuscript on
the arts, written by Lorenzo Ghiberti, and still preserved in the Ma-
gliabechian Library at Florence, which is noticed by Vasari in his life
of Lorenzo, should be additional evidence of his (Vasari's) inaccuracy
or wilful blindness. He tells us that " the same Lorenzo wrote a
work in the Italian language, in which he treats of many things, but
in such a manner as to be of Httle use. Its sole value appears to me,
that, after having spoken of many different painters, and particularly
NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
Ixi
of those mentioned by Pliny, he briefly mentions Cimabue, Giotto,
and many others of those times ; and of these he says much less than
he ought to have done, and for no other reason than that he may
speak of himself, and enumerate one by one all his own works. Nor
shall I withhold, that although he pretends the book is written con-
cerning other persons who knew better than himself how to draw,
engrave on stone, and cast in metal, yet in the process of writing
it, he continually speaks of himself in the first person, — ' I do, I
say, I did, I said.'" — See Vasari's Life of Lorenzo GMberti.
But Vasari does not inform us, as Lorenzo does, that Giotto
painted in oil on walls, on pictures, and also in mosaic, the nave of
St. Peter's at Rome — " Costui in muro lavoro all' olio, lavoro in
tavola, lavoro in mosaico, la nave di S. Pietro in Roma;" — thus
confirming the fact that Cennino taught painting in oil in the same
manner that Giotto practised it. The date of the book is not given ;
but Vasari mentions that Lorenzo was alive, and at Florence, during
the plague in 1400. Count Cicognara speaks at some length con-
cerning this book of Lorenzo's, which he had examined, and states
that he wished to publish the whole manuscript, but found it con-
tained matter not strictly belonging to the arts ; and its contents
were so various and so undigested, that he thought its value not
equal to the cost of publishing, or even of transcribing it, since the
greater part is occupied in philosophical disquisitions, and is mixed
v/ith the most extravagant astrological doctrines. His commentary
on the proportions of the human body he thought might be valuable,
and perhaps worthy of publication, if the text had been more correct,
and if the author had expressed himself with the precision that might
have been expected from a statuary ; but he adds, that it is quite im-
possible for the reader to extract any information from it, and there-
fore he has printed the commentaries on the painters and on Lorenzo's
own works only, with all their errors of style and numerous repeti-
tions. They do not contain any practical hints or suggestions. See
Cicognara, Storia di Scultura, vol. iii. p. 167 ; and vol. iv. p. 171,
172, and the note to chap. 4, b. iv. ; and see Vasari's Life of Lorenzo
GMberti. — Translator.
W Bandini, Catalog, no. 5, p. 307 : " The manuscript, though
badly put together, contains many secrets not to be despised, and is
deserving of a diHgent examination by some cultivator of the fine
arts."
(9) Vasari, ed. Livorii, vol. i. p. 459.
Ixii
NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
(10) Lanzi, ed. di Clas. vol. i. p. 71.
(^') A work mentioned by Muratori {Antiq. Ital. vol. ii. p. 366),
and preserved in the Biblioteca Capitolare of Lucca, many centuries
older than Theophilus (who lived in the eleventh century), contains
directions for painting in mosaic, for colouring metals, and other
similar works. Cicognara, Storia di Scultura, vol. iii. — Translator.
(^2) These repetitions have in most cases been suppressed, as un-
necessary in a translation. — Translator.
(1^) This vocabulary has been omitted, for the reason above men-
tioned.— Translator.
It is now called " pounce " in England. — Translator.
Marcucci, Sagg. Anal. p. 254.
See some remarks on this subject in the Translator's Preface,
and also in a note to chap. 138. — Translator.
Cicognara, Storia di Sadtura, vol. iii.
(ir*) 'j'j^g historical evidence of this fact is the following passage
at the end of the work of Cennino, which has been unintentionally
omitted in printing the translation. It should have been added im-
mediately after Cennino's concluding address. " Finito libro refera-
mus gratia Christi, 1437, « c?« 31 di Luglio. Ex Stincarum f." —
Translator.
Vasari, life of Andrea del Castagno.
Requenos (Saggi sul Ristabilimento, &c., vol. i. ed. 2, Parma,
p. 168) relates many facts contrary to Vasari; and, among others,
records this just remark of the authors of the Roman Anthology, art.
Pittura, to which I now refer with pleasure : " Vasari was the first
who wrote that Van Eyck was the inventor of painting in oil ; and
those who have written since he did have all spoken of the invention
of painting in oil in the same manner as Vasari. These persons
wrote many years after Van Eyck, whence they could not bear testi-
mony to the invention ; besides, Vasari does not quote a single
author in support of his account." — Tambroni,
(20) « -pjje author of Memoirs of the Painters of Messina is con-
strained to repeat the little that we know on this subject ; namely,
that general opinion makes it probable that the birth of Antonello
took place, not in 1447, as Gallo will have it, but about 1414 (and
the Cav. Puccini is of the same opinion), and that he was the son of
a painter named Antonio, the author of a St. Francesco receiving
the Stigmata, in the church of that saint at Messina." — Rosini,
vol. iii. p. 105.
NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE. Ixiii
Now, if Antonello were born in 1414, and if he died at the age
of forty-nine, as Vasari says he did, how could he have painted the
pictures at Venice marked with his name and dated 1474 ? Of what
use, also, was the alleged murder of Domenico Veneziano in 1470
by Andrea del Castagno, that he might be the sole possessor of the
secret, if Antonello — who was very liberal, as D'Argenville relates, in
communicating his knowledge, and had a great many pupils — sur-
vived that period, and painted pictures in Venice four years at least
(that is, from 1470, the date of his earliest pictures in Venice, to
1474) after the date of the alleged murder of Domenico ? De Domi-
nici informs us that the father of Antonello was an engineer named
Giuseppe, while Summonzio tells us he was a painter of Messina,
Antonio by name. — Translator.
(21) Vide Moreri's Dictionary, art. Alfonso.
(22) The editor's reasoning appears scarcely fair on this subject,
since he takes only part of Vasari' s account into consideration, in-
stead of stating the whole, and reasoning on it as Lanzi has done.
Vasari does not limit Van Eyck's discovery to the simple fact that
he had discovered that linseed and nut-oils were more drying than
any he had tried ; but he adds, " these, then, boiled with his other
mixtures, made the varnish which he, as well as all the other
painters of the world, had so long desired." It is very singular
that this most important passage should have been entirely omitted
by the editor. It is in these mixtures that the secret consisted, not
in using the oils ; and we may certainly conclude that the process
of Van Eyck was very different from that of Theophilus and of
Cennino, both of whom used linseed- oil, without the mixture of
any other substance. It will be observed that lake even was used
by Cennino without any addition to increase its drying qualities.
The only dryer he mentions (as such) is verdigris, which he used
for mordants only. The difference in the texture of pictures painted
in the Flemish (that is, Van Eyck's) manner, and those painted with
oil alone, or with the modern megelp (oil and mastic varnish), is so
well known, that it is scarcely necessary to allude to it. Picture-
cleaners are perfectly aware of this circumstance, having been in-
structed by observing the manner in which different solvents act upon
such pictures (spirit of wine, for instance, will dissolve old pictures,
but it has no effect on pictures painted with oil only : see Lanzi) .
Vasari gives no clue by which we can discover of what those mix-
tures consisted ; but we know that what Vasari calls vernice liquida
Ixiv
NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
did not form part of them, because that had been tried and dis-
approved of. See Vasari's lives of Antonello da Messina and Alesso
Baldovinetti. It is probable that the ingredients were common and
cheap, or they would not have been accessible to the greater part of
Europe; and they appear to have been equally successful in the
sunny climes of Italy as in the fogs of Holland. — Translator.
(23) Lanzi quotes Vasari's account of Cennino's book, which, he
says, contradicts his assertion that Van Eyck discovered oil-paint-
ing. He then proceeds to say, that, on examination, three things
present themselves to us; 1st, that Vasari does not exclude all pic-
tures painted in oil, since he says, this had been long desired,
therefore trials had been made of it ; but merely that perfect kind
of painting, which, when dry, was not affected by water, which
heightened the colours, and made them brilhant, and united them
admirably. 2d, That the method taught by Cennino was not like
Van Eyck's, either because he did not boil his oils with the other
mixtures of Van Eyck, or because it was only fit for coarse works,
which we can prove, he says, by facts, because he had painted in
the Hospital of St. Bonifacio at Florence a Virgin with Saints,
which, though well coloured, excited neither the envy nor admira-
tion of artists. 3d, That after such investigations we should neither
blindly receive nor reject the accounts we have of ancient pictures
having been painted in oil, although in an imperfect manner. {Lanzi,
vol. i. p. 71.) Vasari himself seems to have had some doubt of the
originality of Van Eyck's invention; and the concluding passages
of the life of Antonello give some support to the opinions of Bal-
dinucci and Lanzi. " Such," says he, " was the end of Antonello,
to whom our artists are certainly not less indebted for having in-
troduced painting in oil into Italy, than to John of Bruges for
having invented it in Flanders, both having benefited and en-
riched the art. For by means of this invention artists have become
so excellent that their figures seem almost alive. And this art
should be prized so much the more since we do not find that any
writer ascribes this manner of painting to the ancients. And if we
could ascertain that they really did possess it, the artists of the cen-
tury of which we now speak certainly excelled the ancients in bring-
ing this part of the art to perfection." This is another proof that
Vasari had not read Cennino's book. — Translator.
(24) MoreUi, Notizie d' Opere di Disegno., p. 114. Ruggiero is
supposed to have been his name previous to his becoming a monk.
NOTES TO TAMBRONI'S PREFACE. IXV
It is mentioned in the treatise preserved at Cambridge. — Trans-
lator.
(25) " The Lombard treatise begins by shewing how colours are
tempered."
(26) According to Cicognara it was Gotbold Ephraim Lessing who
described the work. — Translator.
(27) Lib. i. " Then take the colours which you wish to lay on,
grinding them diligently with linseed- oil, without water, and make
mixtures (tints) for faces and draperies, as you did formerly with
water ; and you will vary beasts, or birds, or leaves, with their pro-
per colours, as you may think fit." — Translator.
(28) Morelli, Notizie d' Opere, 8(C. In page 114 (published in
1800) he treats again of this work, and gives many new pas-
sages, with illustrations. See also Aglietto, Giornale Litterario ;
Cicognara, Stotna di Scultura, vol. iii. pp. 146-172, 2d edit. —
Translator.
(29) Cicognara, Storia di Scultura, before cited.
(30) See annotations to the life of Antonello da Messina, by
Vasari, ed. di Clas., vol. v. p. 103. Tambroni. — "The Abate Boni,
who possessed a picture by Tommaso da Modena, dated mcccli.,
detached a part, and subjected it to an accurate analysis by means
of the Abate Lanzi. Chemistry itself dare not pronounce the ab-
sence of oil from this hardened and degenerate mixture." Cicog-
nara, vol, iii. p. 156. "The pictures of Tommaso of Modena ap-
pear to have been painted throughout with oil, which the chemists
deputed by Lanzi dare not contradict." Ibid. In addition to the
above extracts, I give the following from Lanzi, that the reader may
form his own opinion relative to these pictures. " Sig. Co. Durazzo
assured me in 1793, that when he was at Vienna he saw some ex-
periments made by skilful men, by the command of, and in the pre-
sence of. Prince Kawnitz ; and that the unanimous opinion of these
professors was, that they found no traces of oil on the picture (of
Tommaso da Modena), but that these pictures were painted with
fine gums, made into a paste with the yolk or white of an egg ; and
the same opinion may be formed of similar works of the ancients."
Lanzi, Storia Pittorica, vol. i. p. 70, 4th edit. But at page 69
Lanzi admits that it was the general opinion that these pictures
were painted with oil ; and he adds, that it is very difficult to dis-
tinguish pictures painted with wax from those in which a little oil
was used. Signor Piacenza and Zanetti both say that it is difficult
Ixvi NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
to form a certain opinion on this point. See Zanetti, Pittura Vene-
ziana, p. 20. — Translator.
Cicognara, before cited.
(32) Painting in Oil. London, 4to, 1781.
(33) The investigations of Mr. Thomas Phillips, R.A., have shewn
that this picture was not painted in oil. See Sarsfield Taylor's Fine
Arts in Great Britain and Ireland, vol. i. p. 169. But there is suffi-
cient evidence to prove satisfactorily that painting in oil was practised
in England previous to the time of Van Eyck. — Translator.
Cicognara, before cited.
(3^) Malvasia, Felsina Pittrice, vol. i. : Vita di Lippo Dalmasio. —
Tambroni. The Madonnas of Lippo Dalmasio were the subjects of
the admiration and predilection of Guido, who made them his study.
See Rosini, vol. i. p. 20. We subjoin an outline from one of his
pictures. — Translator.
(36) In addition to these pictures, we should not omit one now in
the Gallery at Florence, painted by Andrea del Castagno, the sup-
posed murderer of Domenico Veneziano, dated 1416 (that is, six
years after the reputed invention of painting in oil by Van Eyck).
" It is painted," says Guarienti (Abbecedario, art. Gio. Abeyk), " in
his second manner, that is, in oil." It is in excellent preservation,
and is called by Guarienti the wonder of painting, for the patience
with which every part is finished, particularly the room in which the
action is represented. The rules of perspective are observed with the
greatest exactness. See note to Lanzi, vol. i. p. 64. — Translator.
(37) But if this be the Antonello of whom Vasari speaks, and who
painted in Venice, he could not possibly have been the pupil of
Colantonio del Fiore, who died in 1445. The Cav. Massimo must
have fallen into the same chronological error from a defect of judg-
ment.— Tambroni.
De Dominici says that Colantonio died in 1444 ; but the dates
connected with this period are so uncertain, that it is impossible
to ascertain their correctness. Supposing that the story of Van
Eyck had no other origin than the invention of Vasari, a letter
of Summonzio, written on the 20th March 1524, extracted from
the sixth volume of Historical Manuscripts, collected by the Abate
Daniele Francesconi, proves that the Flemish manner of painting,
particularly the colouring (which Lanzi says was more brilliant
than the Itahan), was much admired at Naples ; that Colantonio,
especially, delighted much in it, and would have gone to Flanders
NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
Ixvii
to study, had he been permitted by the king (Raniero or Renatus,
the husband of Queen Janetta of Sicily), who caused him to be taught
the tempera and practice of that kind of painting. The writer adds,
that if he had not died young, he would have been very eminent, and
that from want of time he did not reach the eminence which his dis-
ciple Antonello afterwards attained. It is not said that this Flemish
manner of painting was in oil ; but " la professione di Colantonio
tutta era si come portava quel tempo in lavoro in Fiandra, e lo
colorire di quel paese, al che era tanto dedito che haveva deliberato
andarvi." See note to Lanzi, vol. ii. p. 290. As this letter was
written in 1524, and as Vasari published his first edition in 1550,
it is extremely probable that he was acquainted with these circum-
stances, which must have been known to many persons, although he
does not mention his authority, as he should undoubtedly have done.
The following passage from Rosini, vol. ii. p. 233, relative to Col-
antonio, casts some doubt on the chronological correctness of De
Dominici, and also seems to confirm the authenticity of this letter
of Summonzio, and the fact that Vasari was acquainted with the
introduction of the Flemish manner of painting into Naples.
" De Dominici speaks of him at some length, and says, that
he painted the Sant' Antonio, mentioned by D'Agincourt, which
is dated 1371, and is undoubtedly his work, and also the San
Girolamo extracting the Thorn from the Paw of the Lion (for-
merly in San Lorenzo, now in the Royal Gallery), a picture to
which, on the authority of Gian Angolo, De Dominici assigns the
date 1436, — that is to say, four years before his death. Whence
it follows, that if we allow Colantonio to have been 19 years old
in 1371, when he painted the Sant' Antonio, he would have been
84 when he painted the San Girolamo, to which no person in
his senses will assent, as the work displays a force and vigour in-
compatible with an age so advanced. From this indisputable fact
we may judge of the manner in which the work is written. From
an examination of this picture, also described by D'Agincourt, arises
a doubt whether it be really the work of an Italian artist, so much
does it resemble the Flemish style ; and as there is no certain data
on which to form a decision, the question must remain in uncer-
tainty. Speaking of this picture, Signor Piacenza, in the notes to
Baldinucci, says, ' There prevails a beautiful expression, a sweetness
in the impasto, and a harmony in the colouring.' D'Agincourt adds,
Ixviii NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
' A colouring brilliant from the variety of the tints, wonderful for its
lightness {leggerezza), and a manner deserving of praise in a multi-
tude of particulars.' After these praises, who will believe that it is
the work of an octogenarian ?"
The letter of Summonzio, before mentioned, says that Colantonio
died young, therefore the date of the picture could not have been
1436, that is, sixty-four years after he painted the Sant' Antonio. —
Translator.
(38) " This picture is still preserved in the choir of the church of
Castel Nuovo in Naples ; and as it appears that the faces of the three
magi are portraits of Arragonese, many persons doubt its authen-
ticity ; but to me it appears that the picture is indisputably of Flemish
origin." — Rosini, vol. iii. p. 106, 117.
As the Flemish manner of painting at this period has been men-
tioned more than once, it will not be deemed irrelevant to state the
opinion of a popular English writer on the arts concerning it ; first
premising that it is not his opinion only, but that also of all who
have studied the subject. " That he (Van Eyck) had, whether he
did or did not invent it, a very superior vehicle for painting, is un-
questionable ; it appears to have been exclusively his own ; and his
pictures, after having been above four centuries painted, are almost
in as bright and firm a state as when they first came off the easel.
It is feared that his secret has long been lost ; and that it was not
the ordinary mixture of oils and colours, such probably as was used
here (in England) at that time, is very evident ; for none of our early
oil-colour pictures can stand any competition with those of John
and Hubert Van Eyck, for clearness of light and shade, brightness
of hues, or state of preservation : it has all the same advantages over
works of the French school painted two or three centuries later." —
Sarsfield Taylor on the Fine Arts, &c., vol. i. p. 169. Again : " Van
Eyck's pictures, painted 420 years ago, seem as bright and fresh as
if finished last week, more especially that admirable one of the Lamb
in the Apocalypse, painted in the church of St. John at Ghent ; it had
been carried to the Louvre, but has since been restored to its original
situation." Ibid. p. 171. — Translator.
(39) B, Facius de Viris Illustribus, p. 46. — Tambroni.
Albertus Mireus, in his Chronicon Belgicum, jDroves that pre-
vious to the year 1400 there existed in Belgium pictures painted in
oil ; and he inentions in particular one which he had seen at Louvain,
NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE. Ixix
the painter of which died in 1400. Cicog. Storia di Scultura. —
Translator.
C*!) Raspe, p. 37-41.
(■^2) Vita di Cennino.
See note to chap. 124.
Lanzi and Ridolfi both mention the epitaph, but neither of
them says where it is to be found, nor do they mention any authority
for it, other than Vasari. Rosini also quotes it (vol. ii. p. 107) as
an unanswerable argument in favour of Vasari's account; and he
refers to Vasari, Ridolfi, and Puccini ; but he does not tell us that
he has seen it, or even ascertained where it was placed. — Translator.
(^5) " But also because he was the first who gave splendour and
durability to the Italian painting by mixing colours with oil."
See Elogio del Lanzi, note 15. — Tambroni.
(47) On a consideration of the whole of the evidence relating to
the alleged invention of Van Eyck, it is scarcely possible to avoid
drawing the following conclusions : —
That painting pictures in oil was undoubtedly practised long
previous to the time of Van Eyck.
That the Flemings had a method of painting in oil which was
unknown to the Italians, which is proved by the fact that Flemish
paintings of this period were much more brilliant than those of
Italian artists, and are easily distinguished by their vivid colouring
from those of the latter. See Boni, Elogio di Lanzi, n. 15 ; Rosini>
vol. ii. p. 233, vol. iii. p. 106, &c.
That this Flemish manner of painting was first introduced into
Italy by way of Naples.
That no public document has been produced corroborative of
Vasari's narrative (except as to the introduction of the Flemish
manner of painting into Naples), which is somewhat extraordinary ;
since, if Antonello da Messina had been buried with the pomp and
ceremony described by Vasari, some account of it would undoubtedly
have been preserved in the records of the Venetian churches where
the funeral took place, and some clue would have been found to lead
to the discovery of his monument. The chronology of the period
is so uncertain and irreconcilable, that no dates can be depended on
but those which are strictly historical, and those actually found with
the painter's name on the pictures. To prove this, it is only necessary
to mention the dates on the picture of Sant' Antonio at Naples, by
e
Ixx NOTES TO TAMBRONl's PREFACE.
Colantonio, viz. 1371 ; those on the pictures of his reputed pupil,
Antonello da Messina, at Venice, from 1770 to 1774; and that on
the picture by Andrea del Castagno (who is said to have been taught
by Antonello), now in the Florentine Gallery, 1416. The reader will
find it utterly impossible to reconcile these dates with the received
account of Vasari. — Translator.
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A
TREATISE ON PAINTING.
PART THE FIRST.
Chap. 1 . Here begins the booh on the art, made and composed
by Cennino da Colle, in the reverence of God, and of the
Virgin Mary, and of St. Eustachius, and of St. Francis,
and of St. John the Baptist, and of St. Anthony of Padua,
and generally of all the Saints of God, and in the reverence
of Giotto, of Taddeo, and of Agnolo the master of Cennino,
and for the utility and good and advantage of those who
would attain perfection in the arts.
In the beginning the omnipotent God created the heaven and
the earth, and, above all, animals and food ; he created man
and w^oman after his own image, endowing them with all
the virtues. But Adam was tempted, and fell through the
envy of Lucifer, who, with malice and subtlety, induced him
to sin against the commandment of God (first Eve sinned,
and then Adam) ; and God was displeased with Adam, and
caused him and his companion to be driven by an angel out
of paradise, saying to them, " Because you have disobeyed
the commandment which God gave to you, by your labour
and exertions shall you support yourselves." Then Adam,
knowing the sin he had committed, and being nobly endowed
by God as the root and father of us all, discovered, by his
B
2
THE ARTS.
wisdom and his necessities, how to live by his own manual
exertions. And thus he began by digging, and Eve by
spinning. Then followed many necessary arts, different each
from the other, and each more scientific than the other ; for
they could not all be equally so. Now, the most worthy is
Science ; after which comes an art derived from science, and
dependent on the operations of the hand, and this is called
Painting, for which we must be endowed with imagination
and skill, to discover things (concealed under the shade of
nature), and form with the hand, and present to the sight, that
which did not before appear to exist. And well does it deserve
to be placed in the rank next to science, and to be crowned
by Poetry : and for this reason, that the poet, by the help of
science, becomes worthy, and free, and able, to compose and
bind together or not at pleasure. So to the painter liberty is
given to compose a figure, either upright or sitting, or half
man half horse, as he pleases, according to his fancy. I have
therefore undertaken to adorn this principal science with some
jewels, for the benefit of all those persons who feel inclined
to learn the various methods, and who worthily and without
bashfulness set themselves about it; devoting to the before-
mentioned science what little knowledge God has given me,
as an unworthy member and servant of the art of painting.
I Cennino, son of Andrea Cennini, born in the Colle di
Valdelsa, was instructed in these arts for twelve years by
Agnolo son of Taddeo of Florence, my master, who learned
the art from Taddeo his father, the godson of Giotto, whose
disciple he had been for twenty-four years. This Giotto in-
troduced the Greek manner of painting among the Latins,
and united it to the modern school, and the art became more
perfect than it had ever been (1). In order to assist all those
THE ARTS. S
who are desirous of acquiring this art, I shall make notes of
all that was taught me by my master Agnolo (2), and which I
have proved with my own hand ; invoking first the high omni-
potent God,— that is to say, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
secondly, that most delightful advocate of all sinners, the
Virgin Mary, and St. Luke the Evangelist, the first Christian
painter, and my advocate St. Eustachius, and generally all the
saints, male and female, of paradise. Amen (3).
Chap. 2, Row some persons study the arts from nobleness of
mind, and some for gain.
It is the stimulus of a noble mind which induces persons
to study these arts, made pleasing to them by the love of
nature. The intellect delights in invention ; and it is nature
alone, and the impulse of a great mind, which attracts them,
without the guidance of a master. The delight they take in
these studies induces them to seek a master, and they gladly
dispose themselves to obey him, being in servitude, that they
may carry their art to perfection. There are some who follow
the arts from poverty and necessity ; but those who pursue
them from love of the art and true nobleness of mind are
to be commended above all others.
Chap. S. What things are necessary in the pursuit of
the arts.
Now then, you who, possessing noble minds, are lovers of
this accomplishment, and who study the arts in general, adorn
yourselves first with this vesture, — namely, love, reverence,
obedience, and perseverance. And, according to my ability,
I shall begin to put you under the direction of a master, to
learn as much as in the following pages I can impart to you
of what my master taught me.
4
THE ARTS.
Chap. 4. Into what 'parts and members the arts are
divided.
I begin with drawing and colouring, wliich are the founda-
tion of all the arts, and of all the labours of the hand. To
these two parts many things are necessary ; namely, to know
how to grind colours (1) ; to use glue (2) ; to fasten the cloth
on the panel (3) ; to prime with chalk (4) ; to smooth the
surface of the ground of the picture (5), and polish it; to
make relievos in plaster {gesso) (6) ; to use bole ; to gild (7) ;
to burnish ; to temper colours (8) ; to lay on flat colours (9) ;
to powder a drawing (10); to scrape (11); to engrave gild-
ing (12); to rule lines; to colour; to adorn and to varnish
pictures (13). To paint on walls, it is necessary to wet them ;
to cover them with mortar (14) ; to embelHsh them; to polish
them ; to design, to colour in fresco and in secco ; to temper
the colours ; adorn and retouch. And I will set forth pro-
gressively, according to the little knowledge I have acquired,
the rules of the great masters before mentioned relative to
these different matters.
Chap. 5. In what manner drawings on panels should
he begun.
As I have before said, you must begin by drawing. It is
necessary that you should be accustomed to draw very cor-
rectly. In the first place, you must have a panel of box-wood,
the size of which should be on every side the length of the
hand closed, with the thumb extended (1), well smoothed and
clean,— that is to say, washed with clean water, rubbed and
polished with seppia (bone of the cuttle-fish), which the gold-
smiths use for marking. When the above-mentioned panel is
quite dry, take a sufiicient quantity of bones, well pulverised
OF DRAWING.
5
for two hours, and the finer they are ground the better they
will be. Then collect the powder, and put it into dry paper ;
and when you would prime the panel {ingessare), take less
than half the size of a bean of this bone-dust, mix it up with
saliva, and before it is dry spread it with the finger over the
surface of the panel. Hold the panel in the left hand ; and,
with the end of the fore-finger {2) of the right hand, beat
upon the panel until you see that it is quite dry, and that
the bone-dust is spread all over it equally.
Chap. 6. Of other panels on which designs are exe-
cuted (1).
Instead of these panels, the wood of the fig-tree, well
seasoned, is sometimes used; also certain tablets used by
merchants, which are made of parchment, primed with chalk,
mixed with white lead and oil (2), using the bone-dust as
before mentioned.
Chap. 7. What kind of hones are proper for priming
pictures.
You must now know what bones are proper. For this
purpose take the bones of the ribs and wings of fowls or
capons ; and the older they are the better. When you find
them under the table (1), put them into the fire, and when
you see they are become whiter than ashes, take them out,
and grind them well on a porphyry slab (which I shall here-
after mention), and keep the powder for use.
Chap. 8. In what manner you should begin to draw with a
stile, and with what light.
The bones also of the leg and shoulder of mutton are
good, burnt as before directed. Then take a stile of silver.
6
OF DRAWING.
or brass with a silver point, sufficiently fine and polished.
Then, to acquire command of hand in using the stile, begin
to draw with it from a copy as freely as you can, and so
lightly that you can scarcely see what you have begun to do,
deepening your strokes as you proceed, and going over them
repeatedly, to make the shadows. Where you would make it
darkest, go over it many times ; and, on the contrary, make
but few touches on the lights. And you must be guided by
the light of the sun, and your eye, and your hand ; and with-
out these three things you can do nothing properly. Contrive
always when you draw that the light be softened, and the sun
strike on your left hand; and in this manner you should
draw a short time every day, that you may not become tired
or weary.
Chap. 9. How to arrange or accommodate yourself to the light,
so as to produce the chiaroscuro, and give proper relief to
your figures.
If by accident it should happen, that when designing or
drawing in chapels, or colouring in other unfavourable places,
you cannot have the light on your left hand, or in your usual
manner, or give relief to your figures, or design correctly,
on account of the arrangement of the windows in these places,
from which you are to receive the light, — you must accommo-
date yourself to the light on which side soever it may be, and
give the proper lights and shadows. Or if the light should
enter or shine full in your face, make your lights and shades
accordingly ; or if the light enter at a window larger than the
others in the above-mentioned places, adopt always the best
light, and, with due consideration, accommodate your painting
to it ; because, wanting this, your work will be without relief,
unskilfully executed, and of little value.
OF DRAWING.
7
Chap. 10. The manner of drawing on parchment and on paper,
and how to shade loith water-colours.
Let us return to our subject. You may also draw upon
parchment, and paper (1) made of cotton. On parchment
you may draw with the stile (2), first rubbing and spreading
some of the powdered bone-dust in a dry state, or some of the
varnish used by writers (3), with a hare's foot, over the parch-
ment. When you have completed your drawing with the
stile, in order to make it clearer, you may, if you please, fix
the outlines and necessary touches with water (about as much
as a nut-shell will hold), into which are put two drops of
ink (4), and shade with a brush made of hairs cut from the
tail of the minever. And thus you must blacken the water
with a few drops of ink, according to the shades required.
In the same manner you may shade with colours and red tints
(pezzuole) (5), such as miniature-painters use ; mix your
colours with gum, or the white of an egg well beaten and
liquefied.
Chap. 11. How to draw with a leaden stile.
It is possible also to draw on parchment without bone-dust
with a stile of lead ; that is, with two parts lead and one of
tin, well beaten with a hammer.
Chap. 12. How, lohen drawing with a lead pencil, an error
may he corrected.
You may draw on paper also with the above-mentioned
leaden stile, either with or without bone-dust; and if at any
time you make an error, or you wish to remove any marks
made by the leaden stile, take a piece of crumb of bread, rub
it over the paper, and efface whatever you please. And in
8
OF DRAWING.
the same manner you may shade with ink, or colours, or red
tints, with the before-mentioned vehicle.
Chap. 13. How drawings with the pen should he
practised.
When you have practised drawing in this manner one
year, either more or less, according to the pleasure you take
in it, you may sometimes draw on paper with a well-made
pen. Draw lightly, leaving your lights and your half-lights
and your shades gradually, and going over the latter many
times with your pen(l). And if you would have your draw-
ing very beautiful, use a little water-colour, as before directed,
with a hair-pencil. Do you know what will be the conse-
quence of this practice of drawing with the pen? It will
make you expert, skilful, and capable of making original
designs.
Chap. 14. How to make a pen for the purpose of
drawing.
If you would know how to make a pen of a goose-quill,
take a firm quill, place it on the two fingers of the left hand,
the under side of the quill upwards ; take a sharp penknife,
and cut away about the width of a finger from the length of
the quill ; then cut away the left side of the pen towards you,
scrape it, make it thin towards the point, cut away the other
side, and let it slope in the same degree to a point. Turn
the pen over, put it on the thumb-nail of the left hand, and
gently scrape and nib the point, and make it either broad or
fine as you require for drawing or writing.
Chap. 15. How to draw on tinted paper.
In order to proceed gradually and begin at the very he-
OF DRAWING.
9
ginning, and, as it were, the threshold of colouring, you must
learn another method of drawing besides those of which we
have previously been speaking ; and this is called, drawing
on tinted paper — either on parchment or paper. The term
"tinted" is used because the whole surface of the paper is
coloured with the same tint. The tints may be either red,
purple, green, azure, grey, flesh-colour, or any colour you
please ; they all require the same tempering and grinding,
and may all be drawn upon in the same manner. It is true
that green tints are the most beautiful and most frequently
used, both in shading and in the lights. I shall hereafter
treat of grinding the colours, of their several natures, and of
the medium {tempera) they require. I must be brief upon
this subject, being desirous of instructing you in drawing and
tinting paper.
Chap. 16. Hoio parchment or paper is tinted green, and how
the tints are tempered.
To tint parchment or sheets of paper green, take about
the size of half a walnut of verde terra, and half the quantity
of ochre; of good white lead (biacca), half the quantity of
the ochre, and about the size of a bean of bone-dust (which
I have taught you previously to prepare), and half the size
of a bean of vermilion. Grind all these well together on a
porphyry slab, with water from a well, or spring, or river :
grind them as long as you possibly can — you cannot grind
them too much ; and the more you grind your colours, the
better will they be. Then temper these ingredients with
glue (colla), of the following kind and strength : Take a piece
of glue as sold by the apothecaries (not fish-glue), and put
it into a pipkin to soak, in as much clean water as can be
contained in two common drinking -glasses, for the space of
10
OF DRAWING.
six hours ; then put the pipkin on the fire, and skim it when
it boils. When it has boiled a short time, and the glue is
perfectly dissolved, strain it twice ; then take a painter's vase,
large enough to contain the colours you have ground, and
add the glue to them till the colours flow well with the pencil.
Then with a pencil of hog's bristles, rather large and soft,
spread the colour immediately over the paper to be tinted
with a light touch, and the pencil almost dry, till you see that
the whole surface of the paper is tinted. Let it dry before
you go over it again ; and if you see the tints look dry, or grow
too hard, it is a proof that the glue is too strong ; therefore,
when you have gone over it the first time, you must remedy
it by adding warm water to it. When finished and quite dry,
take a knife and rub it lightly over the paper, removing all
the inequalities.
Chap. 17. Hoiv to tint parchment and to burnish it.
To draw on parchment, you must first soak it in spring
or well water till it become soft. Fasten it tight with small
nails over a plank, as you would stretch the parchment over
a drum, and tint it as before directed. Should it happen that
the parchment or paper is not smooth enough for the purpose,
put it on a plank of walnut-tree wood, or on an even and
well-polished stone. Then put a very clean sheet of paper
upon that which you have tinted ; and with the stone with
which you burnish gold, burnish it firmly with the hand, and
by this means you will make it very soft and smooth. True
it is that some persons like to burnish on the tinted card
itself, so that the burnishing-stone should touch its surface,
and give it a little lustre : do which you please, but the first
mode is the best. The reason is, that the lustre given to
the tinted paper, by rubbing it with the burnishing-stone,
OF DRAWING.
11
takes away the lustre of the stile in drawing ; and besides,
the water-colour, when applied, does not look as clear as
when the first process is used. Sit nihil Jiominihus (1) ; do as
you please.
Chap. 18. How to tint paper of a morello or purple colour.
Now learn how to make these tints. To tint paper morello
or purple colour, take, for the number of sheets I have men-
tioned above ( 1 ) , half an ounce of white lead and the size of a
bean of lapis amatisto (2), and grind them as well together as
you can ; they cannot be spoilt by too much grinding, but, on
the contrary, will be improved. Temper the colour as before.
Chap. 19. How to tint paper with indigo.
For the above-mentioned number of sheets take half an
ounce of white lead (hiacca), and the size of two beans of
Indaco maccabeo{\), and grind them well together; you can-
not spoil them by too much grinding. Temper, and use in
the same manner as before.
Chap. 20. To tint paper a peach-colour.
If you would tint your paper of a peach-colour, for the
same number of sheets take half an ounce of verde terra,
the size of a bean of white lead, and the size of a bean of light
sinopia. Grind them in the usual manner, and temper with
your size.
Chap. 21. To tint paper of a flesh-colour.
To make a good flesh-coloured tint, take for the same num-
ber of sheets of paper half an ounce of white-lead, and less
than the size of a bean of vermilion : grind and mix well
together. Temper in the usual manner.
12
OF DRAWING.
Chap. 22. To make grey tints on paper.
Grey tints are made in this manner. Take a quarter ( 1 )
of white lead, the size of a bean of light ochre, less than half
the size of a bean of black ; grind these well together in the
usual manner. Temper as I have before directed, putting
always to each the size of a bean at least of burnt bones.
And these directions are sufficient to enable you to proportion
the tints properly.
Chap. 23. In lohat manner you may make a good drawing on
transparent pa^er (carta lucida).
You must know there is still another kind of paper, called
transparent, which may be very useful to you in copying a
head, or a figure, or a half-length figure, from the work of a
great master. If you wish to have a correct outline, or if you
see any picture of which you wish to take a copy for yourself,
put the transparent paper over the figure or design, fastening
it lightly at each corner with a piece of red or green wax.
The figure or design will be immediately visible through the
transparent paper, so that you can see it clearly. Then take
either a pen with a fine nib, or a small hair-pencil, and with
ink trace the outlines and extremities of the design under it,
touching in lightly every shade that you can see and draw.
Then taking away the paper, you may touch the lights and
relievos in the manner I have before described.
Chap. 24. The first mode of making transparent paper.
If you cannot find any of this transparent paper ready
made, make it in the following manner. Take a skin of
parchment, give it to a parchment-maker, and let him scrape
it very thin and evenly. It is of itself transparent. If you
OF DRAWING.
13
would have it more clear, take linseed-oil, very clear and fine,
and rub it over with a piece of cotton dipped in this oil ; let
it dry for the space of many days, and it will be perfect and
good.
Chap. 25. The second mode of making transparent paper,
with glue.
If you would prepare this transparent paper in another
manner, provide a slab of marble or porphyry. Then take
fish-glue and pieces of glue sold by the apothecaries : put
them to soften in clean water ; and to six pieces put a por-
ringer-full of clean water. Then make it boil ; and when
boiled, strain it two or three times. Then take some of this
dissolved and strained glue, and when cool, with a brush (as
in tinting paper) pass all over the clean slab'. The stone
should be first greased with olive oil ; and when the glue
upon the slab is dry, take the point of a knife and begin to
loosen the glue from the slab with your hand : take off as
much as you can of this kind of skin or paper. With great
care you may detach this glue safely from the stone, like a
sheet of paper. Or if you prefer it, before you detach this
skin of glue from the stone, take linseed oil, boiled in the
manner I shall direct when speaking of mordants, and with a
soft pencil go once over it : let it dry for two or three days,
and it will be very transparent.
Chap. 26. How paper may he made transparent.
Paper may also be made transparent. The paper must be
thin, even, and very white ; oil it with linseed-oil, as before
directed. It will be transparent, and very good.
14
OF DRAWING.
Chap. 27. Shewing how you should endeavour to draw and
instruct yourself in design as much as you can.
It is now requisite that you should copy from models, in
order to attain the highest branches of the science. You
have made tinted cards. It is necessary for you to adopt
this mode. Having practised drawing a sufficient time on
tablets, as I have before directed, always study and delight in
drawing the best subjects which offer from the works of the
great masters. If there are many good masters in the place
where you live, so much the better for you. But I advise
you always to select the best and most celebrated ; and if you
daily imitate his manner, it is scarcely possible but that you
will acquire it ; for if you copy to-day from this master and
to-morrow from that, you will not acquire the manner of
either ; and as the different style of each master unsettles
your mind, your own manner will become fantastic. If you
will study this manner to-day and that to-morrow, you must
of necessity copy neither perfectly ; but if you continually
adopt the manner of one master, your intellect must be very
dull indeed if you do not find something to nourish it. And
it will happen that if nature has bestowed on you any inven-
tion, you will acquire a manner of your own, which cannot
be other than good, because your hand and your under-
standing being always accustomed to gather the flowers, will
always avoid the thorns (1).
Chap. 28. How you should draw continually from nature, as
well as from the masters.
Remember that the most perfect guide that you can
have and the best direction is to draw from nature : it is the
best of all possible examples, and with a bold heart you may
OF DRAWING.
15
always trust to it, especially when you begin to have some
knowledge of design. And continuing always and without
fail to draw something every day, how little soever it may be,
you will certainly attain excellence.
Chap. 29. How you should regulate your manner of living so
as to preserve decorum, and keep your hand in proper con-
dition, and what company you should frequent; and how you
should select and draw a figure in relief.
Your manner of living should be always regulated as if
you were studying theology, philosophy, or any other science ;
that is to say, eating and drinking temperately — at the most
twice a day, using light and good food, and but little wine ;
keeping in good condition, and restraining your hand, preserv-
ing it from fatigue, throwing stones or iron bars for instance,
and many other things which are injurious to the hand, caus-
ing it to shake. There is still another cause, the occurrence
of which may render your hand so unsteady that it will oscil-
late and tremble more than leaves shaken by the wind, and
this is, frequenting too much the company of ladies. — Let us
return from our digression. Make a pocket of sheets of paper
glued together, or of light wood, fit to hold any picture or
paper, and this will hold your drawings, and also serve for a
desk to draw upon. Then always retire alone (1), or with
companions who are doing as you do, and who will not hinder
your work ; and the more intellectual these companions are,
the better will it be for you. Whether it be in churches or
chapels that you begin to draw, consider first what space, or
history, or figures, you wish to sketch, and remark where the
shades, middle tints, and lights fall ; and I must tell you here
to shade with ink and water, to leave the ground of the panel
for the middle tints, and to use white for the lights.
16
OF DRAWING.
Chap. 30. In what manner you should begin to draw on paper
with charcoal, and proportion the figure, and fix your draw-
ing with a silver stile.
Procure some fine charcoal, cut to a point, like a pen
or a stile, and the first measure that you take in drawing let
it be one of the three parts into which the face is divided,
namely, the head, the face, and the chin (1), with the mouth.
And, taking one of these three parts for a guide, proportion
the whole figure by it, endeavouring to understand and be
governed by these measures ; and this is done, because the
historical painting, or the figure you copy, may be of large
dimensions, and you may be unable to reach with the hand
to measure it. You must make use of your understanding,
and in this way truth will be your conductor. If you have
not proportioned your drawing exactly by the first touches,
take a feather, either of a hen or a goose, and, with the
feather-part of it, rub and clean away the charcoal from what
you have drawn, and the design will be effaced. Begin again
from that part the proportions of which appear to agree with
the original ; and when you see that it is correct, take the
silver stile, and retrace the outlines and extremities of your
design, and the depths of shade. When you have done this,
with the feather-part of the pen remove the charcoal, and
your drawing will be fixed by the stile.
Chap. 31. How to draw and shade on tinted paper in water-
colours, and heighten the lights with white.
When you have sufficiently practised shading, take a hair-
pencil without a point (1), and with water and ink, in a
small vase, wash over the principal shades, and proceed to
deepen them properly. If you find your tint too light, and
OF DRAWING.
17
if your pencil become as it were almost dry, yet be not in
haste ; you will learn to shade by degrees by always return-
ing with your pencil to the darkest parts. Do you know
what will happen from this proceeding ? If the water have
but little colour, and you take pleasure in shading, and do
not hurry yourself, your shades will at last appear soft, like
smoke. Always remember to keep the pencil flat. When
you can shade well, take a drop or two of ink, add it to the
water, and stir it well ; and then in the same manner fill in
the darker shades to their utmost depths — always remember-
ing, while shading, your three divisions, the first consists of
the shades, the second of the colour of the ground, and the
third of the lights. When you have done this, take a little
white lead, well triturated with gum-arabic (hereafter I shall
treat of the manner in which this gum should be tempered
and dissolved (2), and I shall also treat of all kinds of vehi-
cles) ; a very little white will be sufficient. Put some clean
water in a little vase ; dip your pencil into it, and rub it on
the prepared white lead, particularly if it be of good body ;
then hold the paint by your thumb and finger, and, squeezing
the pencil, discharge the colour from it, so that you leave it
almost dry. Begin by washing the pencil flat over those
places where there ought to be lights and relievos, and go
many times over them, but with discretion; then, for the
extreme relievos and high lights, take a pointed pencil, and
touch them with the point of the pencil dipped in white.
Take a small pencil, and with ink clear up the extreme shades
and outHnes, noses, eyes, hair, and beard.
Chap. 32. Row you mmj put on the lights with water and
white lead, as well as shade with water and ink.
I advise also, when you have had more practice, that you
18
OF DRAWING.
endeavour to lay on the lights with water-colour as you did
ink with water. Take white lead ground with water, and
temper it with the yolk of an egg, and spread it on your
drawing as you did the ink and water; but it is more dif-
ficult, and requires practice. Both methods are called draw-
ing on tinted paper, and they will lead to the art of colouring.
Practise what you have been taught as frequently as you
can; attend closely and with great dihgence, delight, and
pleasure, to these studies.
Chap. 33. In what manner good and fine charcoal crayons
may he made.
Before we proceed further, I will teach you how to make
crayons of charcoal. Take some slips of willow, dry and
smooth, and cut them into pieces as long as the palm of the
hand, or the little finger; then divide them like matches,
and fasten them together like a bundle of matches ; but first
polish and sharpen them on each side as if they were tin.
Then, laying them side by side, bind them altogether in three
places, that is, by the middle and by each end, with a copper
or iron wire ; then take a new pipkin, and fill the pipkin
with them ; put on an earthen cover, and lute it round with
chalk or clay, so that no air can enter; and put the pipkin
into a cool oven, that is, into one from which the bread has
just been removed, and let it remain till morning ; then look
whether the crayons are well burnt and black. If they are
not black enough, let them remain till they are so. Then to
ascertain whether they are properly made, you should take
one of the crayons, and draw vvdth it, either on paper, or
tinted paper, or on a panel. If the crayon works freely, it
will do; if it be too much baked, it will not hold on the
paper, but will split to pieces. I will tell you another way
OF DRAWING. 19
of making these crayons. Take a small baking-pan, covered
as above mentioned ; put it at night on the hot hearth, and
cover it well with ashes, and go to bed. In the morning
the crayons will be done. And in the same manner you may
make small or large crayons as you please ; and there are no
better crayons in the world.
Chap. 34. Of a stone for drawing, which is of the nature of
charcoal.
I have found that a certain black stone brought from
Piedmont is good for drawing; sharpen it with a knife, it
is soft, and very black, and it will be as good as charcoal.
Draw with it what you please (1).
PART THE SECOND.
Chap. 35. Of the preparation of the colours.
In studying the arts progressively, we come next to the
grinding of the colours. You must know that some colours
are very fine, some coarse, and some impure; that some
require but little, others much grinding; that some demand
one vehicle, some another; that they differ in colour and in
the manner of tempering and grinding them.
Chap. 36. What are natural colours {pigments), and how
to grind black.
You must know that there are seven natural colours,
namely, four which are of the nature of earths, as black, red,
yellow, and green ; three are natural colours, but require the
assistance of art, as white, ultramarine, or della magna, and
Naples yellow. We will not proceed further, but return to
the black pigment. To grind it properly, procure a slab of
porphyry, which is strong and firm. There are many kinds
of stone for grinding colours, as porphyry, serpentine, and
marble. The serpentine is a soft stone, and is not good (1) ;
marble is worse, that is, softer; porphyry is the best of all;
and if you procure a slab very well polished, it will be
better than one with less pohsh. It should be about half
a braccio (2) square. Take another stone, also of porphyry,
smooth on one side, and raised on the other, in the shape
of a porringer, and half the height of one, of such a form
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS. 21
that the hand may hold and guide it at pleasure {3). Then
take some of the black (or of any other colour), about the
size of a walnut, and put it on the slab, and with that stone
which you hold in your hand break the pigment into small
pieces. Put some clean water, either from a river, a fountain,
or a well, to the colour, and grind it well for half an hour, or
an hour, or as long as you please ; but know, that if you were
to grind it for a year, so much the blacker and better would
be the colour. Then take a flat piece of wood, part of which
is pared thin like the blade of a knife (4), and with this blade
collect the colour neatly ; keep it liquid, and not too dry,
that it may flow well on the stone, and be thoroughly ground ;
then collect it carefully. Put it then into a small vase, and
pour water on it till the vase is full ; and in this manner keep
it always soft, and well covered from the dust, and from all
other dirt, that is, in a little box adapted to hold vessels of
liquor (5).
Chap. 37. How to make several kinds of black.
Remember that there are several black pigments, one of
which is a soft black stone, and the colour is opaque. I must
mform you that transparent colours are better than those
which have much body, except that in laying on gold, bole,
or verde terra, when you have pictures to gild, the richer the
colour is, the brighter will be the gold. Let us leave this
subject. Another black is made of the tendrils or young
shoots of the vine (1), which are to be burnt, and when burnt,
thrown into water, and quenched, and then ground like other
black pigments. This colour is very black and transparent
(magro), and it is one of the most perfect pigments we have.
Another black is made of the skins of almonds, or the kernels
of peaches ; this also makes a perfect and fine black. Another
22
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
black is made in this manner : take a lamp full of linseed-
oil, light the lamp, and put it under a clean baking-dish, so
that the flame of the lamp shall be about the distance of two
or three fingers from the dish, and the smoke which comes
from the flame shall strike against the dish ; collect the smoke
together ; wait a little ; take the baking-dish, and sweep off"
the smoke (which is the pigment) into paper, or into some
vessel; it does not require grinding, because it is already a
very fine powder. Thus you may continue to fill the lamp
with the oil, put it under the dish, and make in this manner
as much colour as you require (2).
Chap. 38. Of the nature of a red pigment called
sinopia (1).
There is a natural red pigment, which is called sinopia or
porphyry. The colour is naturally transparent and drying.
It bears grinding well, and the more it is ground the better
it is. It is good for painting either on pictures or walls, in
fresco or in secco. These terms, " fresco and secco," shall be
explained to you when I treat of painting on walls. And we
have said enough about the first kind of red.
Chap. 39. How to make a red pigment called cinabrese, used
for the flesh-colours on walls, and its properties {!).
There is a red colour called light cinabrese, and I do not
know that this colour is used any where but in Florence ; it
is a perfect flesh-colour, either for painting on walls or in
fresco. This colour is made of the finest and lightest sinopia ;
it is mixed and ground with bianco sangiovanni, as it is
called at Florence (a white made of very white and pure
lime). And when you have well ground together these two
colours, in the proportion of two-parts of cinabrese to one of
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
23
white, make them into lumps the size of half a walnut, and
let them dry, and keep them for use. This colour is very
fine for faces, hands, and naked figures on walls, as I have
before said ; and sometimes you may make with it beautiful
draperies, which on walls look like cinnabar.
Chap. 40. Of the properties of a red pigment called cinnabar
[vermilion).
There is a red colour called cinnabar ; and this colour is
made by a chemical process (alchemy), performed in an alem-
bic, in a manner which would take too much time to explain.
And if you would labour at it yourself, you may find many
recipes, especially among the friars (1). But I advise you,
that you may not lose your time in making experiments, to
purchase what you want at the apothecaries' ; and I will teach
you how to buy it, and to distinguish good cinnabar. Always
purchase whole cinnabar, unbroken and unground ; the reason
for this is, because it is often adulterated with minium (red
lead), and with pounded brick-dust. Examine the whole lump
of cinnabar, and that which is convex on the top and covered
with needle-shaped filaments {2) is the best. Put this then
upon the slab above mentioned, grinding it with clean water
as much as you can — if you were to grind it for twenty years,
it would be but the better and more perfect. This pigment
requires to be tempered according to the situation in which it
is to be used; but of this I shall hereafter speak, and shall
;give you proper directions in another part of this work. But
remember that it is not durable when exposed to the air ; it is
more lasting on pictures than on walls, because by long expo-
;sure to the air it becomes black when applied to walls (3).
24
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
Chap. 41. Of the properties of a red pigment called
minium (1) [red lead).
There is a red pigment called minium (red lead), which is
also a chemical production. This pigment is only proper to
he used in pictures ; for if it be used on walls, on exposure to
the air it suddenly becomes black, and loses its colour.
Chap. 42. Of the properties of a red colour called amatisto,
or amatito.
There is a red colour called amatito. This is a natural
colour, and is produced from a very hard and firm stone. It is
so hard and firm that tools are made of it to burnish gold on
pictures. It is very dark and pure, and as good as a diamond.
The pure stone is of a maroon or purple colour, and is crystal-
lised like cinnabar. Break this stone in a bronze mortar,
because, if you were to break it upon the porphyry slab, you
might split it ; and when you have broken it, put a small quan-
tity on the slab, and grind it well with clean water ; and the
more you grind it the better it will be, and the more perfect
the colour. This pigment is proper for walls and fresco ; and
it makes a colour such as cardinals wear, or a purple or lake-
colour. It cannot be used in any other way, or in distemper ( 1 ).
Chap. 43. Of the nature of a red colour called dragon's
hlood (1).
There is a red colour called dragon's blood. This colour
is sometimes used in miniature-painting on paper. Let it
alone, however, and be not too anxious for it ; it will never
do you much credit.
Chap. 44. Of the nature of a red pigment called lake.
There is a red colour called lake, which is an artificial
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
25
pigment. There are many recipes for it ; but I advise you,
out of regard to those skilled in making it, to purchase the
colour ready made : but be careful to distinguish the best, for
there are many sorts of it. If the lake be made of the shreds
of cloth, or stuffs, it is very beautiful to the eye ; but bev^^are
of this, because it always retains some body by reason of the
alum which it contains, is not durable, either tempered or
not, and rapidly loses its colour. Be careful to shun this
kind. But procure the lake which is obtained from gum, and
is dry and transparent, and granulous like earth ; its colour is
blood-red (1). This cannot be otherwise than good and per-
fect. Take this and grind it on the stone with clean water ;
it is good in pictures. It is also used on walls in distemper,
but the air is destructive to it. Some there are who grind it
in urine, but it is unpleasant, and soon becomes offensive.
Chap. 45. Of the nature of a yellow colour which is called
ochre ( 1 ) .
There is a natural yellow pigment called ochre. This
pigment is found in a mountainous country, where there are
veins of it like veins of sulphur ; and in these veins are found
sinopia, verde terra, and other pigments. I found this pig-
ment one day when my father, Andrea Cennini, took me to
the territory of the Colle di Valdelsa, near the confines of
Casole, on the outskirts of the wood of the comune of Colle,
above a villa called Dometara. We came to a small valley,
and to a rustic grotto, where, digging with a mattock, I saw
veins of many colours, namely, of ochre, light and dark sino-
pia, blue, and white ; and it seemed to me the greatest miracle
in the world that white should come from veins in the earth ;
but remember that I made a trial of this white, and found it
unctuous, and unfit for the colouring of flesh. There were
26
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
also in this place veins of a black colour ; and these colours
were as visible on the earth here as the features on the face
of a man or woman.
But let us return to the pigment ochre. I went about
seeking every where with a knife for the veins of this colour,
and I assure you that I never met with more beautiful or
perfect ochre. I agree that it is not so bright as Naples
yellow — it is a little darker ; but for hair and drapery (as I
shall hereafter inform you) you will never find any colour
preferable to this ochre. It is of two kinds, light and dark.
Each colour requires to be ground in the same manner with
clean water ; and grind them well — they will be all the better
for it. You must know that this ochre is a common colour,
very useful in fresco-painting, as well as in other kinds of
painting. It is used, as I shall tell you hereafter, in painting
flesh, in drapery, in colouring landscapes, buildings, horses,
and in many other things. This colour is in its nature
unctuous.
Chap. 46. Of the nature of a yellow pigment called giallorino
{Naples yellow).
There is a yellow pigment called giallorino, which is made
artificially, and is very hard. It is as heavy as a stone, and
hard to break. This colour is used in fresco, and is very
durable on walls, and in pictures in distemper. It must be
ground, like the other colours, with clean water. It is difficult
to grind ; and before you grind it, it is better to break it to
pieces in a bronze mortar, as I advised you to do with regard
to the lapis amatisto. And when you work with it, you will
find that it is not a very brilliant yellow, and that without a
mixture of some other colour, as I shall hereafter mention, it
never makes bright greens, or the proper colour for herbage.
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
27
Nevertheless, I give you to understand that this is a real
stone, produced in mountainous volcanic districts ; therefore
I say it is an artificial pigment, but not a chemical prepa-
ration (1).
Chap. 47. Of the nature of a pigment called orpiment.
There is a yellow pigment called orpiment. This is an
artificial pigment, and a chemical preparation (1), and is very
poisonous. It is a very fine yellow, like gold in colour. It
is not good for walls, or in fresco, or in distemper, because by
exposure to the air it becomes black. It is proper for heraldic
painting. This colour, mixed with indigo, makes a green the
colour of grass and herbage. It can only be tempered with
glue. Physicians sometimes prescribe this pigment in some
diseases which are brought before them. It is the most difii-
cult colour to grind of any used in our art ; therefore, when
you are going to grind it, put the quantity you want on the
stone, and with that stone (that is, the muUer) which you hold
in your hand gently press it between the stones, mixing with
it a little broken glass, because the powdered glass, by its
roughness, assists in grinding the orpiment. When you have
broken it to pieces, put clean water to it and grind it as much
as you can, — and if you were to grind it for ten years, so
much the better would it be. Beware of letting it touch
your mouth, lest you should poison yourself (2).
Chap. 48. Of the nature of a yellow pigment called risalgallo
{realgar, or red orpiment) (1).
There is a yellow colour called risalgallo (realgar, or red
orpiment) : this colour is also poisonous. It is rarely used
by us, and only on pictures. It cannot be mixed with any
other colour. If you wish to grind it, do it as I have before
28
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
directed : it must also be ground with water ; and guard your
person from contact with it.
Chap. 49. Of the nature of a yellow pigment called zafferano
{saffron).
There is a yellow colour made from a spice (spezia) called
zafferano (saffron). You must put it into a piece of linen,
upon a hot stone or brick; procure about half a glassful of
strong lye ; pour it upon the saffron, and grind it on the stone.
It will produce a beautiful colour for dyeing cloth or linen.
It is good on paper. Do not expose it to the air, for it soon
loses its colour. And if you would make the most perfect
colour possible for grass, take a little verderame (verdigris)
and some zafferano, in the proportion of one part saffron to
two of verderame, and the most beautiful green will result.
Temper it with size, as I have before directed.
Chap. 50. Of the nature of a yellow pigment called
arzica{\).
There is a yellow pigment called arzica, which is a che-
mical preparation, and not much used. It is chiefly used by
miniature-painters, and more by those in the neighbourhood
of Florence than at any other place. It is a very fine colour,
not durable when exposed to the air, is not proper for walls,
but is good on pictures; mixed with a httle azzurro della
magna (2) and giallorino, it makes a beautiful green. It must
be ground, hke all the other bright colours, with clean water.
Chap. 51. Of the nature of a green pigment called verde
terra.
There is a natural green pigment which is an earth, and
is called verde terra. This colour has many properties. First,
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
29
it is a very unctuous pigment, and proper to use in faces,
draperies, buildings, in fresco and secco, on walls, on pic-
tures, and wherever you please (1). Grind it, as I have told you
to grind the other colours, with clean water; and the more
you grind it, the better it is. And if you temper it in the
same manner as I shall direct you to temper bole, you may
in the same way lay on gold upon verde terra. And know
that the ancients never adopted any other manner of gilding
than this with verde terra {2).
Chap. 52. Of the nature of a green called verde azzurro
[blue or cobalt green) (1).
There is a green which is partly natural, but requires
artificial preparation. It is made of azzurro della magna
(German blue). This is called verde azzurro (blue green).
Do not trouble yourself as to how it is made, but buy it
ready made. This colour is good in secco, tempered with
yolk of egg, to paint trees and grass, and also for grounds.
Put on the light with giallorino (Naples yellow). This colour
is of itself coarse and gritty. In order to preserve the colour,
grind it very gently with the hand, because if it be too much
ground, it will lose its colour, and be hke ashes. It must be
ground with clean water ; and when you have ground it, pour
clean water into the vase on the colour, and stir both well
together ; then let it rest for an hour, or two, or three ; pour
away the water, and the green will be most beautiful. Wash
it in this manner two or three times, and it will be still finer.
Chap. 53. How to make a green with orpiment and
indigo.
There is a colour made by mixing two parts of orpiment
with one of indigo, and grinding them well together with
30
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
clean water. This colour is good for heraldic painting ; and
it is also used for painting rooms in secco. It can only be
used with glue.
Chap. 54. How to make a green with verde azmrro {blue-
green) and giallorino {Naples yellow).
There is a green colour made with verde azzurro and
giallorino. This is proper for walls and pictures, and is tem-
pered with the yolk of an egg. If you would make the
colour more beautiful, add to it a little arzica ; and if you
would make it more beautiful still, add to it some azzurro
della magna (German blue) ; pound some wild plums, and
make verjuice, and of this verjuice put four or six drops to
the blue. It makes a beautiful green ; but it fades when ex-
posed to the air, and in time the verjuice entirely disappears.
Chap. 55. How to make a green with azzurro oltre marina
{ultramarine blue).
A green colour may be made of ultramarine and orpiment.
It requires some skill to mix these colours. First take the
orpiment, and then add the blue(l). If you would have it
incline to a light green, let the orpiment prevail ; if to a dark
green, let the blue prevail. This colour is proper for pictures,
but not for walls. Temper it with size.
Chap. 56. Of the nature of a green called verderame
{verdigris).
There is a green pigment called verderame (verdigris).
It is sufficiently green of itself, and is a chemical preparation,
made of copper and vinegar. This colour is good on pictures,
tempered with glue. Be careful never to mix it with biacca
(white lead), because these two colours are mortal enemies.
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
31
Grind it with vinegar, which it is its nature to retain ; and it
makes a grass-green, most perfect and beautiful to the eye,
but not durable. It is good on parchment, on paper, or on
vellum, tempered with the yolk of an egg (1).
Chap. 57. How to make a green with verde terra and biacca
{white lead), or with bianco sangiovanni and verde terra.
There is a green the colour of sage, which is made by
mixing biacca and terra verde, tempered with the yolk of an
egg. This is to be used on pictures ; when painting on walls
or in fresco, mix the verde terra with bianco sangiovanni made
of purified white lime.
Chap. 58. Of the nature of bianco sangiovanni.
There is a natural white pigment which, however, requires
some preparation. It is prepared in this manner (1). Take
very white slacked lime ; pulverise it, and put it into a little
tub for the space of eight days, changing the water every day,
and mixing the lime and water well together in order to
extract from it all unctuous properties. Then make it into
small cakes, put them upon the roof of the house in the sun,
and the older these cakes are, the whiter they become. If
you wish to hasten the process, and have the white very good,
when the cakes are dry, grind them on your slab with water,
and then make them again into cakes, and dry them as before.
Do this twice, and you will see how perfectly white they will
become. This white must be ground thoroughly with water.
It is good for working in fresco, that is, on walls, without
tempera; and without this colour you can do nothing, — I
mean, you cannot paint flesh, or make tints of the other
colours which are necessary in painting on walls, namely,
in fresco ; and it never requires any tempera.
32
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
Chap. 59. Of the nature of biacca {white lead).
There is a white pigment prepared chemically from lead,
which is called biacca. This white is strong and brilliant,
and is in cakes of the shape of drinking-glasses ( 1 ). To know
the best sort, always select that kind the top of which is in the
form of a cup. The more this colour is ground, the better
it is; it is proper for pictures, and is sometimes used on
walls ; but beware of it nevertheless, for in time it becomes
black (2). Grind it with water; it will bear any tempera,
and will enable you to make your colours lighter in pictures,
in the same manner as the other white does on walls.
Chap. 60. Of the nature of azzurro della magna ( German
blue, or cobalt) (1).
There is a natural pigment of a blue colour, which is
found in and around veins of silver. A great quantity is
produced in Germany, and also in Sienna. If you would
have it very good, you must grind it. When you are going
to lay on grounds with this blue, you must grind a little at
a time, with water, carefully ; for it is very difficult to grind.
If you would use it for draperies, or to make greens, as I
have before said, you must grind it more. This pigment is
good on walls, in secco, and on pictures ; it may be tempered
with yolk of egg, glue, or whatever you please.
Chap. 61. To imitate with other colours azzurro della magna
{German blue).
To make a light blue, like the colour of the sky, take
indaco baccadeo (indigo) (1), and grind it very fine, with
w^ater ; and for pictures, mix with it a little biacca ; and for
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
33
walls, a little bianco sangiovanni. It becomes a sky-blue ;
and must be tempered with glue.
Chap. 62. Of the nature of azzurro oltre marino {ultramarine
blue), and how it is prepared.
Ultramarine blue is a colour more noble, beautiful, and
perfect, than any other colour ; and its good qualities exceed
any thing we can say in its favour. On account of its great
excellence, I shall speak of it at length, and give you full
directions for preparing it (1) ; and you must pay great
attention to them, for they will bring you honour, and be of
much service to you. And with this colour and gold (which
are the great ornaments of our art) you may produce the
finest effects (2). First take some lapis lazzari (3); and if
you would know how to distinguish the best stones, take
those which contain most of the blue colour, for there is
mixed with it what is little better than ashes. That which
contains least of these ashes is the best. But be careful
that you do not mistake for it azzurro della magna, which is
as beautiful to the eye as enamel. Pound it in a covered
bronze mortar, that the powder may not fly away ; then put
it on your slab of porphyry, and grind it without water;
afterwards take a covered strainer like that used by the
apothecaries for sifting spices, and pound again as much as is
required. But bear in mind, that although the ultramarine
becomes finer the longer it is ground, yet the colour is
neither so rich nor so deep ; and that the finer sort is fit
for miniature-painters, and for draperies inclining to white.
When the powder is prepared, procure from the apothecary's
six ounces of resin of the pine, three ounces of glue {mas-
trice), and three ounces of new wax, to each pound of lapis
lazzari. Put all these ingredients into a new pipkin, and
D
34
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
melt them together. Then strain them through a piece of
linen into a glazed basin, add to the mixture a pound of the
powder of lapis lazzari, mix it all well together into a paste.
And that you may be able to handle the paste, keep your
hands always well anointed with linseed -oil. This paste
must be kept at least three days and three nights, and must
be stirred a little every day ; and remember that you may
keep it for fifteen days or a month, or as long as you please.
When you would extract the azure from the paste, proceed
thus. Prepare two sticks, with handles neither too thick nor
too thin, about a foot long ; let them be well rounded at the
end, and polished. Then, your paste, being in the glazed
basin into which you first put it, add to it a porringer full
of lye, moderately warm ; and with these two sticks, one in
each hand, turn and squeeze, and mix the paste thoroughly,
exactly in the manner that you would knead bread. When
you see that the lye is perfectly blue, pour it out of the
glazed basin ; take the same quantity of fresh lye, add it to
the paste, and stir with the sticks, as before. When the lye
is become very blue, pour it into another basin, and add
more lye, as before. When this lye is very blue, pour it into
another glazed basin ; and continue to do so as long as the
lye is tinged with colour. Then throw it away, it is good for
nothing. Range all the basins before you on a table in the
order in which they were drawn off", that is to say, the first,
second, third, and fourth ; then beginning at the first, with
your hand stir up the azure, which by its weight will have
sunk to the bottom, and then you will know the depth of the
azure colour. Decide how many shades of the azure you will
have, whether three, or four, or six, or what number you
please, always remembering that the first-drawn extracts are
the best, as the first porringer is better than the second.
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
35
And if you have eighteen basins of extract, and you wish
to make three shades of azure, take the contents of six basins
and mix them together ; that will be one shade. Proceed in
the same manner with the others. But remember that if
you have good lapis lazzari, the azure from the first two
extracts is worth eight ducats the ounce. The last two
extracts are worse than ashes (4). However, your eye must
be accustomed not to spoil the good azure by mixing with
the bad; and each day remove the lye, that the azure may
dry. When it is quite dry, put it into skins, bladders, or
purses, as may be most convenient. But if the lapis lazzari
be not very good, or after having ground it, if the colour be
not deep enough, I will tell you how to give it a little colour.
Take a little pounded kermes lake {grana) (5), and a little
verzino (6), boil them together, but let the verzino be grated
or scraped with glass ; and then boil them together with lye
or a little roche alum. And when they boil, and you see
that the colour is a perfect red, before you have poured the
azure from the porringer (but which must be quite dry, and
free from lye) add to it a little of this lake and verzino,
and with your finger mix them all well together; and let
them remain to dry without sun, or fire, or wind. When
dry, put it into a skin or purse ; it is good and perfect. And
keep this secret to yourself ; for it is a great acquirement
to know how to make it well. You must know also that it
is rather the acquirement of youth than that of men, because
they remain continually in the house, and their hands are
more delicate. Beware especially of preparing it in old age.
When you would use this azure, take as much as you want ;
and if you are going to work on white dresses, grind a little
on your stone. And if you want it for laying grounds, grind
it a little on the stone (which is to be previously well washed
36
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
and clean) with very clean water. And if the azure should
be dirty, take a little lye or clean water, and put it into a
vase, and stir them well together for a short time, when the
blue will be quite clean. I shall not treat of its tempera,
because I shall hereafter describe all the temperas proper for
every colour to be used on pictures, on walls, on iron, on
paper, on stone, or on glass.
Chap. 63. Shewing that it is necessary to know how to make
brushes or pencils.
As I have told you the names of all the colours indi-
vidually which are used with pencils, and how they are
ground (these colours must always be kept in a box well
covered, and under water), I will now tell you when to use
tempera, and when not. But you must first know how to
make use of them, and this you cannot do without brushes.
Therefore we will leave these subjects for the present, while I
teach you how to make the brushes, which you are to do in
the following manner.
Chap. 64. How pencils of minever are made.
In painting two kinds of pencils are necessary, namely,
pencils of minever and of hog's bristles. Those of minever
are made in the following manner : — Take the tails of the
minever (for no other are good), and these tails must be
baked, and not raw (1). The furriers will tell you so. From
the tip of such a tail draw the longest hairs, and collect the
tips of many tails, so that from six or eight points you may
make a soft pencil fit for laying gold on pictures, that is to
say, to wet it with in the manner that I shall direct you here-
after. Let us return now to the tail, which you are to take
in your hand, and select the straightest and firmest hairs from
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
37
the middle of the tail, and lay them in small bundles ; soak
them in a glass of clear water, then press and squeeze each
bundle with the fingers. Then cut them with scissors ; and
when you have made many bundles, tie them together any
thickness you please for pencils, so that they can be put into
the quill of a vulture, of a goose, of a hen, or of a dove. When
you have made them in this manner, laying the points very
even, take waxed thread or silk, and with knots fasten them
well together, each sort by itself, the size you would have
your pencils. Then take a quill, of a size corresponding to
that of the bundle of hairs, and cut off the end of the quill,
and put the bundle of hairs into the quill. Take care that
the point project as far as you can squeeze it out, so as to
leave the point firm, and the firmer and shorter it is the
better. Then make a small stick of maple, larch, or chestnut,
or any other good wood ; make it smooth and clean, scrape it
into the form of a spindle, of such a size that it shall fit
tightly into the quill, and be about a span long (2) ; and this
is the way to make pencils of minever. It is true that the
pencils of minever are of various kinds; for instance, some
proper for laying on gold, some for putting on flat washes,
which require to be cut (mozzetto) a little with the scissors,
or rubbed upon the porphyry stone, that they may separate a
little. Some pencils should have a perfect point for drawing
outlines, and some must be very small and fine for certain
very minute works and figures (3).
Chap. 65. In what manner pencils of hog's bristles are to
be made.
Pencils of hog's bristles are made in this manner. First
take bristles from a white pig, which are better than those
from one that is black (but they must be from the domestic
38
OF COLOURS OR PIGMENTS.
pig), and make a large brush, in which you must put a pound
of bristles, and bind them to a large stick (1). If you like,
you may use these brushes for whitening and washing walls
which are to be covered with mortar {smaltare), until they
become very soft. Afterwards unfasten this brush, and make
the bristles up into other brushes. Let some of them be of
the kind which are called cut pencils (pennelli mozzi), in
which the hairs are all of equal length ; and some should be
pointed, and you must have them of all sizes. Then make
sticks of the wood formerly mentioned, and bind each bundle
with a double waxed thread. Introduce the point of the
stick into the bundle of bristles, and bind it evenly half the
length of the bristles, and more upon the stick, and finish all
the others in the same manner.
Chap. 66. How to preserve the tails of the minever from being
moth-eaten.
If you would preserve the tails of the minever so that
they should not be moth-eaten, and the hairs should not fall
off, steep them in kneaded clay or chalk, stick them tight
into it, hang them up, and let them remain so. When you
would use them, or make them into pencils, wash them well
with clean water.
FART THE THIRD.
Chap. 67. The manner of painting on walls, that is, in fresco;
and of colouring the faces of young persons,
I WILL now teach you to colour. I shall begin with paint-
ing on walls, and shall teach you step by step the manner in
which you ought to proceed. When you are going to paint
on walls, which is the most agreeable of all kinds of paint-
ing (1), procure, in the first place, lime and sand, and sift
both of them well. If the Hme is very rich and fresh, it will
require two parts of sand and one of lime. Temper them
well together with water, and temper enough to last you
fifteen or twenty days. Let the lime rest for some time till
it be quite slacked ; for if any heat remain in it, it will crack
the plaster {intonaco) (2). "When you are going to lay on
the mortar {ismaltare), first sweep the wall, and wet it well —
you cannot wet it too much ; and let the lime be well stirred
with a trowel, and spread it over once or twice, till the
intonaco become quite even on the wall. Afterwards, when
you are going to work, remember to make the surface of the
mortar very stiff", and rather rough. Then, according to the
subject or figures you are going to represent, if the intonaco
be dry, take some charcoal and make your design. Adjust
the proportions, first striking a line through the middle of
the space you intend your picture to occupy. Then strike
another {i. e. a horizontal) line, and try whether it be even.
And in order to determine whether the line in the centre be
40
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
straight, you must iSx to it a string with a leaden weight at
the end. Then put one foot of the large compasses on this
string ; turn the compasses half round on the under side ;
then put the point of the compasses on the cross where both
lines meet, and make the other half circle above, and you will
find that by the lines intersecting each other you will always
have a cross on your right hand. There will be a similar
cross on your left hand ; and a line drawn from the point of
intersection of one cross to that of the other will always be a
horizontal line. Then draw with charcoal, as I have before
directed you, historical pieces and figures, and divide the
space on which you are going to paint into squares of equal
size. Next take a small and pointed pencil of bristles, with
a little ochre, without tempera, as liquid as water, and con-
tinue to draw your figures, shading them as you did with
water-colours when I taught you to draw, and afterwards
brush away the charcoal with a feather (3).
Then take a little sinopia without tempera, and with a
finely pointed pencil mark out the noses, eyes, hair, and all
the extremities and outlines of the figures, and let these
figures be divided into an equal number of squares ; for this
will enable you to arrange the figures properly, which you
are afterwards to colour. Then make your ornaments and
accessories as you please. Take some of the before-men-
tioned lime, stir it well with a trowel until it be of the con-
sistence of ointment. Then consider how much you can
paint in a day ; for whatever you cover with the mortar you
must finish the same day. It is true that, when you are
painting on walls during the damp weather in the spring,
the mortar will remain wet until the next day; but if you
can help it, do not delay, because when painting in fresco,
that which is finished in one day is the firmest and best, and
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
41
is the most beautiful work. Then spread over a coat of
intonaco rather thin (but not too thin), first wetting the old
intonaco. Next take your large hog's hair brush. First
steep it in clean water, and wet your mortar with it, and then
with a sHp of wood as wide as the palm of your hand rub
over the intonaco so as to remove the lime where you have
put too much, and put more where there is not enough, and
thus make your mortar quite smooth. Then wet the mortar
with your brush ; if necessary, afterwards rub very smoothly
and evenly over the intonaco with the point of the trowel.
Then place your plumb-line as usual, and measure off an
equal space on the intonaco below in the same manner as you
did at first. Let us suppose that you can paint in one day
the head only of a young male or female saint, such as that
of our most holy Lady. Having thus smoothed the wall
with your mortar, procure a glazed vessel ; the vessels should
all be glazed, and shaped like drinking-glasses, with wide feet,
that they may stand firmly, and not spill the colours. Take
the size of a bean of dark ochre (for there are two kinds of
ochre, Kght and dark) ; and if you have no dark ochre, take
light ochre ground very fine, put it into your vase ; and take
a little black, the size of a lentil, mix it with the ochre ;
take a little bianco sangiovanni, also the size of a bean, and
as much hght cinabrese as will lie on the point of a penknife ;
mix all these colours thoroughly together, and make them
very liquid with water, without tempera. Prepare a pencil
of hog's bristles, so fine that it may be introduced into the
quill of a goose, and with this pencil draw with proper
expression the face you are going to paint (remembering that
the face is divided into three parts, namely, the forehead, the
nose, and the chin, with the mouth) with a little of this colour,
which is called at Florence Verdaccio (4), and at Sienna
42
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
Bazzeo; this you should use almost dry. When you have
sketched out the form of the face, if the proportions or any
other thing should displease you, with a large brush steeped
in water rub over the intonaco, and efface and repair what
you have done. Then take a little verde terra, very liquid,
in another vase, and with a pencil of hog's bristles, without a
point, squeezed vsdth the fingers and thumb of the left hand,
begin to shade under the chin, and all those parts which
should be darkest, — under the lips, the corners of the mouth,
under the nose, and under the eyebrow, making the shade
darker near the nose, a little on the edge of the eye towards
the ear; and in the same manner shading with judgment the
whole face and hands, which are hereafter to be coloured with
the flesh-colour. Next take a pointed pencil of minever, and
perfect all the outlines of the nose, eyes, lips, and ears, with
the verdaccio. There are some masters who, when the face
is advanced thus far, with a little bianco sangiovanni tem-
pered with water put on the high lights in their proper
places; then give the rose-colours {rossette) to the lips and
cheeks ; then wash over the whole with the flesh-colours very
Kquid with water, and this will complete the colouring of the
head. It is a good plan to retouch afterwards the high Kghts
with a little white. Some painters wash over the whole face
with the flesh-colour first, on that they put the verdaccio and
carnations, and retouch the lights, and the work is finished (5).
This plan is adopted by those only who know but little of
the art ; but do you pursue the method of colouring which I
shall point out to you, because it was adopted by Giotto, the
great master, who had Taddeo Gaddi, his godson, for his
disciple for twenty-four years; his disciple was Agnolo his
son ; I was Agnolo's disciple for twelve years, and he shewed
me this method, with which Agnolo coloured more agreeably
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
43
and brilliantly than did Taddeo his father (6). First take a
small vase ; put into it equal quantities of bianco sangiovanni
and cinabrese, just as much as you think you shall want.
Make them very liquid with clean water; then with a soft
pencil of bristles, squeezed between the fingers and thumb as
before, pass over the face when you have made the touches
with verde terra ; and with this red colour [rossetta) touch in
the lips and the colour in the cheeks. My master was accus-
tomed to put the colour in the cheeks nearer the ear than the
nose, because it assisted in giving relief to the face, and then
he softened it well into the surrounding colours. Then pro-
cure three small vases, and make three shades of flesh-colour
(incarnazione), that is to say, the darkest is to be Kghter by
one half than the rossetta, and the other two each Kghter than
the other in regular gradations. Now take some colour from
the little vase containing the lightest tint, and with a very
soft pencil of bristles without a point, previously squeezed
with the fingers, paint in the lights of the face ; then take
the middle tints of the flesh-colour, and paint the middle
tints of the face, hands, and bust, when you paint a naked
figure. Afterwards take the third vase of flesh-colour, and
go to the edges of the shadows, leaving the verde terra always
visible in the extremities, and in this manner softening one
tint into the other, until it is all covered as well and as evenly
as the nature of the work will permit. But if you would
have your work appear very brilliant, be careful to keep each
tint of flesh-colour in its place, and do not mix one with
another. But seeing others work, and practising with your
hand, will make you more expert than any other instructions.
When you have painted in these carnations, make a tint
much Hghter — indeed almost white, and use this above the
eyebrow, on the light of the nose, the tip of the chin, and the
44
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
eyelids ; then take a dry pencil of minever, and with pure
white put on the lights of the eyes, the point of the nose,
and a little on the lips, and so touch tenderly all the lights.
Then put a little black into another vase, and with a pencil
mark out the outlines of the eyes above the lights of the
eyes, and make the holes of the nostrils and the interior of
the ear. Then put some dark sinopia into another vase,
paint the under outline of the eyes, the contour of the nose,
the brows, and the mouth, and shade a little under the upper
lip, which must be a little darker than the under. When
these outlines are finished, dip the same pencil in verdaccio,
and retouch the hair ; put on the lights with white, and with
light ochre, tempered with water, and a soft brush, cover over
the hair as you did the carnations. Mark out the extremi-
ties of the shadows with dark ochre, then with a small and
very pointed pencil of minever put on the lights of the hair
with white and light ochre. Retouch the outlines and
extremities of the hair with sinopia as you did on the face,
which will finish it. And this is sufficient for you with
respect to painting youthful faces.
Chap. 68. How to colour the face of an old person in fresco.
When you wish to paint the face of an old man, you
must proceed in the same manner as in colouring the face
of a young person, except that your verdaccio and carnations
must be darker, observing exactly the same method as you
did with the head of the young person, in the hands, feet, and
bust. If you intend your old man to have his hair and beard
grey; after having made out the drawing with a pointed
pencil of minever, filled with verdaccio and white, put into
a small vase some bianco sangiovanni and a little black,
mixed together, and liquid, and with a pencil of bristles.
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
45
without a point, and very soft, which has been previously
squeezed, lay an even tint of colour on the hair and beard ;
then make a mixture a little darker, and paint the shades ;
afterwards with a very small and pointed pencil of minever
put on tenderly the lights of the hair and beard. And with
such colours you may paint the face.
Chap. 69. How to paint hair and beards many different hues
in fresco.
When you would paint hair and beards of other hues,
either red, or sandy, or black, or any colour you please, first
make out the drawing with verdaccio and white, and then lay
on a flat colour in the usual mode, as above mentioned. I
warn you, however, to let it be of some colour that you are
accustomed to see.
Chap. 70. Of the proportions of the human figure (1).
Before I proceed further, I will make you acquainted
with the proportions of a man; I omit those of a woman,
because there is not one of them perfectly proportioned.
First, as I have said before, the face is divided into three
parts, namely, the forehead, one; the nose, another; and
from the nose to the chin, the third : from the edge of the
nose the whole length of the eye, one of these parts ; from
the corner of the eye to the ear, one part ; from one ear to
the other, the length of one face ; from the chin to the begin-
ning of the throat, one part ; the length of the throat, one
part ; from the fork {forcella) of the throat to the top of the
shoulder, one face ; and the other shoulder the same ; from
the shoulder to the elbow, one face (2) ; from the elbow to
the beginning of the hand, one face and one part ; the length
of the hand, one face ; from the fork of the throat to the pit
46
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
of the stomach, one face; from the pit of the stomach to the
navel, one face ; from the navel to the beginning of the thigh,
one face ; from the thigh to the knee, two faces ; from the
knee to the heel, two faces ; from the heel to the sole of the
foot, one part; the length of the foot, one face (3)
The length of a man is equal to his width with the arms
extended. The arm with the hand reaches to the middle of
the thigh. The whole length of a man is eight faces and
two parts. A man has on his left side one rib less than a
woman (4). Man should be dark, woman fair, &c
I shall not speak of irrational animals, because they appear
to have no certain proportions. Draw them as frequently as
you can from nature, and you will ascertain them yourself.
And this requires much practice.
Chap. 71. How to colour drapery in fresco.
Let us now return to colouring in fresco and on walls.
If you wish to colour a drapery, first draw the outlines ten-
derly with verdaccio (1), and do not let your drawing be too
conspicuous, but rather light. Then, whether you choose to
make your drapery white, or red, or yellow, or green, or any
colour you please, take three small vases, and into one put
any colour you please,— we will say red. Take some cinabrese,
and add to it a little bianco sangiovanni, and this shall be one
gradation of colour ; let it be thoroughly mixed with water.
Of the other two colours, make one of a very light tint, — that
is to say, put to it plenty of bianco sangiovanni. Next take
an equal quantity from these two vases, mix them together,
and make a third tint. Now dip a pencil of hog's bristles,
rather large and pointed, into the first tint, that is to say, into
the darkest, and paint the folds of the drapery in the darkest
parts, not covering the middle tints of your figure. Then
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
47
take the middle tint, lay on a flat colour from one dark fold
to another, uniting them and softening them into the extreme
shades, and bring this middle tint forward towards the parts
which should be in relief, preserving carefully the shape of
the naked figure. Then take the third tint, of the lightest
colour, and in the same manner in which you shaped the dark
folds of the drapery, shape the light folds, arranging them
with grace, propriety, and taste. When you have laid on each
colour two or three times (never suffering one tint to take the
place of another, or mix with it, except where they unite),
soften and blend them together. Then put, in another vase,
some colour much lighter than the lightest of the three, and
paint the lights on the top of the folds. Into another vase
put pure white, and put in the highest lights. Afterwards,
with pure cinabrese glaze the darkest folds and the outlines ;
and in general this is all you need do. But by seeing others
work, you will understand better than by reading. When
you have finished your figures, or historical pieces, leave them
so that the lime and colours shall dry thoroughly ; and if any
drapery remain to be done when dry {in secco), you must
proceed as follows.
Chap. 72. How to colour walls " in secco" and what tempera
is proper for that purpose.
Any of the colours used in painting in fresco may also be
used in secco ; but in fresco some colours cannot be used, as
orpiment, cinnabar (1), azzurro della magna, minio, biacca,
verderame, and lacca. Those which may be used in fresco are
giallorino, bianco sangiovanni, black, ochre, cinabrese, sinopia,
verde terra, and amatisto. Colours used in fresco must be made
lighter with bianco sangiovanni (2). And if you wish the
greens to preserve their green tint, make them lighter with
48
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
giallorino; when you would have them take the colours of
sage, add bianco (3). Those colours which cannot be used in
fresco must be made lighter by the addition of biacca, gial-
lorino, or orpiment ; but orpiment is very rarely used : indeed
I think it superfluous. To make a light blue, take three of
the same kind of small vases as I directed you to use when
speaking of the carnation tints and cinabrese, and prepare
these in the same manner, except that where you then used
bianco, you should now use biacca, and temper them all.
Two sorts of tempera are good ; but one is better than the
other. The first tempera consists of the white and yolk of
an egg, into which are put some cuttings from the top of a
fig-tree ; beat them well together ; then add some of this tem-
pera moderately, and not in too great quantity, to each of
the vases, as if you were diluting wine with water. Then
work with your colours, either white, or green, or red, as
I directed you in fresco-painting ; and proceed with your
draperies in the same manner as you did in fresco with tem-
pera, except that you need not wait for it to dry. If you
use too much tempera, the colour will be liable to crack, and
peel off the wall. Be wise and skilful. Remember before
you begin to work, if you wish to make a drapery of lake, or
any other colour, take a clean sponge, and having mixed the
white and yolk of an egg with about two porringers full of
clean water, and beaten them well together ; dip the sponge
into the tempera and squeeze it half dry, and wash with it the
whole of the space on which you mean to paint in secco,
and ornament with gold, and then colour it as you please (4).
The second kind of tempera is the yolk of the egg only ; and
you must know that this tempera is of universal application
on walls, on pictures (5), and in fresco, and you cannot use
too much of it, but it would be wise to take a middle course.
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
49
Before we proceed further, I would have you paint a drapery
in secco, in the same manner as you did in fresco, with cina-
brese. Now I will give you directions to paint such a one, of
ultramarine blue. Take the three vases as usual; into the
first put two parts azure and the third biacca ; into the third,
two parts biacca and one part azure : mix and temper them
as I have directed you. Then take an empty vase, that is to
say, the second ; put into it an equal quantity from each of
the others, and stir all well together with a pencil of hog's
bristles, or a firm pencil of minever without a point; and
with the first colour, that is to say, the darkest, mark out the
darkest folds. Take the middle colour, and lay it flat over
the middle tints, leaving the lights of the figure. Then take
the third colour, and mark out the light folds which come
upon the parts in relief, and unite and soften them with each
other, as I shewed you how to do in fresco. Take the light-
est colour, add to it some biacca, with tempera, and put on
the high lights. Then take a little pure biacca, and retouch
a few of the highest lights as the shape of the naked figure
requires. Afterwards with pure ultramarine glaze the darkest
shades and outlines ; and in this way paint the drapery, ac-
cording to its situation and colours, without soihng or mixing
them one with another, except to soften them. And in this
manner use lake, and all other colours which can be used
in secco.
Chap. 73. To know how to make a 'purple colour
(colore bisso).
If you would make a beautiful purple colour, take equal
quantities of fine lake and ultramarine, and temper them.
Then take three vases as above, and leave some of the purple
colour to retouch the shades : and of the rest, make three
E
50
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
gradations of colour with which to colour the drapery, making
each lighter than the other, as before directed.
Chap. 74. To make a purple colour in fresco.
If you would make a purple colour to use in fresco-paint-
ing, take indigo and amatisto, and mix them with tempera,
as before mentioned, and make four shades. Then paint
your drapery.
Chap. 75. To imitate azzurro oltre marino when painting
in fresco.
To make a drapery in fresco like ultramarine, mix indigo
with bianco sangiovanni, and make them into regular grada-
tions of colour ; then glaze in secco the extreme darks with
ultramarine.
Chap. 76. To colour a drapery of a purple or morello colour
(pagonazzo o ver morello) in fresco.
If you would paint in fresco a drapery like lake (1), take
amatisto and bianco sangiovanni, and mix your colours in
shades as before, and soften and blend them together. Then
in secco retouch the extreme shades with pure lake, tem-
pered.
Chap. 77. To make a cliangeaUe green drapery in fresco.
If you would make a changeable green drapery for an
angel, lay a ground of two shades of carnation, one darker
than the other, softening them well together. Then shade
the dark part with ultramarine, and the hghter carnation tint
shade with terra verde, retouching them in secco. And re-
member, that every thing you paint in fresco must be finished
and retouched in secco with tempera (1). Put on the hghts
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
51
of the drapery in fresco, exactly as I directed you to do with
other colours.
Chap. 78. To make a changeable colour called cignerognolo
in fresco.
Take bianco sangiovanni and black, and make a grey
colour called cignerognolo (1). Lay your colours on the
ground of the picture, put on what lights you please with
giallorino, and the rest with bianco sangiovanni. For the
shades, use either purple, or black, or dark green.
Chap. 79. To make a changeable drapery of lake in secco.
If you would make a changeable drapery in secco, cover
it with a flat tint of lake ; use flesh-colour for the lights, or,
if you will, giallorino. Glaze the dark parts with pure lake,
or purple, with tempera.
Chap. .80. To make a changeable drapery in fresco or in
secco, of ochre.
To make a changeable drapery of ochre either in fresco
or in secco, cover with flat tints of ochre. Use bianco for
the lights ; for the lighter shades, shade with green ; the
darker, with black and sinopia, or, if you please, amatisto.
Chap. 81. To make a changeable drapery of a grey
(berettino) (1) colour in fresco or in secco.
If you would make a grey drapery, take black and ochre ;
that is, two parts ochre and the third black. Make your
gradations of colour as I have before taught you, in fresco
and in secco.
52
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
Chap. 82. To paint a drapery in fresco or in secco of a
herettino ( 1 ) colour, like that of wood.
If you would make a drapery the colour of wood, take
ochre, black, and sinopia; two parts ochre, and the other
part black and sinopia in equal quantities. With these make
the gradations of your colours, in fresco, or in secco, or in
distemper.
Chap. 83. To make a drapery of azzurro della magna, or
ultramarine, or a mantle for the Virgin.
If you would make a mantle for our Lady of azzurro
della magna, or any other drapery that you wish to be of a
deep blue, first lay a ground on the mantle or drapery of
sinopia and black — two parts sinopia and the third black —
having previously marked out the large folds with a bodkin
or needle of iron ; then, when painting in fresco, take azzurro
della magna, well washed either with lye or with clean water,
and grind it for a short time on the stone. Afterwards, if
the blue be of a fine and full colour, add to it a little diluted
glue, neither too strong nor too weak. Of this I shall here-
after speak. Then add to the blue the yolk of an egg: it
must be the yolk of an egg laid by a hen fed in the town,
because such eggs are of a paler colour : stir it well together
with a soft hog's-hair pencil, and pass it three or four times
over the drapery. When the ground is well covered and
dry, with a little indigo and black shade the folds of the
mantle as well as you can, returning many times over the
shades. If you would make it lighter on the knees, or on
any other part, scratch ofi" the blue with the handle of the
brush. If you lay a ground or a drapery with ultramarine,
temper it as azzurro della magna is usually tempered, and go
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
53
over it two or three times. To shade the folds, take fine
lake and a little black, tempered with the yolk of an egg.
Shade them as tenderly as you can, and very neatly, first
with a little of this, and afterwards with the iron point ; and
make as few folds as you can, because ultramarine does not
accord well with other mixtures.
Chap. 84. To make a black drapery, like that of a monk or
friar, in fresco and in secco.
If you would paint a black drapery of a monk or friar,
take pure black, making your gradations of colour as I before
directed you in fresco and in secco tempered.
Chap. 85. A good way of colouring a mountain in fresco
or in secco.
If you would paint a mountain in fresco or in secco, make
a greenish colour (verdaccio), one part of black and two parts
of ochre (1). Make your gradations in fresco with bianco,
without tempera ; and in secco use biacca with tempera ; and
paint the parts in relief or in shadow as you would paint a
figure. And when you have to paint mountains which
appear at a distance, make your colours darker (2) ; and if
you would have them seem nearer, let your colours be
lighter.
Chap. 86. How to colour trees, plants, and grass, in fresco
and in secco.
If you would embellish this mountain with groves of trees
and grass, first paint the trunk of the tree with pure black
tempered, which cannot be well done in fresco. Then make
some of the leaves of dark green or verde azzurro (verde terra
is not good for this purpose), and let the foliage be thick.
54
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
Make a lighter green with giallorino, and let your leaves be
smaller as you draw near the top of the tree. Touch the
lights on the top with giallorino alone, and the trees and
foliage will appear in relief ; but first, when you have painted
the trunk of the tree, draw with chalk (calcina) the branches
of the tree, and put on them the leaves, and afterwards the
fruit, and upon the grass draw some flowers and birds.
Chap. 87. How to colour buildings in fresco and in secco.
If you would paint buildings, make them of any size you
please, and draw your lines. Paint them with verdaccio, or
terra verde, either in fresco or in secco, but let the colour
be very liquid: some you may make purple, some cigne-
rognolo, some green, some grey, or any colour you please.
Then make a long straight line, one of the edges of which
should be cm'ved, where it does not approach to the wall;
go over it lightly with the pencil and with colour, and do not
daub any part : and you will paint these cornices with great
pleasure and delight. And in the same manner paint vases,
columns, capitals, porticos, garlands of flowers, pyxes (ciborii),
and other ornamental parts of the picture. These are orna-
mental parts of our art in which you will take great delight.
And remember, that the same rules of light and shade which
apply to figures, must be observed here with regard to build-
ings ; therefore, let the cornice which you make at the top
of the house incline downwards, towards the obscure {i. e. as
it recedes from the eye) ; and let the middle cornice of the
building facing you be quite even : let the cornice at the
base of the building ascend in a direction quite contrary to
that of the cornice at the top of the building (1).
OF PAINTING IN FRESCO AND SECCO.
55
Chap. 88. How to draw a mountain naturally.
If you would have a good model for mountains, so that
they should appear natural, procure some large and broken
pieces of rock, and draw from these, giving them lights and
shades as you see them on the stones before you.
V
PART THE FOURTH.
Chap. 89. How to paint in oil {\) on walls, pictures, iron,
or whatever you please.
Before we proceed further, I will teach you to paint in
oil, on walls, or on pictures (which is much practised by the
Germans) (2), and also on iron or stone. But we will first
speak of walls.
Chap. 90. How to begin painting in oil on walls.
Cover your wall with mortar, exactly as you would do
when painting in fresco ; except that where you then covered
but a small space at a time, you are now to spread it over
your whole work. Make your design with charcoal, and fix
it with ink, or verdaccio tempered. Then take a little glue
much diluted — a whole egg, well beaten in a porringer, with
the milky juice of the fig-tree, is still better : you must add
to it a glassful of clean water. Then, either with a sponge
or a pencil without a point, very soft, go once over the ground
on which you are going to paint, and leave it to dry for one
day at least (1).
Chap. 91. How to prepare good oil for tempering colours, and
also for mordants, by boiling over the fire.
It will be very useful to you to know how to prepare
this oil, either for mordants, or any other purpose ; therefore,
take one, two, three, or four pounds ( 1 ) of linseed oil, and
OF PAINTING IN OIL ON WALLS.
57
put it into a new pipkin ; if it be glazed, so much the better.
Procure a small furnace, and make a round hole, into which
you are to put the pipkin, so that the flame may not reach
it ; because if it were to take fire, you would run the risk
of losing your oil and of burning the house. When you have
made your furnace, put a moderate fire in it ; and the more
slowly your oil boils, the better and more perfect will it be.
Let it boil until it be reduced to half the quantity. But to
prepare mordants, when it is reduced to half the quantity,
add to each pound of oil one ounce of liquid varnish (vernice
liquida), and let it be very fine and clear : and oil thus pre-
pared is good for mordants.
Chap. 92. How to prepare good and perfect oil, by baking
it in the sun.
When you have prepared this oil, which is done in an-
other way (and is preferable for colours, but not for mor-
dants), put some more linseed-oil in a basin of bronze or
copper. And in August {quando e il sole leone) place it in the
sun ; and if you keep it there until it be half wasted, it will
be in a state for mixing with colours. And you must know,
that at Florence this has been found the best mode of pre-
paring it possible (1).
Chap. 93. How to grind colours in oil, and to use them
on walls.
Let us return to grinding colours. You must grind them
as you did when working in fresco, except that having then
ground them with water, you must now grind them with oil.
And when you have ground them, that is to say, all the
colours (for every colour can be used in oil, except bianco
sangiovanni), provide small vessels, into which put these
58
OF GILDING ON WALLS.
colours, either of lead or of tin. And if you can find none of
either kind, get glazed vessels, and put the ground colours
into them; shut them up in a box, and keep them clean.
When you would paint a drapery with three gradations of
colour, as I have previously taught you, divide, and let each
colour be laid in its proper place with a pencil of minever,
uniting one colour well with another, and making the colours
very firm. Then rest for a day, and return again to your
work, examine it, and repaint it where necessary. And in
this way paint flesh (incarnazione) , or any thing you please.
Provide a vessel of tin or lead (somewhat like a lamp), about
the height of your finger, half fill it with oil, and keep your
pencils in it, that they may not dry ( 1 ) .
Chap. 94. How to paint in oil on iron, on pictures, and
on stone.
And in the same manner you may paint on iron, on stone,
or on pictures, first passing some glue over them, and also on
glass, or on any thing you please (1).
Chap. 95. How to adorn walls with gold and tin.
Having now taught you how to paint in fresco, in secco,
and in oil, I will tell you how to embellish walls with gilded
tin, white tin, and fine gold. And take especial notice, that
you use as little silver as possible, because it becomes black
on walls and on wood. Use instead of it beaten tin or tin
plates (stagnuoU). Beware also of gold much alloyed {oro di
meta), which quickly turns black.
Chap. 96. Shewing that you should use fine gold and good
colours.
It is usual to adorn walls with gilded tin, because it is less
OF GILDING ON WALLS.
59
expensive than gold. Nevertheless, I give you this advice,
that you endeavour always to use fine gold and good colours,
particularly in painting representations of our Lady. And
if you say that a poor person cannot afford the expense, I
answer, that if you work well (and give sufficient time to your
works), and paint with good colours, you will acquire so much
fame, that from a poor person you will become a rich one ;
and your name will stand so high for using good colours, that
if some masters receive a ducat for painting one figure, you
will certainly be off'ered two, and your wishes will be fulfilled:
according to the old proverb. Good work, good pay. And
even should you not be well paid, God and our Lady will
reward your soul and body for it (1).
Chap. 97. In what manner you should cut gilded tin, and
ornament with it.
When you ornament any thing with tin, either white or
gilded, and find it necessary to cut it with a knife, first
procure a smooth plank of walnut, pear, or plum-tree, not
too thin, cut in four like a real sheet of paper. Then take
some liquid varnish, cover the board with it, and lay your
piece of tin upon it, well spread and smooth. Then cut it
with a knife very sharp at the point, and with a ruler cut
off a strip the width you intend to make your fringes {fregi),
and finish them with black or other colours.
Chap. 98. How to make green tin for ornaments.
Sometimes, in order to embellish these fringes, you may
grind verderame with linseed-oil, and spread it over a sheet
of white tin, and it will be a beautiful green (1). Let it dry
in the sun ; then fasten it upon a plank, with some varnish ;
cut it then with a knife ; or if you would first stamp it with
60
OF GILDING ON WALLS.
roses or other devices, spread liquid varnish upon the plank,
and put your roses upon it ; then fix it to the vs^all. Again,
if you would make stars of fine gold, or a glory round the
head of saints, or ornaments with the knife, in the manner I
have shewn you, you must first put fine gold upon gilded tin.
Chap. 99. How to gild tin, and how fine gold is laid on with
gold size (doratura).
Gilded tin is prepared in this manner. Provide a smooth
plank, three or four braecia long, grease it with fat, or with
suet. Put some white tin on it ; then procure a liquor called
gold size (doratura) ; put it upon the tin in three or four
places, a very little in one place ; and with the palm of your
hand spread the gold size over the tin equally, as much in
one place as in another. Let it dry in the sun. Wlien it is
almost dry, but still a little sticky, prepare your fine gold,
and cover the tin with it. Polish it with clean cotton ; stick
the tin to the plank; and when you would make use of it,
apply the liquid varnish, and make stars, or any ornaments
you please, as I directed you to do with gilded tin.
Chap. 100. How to make and cut stars, and fix them
on walls.
You must first cut out the stars with the assistance of a
ruler ; and when you are going to use them, first put on the
azure (where the stars appear) a lump of wax ; and work the
stars in rays, as you have cut them out on the plank. And
you must know that in this way there is much more labour,
although you use less fine gold, than there is in gilding with
mordants.
OF GILDING ON WALLS.
61
Chap. 101. In what manner this tin when gilded can he used
for the glories of saints on walls.
If you would make the glories of saints without mordants,
when you have coloured the figure in fresco, take a bodkin
and scrape or mark out the glory above the contour of the
head. Then, in secco, spread varnish upon the glory ; put
on it the gilded tin or fine gold ; then spread the varnish over
it, strike it with the palm of your hand, and you will see all
the marks made by the bodkin. With the point of a sharp
knife gently cut away the loose gold, and remove it from the
other part of your work (1).
Chap. 102. How to raise a glory in lime on walls.
You must know that if you please you may raise a glory
with a trowel on the fresh mortar in this manner. When
you have drawn the head of the figure, take the compasses
and make the crown. Then take a little very rich lime, made
into a paste, and spread over it, thickly in the further parts,
but thinner near the head. Then take the compasses again,
when you have smoothed the lime, and with the knife cut
away the lime above the line of the compasses, and it will
remain raised. Then have a strong stick of wood, and make
the rays round the glory; and this is the way you are to
make glories in relief on walls (1).
Chap. 103. How, after painting on walls, we proceed to paint
pictures.
When you do not choose to adorn your figures with tin,
you must use mordants, which may be applied on walls, on
pictures, on glass, on iron, and on every thing : of these I
shall hereafter treat in their order, and shall inform you what
62
OF GILDING ON WALLS.
are strong, and capable of withstanding the air, the wind, and
water ; what require to be varnished, and what must not be
varnished. But let us return to our colouring, and from walls
proceed to pictures, which are the pleasantest and neatest part
of our art (1). And remember, that he who learns to paint
first on walls, and then on pictures, does not become so per-
fect a master of the art, as when he happens to learn to paint
on pictures first, and then on walls.
PAET THE FIFTH.
Chap. 104. In what manner the art of painting pictures
should he acquired.
Know, that you cannot learn to paint in less time than that
which I shall name to you. In the first place, you must
study drawing for at least one year ; then you must remain
with a master at the workshop for the space of six years at
least, that you may learn all the parts and members of the
art, — to grind colours, to boil down glues, to grind plaster
{gesso), to acquire the practice of laying grounds on pictures
{ingessare le ancone), to work in relief {relevare), and to
scrape (or smooth) the surface {radire), and to gild; after-
wards to practise colouring, to adorn with mordants, paint
cloths of gold, and paint on walls, for six more years, — draw-
ing without intermission on holydays and workdays. And
by this means you will acquire great experience. If you do
otherwise, you will never attain perfection. There are many
who say that you may learn the art without the assistance of
a master. Do not believe them ; let this book be an example
to you, studying it day and night. And if you do not study
under some master, you will never be fit for any thing ; nor
will you be able to shew your face among the masters.
Chap. 105. How to make paste of jiour (colla di pasta o ver
sugolo) (1).
Beginning to paint pictures in the name of the most holy
Trinity, and always invoking this name, and that of the
64
OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF GLUE.
glorious Virgin Mary, we must first prepare a foundation, and
this is made with various kinds of glue. There is a cement
made of boiled paste, which is used by persons who make
books, and is proper to fasten cards, and also to fix tin upon
paper. It is used sometimes also when paper is to be glued
together for the use of sculptors. This paste is made in the
following manner. Fill a pipkin almost full of clean water,
and make it warm. When it is just going to boil, shake some
fine flour, a little at a time, into the pipkin, stirring it con-
tinually with a small stick ; make it boil, but do not let it be
too thick. Pour it out, and put it into a porringer. If you
wish it to remain sweet, add some salt ; and use it when you
want it.
Chap. 106. How to make glue for fastening stones
together (1).
There is a cement proper for fastening stones, and this
is made of any kind of glue, new wax, and pounded stone,
strained and tempered together over the fire. First clean
your stone, then heat it, and apply the glue. It will with-
stand air and water, and is used to fasten grind-stones and
mill-stones.
Chap. 107. How to make cement for joining glass vessels.
There is a cement proper for joining broken glasses or
jugs, or other beautiful vases of Damascus or Majolica (1).
This is made of liquid varnish, a little white lead, and a little
verdigris. Make it of the same colour as the glass ; if it be
blue, add a little indigo ; if it be green, add more verdigris ;
et sic de singulis. Grind these ingredients well together, as
intimately as you can. Take the pieces of your broken vases,
though they be in a thousand pieces, join them together with
OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF GLUE.
65
this glue ; and if you let them dry for the space of some
months, sheltered from the sun and wind, you will find these
vases stronger and better able to keep out the water than
when they were whole.
Chap. 108. How Jish-glue is to he used and dissolved.
There is a glue called fish-glue {coUa di pesce, isinglass).
This is prepared from many kinds of fish. If you put a piece
of this to your mouth, and wet it, and then rub it a little on
your vellum, or other cards, it will fasten them strongly
together. When dissolved, it makes a good and most excel-
lent cement for lutes, or other delicate works of paper, wood,
and bone. When you put it over the fire, add for each piece
of glue half a glass of clean water (1).
Chap. 109. Ifow colla di caravella (1) is made, how dissolved,
and for what purposes used.
There is a glue called colla di spicchi, which is made of
the feet, sinews, and clippings of skins of goats {caravelli).
This glue is made in January or March during the great cold
or high winds, and is boiled with an equal quantity of water
until it be reduced to less than half. Then pour it out into
flat vessels, such as saucers for jelly, or basins. Let it remain
one night ; the next morning cut it in slices, like bread, with a
knife ; put the pieces on rush-mats to dry in the wind, with-
out sun ; and it will become excellent glue. This glue is used
by painters, by saddlers, and by many masters, as I shall here-
after tell you. It is good glue for wood, and many other
things, of which we shall treat more fully when shewing how
it is to be used, and in what manner for plaster, in tem-
pering colours, making lutes, in inlaid works (tarsie), also
to fasten wood, and a number of leaves (of books), in tern-
66
OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF GLUE.
pering plaster, in working with plaster in relief, and in many-
other things.
Chap. 110. Excellent glue to temper grounds for pictures.
There is a glue made from shavings of the skins of sheep
and goats, and from the clippings of these skins. These are
to be well washed, and laid in water for the space of one day
to soften, before they are boiled down. Boil them until the
quantity of water be reduced to one-third part; and when
you have no glue {colla di spicchi) you may use this for
mixing with the grounds of your pictures ; and it is im-
possible to find better (1).
Chap. 111. Glue proper for tempering azures, and other colours.
There is a glue made of the parings of parchment. Let
it boil in clean water until the water be reduced to about a
third in quantity. It makes a glue as clear as a crystal, and
is good for tempering dark blues; and if you have to lay a
flat tint of any colour not properly tempered, give it a coat of
this size. Temper the colours again, and fix them ; you may
varnish them if you please when used on pictures, and also
those blues used on walls (1). This size is also good for mix-
ing with grounds ; but it is naturally thin, and plaster which
is to be afterwards gilded requires a richer kind of glue.
Chap. 112. To make a glue of lime and cheese (I).
There is a glue used by workers in wood which is made of
cheese put into water to soften. Rub it down with a muUer
with both hands, adding a little quick lime. Apply it to the
boards you wish to join, unite them, and fix them well toge-
ther. And this is sufiicient information to enable you to
make many kinds of glue.
PART THE SIXTH.
Chap. 113. How to begin to paint pictures.
Now we are really going to paint pictures. In the first place,
a panel of the wood of the poplar, lime, or willow-tree, must
be prepared, on which to paint the picture. Let it be made
quite smooth : if it be defaced with knots, or if it be greasy,
you must cut it away as far as the grease extends, for there
is no other remedy. The wood must be very dry ; and if it
be such a piece that you can boil in a cauldron of clean water,
after the boiling it will never split. Let us now return to
the knots, or any other defect in the smoothness of the" panel.
Take some glue {colla di spiccki), and about a glassful of
clean water, melt and boil two pieces (spiccki) in a pipkin
free from grease ; then put in a porringer some sawdust, and
knead it into the glue; fill up the defects or knots with a
wooden spatula, and let them remain. Then scrape them
with the point of a knife, till they are level with the rest of
the panel. Examine if there be any nail, or other thing,
that renders the panel uneven, and knock it into the panel ;
then provide some pieces of tin-plate, like quattrini (small
pieces of money), and cover over the iron with them. And
this is done that the rust of the iron may not rise through
the ground (1). The surface of the panel cannot be too
smooth. Boil some glue, made of parchment-shavings, till
the water be reduced to one-third of what it was at first ; and
when put on the hands, if one hand stick to the other, it is
68 OF PREPARING GROUNDS FOR PICTURES.
sufficiently boiled. Strain it two or three times. Put half
this glue into a pipkin, add a third part water, and boil well
together. Then with a hog's-hair pencil, large and soft, pass
a coat of the glue over the panel, or foliage, or pyxes
[civori), or columns, or whatever you work upon, that is to
be covered with a ground {ingessare), and let it dry. Then
take some of your first strong glue {coUa forte), and pass
twice over your work, letting it dry well between each coat
of glue, and it will be glued to perfection. Do you know
the effect of the first glue ? A weak water or liquor is ab-
sorbed from it by the wood, which operates exactly as if,
when fasting, you eat a few comfits and drank a glass of
wine, which gives you an appetite for dinner. So this glue
prepares the wood for the glue and grounds to be applied
afterwards.
Chap. 114. How to fasten linen on panels.
Having thus spread the glue, get some linen-cloth, old,
fine, and white, and free from grease. Take your best glue,
cut or tear this linen into large and small strips, soak these
in the glue, and spread it with your hands over the surface
of the panel ; remove the seams, and spread it well with the
palms of the hands, and leave it to dry for two days. And
remember, it is best to use glue when the weather is dry and
windy. Glue is stronger in the winter. For gilding, the
weather should be damp and rainy.
Chap. 115. How to lay grounds of gesso grosso on the surface
of a picture with a spatula (1).
Where the panel is very dry, take the point of a knife
like a rasp imello), rasp it well, and make the surface quite
even. Then take some gesso grosso, that is to say, volteranno,
OF PREPARING GROUNDS FOR PICTURES.
69
purified, and sifted like flour. Put a porringer full on the
porphyry slab, grind it well with this glue, as you would
grind colours, collect it, and put it on the surface of the
pictures, and, with a very smooth and rather large spatula,
cover the whole surface, and wherever you can use the spa-
tula do so. Then take some of this ground plaster [gesso),
warm it, take a soft hog's-hair pencil, and give a coat on the
cornices and foliage, and on the even surfaces with the spa-
tula. Give three or four coats on the other parts of the
cornices; hut on the level parts you cannot use too much.
Leave it to dry for two or three days. Then take the iron
rasp (mesella) (2), and level the surface; procure some small
iron rods, which are called raffiette, such as you will find at
the painters', who use several kinds of them. Pick out all
the cornices and foliage which are not flat, and with these
make every part of the silrface of the ground smooth and
free from knots.
Chap. 116. How to prepare a fine ground (gesso sottile)
for pictures.
You must now prepare a plaster for fine grounds, called
gesso sottile. This is made from the same plaster as the last,
but it must be well washed {purgata), and kept moist in a
large tub for at least a month ; stir it up well every day until
it almost rots (marcise) and is completely slacked, and it will
become as soft as silk. Throw away the water, make it into
cakes, and let it dry ; and this plaster (gesso) is sold by the
apothecaries to our painters. It is used for grounds for gild-
ing, for working in relief, and other fine works.
70
OF PREPARING GROUNDS FOR PICTURES.
Chap. 117. How to prepare a ground of gesso sottile on a
picture, and how it is to he tempered.
Having laid on the gesso grosso, rubbed down the surface,
and polished it well and delicately, put some cakes of the
gesso sottile into a pipkin of water, and let them absorb as
much as they will. Put a small portion of it at a time on
the porphyry slab, and, without adding any water to it, grind
it to an impalpable powder. Put it then on a piece of linen-
cloth, strong and white. When you have ground as much
of it as you want (for you must consider what quantity you
will want, that you may neither have to make two portions
of tempered plaster nor to throw away any good plaster),
take some of the same glue with which you tempered the
gesso grosso. You must make sufficient at one time to tem-
per both kinds of gesso. The gesso sottile requires less tem-
pering than the gesso grosso ; the reason for this is, that the
gesso grosso is the foundation of all your work, and that how
much soever you press the gesso grosso, a little water will
still remain in it. For this reason make the same kind of
glue for both. Take a new pipkin which is free from grease,
and if it be glazed so much the better. Take a cake of this
gesso sottile, and scrape it fine with a knife, as you would
cheese, and put it into the pipkin. Put some of the glue on
it, and stir the gesso as you would a paste for making fritters,
smoothly and evenly, until there are no longer any lumps.
Procure a cauldron of water, and make it very hot, and put
into it the pipkin containing the tempered gesso. Thus the
gesso will become warm, but will not boil ; for if it should
boil, it would be spoiled. When it is warm, take your picture,
and a large and very soft pencil of hog's bristles, dipped in
the pipkin, and taking up a proper quantity at a time, neither
OF PREPARING GROUNDS FOR PICTURES.
71
too much nor too little, spread it evenly over the level sur-
faces, the cornices, and the foliage. It is true that in doing
this the first time you should spread and rub the gesso with
your fingers and hand wherever you can, and this will incor-
porate the gesso grosso with the gesso sottile. "When you
have done this, begin again, and spread it with the brush,
without touching it with the hand. Let it rest a little, but
not so long as to dry thoroughly ; then pass over it a third
time with the brush, and let it dry as usual. Then give it
a coat on the other side ; and in this manner, always keeping
your gesso warm, give the panels eight coats. Foliage and
relievos require less, but you cannot put too much on cloths.
This is on account of the rasping or rubbing down, which is
done afterwards.
Chap. 118. How to prepare grounds of gesso sottile, not having
previously laid on a ground with gesso grosso.
You may first, as I formerly directed you, pass glue two
or three times over the panel, and all small and delicate
works ; then give them as many coats of gesso sottile as you
find from experience they will require.
Chap. 119. How to temper and grind gesso sottile for
working in relief.
There are, nevertheless, some persons who grind gesso
sottile with water and glue. This is proper for grounds
where no gesso grosso is used, which require to be more
diluted. This same kind of gesso is good for raising foliage
and other works in relief, which are frequently necessary to
be done. But when you are going to execute works in relief
with this gesso, add to it enough Armenian bole to give it a
little colour.
72
OF PREPARING GROUNDS FOR PICTURES.
Chap, 120. How to begin to smooth the surface of a panel on
which you have laid a ground of gesso sottile.
When you have finished laying the ground (which must
be done in one day, even if you work at it in the night, in
order to complete it in the usual way), let it dry in the shade
for two days and nights at least. The drier it is the better.
Tie some powdered charcoal in a piece of linen, and sift it
over the ground of the picture. Then, with the feather of
a hen or goose, spread this black powder equally over the
ground, because the panel cannot be made too smooth, and
because the iron with which you rub the picture is smooth
also. When you remove it, the ground will be as white as
milk, and you will then see whether it require more rubbing
with the iron.
Chap. 121. How to plane surfaces on which gesso sottile has
been laid, and of what use the planing is.
Take a flat raffietto, about as wide as a finger, and gen-
tly rub the surface of the cornice once ; then with a sharp
rasp {mella arrotata), which you must hold as freely and
lightly as you possibly can, rub over the surface of the panel
with a very light hand, brushing away the loose gesso with
the feather. And know that this dust is excellent for re-
moving grease from the pages of books {carte de lihri). In
the same manner rub smooth the cornices and foliage, and
polish them as if they were ivory. And sometimes (for you
may have many kinds of work) you may polish cornices and
fohage, by rubbing them with a piece of linen, first wetted
and then squeezed almost dry.
OF DRAWING THE OUTLINES.
73
Chap. 122. How you should first draw on the panels with
charcoal, and fix your outlines with ink.
Having well planed the surface of the ground, and made
it as smooth as ivory, the first thing that you should do is,
to draw on your panel with those crayons made of charcoal
of the willow, which I formerly taught you to make. But
you must fasten the charcoal to a stick about the length of
your face, which will better enable you to hold it. Have a
feather ready, that when any stroke appears to you to be
badly drawn, you may efface it with the feather, and draw
it again. Draw with a light hand, and shade the hollow
parts and the faces as you did with the pencil, and with the
same pen with which you made drawings (penneggiasse) .
When you have finished drawing your figures (especially if
the picture be of great value, and you expect it to bring
you gain and honour), leave it for a day, return many times
to examine it, and improve it wherever you find it necessary.
When it appears to you correctly drawn (if possible copy
from, or look at, any thing like it in pictures painted by
good masters, which is no shame to you, if you copy the
figures well), gently rub away the charcoal with the feather
from the design, so that it may be just seen, and do not rub
away too much, lest you should not understand your design.
Put a few drops of ink into a glass half full of water, and
with a pointed pencil of minever mark over the outline of
your design. Then with the feather part of the pen brush
away the charcoal. With some more of the ink, and a flat-
pointed pencil of minever, shade the depths and the shadows
of the face, and you will have made an agreeable design,
which will cause all men to fall in love with your works.
74
OF DRAWING THE OUTLINES.
Chap. 123. How you should draw the outlines of the figures
when you are going to make a gold ground.
When you have sketched your design on the panel, mark
out, with a needle fixed into a small stick, the outUnes of the
figure, into the ground which you are going to cover with
gold, and the ornaments which you intend to make on the
figures, and certain draperies which are to be of cloth of
gold.
Chap. 124. How works in relief are executed on pictures with
gesso sottile (1), and how precious stones are affixed to them.
Besides this, take some of the same gesso for relieving,
if you would raise ornaments or foKage, or fix precious stones
to certain ornaments before or to the figure of God the Father
(2) , or our Lady, or certain other ornaments which embellish
your work, and which are stones of various coloured glass
(3) . Arrange them with judgment, having your gesso in a
vase upon some hot ashes, and another vase of hot water,
because you must wash your pencil frequently; and this
pencil must be of minever, the hairs fine and rather long.
Take a little of the gesso on the point of the pencil, and
with that raise what figures you wish to make in rehef ; and
if you raise any foliage, draw the design previously, and be
careful not to relieve too much, or to make your design con-
fused ; for the clearer you make your foliage, the better will
you be able to display the design, and to burnish it with the
stone. There are some masters who, having relieved all they
wish, give one or two coats of the gesso which they have used
for the ground of the picture, and also of gesso sottile, with
a soft pencil of bristles. But if you relieve but a small
quantity, it appears to me that it will be better, and that the
OF RELIEVOS ON PICTURES.
75
work will be firmer and more secure, without the gesso, for
the reason I have before given you, not to use different kinds
of gesso on the same picture.
Chap. 125. How to make casts in relievo, to adorn some parts
of the picture.
There are many different ways of working in relief, there-
fore I will teach you some of them. With the same kind
of gesso, or with a portion of stronger glue, you may cast
heads of Hons or of any thing, modelled in earth or in chalk.
Oil the mould with lamp-oil {olio da brucciare), fill it with
the gesso well diluted, and let it cool ; then remove the gesso
with the point of a knife, and blow {soffiare) it strongly. It
will come out quite clean; let it dry. Afterwards, when
ornamenting any thing with the same gesso, you must pro-
ceed in this manner, with the same gesso which you used for
the ground, and with the same casts, first oiling the part with
the pencil where the heads are to be fixed, then press them
with the finger, and fix them in the usual manner. After-
wards, with a pencil of minever lay a coat or two of the same
kind of gesso on the parts you mean to appear in relief, and
which you have previously marked out. Afterwards remove
with the knife any irregularities.
Chap. 126. How to put mortar (smaltare) on relievos
on walls.
I shall also teach you how to raise designs in relievo on
walls. In the first place, there are certain parts of the wall
that are either circular or enriched with foHage, on which the
mortar cannot be spread with the trowel. Take some lime
and sand, both well sifted. Put them into a basin, and, with
a large hog's-hair pencil, make them into a paste with water.
76
OF RELIEVOS ON PICTURES.
and apply several coats of this mortar with the same pencil
on these places. Then polish the parts with the trowel, and
the work will be done. You may paint on it in fresco or
in secco, as I directed you when speaking of fresco painting.
Chap. 127. How to make relievos in lime on walls like
relievos of gesso on pictures.
Grind a little of the before-mentioned lime on the stone,
then make what parts you please in relief on the walls, as
I have told you to do with regard to pictures, especially when
the lime is rather fresh.
Chap. 128. Row relievos may he cut out in stone, and how
they may he used on walls.
You may also cut any devices you please on stone, then
grease the design with lard. Procure some beaten tin, wet
every part with a piece of tow, place the tin on the engraven
stone, and beat it well with a mallet of willow as long as you
can. Then provide some gesso grosso, ground up with glue,
and fill up the moulds with it; you may use it to adorn
walls, trunks, stones, or any thing you please ; then apply the
mordant to the tin, and, when it is a little tacky, cover it
with fine gold. When dry attach it to the wall with pitch.
Chap. 129. How to execute relievos on walls with varnish.
You may also relieve on walls in this manner : Mix liquid
varnish thoroughly with flour, and execute your relievos with
the point of a pencil of minever.
Chap. 130. How to execute relievos on walls with wax.
In the same manner you may also make relievos on walls
with melted wax and pitch mixed together — two parts wax
OF GILDING.
77
and the third pitch. Use it warm, and make your figures in
relief with a pencil.
Chap. 131. How to lay hole on panels, and how to
temper it (1).
Let us return to our subject. When you have finished
the relievos of your picture, procure some Armenian bole,
and try whether it be good. Touch your under-lip with it;
if it stick to it, it is good. You must now learn the best
tempera for gilding. Put the white of an egg into a very
clean glazed porringer. Make some twigs of broom into a
rod, and beat up the white of egg with it until the porrin-
ger is full of thick froth, which appears like snow. Then
take a common drinking-glass, not too large nor too full of
water ; pour it on the white of egg into the porringer. Let
it stand from night till the next morning, to clarify itself.
Then grind the bole in this tempera as perfectly as you can.
Next dip a clean soft sponge into clean water, and squeeze
it dry ; rub lightly with the sponge (not too wet) on those
parts on which the gold is to be laid. Then pass over it, for
the first time, with a large pencil of minever, a coat of this
tempered bole as liquid as water, and, wherever the gold is
to be used (having first sponged the part with water), spread
the bole very evenly, being careful not to stop, so that you
may leave no hard edges with your pencil. Then wait a
little ; put a little more bole into your porringer, and let the
second coat of colour have a little more body. Give it this
second coat, and let it again rest a short time ; put more bole
into the vase, and give it a third coat in the same manner,
making no hard edges. Put more bole still into the vase,
and give it a fourth coat, and then you will have finished
laying on the bole. Now you may cover over your panel
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OF GILDING-
witli a cloth, to keep it as much as you can from dust, sun,
and water.
Chap. IS2. Another mode of tempering bole on panels, and
of gilding.
This tempera may be tempered in a different way. In
order to grind the bole, put the whole white of an egg on
the porphyry slab, and work the pulverised bole into the
albumen. Grind it very fine, and, when it dries between
your hands, add to it, while on the stone, a little clean water.
When it is well ground, dilute it until it flow with the pencil
like clean water, and give the panel four coats, in the manner
above directed. Until you have had some little practice, you
will find this a better plan than that first described. Cover
your picture, and keep it well from dust, as I have told you
before.
Chap. 133. How to gild with verde terra on panels.
You may also adopt the same process as that used by the
ancients, namely, to stretch linen over the panel before you
lay on the ground (1), and then put on gold with verde terra,
grinding the verde terra in either of the before-mentioned
temperas.
Chap. 134. How to gild panels.
When the weather becomes damp and cloudy, and you
wish to lay on any gold, place your panel flat on two trus-
sels. Sweep it well with a feather, and, with a rafiietto,
pass very lightly over the ground of bole, and if you find any
knots or roughness remove them. Burnish the bole very
carefully with a piece of coarse linen. If you afterwards
burnish it with a tooth, it cannot look otherwise than well.
OF GILDING.
79
When you have thus cleaned and burnished it, put into a
glass nearly full of clean water a little of the white of egg
tempera; if it be quite fresh so much the better. Mix it
thoroughly with the water. Take a large pencil of minever,
made, as I have previously taught you, of the hairs of the
tip of the tail. Take up your fine gold with a pair of small
pincers, lay it on a square piece of card larger than the
piece of gold, and turned up at each corner, which you are
to hold in your left hand, and, with the pencil which you
hold in your right hand, wet the bole sufficiently to hold the
piece of gold you have in your hand. Wet the bole equally,
that there may not be more water on one part than on
another ; then let the gold slip off the card, taking care not
to wet the card. Now, as soon as the gold has touched the
wet part, withdraw the card quickly and suddenly; and if
you perceive that the gold does not adhere to the panel, press
it down as gently as you can with a piece of clean cotton,
and in this manner gild the other parts of the panel ; and
when you wet it, preparatory to laying on the second piece of
gold, be careful that the pencil does not go so near the first
piece as to make it wet; and let the two pieces join, first
breathing on it, that the gold may adhere where you wish
it to unite with the other piece. When you have laid on
three pieces, pass the cotton again over the first piece, and
see whether any part requires mending. Provide a cushion
as large as a brick, made of a smooth piece of board, covered
with soft leather, very clean and not greasy, of the same kind
as that of which boots are made. Stretch it very evenly, and
fill the space between the wood and the leather with shreds
of cloth ; spread a piece of gold evenly on this cushion, and
with a knife cut the gold into pieces as you want it, to make
the necessary repairs. Wet the parts to be repaired with a
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OF GILDING.
minever pencil, and then, wetting the handle of the pencil
with your lips, the piece of gold will adhere to it sufficiently
to enable you to apply it on the part to be mended. When
you have laid as much gold on the level surface as you can
burnish in one day (for which I shall give you directions
when you have to gild cornices and foliage), be careful to
collect the small pieces of gold, as those masters do who are
economical, so that you may save the gold as much as you
can, being sparing of it, and always covering the gold you
have laid on with a clean handkerchief.
Chap. 135. What stones are proper for burnishing gold.
When you mean to burnish gold you must procure a
stone called lapis amatisto, which I will shew you how to
prepare. If you have not this stone, sapphires, emeralds,
balas rubies, topases, rubies, and granite, are still better for
those who can afford the expense, and the finer the stone the
better it is for the purpose. The teeth of dogs, lions, wolves,
cats, leopards, and generally of all carnivorous animals, are
equally good.
Chap. 136. How to prepare stones for burnishing.
Procure a piece of lapis amatisto ; take care to select one
that is sound and without veins, and which is one entire
crystal. Grind it on the grindstone, and make it very smooth
and polished, and about the width of two fingers. Then take
some of the dust of emeralds, and rub the stone until no
inequalities remain. Round off all the corners, and put it
into a handle of brass or copper, and let the handle be round
and polished, so that the palm of the hand may rest well
upon it. Then give it a lustre in the following manner: —
Put some charcoal powder upon a porphyry slab, and rub the
OF GILDING.
81
stone on it exactly as if you were burnishing with it, and
your stone will become firm, dark, and shining as a diamond.
You must be careful not to break it, or to let it touch iron ;
and when you would burnish gold or silver with it, put it
first into your bosom, to get rid of any dampness, which
would soil the gold.
Chap. 137. How to burnish gold, and what to do if you cannot
burnish it when ready for burnishing.
You must now burnish gold, for the time is come that
you should do so. It is true that in winter you may gild
whenever you please, during damp and cloudy weather, but
not during dry weather. In summer it will take one hour
to lay on the gold, another to burnish it; but should the
weather be too damp, and, from some cause or other, you
are unable to burnish it, keep it in a place where it is ex-
posed to heat and air ; but if it be too dry, keep it in a
damp place, always covered ; and when you would burnish it,
uncover it carefully, for the smallest scratch will blemish it.
Put it in a cellar at the foot of the casks, and it will be ready
to burnish. But should you be prevented from burnishing
it for eight or ten days, or a month, take a very clean hand-
kerchief or a towel, lay it over your gold in the cellar, or
wherever it may be ; then take another handkerchief, dip it
in clean water, wring and squeeze it very dry ; open it, and
spread over the first handkerchief that you laid over the gold,
and the gold will then be in a proper state for burnishing.
Chap. 138. How to burnish gold, especially when laid on
even surfaces.
Take your picture, or any thing on which you have laid
gold. Place it level upon trestles, or on a bench. Take
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OF GILDING.
your burnisher, rub it on your breast, or on any part of your
clothes that is not greasy. Warm it well ; then try whether
the gold be fit for burnishing, by feeling it carefully. If you
feel no powder under the stone, as you would feel powder
between your teeth, sweep the gold with a minever's tail.
Then burnish it gradually, first on one side and then on the
other, with the stone ; and if the scratching of the stone
should break the surface of the gold (which should be as
smooth as a looking-glass), take a piece of gold, and put it
on the defective part, first breathing on it, and immediately
burnish with the stone. And if it should happen that the
surface of the gold be disturbed, so that you do not succeed
well in burnishing it, you may remedy it in the manner I
have just described ; and, if you can afford the expense, you
will add materially to the perfection of your work, and to
your own honour, if you gild in this manner the whole of
your ground (1). When it is properly burnished, the gold
will appear brown, from its own brightness.
Chap. 139. What gold, and of what thickness, is proper to
be used for burnishing and mordants.
You should know that the gold proper to be laid on flat
surfaces is that of which 100 leaves only are made from the
ducat, and not that from which they make 145 pieces, because
the gold for gilding flat surfaces requires to be dead gold
(1). And if you would know good gold when you see it,
purchase it of those persons who are good goldbeaters ; and
look at the gold, if it appear dull, like parchment {carta di
cavretto), then consider it good. Cornices and foliage require
thinner gold ; and for the delicate fringes and ornaments laid
on with mordants, the gold should be very thin indeed.
OF GILDING.
83
Chap. 140. How to form glories (volgere le diademe), shade
the gold, and draw the outlines of the figures.
When you have burnished and completed your picture,
you must take the compasses and turn the circles for the
glories or crowns. Engrave [granare) them with lines and
fringes on the edges, adorn them with stamped and sparkling
ornaments, and, if there be foliage, mark the veins in it, and
shade all with strokes {granare). Practice is necessary in this
branch of the art. When you have thus formed the glories
and ornaments, put into a glazed vessel a little biacca (white
lead), well ground with some thin glue ; and, with a small
minever pencil, cover and mark over the outlines of the
figures on the ground, as you find them marked out by the
lines which you scratched with the needle, before you put on
the bole. Again, if you would dispense with the biacca and
pencil, scrape away the gold from the outlines of the figures,
and this will be the best plan.
Chap. 141 (1). How to represent a cloth of gold, or black, or
green, or of any colour you please, on a ground of gold.
Before you begin to colour, I should like to shew you
how to make a cloth of gold. If you would have a mantle,
or a woman's petticoat, or a little cushion, of cloth of gold,
put on the gold-leaf with bole, and scratch the folds of the
drapery in the manner I have formerly shewn you. Then, if
you wish to make a red drapery, lay a flat tint of cinnabar
upon the burnished gold. For the shading, use lake ; for the
lights, minium (red lead), all tempered with the yolk of an
egg, without disturbing the surface or touching it too many
times. Let it dry, and go over it at least twice. In the same
manner you may make green or black draperies, if you please.
84
OF GILDING.
But if you would make a beautiful drapery of ultramarine
blue, first lay a flat tint on the gold of biacca, tempered with
the yolk of an egg. When it is dry, temper your ultramarine
with a little glue, and a little yolk of egg, perhaps two drops.
Pass it over the white two or three times, and let it dry.
Then, according to the drapery you intend to paint, prepare
your powders, by putting them into pieces of linen ; make
your design on paper, and then prick the design on the paper
with fine needles, holding a piece of linen under the card;
or you may prick the holes upon a board of poplar or lime,
which is better than the cloth. When the holes are pricked,
have your powders ready, according to the drapery which is
to be powdered [spolverare). If the drapery be white, powder
it with the powder of charcoal, tied up in a piece of linen. If
the drapery be black, powder it with biacca, tied up in a
piece of linen ; and sic de singulis make your (paper) models
so that they may do for either side (2),
Chap. 142. How to draiv, to scrape up (grattare), and engrave
(granare) (1) a drapery of gold or silver.
Having powdered your drapery, and procured a stiletto of
birch or any strong wood, or bone, pointed like a proper stile
for drawing at one end, and flat at the other (2), for scraping
up [grattare), draw all the outlines of your drapery with the
point of the stile, and, with the other end of it, scrape and
scratch up the colour, so that the brilliancy of the gold may
appear, but so as not to disturb the gold, and you may scrape
up whatever you please, whether the ground or the pattern
drawn on it (allacciato) (3) ; and whatever you uncover, you
must afterwards engrave [grana) with the rosetta. And if,
in certain parts, you cannot use the rosetta, you must use an
iron point only, like a stile for drawing, and in this manner
OF DRAPERIES.
85
you must begin to learn to make gold draperies. If you
would make draperies of silver, you must proceed exactly in
the same manner as you do in making gold draperies. I also
recommend you, if you teach boys or children to gild, to let
them begin by laying on silver, until they have acquired some
practice, because silver is less expensive than gold.
Chap. 143. How to make rich draperies of gold, or silver, or
ultramarine blue, or of tin, gilded and laid on walls.
1. Again, if you wish to make a rich drapery of gold,
you must ornament with foliage in relief, and attach precious
stones to the drapery you intend to paint ; then cover it with
fine gold, and engrave (granare), and burnish it.
2. Ad idem. Cover the whole ground of the drapery with
gold, burnish it, draw the drapery or other subjects on it.
Then grain the ground, and afterwards the ornamental parts
{lacci, cioe i lavori disegnati).
3. Ad idem. Gild the ground of the drapery, burnish it,
and grain it in relief.
4. Ad idem. Gild the ground of the drapery, draw what
patterns you please, lay on a flat tint of verdigris and oil (1),
shade every fold twice, and then pass the colour evenly over
the ground, and over the pattern drawn on it also.
5. Ad idem. Make the drapery of silver, draw your
drapery when you have burnished it (for this you must always
do), cover the whole ground of the drapery, or the pattern on
it, with cinnabar, tempered with the yolk of an egg. Then,
with fine lake, mixed with oil, go once or twice over the
whole work as well as over the figures drawn on it.
6. Ad idem. If you would make a beautiful drapery of
ultramarine, ground your drapery with burnished silver ; draw
your outlines ; paint either the ground {campi) or the figures
86
OF DRAPERIES.
drawn on it {lacci) with ultramarine, tempered with glue.
Then spread the colour equally over the whole ground {campi),
and over the patterns also {lacci), and it will look like a velvet
drapery.
7. Ad idem. Lay on the ground. Draw the pattern of
whatever colour you please, and shade it. Then take a fine
minever pencil and the mordants. When you have powdered
{spolverato) the draperies and the pattern on it {lacci) accord-
ing to your intention, apply the mordants as I shall hereafter
direct you. And with these mordants you may lay on gold
or silver, and they will make beautiful draperies, if you rub
and burnish them with cotton.
8. Ad idem. Having painted your drapery any colour you
please, as I have before directed you, if you wish it to be a
changeable drapery, work upon the gold with any colour you
please, mixed with oil, to vary the colour of the drapery.
9. Ad idem. On walls make the ground of the drapery
of gilded tin, cover it with any colour you please, powder it,
paint a pattern on it, and scratch the drapery with the wooden
stile, temper the colours with the yolk of an egg, and it will
be a very good drapery for walls ; but you may use mordants
as well on walls as on pictures.
Chap. 144. How to imitate velvet or linen on walls, and also
silks on walls or pictures.
If you would imitate velvet, paint the drapery of any
colour you please, tempering your colour with the yolk of
egg. Make the down on the velvet with a pencil of minever
with colour tempered with oil. Imitate the pile of the
velvet. And in this manner you may imitate red, black, or
any other coloured velvet, tempering your colours as before.
Sometimes it is necessary to shew on a wall the wrong side
OF PAINTING IN DISTEMPER.
87
of a garment or drapery which appears to be made of linen.
And to imitate this, when you have laid on the mortar,
smoothed and coloured it (except what you are now going
to do), provide a small stick, and then sprinkling water with
the pencil on the part, move it round with the stick. The
lime will become rough and ill polished. Let it remain so.
Colour it as it is without being smoothed, and it will appear
like real linen.
Ad idem. If you would make a silk drapery either on
pictures or on walls, lay on the ground with cinnabar, and
over that minium; use dark and light sinopia, or cinnabar,
and giallorino on walls ; and on pictures, orpiment, or green,
or any colour you please. Lay the ground dark, and finish it
with the light colour.
Ad idem. On walls in fresco. Lay on a ground of indigo,
and finish with indigo and bianco sangiovanni mixed together.
And if you would use these colours on pictures or in heraldic
painting, mix indigo with biacca, tempered with glue ; and in
this manner you may make many kinds of drapery, according
to your abilities and inclination (1).
Chap. 145. How to colour pictures, and to temper the colours.
I think that with the instructions I have given you, com-
bined with practice, your good understanding will enable you
to teach yourself to paint skilfully many kinds of drapery.
And now, by the grace of God, I should hke to teach you to
colour pictures (1). You must know that painting pictures
is the proper employment of a gentleman ; and that with
velvet on his back, he may paint what he pleases. It is true
that pictures are painted in the same manner as paintings
in fresco, with three exceptions (2). One is, that you must
always paint the draperies and buildings before the faces.
88
OF PAINTING IN DISTEMPER.
The second is, that you must temper your colours properly
with yolk of egg, always putting as much of the yolk as of
the colours which you would temper with it. The third,
that the colours must be ground very fine, like water (that is,
to an impalpable powder). And in order to give you plea-
sure, I will begin by describing the painting of a drapery of
lake, in the same manner as that I taught you in fresco paint-
ing, namely, to leave the first gradation of pure colour, and
take two parts of lake and one of biacca. And of this, when
tempered, make three gradations, but little varying from
each other ; temper them well, and make them lighter with
biacca, finely ground. Then take your panel before you,
and always keep it covered with a cloth to preserve the gold
and the ground from being soiled by the dust ; likewise wash
your hands very clean. Then take a pencil of minever with-
out a point, and begin to lay on the dark colour, and make
out the shadows in what should be the dark part of the figure.
Then in the usual manner take the middle tint, and paint the
backs and relievos of the dark folds, and advance with the
same towards the shades of the parts in relief, towards the
light part of the figure. Then with the lightest colour paint
the relievos and backs of the light part ; and in this manner
return to the first dark folds of the drapery with the dark
colour. And thus, as you have begun, go many times over
with these colours, painting and uniting them skilfully, and
softening them tenderly. And now it is time to leave your
work and to rest yourself for a short space, and then return
to the work you have in hand. You should always take
pleasure in your work. When you have covered the ground
properly with these three gradations of colour, take the
lightest, and prepare another still lighter, always washing
the former colours from the pencil. Make another colour
OF PAINTING IN DISTEMPER.
89
still lighter than this, and let them vary but little from each
other. Then touch with pure white, tempered as above, on
the high lights ; and thus paint the shades one after the
other, in regular gradation, until they reach the deepest
shades: of these you are to make two gradations, and put
them in different vases that you may not mistake one for the
other. And in this manner you may paint drapery of any
colour you please, either red, or white, or yellow, or green.
But if you would make a beautiful purple {bisso) colour (3),
take fine lake and the best ultramarine blue, finely ground,
and of this mixture, with biacca, properly tempered, make
your gradations of colour. If you would make a light blue
colour, add white {biacca), and paint it in the manner above
described.
Chap. 146. How to paint draperies of blue, gold, or
purple.
If you would make a blue drapery, neither too light nor
too dark, take several shades of ultramarine, of which there
are many, one lighter than the other. Colour them accord-
ing to the lights and shades of the figure, in the manner I
have shewn you. And you may paint on walls in the same
manner in secco. And if you cannot afford the expense of
using ultramarine, you may use azzurro della magna (Ger-
man or cobalt blue) ; or if you choose to make the drapery
of gold, you may do so, putting a little purple {bisso) both
on the shades and on the lights, touching lightly on the gold,
and so making out the folds. These draperies will please
you much, particularly in the draperies in which you paint
God (1). If you would clothe our Lady in a purple drapery,
paint the drapery white, and shade it with a very light
purple but little removed from white ; or make the drapery
90
OF PAINTING IN DISTEMPER.
of fine gold, and shade it with a little dark purple. This
will be a beautiful drapery.
Chap. 147. How to colour faces, hands, feet, and
Jlesh generally.
Having drawn and coloured draperies, trees, buildings,
and mountains, you should next colour flesh, which you
should begin in the following manner. With a little verde
terra and biacca tempered well together, go twice over the
face, hands, feet, and all the naked parts. But this first
tint of colour (cafaletto) must, when painting the faces of
young persons with fresh complexions, be tempered with the
yolk of a town-laid egg ; because high-coloured yolks of eggs,
laid by hens fed in the country, are only fit to colour faces of
old and dark persons. Now bear in mind, that when paint-
ing on walls you made your rosy tints {rossette) with cinabrese ;
but when painting pictures, you must use cinnabar ; and the
first rosy tints must not consist of pure cinnabar, but you
must add a little white (biacca) to it, and also to the ver-
daccio with which you first shade it. You must prepare, as
you did in painting on walls, three gradations of flesh-colour,
one lighter than the other, laying every tint in its right
place on the proper part of the face, taking care not to cover
over the whole of the verdaccio, but shading partially on it
with the darkest flesh-colour (which must be very liquid),
and softening off" the colour in the tenderest manner.
Pictures require to be covered with more coats of colour
than walls, yet so that the green tint under the flesh-colour
should just be visible through it. When you have painted
your flesh-colours, and the face begins to look well, make
a flesh-tint still lighter, and paint the prominent parts of the
face, putting on the lights in the most delicate manner, until
OF PAINTING IN DISTEMPER.
91
you touch the highest lights over the eyebrows, and on the
tip of the nose, with a little pure white. Paint the outlines
of the upper eyelids with black, also the lashes and the
nostrils. Then take a little dark sinopia with a little black,
and make the outlines of the nose, eyes, eyebrows, hair,
hands, and feet, and generally of every part, as I directed
you when painting on walls, always tempering the colours
with the yolk of an egg.
Chap. 148. How to colour a dead man, his hair and heard.
Now we shall speak of colouring a dead man, — that is to
say, his face, his body, or any naked part that may be visible,
either on pictures or walls; except that on walls you need
not first lay a tint of verde terra. If it be laid on the half-
tints, between the lights and shades, that will be sufficient.
But for pictures you must lay it on in the mode I have
directed for colouring living faces, and also shade it in the
same manner with verdaccio. You must use no rosy tints
(rossette), because dead persons have no colour; but add a
little light ochre to your three gradations of flesh-colour
with white, and temper in the usual manner, laying each
tint in its proper place, and softening them into each other
as well on the face as on the body. And in the same man-
ner, when you have nearly covered your ground, make the
lightest flesh-tint still lighter, reducing it to pure white,
as you did when painting the face of a living person. Then
mark the outlines with dark sinopia, mixed with a little
black, which is called sanguine; and in the same manner
the hair (but so that it shall appear to be that of a dead
person), with several shades of verdaccio. I have shewn
you how to paint several kinds of beards on walls, these you
may adopt on pictures; and when you have to paint the
92
OF PAINTING IN DISTEMPER.
bones of Christians or other rational creatures, make them
of the flesh-colour (incarnazioni), as I have above directed
you.
Chap. 149. How to paint a wounded person.
Having to paint a wounded person, you must lay a tint
of pure cinnabar vi^herever the blood is to appear. Then
glaze and shade this and the drops of blood with fine lake,
tempered in the usual manner.
Chap. 150. How to colour water, or a river, with or without
fish, on walls or on pictures.
When you would paint a river or any other water, either
with or without fish, on walls, or on pictures, — for walls, take
the same verdaccio with which you shaded faces on the lime
(calcina), draw the fish, and shade them with the verdaccio ;
but I must inform you that fish, and irrational animals
generally, have their dark parts upwards, and their light
parts beneath. When you have finished shading with the
verdaccio, whiten them beneath with bianco sangiovanni on
walls, on pictures with biacca, and then pass some touches
of the same verdaccio over the fish and the water. If you
would make a variety in your fish, let some have spines on
their backs. In secco and on pictures lay a tint of verdigris,
ground in oil, over the water ; or if you do not choose to use
oil, take verde terra, or verde azzurro, and cover every part
equally, not making the tint so dark but that you may see
the fish and waves of the water. And if it be required to
put the lights on the water, use bianco on walls, and tem-
pered biacca on pictures. This is sufficient information to
you on colouring. We shall now proceed to the art of em-
bellishing. But we must first speak of mordants.
OF MORDANTS.
93
Chap. 151. How to make good mordants to put on
gold draperies and ornaments.
A perfect mordant for walls, pictures, glass, iron, and
every other thing, may be as follows (I). With your oil
(either boiled on the fire, or baked in the sun, in the manner
before directed) grind a little biacca and verdigris ; and when
you have made it flow like water, add a little varnish, and
boil all together for a short time. Take a glazed vessel,
pour it in, and let it stand. When you use it either for
draperies or ornaments, put a little into a vase. Then make
a pencil of minever, very firm and pointed, introduce it into
the quill of a dove or a hen, and let the point project but
very Kttle. Dip the tip only into the mordant, and make
your ornaments and fringes ; and do not load the pencil too
much, because your strokes should, when well done, be as
fine as hairs. Then wait until the next day. Try it with
the ring-finger (2) of the right hand. If it be then a little
tacky, take the pincers, cut off" half a piece of fine gold, or
common gold, or silver (though the last is not durable), and
lay it on the mordant. Press it with cotton. Then, with
the same finger, raise the piece of gold, and lay it on the
mordant where you find none. Do not use any other finger
of the hand, because this is most convenient ; and let your
hands be always clean ; and I must tell you, that gold which
is put on with mordants, especially in very fine works, should
be the thinnest beaten gold that can be procured, and that
if it be thick, you cannot use it so weU, unless the whole
ground is to be covered with it. If you like, you may let it
remain another day. Then take a feather and brush it off";
and if you choose to preserve the gold you brush off", do so, it
will be useful to goldsmiths, or in other works. Then bur-
nish your gold fringes with clean and new cotton.
94
OF MORDANTS.
Chap. \52. How to temper this mordant so as to put the gold
on more quickly.
If you wish to keep the above-mentioned mordant for
eight days, do not put any verdigris with it before you lay on
the gold. If you wish to keep it for four days, put a little
verdigris. If you wish to keep it only from one day to
another, put to it plenty of verdigris and a little bole. And
if any one blame you for using the verdigris on account of
its contaminating the gold, tell them that I have tried it, and
that it does not injure the gold.
Chap. 153. How to make another mordant with garlic, and
ivhen it is proper to use it.
Another mordant may be made in this manner. Take
two or three clean cloves of garlic ; pound them in a mortar.
Strain them through linen two or three times ; grind up as
fine as possible a little biacca and bole with the juice ; col-
lect it, and put it into a vase, cover it up, and preserve it ;
the older it is the better. Do not choose young cloves of
garlic, but those about half grown. And when you would
use this mordant, put a little of it into a glazed pipkin, with
a little urine, and stir it well with a skewer until it become
sufficiently liquid to flow with the pencil. With this mor-
dant you may lay on gold in the course of half an hour. And
it has this property, that you may lay the gold on it in half
an hour, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, or any time
you please. Keep it well covered, and free from dust. This
mordant is not proof against water or the damp of churches
when laid upon bricks ; but it may be used with propriety on
pictures, or on iron, or on any thing which is to be afterwards
varnished with liquid varnish. It will be sufficient for you to
know how to make these two different kinds of mordants.
OF VARNISHING.
95
Chap. 154. Of varnishing.
I think I have said enough on the subject of painting on
walls in fresco, in secco, and on pictures. But we shall add,
by way of supplement to painting and gilding, a few words
on miniature-painting on paper. But first, let me shew you
how to varnish pictures and other works, except walls.
Chap. 1 55. How and when to varnish pictures.
You must know that the longer you delay varnishing your
picture after it is painted, the better it will be. And I speak
truth when I say, that if you delay for several years, or at
least for one year, your work will remain much fresher. The
reason of this is, that the colouring naturally acquires the
same condition as the gold, which shuns a mixture with other
metals ; so the colours when mixed with their proper tempera
dislike the addition of other mixtures to their own tempera.
Varnish is a strong liquor (1), which brings out the colour
(e dimostrativo), will have every thing subservient to it, and
destroys every other tempera. And suddenly, as you spread
it over the picture, the colours lose their natural strength,
and are powerfully acted upon by the varnish, and their own
tempera has no longer any effect upon them. It is there-
fore proper to delay varnishing as long as you can ; for if
you varnish after the tempera has had the proper effect on
the colours (2), they will afterwards become more fresh and
beautiful, and the greens will never change (3). Then take
liquid and clear varnish, the clearest you can obtain ; place
your picture in the sun ; wipe it as clean as you can from
dust and dirt of every kind. And varnish it when there is no
wind, because the dust is subtle and penetrating ; and every
time that the wind blows over your picture you will have
96 OF PAINTING MINIATURES AND GILDING ON PAPER.
more difficulty in making it clean. It will be best to varnisb
it in a green meadow or by the sea-side, that the dust may
not injure it. When you have warmed the picture and the
varnish also in the sun, place the picture level, and with your
hands spread the varnish well over the surface. But be care-
ful not to touch the gold wdth it, for varnish and other liquors
injure it. If you do not choose to spread the varnish with
your hand, dip a piece of clean sponge into the varnish, and
spread it over the picture in the usual manner. If you wish
the varnish to dry without sun, boil it well first, and the
picture wiU be much better for not being too much exposed
to the sun.
Chap. 156. How in a short time you can make a picture look
as if it had been varnished.
If you would have your picture appear in a short time to
have been varnished when it has not really been varnished,
take the white of an egg, beat it thoroughly until it form a
froth. Let it stand one night to clear itself. Put the clear
part into a clean vessel, and spread it with a minever pencil
over your work, which will appear as if varnished, and will
be durable. This varnish is applicable to detached figures
either of wood or stone. In this way you may varnish the
faces, hands, and flesh, of such figures generally (1). And
this is enough for you to know about varnishing. We will
now speak of painting miniatures on paper.
Chap. 157. How to paint miniatures and put gold on paper.
If you would paint miniatures, in the first place you
must draw with a lead-pencil {piombino) figures, foliage,
letters, or whatever you please, on paper, — that is to say,
in books; fix the outlines of what you have drawn with a
OF PAINTING MINIATURES AND GILDING ON PAPER. 97
pen. Then you must have a kind of plaster {gesso), called
asiso (1), made in this manner; namely, a little fine plaster
{gesso) and a little biacca — less than the third part is to be of
gesso ; then add some sugar of Candia, less in quantity than
the biacca ; grind these ingredients perfectly with clean water,
scrape them together, and let them dry in the shade. When
you wish to put on gold with this mixture, cut off a piece as
large as you want, and mix it thoroughly with the white of an
egg, well beaten, as I have before directed you. Temper it
with this mixture. Let it dry. Then take your gold, and
either breathe on it, or not, as you please, when you put it
on. When your gold is laid on, burnish it immediately with
your burnisher, and place your paper upon a firm table of
good wood, well polished. And you must know that you
may write letters with a pen dipped in this size, or lay a
ground of it, or whatever you please — it is excellent. But
before you lay on the gold, see whether it be necessary to
clean, or make the surface even with the point of a knife, lest
your pencil should put more on in one place than in another.
Be very careful to avoid this.
Chap. 158. Another way of laying gold on paper.
If you would make another kind of asiso (this is not so
good as the other sort, but may be used to lay on grounds
of gold, though not to write with), take gesso sottile (see
ante, chap. 116), and a third part biacca, a fourth part
Armenian bole, with a little sugar. Grind all these well
jv^ith the white of an egg. Lay on the ground in the usual
manner, and let it dry. Then, with the point of a knife,
scrape and clean the gesso. Put the before-mentioned table
or stone, very level, under the paper, and burnish it; and
should it happen not to be burnished well where you put on
H
98 OF PAINTING MINIATURES AND GILDING ON PAPER.
the gold, wet the gesso with clean water with a minever
pencil, and when it is dry, burnish it.
Chap. 159. Of a colour like gold which is called porporina,
and how it is made.
I will shew you how to make a colour like gold, which is
a good colour for miniature-painters on paper, and also on
pictures, if they would use it (but beware of using this colour
as you would of fire), it is called porporina (1). Do not let it
approach a gold-ground. I warn you, if you were to put it
on a ground of gold which reached from hence to Rome, if a
piece of quicksilver as large as a grain of millet were to touch
the gold-ground, it would be sufficient to spoil it. The best
remedy you can possibly have, is, with the point of a knife or
a needle to make a scratch on the gold, and to go no further on
it. This porporina is made as follows : — Take salt orminiaco
(armeniaca), tin, sulphur, and quicksilver, of each equal parts,
except that there must be less quicksilver. Put these things
in a vessel of iron, copper, or glass, melt the ingredients on
the fire, and it is done. Then temper with the white of an
egg and gum, and use it as you please. If you make dra-
peries with it, shade with lake, or azure, or purple, always
tempering your colours on paper with gum arable.
Chap. 160. IJow to grind gold and silver, and how to temper
them to make foliage and other embellishments, and how to
varnish verde terra.
If you would work with gold on pictures, paper, or wallsjr
or on any thing you please (but not laj it on flat, as in
grounds of gold), or if you paint trees which should appear
like trees of paradise, take pieces of fine gold sufficient for
the work you are going to paint or to write, — that is to say,
OF PAINTING THE FACES OF LIVING PERSONS. 99
about ten or twenty pieces, put them on the porphyry-slab,
and grind them with the well-beaten white of an egg (1),
then put the whole into a glazed vessel. Put sufficient
tempera to make it flow with the pen or pencil, and you
may do any work you please with it. You may also grind it
with gum arabic for use on paper ; and if you make leaves of
trees, mix with the gold a little green very finely ground for
the dark leaves.
And in this manner, mixing the gold with other colours,
you may change them at your pleasure. With this kind of
gold, silver, or base gold {pro di meta), you may make antique
draperies and certain ornaments which are not used by many
other painters; yet, if you paint them well, they will in-
crease your reputation. But you must adopt what I teach
you with great judgment and skill.
There are some persons who will require you to use
greens on pictures and to varnish them. I tell you that
it is not the custom, and that verde terra does not require
it; but people will please themselves. Now, adopt this
method : take parchment-shavings, boil them sufficiently with
clean water to form a glue, then with a large minever pencil
pass two or three times very lightly over the picture gene-
rally, wherever you mean to varnish it. When you have given
two coats of the glue, which must be very clean and bright,
and which you must strain twice, let your work dry for the
space of three or four days. Then you may pass your varnish
safely over the whole, and you will find that verde terra will
take varnish as well as other colours.
Chap. 161. How, having painted a human face, to wash off
and clean away the colours.
Sometimes, in the course of your practice, you will be
100 OF PAINTING THE FACES OF LIVING PERSONS.
obliged to paint flesh, especially faces of men and women (1).
You may temper your colours witli yolk of egg ; or if you
desire to make them more brilliant, with oil, or with liquid
varnish, which is the most powerful of temperas. But should
you wish to remove the colours or tempera from the face,
take the yolk of an egg, and rub a little of it at a time on the
face with the hand. Then take clean water that has been
boiled on bran, and wash the part with it ; then take more of
the yolk of egg, and rub it again on the face ; and again wash
it with the warm water. Do this many times until the colour
be removed from the face. We will say no more on this
subject.
Chap. 162. Why women should abstain from using medicated
loaters on their skin.
It sometimes happens that young ladies, especially those
of Florence, endeavour to heighten their beauty by the appli-
cation of colours and medicated waters to their skin. But as
women who fear God do not make use of these things, and as
I do not wish to render myself obnoxious to them, or to incur
the displeasure of God and our Lady, I shall say no more on
this subject. But I advise you, that if you desire to preserve
your complexion for a long period, to wash yourself with
water from fountains, rivers, or wells ; and I warn you, that if
you use cosmetics, your face will soon become withered, your
teeth black, and you will become old before the natural
course of time, and be the ugliest object possible. This is
quite suflicient to say on this subject.
Chap. 163. Shewing how useful it is to take casts from
the life.
I think I have said enough on colouring of all kinds. I
OF TAKING CASTS FROM LIFE.
101
will now touch upon another subject, which is very useful in
drawing from nature, and similar things (and which contri-
butes greatly to design) ; this is called taking casts {impron-
tare).
Chap. 164. How to take a cast of the face of a man or woman.
Would you take a cast of the face of a man or woman,
and in any position ? Then adopt this mode. Let a young
man, or woman, or an old man, come to you, and let the
beard be shaved ; for the hair and beard are difficult to do.
Then with a large minever pencil anoint the face with some
oil of roses, or other odoriferous oil, put on the capo, ber-
retta, or cappuccio (1), and provide a band, about a span wide
and as long as from one shoulder to the other, surrounding
the top of the berretta ; and sew the edge of it round the
beiretta from one ear to the other. Put into the holes of
each ear a piece of cotton, and draw over them one end of
the band, which you are to sew to the beginning of the
collar ; and give half a turn to the middle of the shoulder,
and return to the buttons in front. Do the same to the
other shoulder, then unite the ends of the band. Having
done this, place the man or woman flat on a carpet, a desk,
or a panel. Provide a hoop of iron, of the width of one or
two fingers, with some teeth on the inside, like a saw. Put
this hoop, which is to be two or three fingers longer than the
face, round the face of the person ; let it be held by your
associate, suspended from the face, that it may not touch the
face of the person. Take the band, and turn it round and
round, putting the end of it, which had not been sewn, into
the teeth of the hoop ; and then confine it between the flesh
and the hoop, so that the hoop shall be beyond the band, and
leave about the width of two fingers or less between the band
OF TAKING CASTS FROM LIFE.
and the flesh, according to the distance you wish the paste to
extend. You will now have to make the cast.
Chap. 165. How to enable a person from whose face a cast is
being taken to breathe.
You must get a goldsmith to make two small tubes of
brass or silver, which are to be round above and more open at
one end than at the other, like a trumpet, each about a span
long, and as large round as a finger, made as light as possible.
The other end must be made the same shape as the nostril ;
but just so much smaller as to enter the nostrils without
leaving any vacant space between them. Let a small hole be
pierced through the middle of each, and bind them together.
Chap. 166. How to take a cast of the living face in plaster
(gesso) ; how to remove a7id preserve it, and to take a cast
from it in metal.
Having done this, and the man or woman still lying down,
put these tubes into the nostrils, and let the person hold them
himself with the hand. Have ready some gesso bolognese, or
volterrano (1), fresh burnt and sifted. Have some cold water
near you in a basin, and put some of it quickly upon the
plaster. Make haste, for it soon sets, and let it be neither
too thick nor too thin ; with a drinking-glass put some of
this composition over the face. When you have covered it
equally, except the eyes, which you are to cover last, let the
mouth and eyes be closed, but not forcibly (for which there is
no necessity), but as if in sleep. When you have filled the
whole space about a finger's depth, let it rest a short time
until it be set ; and remember, that when you are taking a
cast of a person of high rank, such as a lord, a king, a pope,
an emperor (2), you should stir into the plaster rose-water as
OF TAKING CASTS FROM LIFE.
103
well as cold water; but for other persons it is sufficient to
use cold water, from fountains, rivers, or wells, only. Your
composition being set and dry, detach it gently with a palette
knife, penknife, or scissors, from the band which you sewed
round it ; draw the tubes gently from the nose ; let the person
rise, and either sit or stand, while you hold the composition
which is still on the face with your hands, and gently remove
the mask from the face. Put it away, and preserve it care-
fully.
This process being completed, procure a child's girdle,
and put it round the cast, in such a manner that the girdle
shall project about the width of two fingers beyond the edge
of it. With a large minever pencil oil the inside of the cast
with any oil you please, and with all possible diligence, lest
any accident should happen to it. Wet the plaster as before,
and, if you like to add a little pounded brick to it, it will be
an improvement to it ; and then, with a glass or porringer,
put some of it into the cast, which should be placed upon a
bench, so that while you are filling it with the plaster, you
may strike with the other hand upon the bench, in order that
the plaster may enter equally every part of the cast, as the
wax does into a seal, and be free from bubbles.
When the cast is full, let it rest for half a day, or one
day at most. Then with a hammer proceed cautiously to
break the outside cast, that is, the first form you made, in
such a way as not to break the nose or any other part ; and
that you may do this the more easily, before you fill it, saw
it nearly through in several places on the outside, but do not
let your saw pass through it. When you have filled it, you
can easily break it with a slight blow from the hammer. In
this manner you may obtain the effigy, physiognomy, or cast
of any person of rank. And you should know, that when
104
OF TAKING CASTS FROM LIFE.
you have made the first form, you may make a cast of it in
copper, brass, bronze, gold, silver, lead, and generally of any
metal you please ; nevertheless, you should study under mas-
ters who understand the melting and casting of metals.
Chap. 167. How to take a cast of the whole figure of a man
or woman, or an animal, and to make a cast from a model
in metal.
You must know that the above-mentioned mode is that
adopted by the first masters. I must also inform you that
you may take a cast of the whole figure, like the naked
antique figures, of which so many remain. You must select
some naked man or woman, and let the person stand upright
in a sort of box or case, which will reach as high as a man's
chin, and let the case be joined together at the sides length-
ways. Let a very thin copper plate be placed against the
shoulders, beginning at the ear, and reaching to the bottom
of the case, and bind it with a cord to the naked person, so
as not to injure or press into the flesh. Then let the copper
plate be fixed above the edge, where the case is joined. Cut
four copper plates like this, and join them together, like the
edges of the case. Then grease the naked person, put him
directly into the case, mix a large quantity of plaster with
cold water, and take care to have an assistant with you ; and
while you pour the plaster into the case in front of the man,
let the assistant fill the back part at the same time, so that it
may be filled to his throat : with regard to the face, you may
do that at another time, as I have told you before. Let the
plaster rest until it be quite set and dry ; then open the case
where it is joined, separate the edges of the case from the
copper plates with chisels, and open it as you would a nut,
holding on all sides the pieces of the case and of the cast
OF TAKING CASTS FROM LIFE.
105
you have made. Withdraw the naked person very gently
from it, v^^ash him quickly with clean water, for his flesh will
be as red as a rose. In this manner, when you have filled
the surface of the mould, you may make a cast of any metal
you please ; but I recommend you to make it of wax, for this
reason, that the paste may be broken without injury to the
figure, for you may remove it at any time, and make any
repairs that you find necessary. You may then join the head
to it, and the whole being joined together, you may make a
cast of the whole person or of any particular member. You
may, for instance, take a cast of an arm, a hand, a foot, a
leg, a bird, a beast* or any kind of animal or fish. But the
animals must be dead, because they have neither sense nor
firmness to stand still.
Chap. 168. How to model from the life, and then take casts
in metal.
You may also make a model of a person in this manner :
take a quantity either of paste or wax, well stirred and clean,
of the consistence of ointment, and very soft; spread it on a
large table, a dinner-table for instance. Set it on the ground ;
spread the paste on it to the height of half a braccio. Throw
yourself upon it in any attitude you please, either forward or
backward, or on one side. And if this paste take the im-
pression well, you must extricate yourself from it dexter-
ously, so as not to disturb it. Then let the mould dry.
When dry, you may fill it with lead. Do the other side of
your person (the opposite side to that which you have done)
in the same manner. Then join them together, and fill them
both with lead or other metal.
106
OF TAKING CASTS OF FIGURES, COINS, &C.
Chap. 169. To make casts of small figures in lead^ and to
multiply plaster-casts.
If you would make casts of small figures in lead or other
metal, oil your figures, take impressions in wax, and fill them
up with any thing you please. It sometimes happens that
on pictures it is necessary to make some relievos, such as
heads of men, or lions, or other animals, or small figures. Let
the impression that you have made in wax dry ; then oil it
well with salad or lamp-oil. Procure fine or coarse plaster,
ground up with rather strong glue. Fill the mould with this
warm plaster, and let it cool. When cold, separate a little
of the plaster from the casts with your knife. Blow very
hard upon the divided part {spartito). Take up your figure
with your hand, and it is done. And in this manner you
may make casts. Preserve them, and remember that they
are better made in winter than in summer.
Chap. 170. How to make impressions of coins in wax or
paste.
You may, if you please, take impressions of coins in wax
or paste. Let them dry, then melt some sulphur, and fill
them with it, and they will be done ; and if you would make
them of paste only, add to the paste some ground minium,
that is to say, some of the dry powder with the paste, and
make it of the proper consistence.
Chap. 171. How to take impressions of a seal, or money, with
a paste made of ashes.
If you would take very perfect impressions of a seal or
ducat, or any other money, adopt this mode, and set great
value on it, for it is an excellent method. Take a pipkin
OF TAKING CASTS OF FIGURES, COINS, &C. 107
half full of clean water, or quite full, if you please. Take half
a porringer full of ashes. Throw them into the pipkin, and
stir them with the hand. Let the mixture rest a little, and,
before the water becomes quite clear, throw it into another
pipkin; do this several times, and I recommend you to put
in what ashes you want at the first. Then wait until the
water be quite clean, and the ashes settled at the bottom.
Draw off the water, and dry the ashes in the sun, or as you
please. Then add to it salt dissolved in water, and make, as
it were, a paste with it (1). Then make impressions of seals,
money, small figures, or generally of any thing of which you
desire impressions. This done, let the paste dry gradually
without fire or sun. You may pour on this paste melted
lead, silver, or any metal you please, for the paste is suffi-
ciently tenacious to bear a great weight.
CONCLUSION.
Praying that the most high God, our Lady, St. John,
St. Luke the evangelist and painter, St. Eustachius, St.
Francis, and St. Anthony of Padua, may give us grace and
strength to sustain and hear in peace the cares and labours of
this world; and that to those who study this hook, they will
give grace to study it well and to retain it, so that hy the
sweat of their brows they may live peaceahly, and maintain
their families in this world with grace, and finally, in that
which is to come, live with glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
NOTES TO THE WOEK.
Chap. 1.— P. 1.
(1) — Vasari gives to this passage a figurative meaning. I, how-
ever, think it Hteral, Giotto having taken away some of the defects of
the modern Greek style, and formed a Latin, — that is to say, an
Italian school. — Tambroni. Or rather, as Vasari says (vol. iii. p. 10),
created a new style, which he called " the manner of Giotto," hecause
it was adopted by him and his disciples, and was afterwards uni-
versally esteemed and imitated. He did away with the harsh out-
line, the staring eyes, straight feet, and pointed hands, with the
want of shadow, and other defects of the Greeks, and gave a graceful
turn to the heads, and a more natural colouring to the flesh. Giotto
particularly disposed his figures in better attitudes, and was the first
who gave an appearance of vivacity to his heads, and a more natural
flow to his draperies, than those who had preceded him. He shewed
some knowledge of perspective and foreshortening, and was the first
who endeavoured to express the passions in his figures. See Vasari's
Life of Giotto.
To this eulogy of Vasari we shall add an extract from a ms. of
Giambatista Belli, in the Megliabechiana, quoted by Rosini (Storia
della Pittura, vol. ii. p. 65), who concurs in the sentiments therein
expressed.
" Giotto became a most excellent master in painting ; and his
fame was so great, that it was pubHcly said that he had revived the
art of painting after the ancient manner. And the reason of this
was, that having abandoned the rude and unscientific manner of the
Greeks, he represented objects more naturally, adding to them grace
110
NOTES.
and beauty ; he was wonderful in composition, diligent in colouring,
fertile in invention, a careful searcher after truth, and a great imi-
tator of nature. And, among other things, we observe this (which is
a great beauty in his pictures), that all his figures appear to do what
is becoming to them. Those which are in sorrow appear melancholy ;
the joyful appear merry; those who are afraid look fearful; and,
with the exception of Michael Angelo Buonarroti, I have not ob-
served that any one has succeeded better in the expression of the
passions."
" To these qualifications the Florentine master (Giotto) added
faciUty of execution, by which his pictures seemed to spring from
the movement of his pencil without fatigue or labour; and grace,
without which the Greeks said beauty itself would be but an empty
name. As to his colouring, to which neither Vasari nor Lanzi
allude, those learned in the art have agreed that he possessed the
merit not only of having totally abandoned the raw and blackish
tints of the Greeks, but of having introduced into his pictures a placid
harmony, and much of the softness of nature, especially in those
which he painted on wood and in distemper." Rosini, vol. ii. p 15.
Some of the paintings of Giotto may still be seen in the principal
church at Assisi. Rosini adds, that his greatest merit consisted in
being the restorer of painting in Europe after the Greeks and Romans ;
and his greatest glory, in ol)taining from posterity the acknowledg-
ment that the praise of Dante did not appear the effect of favour,
but of justice.
" Credette Cimabue nella pittura
Tener lo campo, ed ora ha Giotto il grido ;
Si, che la fama di colui oscura."
In Plate VI. is represented an outline of a portrait of this great
Italian poet, from a picture by Giotto, discovered at Florence in
the pantry of the prison, which was formerly the chapel of the
Podesta. It is referred to by many writers of Italy as the "lost"
portrait. It was covered over with plaster of Paris, but is in good
preservation. The countenance is pleasing and majestic, free from
NOTES.
Ill
that expression of severity which characterises most of the portraits
of Dante. — Note by Translator.
Taddeo Gaddi, the son of Gaddo Gaddi, was the favourite dis-
ciple and godson of Giotto, with whom he remained until the death
of the latter in 1336. As he lived with Giotto twenty-four years, it
is probable that he assisted in the most famous works of that master.
" Lanzi calls him the Giulio Romano of that school (see Rosini,
vol. ii. p. 15); and I add, that he was greater than Giulio, con-
sidering that the latter did not ennoble his own style so much by
the contemplation of the worlds of RafFaello, as Taddeo did his by
studying those of Giotto. No artist — no one conversant with the
fine arts — who visits the Campo Santo of Pisa can see, among the
various fragments of heads and figures saved from the flames, a
Virgin, with the Divine Son in her arms, without feeHng astonish-
ment at the grandeur of the design, and without inquiring who was
its author ; and the wonder wiU be increased by hearing that it was
the work of a disciple of Giotto."* Ghiberti, in his Commentary ,
says, that Taddeo " was a most skilful artist, and painted pictures
exquisitely." He also painted in the four compartments of the
ceiling of the Chapter House of the Dominican fathers in Santa
Maria Novella, afterwards called the Chapel of the Spaniards, the
glorious Resurrection of the Saviour, the Escape of St. Peter from
Shipwreck, the Ascension, and the Descent of the Holy Ghost,
which last was pronounced by Lanzi to be one of the finest works
of the fourteenth century. In the Resurrection of Christ, Taddeo
conceived that idea which was afterwards carried to perfection by
Correggio in his celebrated " Notte," — that is, to cause the light to
proceed from the glorified body of the Saviour. And if he did not
succeed in developing his ideas in the figures and other parts, on
account of the difliculties he met with, we can understand perfectly
that the requisite mechanical skill was wanting to express the con-
ceptions of genius, which in Gaddi exceeded his skill in the art.
The works in this chapel alone were considered by Rosini the
* See a sketch of this picture, Plate VII.
U2
NOTES.
most important efforts of Italian painting after the time of Giotto,
and sufficient to establish the fame of the artists, Taddeo Gaddi
and Simone Memmi, who painted it ; and he concludes his account
of these two great men by saying that they surpassed every other
painter of the time in which they lived, and that, next to Giotto
(judging from their works which are still preserved), they were
worthy of being proclaimed and acknowledged the great propa-
gators of painting in Italy.
Many works of Taddeo's have been preserved besides those we
have named. Among them axe the picture of the Virgin in the
Baroncelli Chapel, and those in the Sacristy of Santa Croce.
" Whoever considers with attention the pictures begun and
finished at this period by the two contemporary schools of Tuscany,
cannot but be astonished at their importance and extent, not less
than at the extraordinary facility of their execution. I think I am
speaking the truth when I say, that the artists of this period did as
much in months as is now done in years.*
" To this merit they added such an exquisite sense of the
beautiful, and of propriety in the representations of objects and
persons, that we often find these masters of the art unable to ex-
press their conceptions perfectly; but they never deviate from the
right path, or fall into exaggeration, nor are they betrayed into
what was afterwards called mannerism.
" They represent joy as it should be, lively and animated ; their
expression of grief is subdued and natural ; gravity is represented as
dignified, without appearing pompous ; and the grace which accom-
panies the gentler emotions never degenerates into aflfectation."
The great Canova, when he inspected the frescoes of Florence,
frequently bestowed these praises on the principal artists of the
* A principal cause of the great number of works executed by these and
succeeding painters in Italy, and, we may also add, in the great Flemish schools,
is the number of pupils employed by them, and who continued to paint with them
many years, as we are informed by Cennino, "Vasari, and other writers. The
masters made the designs, the pupils advanced the works as far as they were able,
and the finishing touches were afterwards added by the master. — Translator.
NOTES.
113
ancient school, not without adding (amid the admiration they
excited in him), that the art should again return to the observance
of their principles. See Rosini, vol. ii. — Translator.
(2) — This address wUl scarcely be thought extraordinary, w^hen
it is recollected that painting ovred much of the progress it had made
in advance of the other arts to the religious feelings of the people
(Vasari, vol. iii. p. 9), and to the reverence paid by the devotees of
the Roman Catholic Church to the Virgin, and to saints and martyrs.
Many of the painters w^ere monks and priests, who were principally
employed in decorating their churches and convents with scriptural
subjects. By this means, principally, the people became acquainted
with the great events recorded in Scripture. " The best painters of
these days were solely employed," says BufFalmaco, " in painting
male and female saints on walls and pictures; and, in spite of all
the demons, making men better and more devout." Boccaccio, De-
camerone. — Translator.
Chap. 4.— P. 4.
(1) — Triare, macinare : see book ii.
(2) — Incollare: see book v.
(3) — Impannare : see chap. 114.
(4) — Ingessare : see chap. 115.
(5) — Radere i gessi: see chap. 120, 121.
(6) — Rilevare di gesso : see chap. 124-130.
(7) — Mettere d' oro: see chap. 134-140.
(8) — Temperare.
(9) — Campeggiare.
(10) — Spolverare : see chap. 141.
(11) — Grattare : see chap. 142.
(12) — Granare, carucciare : chap. 142.
(13) — Ancona or cona is the same as tavola. Lanzi thinks this
word is derived from the Greek icon, that is, picture ; a very natural
supposition, because those modern Greeks who painted pictures of
saints in Italy would have called them, in their language, icone,
whence cone and ancone. — Tambroni.
I
114
NOTES.
Chap. 5.— P. 4.
(1) — Sommesso. ^
(2) — Polpastrello.
Chap. 6.— P. 5.
(1) — Rosini, alluding to this method of drawing, says: "In
these ancient times these tablets were used to draw, on a small
scale, those subjects which were intended afterwards to be executed
on a large scale." He adds, that the Baron Camuccini possesses
several of them, which were undoubtedly used by Giotto ; and he
gives an outline of two which he considered the most beautiful.
From these the representation of the Virgin and Child (Plate VIII.)
has been selected as one of the illustrations of this work. — Translator.
(2) — These tablets are still made in France and other places. —
Tambroni. This shews the antiquity of grounds made with white
lead and oil. — Translator.
Chap. 7,— P. 5.
(1) — This rather singular allusion to the manners of the times
shews that the practice of picking bones, and throwing them under
the table, was universal. — Translator.
Chap. 10.— P. 7.
(1) — Carta hamhagina : see Preface, by Tambroni.
(2) — Stile. This instrument is described in chap. 142, and is
precisely like those used by the ancients, as represented in Potter's
Antiquities of Greece. — Translator.
(3) — Vernice da scrivere : see Preface, by Tambroni.
(4) — Ink: see note 2 to chap. 37.
(5) — Pezzuole, a red colour brought from the Levant, now
called pezzette di Levante, used by the Italian ladies for rouge.
Pliny mentions a pigment called purpurissum, which he says was
made from creta argentaria, a fine chalk or clay (for the ancients
seem to have been ignorant of the difference between calcareous and
NOTES.
115
aluminous earths), steeped in a purple dye. In colour it ranged
between minium and blue, and included every degree in the scale
of purple shades. He adds, that the best sort came from Pozzuoli,
and that it could not be used on a wet surface. It seems probable
that this was the colour mentioned by Cennino. — Translator.
Chap. 13.— P. 8.
(1) — The shades in these drawings with the stile and pen ap-
pear to have been hatched, that is, shaded with lines, as in drawings.
— Translator.
Chap. 14.— P. 8.
(1) — Cennino mentions no slit for the pen. — Translator.
Chap. 16.— P. 9.
(1) — Terre verte: see chap. 51.
Chap. 17.— P. 10.
(1) — It should be sit nihilominus. Every time that the author
has made use of Latin phrases he has done so in the vulgar manner,
that is, incorrectly. — Tambroni.
Chap. 18.— P. 11.
(1) — No number appears to be mentioned. — Translator.
(2) — Lapis amatisto: see chap. 42 and notes.— Translator.
Chap. 19.— P. 11.
(1) — In other places this is called baccadeo, which reading seems
more correct, either because indigo was prepared from those beads
(bacche), or rods of blue glass, which were made formerly and are
still made at Venice, or because indigo, extracted from woad, issues
from the plant like a berry (bacca) or froth. Perhaps maccabeo and
baccadeo were terms used by the Venetian merchants, who brought
the indigo from the Levant.— Tambroni. It seems more probable that
the term baccadeo was derived from Bacam, a city of India in the
116
NOTES.
Delta of the Ganges, from whence it was probably brought, and
that the meaning was indigo of Bacam. The editor also applies the
term indaco to the blue tints extracted from woad, and to other
blues besides those which were brought from India, thus using it
in a general rather than a specific sense. — Translator.
Chap. 22.— P. 12.
(1) — As the author has always spoken of the proportion of
ounces, it is probable the negligence of the amanuensis has omitted
the word " ounce." — Tamhroni.
Chap. 27.— P. 14.
(1) — This chapter throws great light on the state of these
ancient schools, in which the disciples always imitated their masters.
If we always imitate the manner of one master, we shall infallibly
acquire it, and make it our own. Leonardo da Vinci, in his Treatise
on Painting, chap. 24, condemns this practice. He says that a
painter who adopts this plan will be the nephew rather than the child
of nature. — Tamhroni.
Chap. 29.— P. 15.
(1) — Leonardo da Vinci, in his Treatise on Painting, recommends
solitude to painters. — Tamhroni.
Chap. 30.— P. 16.
(1) — ^This appears to be an error, since Cennino (chap. 70)
divides the face into three parts, namely, the head (or forehead), the
nose, and the chin. — Translator.
Chap. 31.— P. 16.
(1) — Pennello mozzetto. This term occurs frequently : it is used
where flat tints or broad shadows are to be laid. It seems that the
hairs in such pencils were all of one length, not terminating in a
point. (See chap. 65.) This chapter shews that the shades were
NOTES.
117
laid on flat, and softened oflf, and not hatched, as in pen-and-ink
drawings. — Translator.
(2) — Cennino does not give directions for dissolving gum arabic ;
but it is well known to be soluble in cold water. — Translator.
Chap. 34.— P. 19.
(1) — Good black chalk for drawing is found near Ban try Bay in
Ireland, and also in Wales ; but the Italian has the best reputation.
Field's Chromatography, p. 318. — Translator.
Chap. 36.— P. 20.
(1) — It would seem that Cennino did not intend to speak of the
stone we now call serpentine, because that is a hard stone, and is
now used by painters. The same name must have been given in
his days to a softer kind of stone. Pliny says (lib. 36, cap. 7) there
were two sorts of this stone (serpentine), one white and soft, the
other black and hard. — Tambroni. The serpentine, called soap-
stone, near the Lizard in Cornwall, is soft. — Translator.
(2) — The hraccio of Florence contains about twenty-three inches.
It is used to measure woollen and silk goods. The stone used by
Cennino must have been about a foot square ; consequently he could
have ground but little colour at a time. — Translator.
(3) — Such a stone is called a muller; glass is often substituted
for this. — Translator.
(4) — A sjiatula or palette-knife of wood. It will be observed,
in the course of the work, that the old painters were very careful
not to let iron touch their colours. See chap. 113-136. — Translator.
(5) — It is worthy of consideration, whether this mode of preserv-
ing the colours by keeping them under water, and consequently
excluding the air, is not to be preferred to the modern practice of
keeping them dry in bottles. — Translator.
Chap. 37.— P. 21.
(1) — Field, in his Chromatography (p. 315), says, that all car-
bonaceous blacks have, when duly mixed with white, a preserving
118
NOTES.
influence upon colours, which they owe chemically to the bleaching
power of carbon, and chromatically to the neutraUsing and con-
trasting power of black with white. — Translator.
(2) — Lamp black. The ancients, according to Dioscorides (lib.
5, cap. 139, e. 140), made use of this condensed smoke for their
writing-ink. To three ounces of the lamp black they added one
pound of gum. But the lamp black for painting is now collected
from the smoke of the glass furnaces. — Tambronl. This is the ink of
which Cennino speaks in the early chapters of the book. It is also
mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci, who employed it as a pigment in
shading. — Translator.
Chap. 38.— P. 22.
(1) — This colour, as well as cinabrese, which is made from it,
is no longer known by this name. Mattioli, in his Erhario, and in
his discourse on the fifth book of Dioscorides, c. 71, p. 752, has this
definition : " This red ochre of Sinopia is very fine ; it is heavy,
dense, and of the colour of liver, without any mixture of stone ; it
is coloured equally throughout, and, if put into water, diflruses itself
copiously. It is dug in Cappadocia out of certain caves, and after-
wards carried to the city of Sinopia, where it is purified and sold ;
and is thence called sinopia. It has the property of drying," &c.
Dioscorides finishes here. His commentator says, that in his time
there was none which could with truth be said to be the true
sinopia ; therefore it is Hkely that this was coarse Armenian bole.
He cites Giorgio Agricola, from whom he collects that sinopia was
found in his own mines, as well in gold mines as in those of copper,
silver, and iron. Pliny speaks of sinopia (book 35, c. 7) as one of
the four colours of which Apelles, Echiones, Melanzio, &c., made
use. Lazzarini, in the fourth dissertation on painting (p. 120, Op.
torn, i.), asserts that it is the same colour as our red earth ; but per-
haps it was a finer colour. It appears to have been a dark-red earth,
or brown oxide of iron, the metal being oxidised in the third degree.
— Tamhroni.
NOTES.
119
(2) — With this colour are made most of the beautiful red grounds
so much admired at Pompeii and elsewhere (Davy on the Colours
used by the Ancients, — Phil. Trans., 1815), There were three sorts;
the best came from Lemnos, and was stamped to shew that it was
genuine; it was also brought from Egypt and Africa, from the
Balearic islands, and from Cappadocia. — Translator.
Chap. 39.— P. 22.
(1) — This chapter is a proof that Vasari had never read this
book, because, as I have mentioned in the Preface, he said, in the
life of Agnolo Gaddi, that Cennino does not mention this colour. —
Tambroni (Vas. ii. p. 223).
Chap. 40.— P. 23.
(1) — The monks were the great preservers of learning in those
days, and doubtless many important secrets in the arts are yet con-
cealed in convents. Vasari likewise mentions the skill of an abbot
in preparing ultramarine. See the Life of Pietro Perugino. — Trans-
lator.
(2) — " E dove e in maggiore altezza il tiglio piu disteso e delicato."
I am in doubt as to the exact signification of this passage ; but think
the meaning may be collected from the subjoined description of arti-
ficial unground cinnabar, which was that described by Cennino. —
Translator.
" Vermilion, or cinnabar, is a compound of mercury and sulphur,
in the proportion of 100 parts of the former to 16 parts of the latter,
which occurs in nature as a common ore of quicksilver, and is pre-
pared by the chemist as a pigment, under the name of vermilion.
It is, properly speaking, a bisulphuret of mercury. This artificial
compound being extensively employed, on account of the beauty of
its colour, in painting, for making red sealing-wax, and other pur-
poses, is the object of an important manufacture. When vermilion
is prepared by means of sublimation, it concretes in masses of consi-
derable thickness, concave on one side, convex on the other, of a needle
120
NOTES.
form, colour brownish -red in the lump, but, when reduced to
powder, of a lively red colour. On exposure to a moderate heat it
evaporates, without leaving a residuum, if it be not contaminated
with red lead ; and at a higher heat it takes fire and burns entirely
away with a blue flame." Ure's Dictionary of Art. Merimee says,
that the Ethiop's mineral (sulphur and mercury) when sublimed
yields a crystaUised mass, composed of bright filaments of a violet
tint, which by trituration become of a scarlet colour. — Translator.
(3) — In the Report of the Commissioners of the Fine Arts, it is
stated, that a method has been discovered by which vermilion is
rendered durable in fresco painting.
" When pure and alone, light does not afffect its colour ; but
white lead, or any oxide or preparation of that metal, mixed with it,
soon deprives it of colour, and acids have the same effect ; impure
air will blacken or metallise it. When used alone, or under favour-
able circumstances, it will stand a long time ; hence it has a varying
character for durability. It can only be used safely with earths,
ochres, and blacks." Field, p. 175 ; and see the note to chap. 41. —
Translator.
Chap. 41.— P. 24.
(1) — Minium was called cerusta usta by the ancients. It is
durable when used alone, but loses its colour when mixed with white
lead, or any other preparation of lead, or with acids. It may, how-
ever, be mixed with ochres, earths, or black (Field) ; and Cennino
and other old masters used it with vermilion. — Translator.
Chap. 42.— P. 24.
(1) — Baldinucci, in the life of Cennino, observes, that this word
amatisto, or amatito, is a better word than that which we (the
Italians) now use, — namely, matita ; since hcematios, from whence it
is derived, signifies sanguine. The Latins say, haematites, or ame-
thystine. Ant. Tilesias, in his book De Colorib. p. 432, speaking of
this colour, says : " Amethystinus prseterea, ex quo tyriamethystus
NOTES.
121
in usu fuit olim." (And the amethyst, an extract from which, the
tyriamethyst, was formerly in use.)
The cardinals had the red hat by a decree of the Council of
Lyons, held in 1245 by Innocent IV., who gave it to them at
Clugny in 1247. They did not adopt the red dress until 1464, —
that is, under the pontificate of Paul II. ; therefore, at the period
when Cennino was living, they still wore the purple colour. — Tam-
broni.
It appears to me that there are two minerals known by names
somewhat similar, and that the distinction between them is not
sufficiently attended to. The amatito of Cennino is probably native
cinnabar, which " occurs crystallised in rhomboids, has a flat con-
choidal fracture, is fine-grained, opaque, has an adamantine lustre,
and is of a colour varying from cochineal to ruby red. It is met
with, in larger or smaller lumps, in veins, which are surrounded by
a black clay, and is associated with native quicksilver amalgam, with
iron ore, lead glance, blende, copper ore, gold," &c. The above de-
scription talhes well with that given by our author, and by Baldi-
nucci, in the Vocabolario del Disegno. It is produced in many
countries, and is said by Dr. Ure to be the most prolific ore of
sulphur. As a permanent red inclining to crimson would be a
most desirable addition to our colours for painting in fresco, a pur-
suit now so much encouraged by government, artists should make
experiments with native cinnabar, which would require no further
preparation than that of grinding. The other mineral, amatita, or
matita (terminating in a), which is certainly the hematite, the wood-
iron of Cornwall, is comparatively a soft stone, and is used for
drawing ; it is either red or black. See // Reposo di Raffaello
Borghini. This is an ore of iron, and is found, says Vasari (In-
troduction to the Three Arts, chap, xxxii.) in iron mines. A stone
so soft as to be used for drawing could not have been used for
burnishing gold, which it would undoubtedly have tinged with its
colour. The colour of this stone also is red, or a reddish brown,
while that of the first inclines to purple. The French painters used
122
NOTES.
a natural red earth, which was brought from England (the terra
rossa d'Inghilterra of Pozzo), instead of lake, which could not be
used in fresco ; and we are told, that the damper the wall was on
which it was applied, the finer did the colours become. " The
ancients," adds De Piles {Elemens de Peinture, part i. chap, viii.),
" had a colour nearly resembling lake, with which they painted in
fresco ; but its composition is unknown to us." It is probable that
he alluded here to the amatito of Cennino. Pozzo used calcined
Roman vitriol (vitriolo abbrucciato, oxidum ferri rubrum, red oxide
of iron), mixed with vermilion, for painting draperies in fresco : he
informs us that from this mixture resulted a purple colour as bril-
liant as that of the finest lake. See Pozzo's instructions for painting
in fresco at the end of his well-known work, the Jesuit's Perspec-
tive, and note (1) to chap. 72. — Translator.
Chap. 43.— P. 24.
(1) — This pigment is a resin of a red colour, which, during the
dog-days, exudes from the tree called pterocarpus draco by Linnaeus.
Vide Marcucci, Sag. Analit. p. 138. The Caval. Rosa {Trat. delle
Porpor. p. 196), among many others, thinks that this may be the
lapathum mentioned by the anonymous Greek author to whose
work we have referred, and which has been translated into Latin
by Bulengero. — Tambroni.
It is thought that this is the colour called cinnabar by the
Indians, said to be produced by the mixed blood of elephants and
dragons in their deadly fights. Of all colours, it most aptly repre-
sents blood. Modern research has confirmed the opinion of Cen-
nino as to its value as a pigment. White lead soon destroys it. —
Translator.
Chap. 44.— P. 24.
(1) — This is gum-lac. It is not at present in use by painters,
but it was used by the masters of the old school, and principally
by the Venetians ; perhaps because Venice was the great mart for
NOTES.
12S
colours, and there they were most perfect. This lake, which was
then a common colour, was very excellent at that time. The word
lacca, lake, is said to be from the Arabic, lack : it was called by the
Greeks also lacca. Rosa, in his treatise Delle Porpor. p. 192, e
seg., cites two passages preserved and translated by Bulengero,
the one from Democritus of Abdera, and the other from an anony-
mous author, which specify among the ingredients used in counter-
feiting purple, the lacca acaica, or flower of the acaja ; but Rosa
confesses his ignorance in this particular, nor does he know whether
the lacca tinctorum of Mirpesio is the resin, or gum-lac, or the
flower of the acaja. — Tambroni.
The lakes found in old pictures were prepared either from the
lac or kermes. The lac-lake is less brilliant and more durable than
those of cochineal and kermes, but inferior, in both respects, to the
colours of madder. — Field, 184, 185. It is imported from India in
cakes, stamped with peculiar marks to designate the diff'erent manu-
factures. The solvent used for them is either sulphuric or muriatic
acid. Dr. John found the lac-dye to consist of colouring-matter,
50 ; resin, 25 ; and solid matter, composed of alumina, plaster, chalk,
and sand, 22. — Translator.
Chap. 45.— P. 25.
(1) — Ochre, yellow and brown, is a native earthy mixture of
silica and alumina, coloured by oxide of iron, with occasionally a
little calcareous matter and magnesia. Ochre occurs in beds some
feet thick, which lie generally above the oolite, — are covered by
sandstone and quartzose sands, more or less ferruginous, and are
accompanied by grey plastic clays of a yellowish or reddish colour,
all of them substances which contribute more or less to its forma-
tion. The ochry earths are prepared for use by grinding under
edge millstones and elutriation. The yellow ochres may be easily
rendered red or reddish brown by calcination in a reverberatory
oven, which oxidises their iron to a higher degree.
Native red ochre is called red chalk and ruddle in England.
124
NOTES.
It is an intimate mixture of clay and red iron ochre, is massive, of
an earthy fracture, is brownish-red or blood-red, and it stains and
writes red. The oxide of iron is sometimes so considerable that the
ochre may be reckoned an ore of that metal. — Ure's Dictionary of
the Arts. The ochres are valuable pigments ; they are not affected
by light, impure air, or the action of lime ; but in time they become
somewhat darkened. — Field.
Chap. 46.— P. 26.
(1) — This doubtful declaration of the author respecting the
nature of giallorino, shews that he did not know the preparation of
all the colours, nor whence they were brought. — Tamhroni.
Giallorino is a compound of the oxides of lead and antimony.
It was anciently prepared at Naples, and is still prepared in Italy by
a secret process ; for few of the receipts which have been pubhshed
produce a good colour. It is apt to be very unequal in different
samples. It is supposed to have been a native production of Vesu-
vius and other volcanoes, and is a pigment of deservedly consider-
able reputation. Iron is destructive of its colour. For this reason
it should not be mixed with Prussian blue, or ochres, and other pig-
ments of which iron is an ingredient. It may be used pure, or with
white lead. It dries well in oil. See Field, Ure. — Translator.
Chap. 47.— P. 27.
(1) — Artificial orpiment, of which Cennino speaks, is manufac-
tured chiefly in Saxony, by subliming, in cast-iron cucurbits, sur-
mounted by conical cast-iron capitals, a mixture in due proportion
of sulphur and arsenious acid (white arsenic). As thus obtained, it
is in yellow, compact, opaque masses, of a glassy aspect, affording a
powder of a pale yellow colour. Genuine orpiment is often adulte-
rated with an ill-made compound, which is sold in this country by
the preposterous name of king's yellow. This fictitious substance is
frequently nothing else than white arsenic combined with a little
sulphur, and is quite soluble in water. Ure's Diet. The ancients
NOTES.
125
possessed this pigment, which they called auri pigmentum. It could
not be used on wet surfaces.
It is also found in a natural state in volcanic districts, and the
best specimens are brought from Persia. It has been observed that
orpiment and other poisonous pigments are less poisonous in the
natural than in the artificial state. — Translator.
(2) — ^We may here remark that the school of Giotto did not
approve of the use of orpiment ; and Cennino, indeed, seems to
have had almost an antipathy to it : see chaps. 47, 48, and 72.
Much has been written lately on mixing powdered glass, or pure
silica, with colours, in order to give them the rich varnishy look
observable in old pictures. Powdered glass is opaque ; and we do
not observe that those colours with which it is mixed are remarkable
for any varnishy appearance. I allude particularly to orpiment, and
also to smalt, " with which (says Dr. Ure) powdered glass is mixed, to
render the tint lighter;" which it could not do, were it not opaque.
I think the passage in the text of Cennino conclusive as to its
use, and that the old masters did not use levigated glass with their
pigments as a dryer, as supposed by Mr. Field in his Chromato-
graphy, p. 151, but merely to assist in pulverising and dividing the
pigment more perfectly. Mr. Field surmises, also, that orpiment
may have been used with simple varnish. Now we do not know
what the old masters meant precisely by the term " varnish," but
Cennino says expressly of this colour, that it would bear no tem-
pera hut size. The old masters were accustomed to mix it with
indigo as well as with ultramarine. — Translator.
Chap. 48.— P. 27.
(1) — The vocabulary has risigallo and risagallo. But this word,
deriving its origin from the Arabic risalgallo, seems preferable, be-
cause the article al should be preserved. The chemists now call
it realgar. See Marcucci, Sag. Analit., p. 87. The learned pro-
fessor Lanzi gave me the following note, which explains the nature
of its composition : Alegejar. psilotricum ex calce viva et arsenico. —
Tambroni.
126
NOTES.
Red orpiment is a native ore, which occurs in primitive moun-
tains, associated sometimes with native arsenic, under the form of
veins or efflorescences, very rarely crystalline ; as also in volcanic dis-
tricts,— for example, at Solfaterra, near Naples ; or sublimed in the
shape of stalactites in the fissures and craters of Etna, Vesuvius, and
other volcanos. It has a fine scarlet colour in mass, but orange in
powder, whereby it is distinguishable from cinnabar. It is soft, sex-
tile, readily scratched by the nail ; its fracture vitreous and conchoi-
dal. It volatilises easily before the blow-pipe, emitting the garlic
smell of arsenic along with that of burning sulphur. It consists of
arsenic 70, sulphur 30, in 100 parts. Factitious orpiment has not
the rich colour of the native pigment, and is more poisonous. The
orange hue is produced by heat. See lire's Diet. — Translator.
Chap. 50.— P. 28.
(1) — This word is no longer applicable to any colour. Perhaps
arzica may be what we now call gamboge, — the cambodia gutta of
Linnaeus. — Tambroni.
This is scarcely probable, since gamboge is a natural pigment,
being a gum issuing from the above-mentioned tree, and Cennino
informs us that arzica was a chemical production. — Translator.
(2) — ^Della Magna, AUemagne, Germany. See ch. 61. — Trans-
lator.
Chap. 51.— P. 28.
(1) — Cennino appears to have had a great partiaUty for this
colour; and it seems to have deserved its reputation, since it is
unaffected by strong light or impure air, and combines with other
colours without injury. It has not much body, is semitransparent,
and dries well in oil. The best is procured from Monte Baldo, near
Verona. It was much used by all the old masters, particularly in
representing dead persons. — Translator.
(2) — Cennino gives directions for gilding on verde terra in chap.
133. — Translator.
NOTES.
127
Chap. 52.— P. 29.
(1) — This is an ore of cobalt, and owes its green colour to the
copper, iron, or zinc with which it is combined. It is a very durable
pigment. — Translator.
Chap. 55.— P. 30.
(1) — The reason of this appears to be, that the green will be
lighter if the yellow be put first, and the blue added afterwards ; for
if the blue be put first, the green may become so dark, that it will be
necessary to make a great quantity in order to produce a light tint
of green, and thus create a waste of colour. — Translator.
Chap. 56.— P. 30.
(1) — The painters who lived when the arts were restored in Italy
used this colour ; and Leonardo da Vinci, in his treatise on Painting,
cap. xcix., advises the application of varnish to the surface of the
colour as soon as it is dry, because, being a soluble salt, it would be
carried oflr whenever the picture was washed. This colour when
ground in oil-varnish is not soluble in water, but its only use is in
glazing (see Cennino, chap. 142, 143), and as a dryer in mordants
(see chap. 152). The bright greens seen in some old pictures are
made by glazings of verdigris. De Piles calls this pigment the ruin
of all colours, and says, that if the smallest particle enter into the
ground, it is sufficient to spoil the whole picture. It should be used
always alone, for it destroys other pigments when it is mixed with
them. Pencils and brushes that have been used for verdigris must
never be used with other colours. De Piles, Elemens de Peinture,
part i. chap. 4. — Translator.
Chap. 58.— P. 31.
(1) — Bianco sangiovanni prepared in the manner described by
Cennino is not, that I am aware of, any longer in use in painting
in fresco. We can readily believe that on this depends in a great
measure the success of this mode of painting. It might, then, be
128
NOTES.
useful to return to this practice. Armenini, in cap. 7. of book ii.,
taught various modes of purifying this kind of white ; but none of
them are at all like this. — Tambroni.
Modem fresco painters prepare their white exactly in the manner
described by Cennino. See the Report of the Commissioners on the
Fine Arts. — Translator.
Chap. 59.— P. 32.
(1) — It is customary on the continent to mould the white lead
into conical loaves before sending them into the market. This is
done by stuffing well-drained white lead into unglazed earthen pots
of the requisite size and shape, and drying it to a solid mass, by
exposing these pots in stove-rooms. The moulds being now in-
verted on tables, discharge their contents, which then receive a final
desiccation, and are afterwards put up in pale blue paper, to set off
the white colour by contrast. Nothing in all the white-lead process
is so injurious as this pot operation — a useless step, fortunately un-
known in Great Britain. Neither greasing the skin nor wearing
thick gloves can protect the operators from the diseases induced by
the poisonous action of the white lead ; and hence they must be
soon sent off to some other department of the work. Ure's Diet.
(2) — When white lead has lost its colour, it may be restored by
the application of oxygenated water. — Translator.
Chap. 60.— P. 32.
(1) — Of this blue the best sort comes from Saxony, and is a
vitreous oxide of cobalt, combined with potash and white sUicious
sand, and with oxide of arsenic ; and was much used in the time of
the author. The blues of Berhn, of Paris, and of cobalt, are of
recent invention. — Tambroni. When the cobalt has been deprived of
the arsenic by roasting, and has been mixed with two or three parts of
very pure silicious sand, it is called zaffre. Another pigment, called
azure or smalt, is prepared from zaiFre. The more free the cobalt
is from foreign metals, the finer is the colour, and the deeper is the
NOTES.
129
shade ; paler tints are easily obtained by the addition of more glass.
The presence of nickel gives a violet tone (Ure's Diet, of Arts,
p. 303). This purple tint may be frequently observed in old pic-
tures, and appears to be very durable. — Translator.
Chap. 61.— P. 32.
(1) — Indigo appears to have been known to the ancients under
the name of purpurissum indicum. It was one of the colours which
Pliny says could not be used on wet walls, consequently not on
fresco. At a later period it was, however, used in fresco during
the summer, at which time it dried well, but never during the
winter, when it would not dry. See L' Abecedario Pittorico, and
the note to chap. 144. It was much used in painting about the
time of the monk Theophilus, who mentions it in his work De Arte
Pingendi, lib. i. cap. 14.
Chap. 62.— P. 33.
(1) — The present mode of preparing this colour (Marcucci, Sag.
Analit., p. 50, 54) is very different from that described by Cennino
in this chapter. Painters should give it a trial. The method of the
author has the experience of centuries in its favour, and the beauty
of the blue draperies which we see in old pictures and on walls is
perfectly astonishing. It is to be observed, that the action of fire,
to which the stone is now subjected, is likely to produce some altera-
tion in the colour. — Tambroni.
(2) — Cennino seems to have been somewhat of the same opinion
in this respect as Pope Sextus IV., of whom the following anecdote
is related by Vasari in his Ufe of Cosmo Roselli, who died in 1484.
" It is said that the pope had promised to give a prize to the painter
whose picture he should consider the best executed. The pictures
being finished, and every artist having used his best endeavours to
deserve the prize and honour, his holiness went to see them. Cosmo
Roselli, being aware that he was deficient in invention and design,
sought to conceal these defects by covering the work with the finest
K
130
NOTES.
ultramarine and other brilliant colours, and illuminating it with a
great quantity of gold, so that there was neither tree, nor grass,
nor drapery, nor cloud, that was not illuminated ; for he thought that
the pope, who understood but httle of the art, would on this account
award him the prize. The day being arrived when the pictures of
all the artists were to be exhibited, that of Cosmo was the laughing-
stock of all the other painters, and they bantered instead of com-
passionating him. But the laugh was soon turned against them ;
for the colours, as Cosmo had expected, so dazzled the eyes of the
pope, who did not understand painting, although he took much
deHght in pictures, that he adjudged the work of Cosmo to be better
than all the rest. And so he ordered the prize to be given to him,
and commanded that the other artists should cover their pictures
with the best azure that could be procured, and illuminate them
with gold, until they were as richly coloured as that of Cosmo. The
poor unfortunate painters, in despair that they were obliged to yield
to the ignorance of the holy father, now took the same pains to spoil
their works as they had formerly done to make them perfect ; and
Cosmo in his turn laughed at those who a short time before had
laughed at him."
I subjoin the modern mode of preparation, and also some methods
of preparing factitious ultramarine, for the purpose of shewing that
the fine colour of the old ultramarine was probably owing to the lye
with which it was prepared. It would be worth while to ascertain
whether the lye, after being removed from the ultramarine on which
it has stood for some time, have parted with any of its alkali, or
whether it be as strong as when first used. The use of lye with
colours was by no means uncommon with the old masters, as I shall
hereafter mention.
" Till a few years ago every attempt failed to make ultramarine
artificially. At length, in 1828, M. Guimet resolved the problem,
guided by the analysis of MM. Clement and Desormes, and by an
observation of M. Tassaert, that a blue substance like ultramarine
was occasionally produced on the sandstone hearths of his reverbera-
NOTES,
131
tory soda furnaces. Of M. Guimet's finest pigment I received a bottle,
several years ago, from my friend M. Merimee, secretary of the Ecole
des Beaux Arts, which has been found by artists little if any inferior
to the lazzulite ultramarine. M. Guimet sells it at sixty francs per
pound French, vrhich is httle more than two guineas the English
pound. He has kept his process secret. But M. Gmelin, of Tubin-
gen, has published a prescription for making it, which consists in
enclosing carefully in a Hessian crucible a mixture of 2 parts of
sulphur and 1 of dry carbonate of soda, heating them gradually to
redness till the mass fuses, and then sprinkhng into it by degrees
another mixture of silicate of soda and aluminate of soda ; the first
containing 72 parts of silica, and the second 70 parts of alumina.
The crucible must be exposed after this for an hour to the fire. The
ultramarine will be formed by this time, only it contains a little sul-
phur, which can be separated by means of water. M. Persoz, pro-
fessor of chemistry at Strasbourg, has likewise succeeded in making
an ultramarine, of perhaps still better quality than that of M. Guimet.
Lastly, M. Robiquet has announced, that it is easy to form ultra-
marine by heating to redness a proper mixture of kaolin (China clay),
sulphur, and carbonate of soda. It would therefore appear, from
the preceding details, that ultramarine may be regarded as a com-
pound of silicate of alumina, silicate of soda, with sulphuret of
sodium ; and that to the reaction of the last constituent upon the
former two it owes its colour." — lire.
In preparing ultramarine for painting, it is now the practice to
calcine the lapis lazzuli at a red heat, then quench in water, and
grind to an impalpable powder. It is then worked into a paste com-
posed of 100 parts lapis lazzuli, 40 resin, 20 white wax, 25 linseed
oil, and 15 Burgundy pitch. After standing fifteen days, and knead-
ing it, the ultramarine is separated by washing it with clean water
heated to 150 degrees; the residue only, which yields the ultra-
marine ashes, is treated with a solution of soda. Ultramarine is
found to consist of silica, alumina, sulphur, and soda or potash. De
Piles observes, that ultramarine when calcined became more brilliant.
132
NOTES.
but that the quantity was diminished, and that by refining it in this
manner it became coarser in texture, and difficult to use in miniature
painting, — a charge equally applicable to the modern pigment. —
Translator.
(3) — The word lazzari, instead of lazzuU, which is used by good
writers, and is to be found in the vocabularies, at first appears a
vulgarism. But if we pay attention to the following note, for which
I am indebted to the Abate Lanzi, professor of Oriental languages,
we cannot but acknowledge that the word lazzari more nearly re-
sembles the root from which it is derived than the word lazzuli.
We could not then consider it a provincialism, but merely a word no
longer in use. " Lazoard, coll' articolo al-Lazoard, vocabolo per-
siano, usato dagli Arabi e vale cilestro ; da cui ne viene 1' azzurro."
— Tambroni.
(4) — Though the blue colour be extracted, a fine cool grey re-
mains, which is now used under the name of ultramarine ashes. —
Translator.
(5) — Kermes grains are the dried bodies of the female insect of
the Coccus ilicis, which lives upon the leaves of the prickly oak.
It has been known in the East from the time of Moses, and has been
employed from time immemorial in India to dye silk. It was also
used by the Greek and Roman dyers. Pliny calls it coccigramm ;
and says that there grew upon the oaks of Africa, Sicily, &c., a small
excrescence like a bud, called cusculium. The Spaniards paid half
their tribute in these grains. There are many varieties. In Ger-
many it is called Johannis blut (St. John's blood). Good kermes is
plump, of a deep red colour, an agreeable smell, and a rough and
pungent taste. Its colouring matter is soluble in water and alcohol.
It becomes yellowish or brownish with acids, and violet or crimson
with alkalis ; with alum it forms a blood red. It is more permanent
than the colour produced by cochineal, as is proved by the brilliancy
of the old Brussels tapestry. Ure. — Translator.
(6) — Verzino. This word is usually translated Brazil wood; but
it is evident, as Brazil wood was not known until some years after
NOTES.
133
the discovery of America in 1492, that Cennino could not have
been acquainted with it. It is highly probable that by verzino
Cennino meant the litmus or archil, the use of which was revived by
Federigo of Florence in the beginning of the fourteenth century (the
dates therefore agree) ; and he made such an immense fortune by its
preparation, that his family became one of the grandees of that city,
under the name of Orcellarii, or RuceUarii. For more than a century
Italy possessed the exclusive art of making archil, obtaining the
lichens from the islands of the Mediterranean. It is now prepared
in Holland from a species of lichen called Lecanora tartarea, Rocella
tartar ea, brought from the Canary islands, Sweden, &c,, by a pro-
cess which has been kept secret. The litmus is formed into small
, cubical pieces, which are dried in the shade. It has a violet colour,
is easy to pulverise (another point of agreement with the verzino of
Cennino), and is partially soluble in water and alcohol. The colour
is not altered by alkahs, but acids turn it red ; it is used in chemistry
as a delicate test of acidity. Its colour is not durable. — Translator.
Chap. 64.— P. 36.
(1) — This should be made the subject of an experiment, as, at
the present time, the hairs are no longer baked. — Tambroni.
(2) — This shews that the old masters did not use brushes with
long handles. — Translator.
(3) — Hair-pencils are now made from the hair of other animals
besides those of the minever, by a process somewhat different from
that described above, but which it is useless to describe, good
brushes, especially those from Paris, being now so easily obtained ;
besides, their manufacture requires great skill and experience, there
being, it is said, but four first-rate hands among all the dexterous
pencil-makers of Paris, and these are principally women. The usual
criterion of a good pencil is to form a fine point, so that all the hairs,
without exception, may be united when they are moistened by laying
them on the tongue or drawing them through the lips ; but this, of
134
NOTES.
course, does not apply to those mentioned in the text requiring points
of a different form. — Translator.
Chap. 65.— P. 37.
(1) — The author adds, "con groppo over nodo di bomare over
vesuo." The editor remarks, in a note to this passage, that it is
impossible to find any traces of these words, and thinks it likely
that the amanuensis may have made an error in copying. It is not,
however, of great importance to ascertain with what kind of ligature
the brushes were fastened to their handles. — Translator.
Chap. 67.— P. 39.
(1) — Painting in fresco on walls is also called by Vasari {Intro-
duction to the Three Arts, chap, xix.) more masterly, noble, manly,
secure, resolute, and durable, than any other kind of painting.
That this mode of painting was practised by the ancient Greeks
and Romans, there appears to me no doubt, if we read Vitruvius,
lib. vii. chap, iii., attentively. Some persons, nevertheless, have
called it in question, and among them, Requenos {Sag. sul Ristabil.
dell' Eiicausto, vol. i. p. 188, e seg.), who, by a forced interpreta-
tion, would explain the udo tectorio of Vitru^'ius in his own way, as
referring to encaustic painting. But this opinion was victoriously
combated by the author in his work Delia Memoria per le Belle
Arte, printed in the Efemeridi Romane of 1785, month of July. —
Tambroni.
(2) — Intonaco signifies the last coat of lime laid on walls previous
to painting on them in fresco. See Vasari and Baldinucci, Voc.
Dis. The term arricciato is applied to the second coat of plaster,
which was made of river-sand and lime. See Baldinucci, Voc. Dis.
Vasari . — Translator .
(3) — This passage is extremely obscure ; but the following ex-
tracts may assist in rendering it more intelligible : —
In the Life of Simon Memmi, Vasari, after mentioning many
NOTES.
135
paintings done by Memmi in the church of San Francesco in Ascesi,
adds, that some " remained imperfect, and were drawn, as may
still be seen, with a pencil dipped in rossaccio, on the arricciato ;
which was the method pursued by the old masters, for the sake of
expedition, in making their designs when working in fresco; for
having divided the whole arricciato into squares, they drew on it in
pencil, copying from a small drawing what they intended to do, and
enlarging it in the proportion required for their work." And, again,
in the Introduction to the Three Arts, " the cartoons must be divided
into squares, that the drawing may be correct and properly propor-
tioned." I have seen small original drawings in pen and ink, by
the ItaUan masters, which were divided into squares of little more
than half an inch diameter, for the purpose of being enlarged for
fresco and other paintings; and there is no doubt that Cennino
intends to describe the process of doing this. — Translator.
(4) — Parri Spinelli was the first who discontinued the use of this
verdaccio. Vasari (vol. iii. p. 98) says, " he used solid colours in
making his mixtures and tints, laying them judiciously in their
proper places, — that is, the lights on the most elevated parts, then
the middle tints for the general colours of the flesh, and the dark
colours on the outlines. In this mode of painting he shewed great
facility, and gave great durability to his fresco paintings, because he
put the colours in their proper places, and then united them together
with a large and soft brush ; and so well did he execute his works,
that one would never wish to see better, and his colouring is un-
equalled."— Translator.
(5) — See the letter from Mr. Andrew Wilson to his son in the
Report of the Commissioners, where he describes the method of
painting pursued by Signor Pasciani at Genoa. See also Vasari's
Life of Buonamico Buffalmacco, vol. ii. p. 144. — Translator.
(6) — Vasari likewise gives this praise to Agnolo Gaddi, and says
he was not great in design. — Tamhroni. Rosini also {Storia della
Pittura) confirms Vasari's opinion of the merit of this artist. The
works of his maturer age did not fulfil the early promise he gave of
136
NOTES.
attaining excellence in his profession. His love of money surpassed
his love of the art ; he gave up painting for commerce, and left his
sons heirs to great wealth, instead of great fame. His pictures, at
least those to which his name is attached, are not numerous. Of
the Virgin, painted by him in the Santo Spirito at Florence, Rosini
says (vol. ii. p. 166) that it appears as fresh as if painted yesterday;
and that if Agnolo has been celebrated for having painted this one
picture only, it is highly probable that he would have been still more
renowned for his more important pictures which have perished. —
Translator.
Chap. 70.— P. 45.
(1) — Cennino gives in this chapter a brief summary of the pro-
portions of the human body. It was but little more than a century
before the time of Cennino that painting freed itself from the tram-
mels of ignorance which fettered it, for Cimabue died in 1300, Giotto
in 1337, and the master of Cennino in 1387 ; and these great men
had, without other assistance than what they derived from medita-
tion and geometry, fixed the proportional standard of a man at eight
faces and two parts. It cannot be said that they had followed
Vitruvius in this; because in lib. iii. cap. 1, he divides the body into
ten faces. We must then conclude that the measure here specified
must be the result of the theory of Giotto. Leonardo followed the
measurements of Vitruvius, and made his figures taller. Many who
came after him, by dint of a refinement of reasoning, and abstract
notions, and calculations, made this part of the science intricate and
obscure. Whoever is inclined to know all the most celebrated writers
on the symmetry of the human body, will find a learned catalogue in
the work on the Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci, p. 202, e seg.,
written by that illustrious and learned artist, Giuseppe Bossi, whose
premature death was fatal to the cause of the fine arts in Italy, and
mournful to his friends. This chapter also may assist in enabling
us to judge of old paintings, and make us acquainted with the history
of the arts previous to the age of Cennino. — Tambroni.
NOTES.
137
(2) — There is evidently a mistake here. Leonardo da Vinci
allows two faces for the length of the humerus, that is, from the
shoulder to the elbow ; while Cennino allows but one. Cennino also
makes the length of the cubitus {i. e. from the elbow to the hand),
which is naturally shorter than the humerus, one face and one part.
— Translator.
(3) — Modesty requires that these few words should be omitted.
They do not in any manner relate to the arts. — Tamhroni.
(4) — This remark, and that which follows, shews the extremely
low state of anatomical science in those days. — Translator.
Chap. 71.— P. 46.
(1) — Succeeding painters appear to have used a red tint {ros-
saccio) instead of the verdaccio. See Vasari, vol. ii. p. 177. —
Translator.
Chap. 72.— P. 47.
(1) — According to Professor Hess this colour may be used in
fresco. Pozzo, the author of the Jesuits' Perspective, has given a
recipe by which vermilion may be rendered durable in fresco painting.
It is given in the Report of the Commissioners of the Fine Arts, and
is as follows : " Having put powdered vermihon into an earthen
vessel, pour clear lime-water over it; pour this lime-water away,
without disturbing the vermihon, and add fresh lime-water to it.
After several such washings, the nature and properties of the ver-
milion will be changed, and it will incorporate more easily with the
mortar." — Translator.
(2) — Vasari {Introduction to the Three Arts, cap. xix.), speaking
of painting in fresco, directs that baked bianco di travertine should
be used instead of bianco sangiovanni. — Tambroni.
(3) — Vasari, in the introduction and cap. xx., says, " On dry
walls they give two or three coats of warm glue, and then finish the
work with colours mixed with tempera." But Cennino teaches
us an entirely dilFerent method; and we should rather follow his
138
NOTES.
instructions, because Vasari speaks of painting in distemper as a
thing only practised by the old masters." — Tambroni.
(4) — Mr. Field {Chromatography, p. 348) mentions that Mr.
Clover " has successfully employed the yolk of egg for sketching in
body colours in the manner and with the entire effect of oil, which
sketches, being varnished, have retained their original purity of hue,
more especially in the whites, and flexibility of texture, without a
crack, after many years in a London atmosphere." The translator
concurs in this recommendation of the yolk of egg vehicle, having
painted with it both on a white ground and on gold leaf. As a
vehicle, it is extremely pleasant to work with, is entirely devoid of
the unpleasant smell of oil-colours, and dries very rapidly. See note
to ch. 145. — Translator.
Chap. 76.— P. 50.
(1) — This passage confirms still more decidedly the opinion, that
the lake which Cennino considered the best (ch. 44), was the lac
lake {gomma lacca), since he says here, " Pagonazzo simigliante alia
lacca." — Tambroni.
Chap. 77.— P. 50.
(1) — This passage shews either the veracity of the author, or
that the art had not then reached the perfection which it afterwards
attained ; for Vasari (Introduction to the Three Arts, chap, xix.),
speaking of painting in fresco, censures retouching in secco, which
he calls " cosa vilissima ;" yet, nevertheless, if we examine minutely
the fresco paintings of the best masters, there are very few, not even
excepting those of Vasari himself, that we find exempt from re-
touchings in secco. II Corradi used to retouch in oil, and Mengs
with milk diluted with brandy (acquavite), as Requenos reports,
Sul Ristabilm. &c., vol. i. p. 188. — Tambroni. Vasari (vol. ii.
p. 529), speaking of his paintings in fresco in the chapel of S.
Apostolo at Florence, says : "I made many experiments, in order
to unite painting in oil with fresco, in which I succeeded perfectly."
NOTES.
139
But an attempt to mix liquid varnish with yolk of egg, to temper
colours for finishing fresco painting, was not equally successful ; for
Vasari informs us that Alesso Baldovinetti painted, in a chapel of
the Holy Trinity, some scriptural subjects from the Old Testament,
which he sketched in fresco, and then finished in secco, tempering
the colours with the yolk of an egg mixed with Hquid varnish made
on the fire, which tempera he thought would defend the paintings
from being acted on by water ; but the varnish acted too powerfully,
for in many places where it was used freely the work scaled off ;
and so, when he thought he had discovered a rare and excellent
secret, he found himself disappointed. Vas., vol. iii. p. 274. —
Translator.
Chap. 78.— P. 51.
(1) — Cignerognolo. This colour seems to have been a true grey,
being composed of black and white. — Translator.
Chap. 81.— P. 51.
(1) — Berettino, an ash colour, the colour of an ass, a sort of
neutral or quiet colour, much used by the old painters. — Translator.
Chap. 82.— P. 52.
(1) — This colour, also called berettino, differs from the last in
the addition of red only to the black and yellow. — Translator.
Chap. 85.— P. 53.
(1) — The proportions in this colour, which the author calls ver-
daccio, are exactly similar to those of the colour he called berettino
in chap. 81. — Translator.
(2) — It would seem that this passage has been either corrupted
by the amanuensis, or that there is an error on the part of Cennino,
if we did not know that the masters of that period did not understand
aerial perspective, as we discover by the works in which they have
painted mountains and landscapes. We must invert the order of
this last precept, if we would rectify the text ; but if it be left to
140
NOTES.
stand as it now does, it may possibly add somewhat to the history
of art. — Tambroni. It seems possible that, as, in historical pieces,
the great lights and strong colours were reserved for the foreground,
Cennino may have meant only that the distant and retiring colours
should be made greyer or more neutral by using more of the black
and white, and less of the ochre. In chap. 87 it is shewn that he
had some knowledge of linear perspective. — Translator.
Chap. 87.— P. 54.
(1) — ^The allusion to the observance of linear perspective in this
chapter is very apparent. The passage might have been made more
intelligible ; but as it proves the state of the science at that period,
it was thought better to render it as literally as possible. Cennino
alludes to the depression of lines above the level of the eye, and the
elevation of those below the eye, until they meet in the point of
sight on the horizontal line. — Translator.
Chap. 89.— P. 56.
(1) — As good and colourless oU is of the first importance to
painters, no apology will be necessary for introducing in this place
Leonardo da Vinci's method of preparing nut-oU. The recipe was
found in his own handwriting, and is published in the Milan edition
of his Treatise on Painting, by C. Amoretti, 1804. It is as follows :
" The nuts are covered with a sort of husk or skin, which if you do
not remove when you make the oil, the colouring matter of the
husks or skin will rise to the surface of your painting, and cause it
to change. Select the finest nuts, take off the shells, put them into
a glass vessel of clean water to soften until you can remove the
skin, change the water, and put the nuts into fresh water seven or
eight times, until it ceases to be turbid. After some time the nuts
will dissolve and become almost like milk. Put them then into a
shallow open vessel in the air, and you will soon see the oil rise to
the surface. To remove it in a pure and clean state, take pieces of
cotton, like those used for the wicks of lamps ; let one end rest in
NOTES.
141
the oil, and the other drop into a vase or bottle, which is to be
placed about the width of two fingers below the dish containing the
oil. By degrees the oil will filter itself, and will drop quite clear
and limpid into the bottle, and the lees will remain behind. All
oils are of themselves quite limpid, but they change colour from the
manner in which they are extracted." — Translator.
(2) — It is worthy of remark that Cennino here speaks of the
art of painting pictures in oil as much practised hy the Germans
(Tedeschi), and therefore not of recent invention. — Translator.
Chap. 90.— P. 56.
(1) — Vasari, in his Introduction to the Three Arts, teaches, in
chap, xxii., how to paint in oil on walls, but in a very different
manner from this ; for he requires that the wall should be dry, and
that it should have a coat of linseed-oil, and then a mixture of resin,
of mastic, and of fat varnish. He also teaches another method,
which he had tried and approved of, in which it was necessary to
give the wall two coats of the intonaco ; but he always recommends
that the wall should be perfectly dry. Here, on the contrary, Cen-
nino points out a very simple method of painting in oil on damp
walls, which may be painted on the next day. It concerns the
modem artist to determine by experiments which is the best mode.
— Tambroni.
Chap. 91.— P. 56.
(1) — Oil is always sold by the pound at Florence. The Flo-
rentine pound contains 12 ounces. — Translator.
Chap. 92.— P. 57.
(1) — Leonardo da Vinci (chap, ccclii.) advises that pictures
should be varnished with oil thickened in the sun. — Translator.
Chap. 93.— P. 57.
(1) — The oil mentioned by Cennino in the early part of this
U2
NOTES.
chapter is the boiled or baked Unseed- oil, for the preparation of
which he had just given directions. — Translator.
Chap. 94.— P. 58.
(1) — From this it is still more evident that Vasari had never
read Cennino's book, or he would not have mentioned painting on
stones as a new invention in his time, as he has done in chap. xxiv.
of the Introduction to the Three Arts, where he does not mention
iron or glass, on which they painted in oil in Cennino's time. — Tarn-
hroni. " On these (that is, on some stones brought from Genoa)
they (the artists of his day) had recently painted, and had disco-
vered the true way of painting on them." Vasari. — Translator.
Chap. 96.— P. 58.
(1) — Leon Batista Alberti, in the beginning of book iii. on paint-
ing, gives almost the same precept. He says, that a generous dis-
position was a great assistance to a master in obtaining honour and
acquiring riches, for from this liberality it oftentimes happened that
the rich were frequently induced to give encouragement to the
modest and good man. — Tambroni. Lanzi expresses the same sen-
timents in his eulogy of Correggio. He says : " Although we should
admit the supposed poverty of this great man, it does not appear
to me to be any discredit to him, but rather an honour, considering
that he, although generally wanting money, painted with a splen-
dour of which there is no other example. His pictures, whether on
copper, on panels, or on well-chosen canvass, were really covered
with a profusion of ultramarine, with lakes and beautiful greens ;
and he painted with a vigorous impasto and continual retouches,
generally without taking his hand from the work, when he had once
begun, until he had finished it ; in a word, without any sparing of
expense or time, of which he was more prodigal than any other
painter. Now, this generosity would do honour to a rich gentleman
who painted for his pleasure ; how much more, then, is he worthy
of praise whose means were so limited ! To me it appears a great-
NOTES.
143
ness of soul that would do honour to a true Spartan." Lanzi, vol. iv.
p. 65. Lanzi also remarks that the works of Vasari faded, on ac-
count of the bad colours he used (yilta di colori), vol. i. p. 187,
and note. — Translator.
Chap. 98.— P. 59.
(1) — This constituted the verdetto, or verde santo, mentioned by
Baldinucci in the Vocabolario deW Arte del Disegno.
Chap. 101.— P. 61.
(1) — The glory, or nimbus, surrounding the heads of saints, is
of very remote origin, since it is to be seen on many of the paint-
ings preserved in Pompeii, particularly in the Circe and Ulysses, the
Jupiter in the House of Ceres, and the Thetis dipping Achilles into
the Styx. The glories in these pictures resemble solid plates of
gold, the outer limb or circle being strongly defined, like those de-
scribed by Cennino, and of which so many examples remain in the
early paintings of Italy. They were sometimes of azure, instead of
gold. The glory was defined by Servius to be " the luminous fluid
which encircles the heads of the gods." The emperors assumed it
as a mark of their divinity; and from them it passed, with many
other pagan superstitions and customs, into the use of the church.
The form of the glory varied at diflferent periods ; it was sometimes
a plate of gold, ornamented with various devices, as may be seen in
Plates II. VII. VIII. and IX. ; sometimes it was radiated, and some-
times merely a circle of light above the heads of the figures, see
Plates III. and IV. — Translator.
Chap. 102.— P. 61.
(1) — Gio. Batista Armenini, in his book De veri Precetti della
Pittura, ed. Venez., p. 90, and in many other places, treats these
old masters, from Giotto to Pietro Perugino, rather too severely,
especially where, alluding to these raised diadems of plaster with the
open work around them, and the stars of gold on the grounds, he
144
NOTES.
says, " e cosi si passavono con simile bassezze," &c. But he should
have considered that these masters created the art, which, like all
other worldly things, could not suddenly attain perfection, and that
in many things they were never afterwards surpassed. Posterity,
then, owes them both gratitude and respect ; for without them we
should never have painted, or written works on painting. — Tambroni.
See note to chap. 124.
Chap. 103.— P. 61.
(1) — Painting in distemper, on which Cennino undertakes to
speak, according to the testimony of Pliny (lib. xxxv. cap. 10), was
invented by Ludius, a Roman painter who lived at the time of
Augustus : " Non fraudando et Ludio D. Augusti setate, qui primus
instituit amoenissimam parietum picturam, viUas et porticus ac to-
piaria opera, lucos, nemora, coUes, piscinas, euripos, amnes, littora,
qualia quis optaret, varias ibi obambulantiura species aut navigan-
tium, terraque vUlas adeuntium asellis, aut vehiculis . . . idemque
subdialibus maritimas urbes pingere instituit blandissimo aspectu
minimoque impendio." — Tambroni.
Chap, 105.— P. 63.
(1) — Cennino here gives a kind of treatise concerning different
descriptions of glue, and the use that is made of them. He is the
more prolix on this subject, as in those days glues were much used
in painting in distemper. He seems, however, not to have known
Flanders glue, mouth-glue, or that made from calves' feet ; for which
see Marcucci, Sag. Analit., p. 187, e seg. Vitruvius and Pliny often
speak of the glue used by painters. The first (lib. vii. cap. 10) says,
" reliqua tectores glutinum admiscentes in parietibus utuntur," — the
bricklayers use the remainder in walls, mixing it with glue. The
second speaks of them in lib. xxxv. cap. 6. — Tambroni. Cennino
does speak of " mouth-glue," but not of that kind now known as
such, see chap. 108. — Translator.
NOTES.
145
Chap. 106.— P. 64.
(1) — Dioscorides (lib. v. cap. 121) teaches how to make glue for
fastening stones; and says, that " si fa di coUa taurina, di marmo, e
della pietra chiamata pane." Hence, by pounded stone I think Cen-
nino meant white statuary marble. — Tambroni.
Chap. 107.— P. 64.
(1) — Majolica was a sort of red ochre, of which vessels were
made. Bole, a soft and glutinous kind of earth used in gilding.
The best sort is brought from Armenia. It is of a dark red colour.
Th^ dictionaries do not distinguish it from sinopia ; but it could not
have been the same thing, although it greatly resembled it in colour
and properties, since Cennino speaks of both without saying that
they were synonymous. The colour, probably, constituted the only
difference. Both were varieties of red ochre. See note to chap. 45.
The red letters common in old manuscripts and books were made
with bole, which was also called rubrica; hence our term "rubrics."
— Translator.
Chap. 108.— P. 65.
(1) — It will be seen from this chapter that isinglass was at this
period used as mouth-glue. — Translator.
Chap. 109.— P. 65.
(1) — Colla di caravella is still called in many parts of Italy colla
forte. It seems that the word caravella, which is not to be found in
the dictionaries, is derived from capretta, caprella, cavra, or cavrella,
from which we have caravella. The author here calls it also colla
di spicchi. — Tambroni.
Chap. 110.— P. 66.
(1)— There is apparently no difference between these last two
kinds of glue, except that the first is not quite so strong as the
second. This resembles the English glue. — Translator.
L
146
NOTES.
Chap. Ill— P. 66.
(1) — Vasari, in the Introduction to the Three Arts, &c. says, that
the old masters tempered their hlues with glue {colla di carnicci)
only, because the yellow colour of the egg would have caused them
to become green. But our author, who had more practice, assigns
here other reasons. In chap. 141, he directs us to temper ultra-
marine with a very small quantity of yolk of egg ; not so in chap. 83,
where he desires that the blue should be tempered with the entire
yolk of an egg, which should be one laid by a hen fed in a town,
because such are paler. — Tambroni.
Chap. 112.— P. 66.
(1) — It is here repeated that the fourth book ends here. Per-
haps it is an error of the amanuensis, who read fourth for fifth. It
is to be observed that this fifth book is very short. Henceforward
there are no more divisions into parts of the book. But this is of
little importance, since the chapters are numbered to the end. —
Tambroni.
(2) — This cheese-glue was formerly used to a great extent. The
panels used for painting were fastened together with it; and so
exceedingly firm did it hold, that those were considered the strongest
panels which consisted of several pieces of wood joined. These were
less liable to split than those which were made of a single piece of
wood : most of the recipes add sufficient water to make the cheese
and lime into a paste. — Translator.
Chap. 113.— P. 67.
(1) — This is another instance of the care with which the old
masters guarded their pictures and pigments from the contact of
iron. See chap. 36 ante, and chap. 136 supra. — Translator.
Chap. 115.— P. 68.
(1) — Leonardo da Vinci sometimes painted on canvass on which
NOTES.
147
no ground of plaster had been laid, the canvass being merely washed
with weak glue. That pictures so painted are durable is proved by
the existence of one in the CoUega Mussi at Milan, which is evidently
by the hand of Leonardo, and is considered worthy of his great
name. See Amoretti's edition of the treatise of Leonardo on Paint-
ing.— Translator.
(2) — This word mesella is not to be found in the dictionaries.
From the description which the author gives of it in this chapter,
it may be seen that it was a knife, the blade of which was large and
convex, and was used as a rasp. The Germans have messer, which
signifies knife ; but the term is general, and messertin is the diminu-
tive. In chap. 121, Cennino repeats mella, and not mesella. If this
word be not derived from the German (for that people then, as well
as at the present time, carried on a large commerce in wrought iron),
I know not whence it is derived. It is, however, sufiicient to under-
stand the meaning. It is true that the monk Theophilus (lib. ii. De
Opere Interasili), in describmg the chisel, says, " Deinde habeas
ferros graciles et latiores, secundum quantitatem camporum, qui sunt
in una summitate tenues et acuti, in altera obtusi, qui vocantur
meziel," — "then you may have some iron tools thin and broad,
according to the size of the grounds, which are thin and sharp at one
end, and blunt at the other, which are called meziel." Perhaps this
word is somewhat akin to mesella. — Tambroni.
The word mella is of Venetian origin. See Cicog., vol. iii. p. 248.
— Translator.
Chap. 121.— P. 72.
(1) — Raffietto : the word is explained in chap. 115.
Chap. 124.— P. 74.
(1) — Rosini (vol. iii. p. 51) has the following remarks relative to
this practice of executing some parts of pictures in rehef. " This
particularity is to be found in the picture painted by Gentile da
Fabriano for the Santa Trinita, now in the Florentine gallery ; and
this practice is thus alluded to in the Anonimo Morelliano, p. 57
148
NOTES.
' The head, covered with a hood, with a cord of seven paternosters
in the hand, fat and dark, the lowest and largest of which is of
stucco in relievo, and gilded, was by the hand of Gentile.' And
this particular manner of introducing relievos into pictures was con-
tinued by his most famous disciple, as we learn from a manuscript
preserved in the library of the Conti Silvestri di Rovigo, that Jacopo
Bellini painted in the dome of Verona a crucifixion, with many
figures, with relievos and gilding after the ancient manner." Ricci,
p. 173. — Translator.
(2) — Such figures are not uncommon among the Italian masters ;
and their introduction into pictures appears to have been sanctioned
by the Romish church, since we find the following passage in the
EUmens de Peinture, by De Piles. " The holy Scriptures speak in
many places of the appearance of God to men, both actually by the
ministration of angels, and in visions by dreams and trances. There
is a beautiful description of God under the name of the Ancient of
Days in the 7th chapter of Daniel, ver. 9. The same Scriptures
mention several apparitions of angels in human forms. For this rea-
son, the church, in the Council of Nice,* did not hesitate to permit
painters to represent God the Father under the form of a venerable
old man, and angels under human forms. . . . But what is per-
mitted not being always appropriate, the painter should use with
moderation the authority derived from the holy Scripture, and be
careful that, in availing himself of the highest resources of his art,
he does not infringe upon the truth and sanctity of his subject."
De Piles, Siemens de Peinture, pp. 416, 423, ed. Amsterdam and
Leipsic, 1766. — Translator.
(3) — In the third volume of his Storia di Scultura, p. 137, 2d
edit.. Count Cicognara mentions a curious and most valuable picture,
painted in 1369, by that famous Lorenzo of Venice, for whose cele-
brated picture of S. Antonio del Castello, now in the Academy,
painted in 1358, three hundred gold ducats were paid ; and of whom
* The Second Council of Nice, in which the advocates of image-worship
triumphed. — Translator.
NOTES.
149
Zanetti speaks with such ecstacy in the first volume of his Pittura
Veneziana, which is illustrative of this chapter, as well as of chapters
142 and 143. He gives the following account of it. It represents
the Redeemer seated, presenting the keys to St. Peter ; and has this
inscription :
MCCCLXVIIII. MENSE JANUARII LAURENTIUS PINXIT.
" But this picture having a semicircular form in the upper part,
and the panel being quadrangular, the two corners are excluded from
the semicircle, and are covered only by the ground or preparation of
gesso. In these spaces, which we may call lost (perduti), the
painter has tried his colours, and made marks at random with his
pencil, which, it is evident, from the proofs to which they were
subjected, were done in distemper; the picture also appeared to
have been painted in distemper, unless, indeed, a varnish or oily
preparation had been spread over it to raise the tone of the colours
and preserve them to the present time in perfect freshness. This
picture is an example that distemper was used in the first instance ;
but we also see that other manners of colouring were then employed ;
for on the gold ground, the glory, and drapery of the Redeemer, are
painted ornaments and coloured gems, not in distemper, but as if
they were crystallised with some other transparent and glutinous
substance, strongly attached to the gold ground, to which the
vehicle used in distemper-painting would not have adhered; and
the colours used in these ornaments are evidently ground and pre-
pared with the same oil or varnish which was spread over the whole
picture. This easy and clear investigation developes several methods
of painting employed on the same picture, which vary from those we
find used by Tomaso da Modena, which appear to have been, from
the first, entirely painted in oil, — a fact the chemists employed by
Lanzi to examine them dare not contradict. On the gesso some
painters, but not all, used distemper, which could not be laid upon
the gold (che non potevano mat adopirare sulV oro), which was
shaded with sinopia (rubricato) in the manner directed by Theo-
150
NOTES.
philus. But it is indeed difficult to analyse the works which are
covered with the varnish (patina) of five centuries. And when we
have discovered, as is indeed beyond doubt, that every very ancient
picture is saturated with an oily and resinous substance, who will be
fortunate, or, to speak more correctly, bold enough to dare to deter-
mine whether this oil or varnish were laid over colours first diluted
and prepared with water, or whether they were immediately ground
up and cemented with it ? A fine intonaco of mineral colours, painted
in distemper on a picture, when dry, presents to oils and varnishes a
surface which they may penetrate in the same perfect manner as if
they were ground up in them. Mineral colours ground in water re-
main porous and absorbent after the evaporation of the moisture ; and
their tone appears cold and languid if they are not united and
saturated with oily substances, which can be spread over them,
and which invest them with a splendour and warmth of tone, a
juiciness, in fact, diflfering in no degree from the oil with which they
might have been ground in the first place."
The picture of Pan teaching Apollo to play on the Pipes, by
Annibale Caracci, in the National Gallery, is painted in distemper-
colours, but has been saturated with oil.
The opinion that distemper-painting could not be practised on
gold grounds appears to be erroneous, since Cennino recommends
that the grounds of all paintings in distemper should be covered
with gold (chap. 138), where the expense can be afforded. And in
chap. 141, he directs that red and blue draperies are to be laid on a
gold ground, the gold in the last case merely covering the part occu-
pied by the drapery. The translator refers the reader to the Preface,
and also to Rosini's Storia della Pittura. — Translator.
Chap. 131.— P. 77.
(1) — The art of gilding with bole was, if we may believe Vasari,
invented by Margaritone, who was living in 1270. Vasari, vol. ii.
p. 64. — Translator.
NOTES.
151
Chap. 133.— P. 78.
(1) — The practice of gluing cloth on panels in order to prevent
their splitting and opening, or starting after being glued, was attri-
buted by Vasari to Margaritone ; but the researches of Rosini and
others have proved that it was in use previous to the time of
Giunta (a.d. 1202), as appears from various pictures of our Saviour
in the Greek style, still preserved in Pisa, Rosini, vol. i. p. 85, and
note 32, p. 195, &c. — Translator.
Chap. 138.— P. 81.
(1) — Gold grounds were formerly so much used that there was a
regular manufactory of them, and the maker put his name on each.
The work of Cennino is evidence of the high estimation in which
they were held, and also that where expense was an object, the gold
was only used on the ornamental parts. On walls, gilded tin was
frequently substituted for it. Many of the most ancient pictures of
the Itahan and Greco- Italian schools mentioned by Rosini (Storia
della Pittura) as still in existence, and frequently in a high state of
preservation, are painted on gold grounds. The illuminations, also,
of manuscripts of this period are painted on gold grounds.
Rosini remarks (vol. i. p. 117) of a picture of the Greek school
anterior to Giunta, " that, in addition to the linen cloth that was
stretched over the panel, gold-leaf had been spread over the gesso,
as might be seen in some parts where the colour had fallen off.
This indicates both the great care with which it was executed by
the painter, and the merit of the artist, who was esteemed, by the
religious persons who had ordered the work, worthy of colouring
upon gold. In all probability the author of this picture was the
Greek master of Giunta." Sometimes, as in the case of the picture
by Ugolino di Maestri Vieri, the figures were painted in chiaro-scuro
only on the gold ground (Rosini, vol. iii. p. 80). Of much earlier
antiquity is the painting in Pompeii of Jupiter in a contemplative
attitude, the eagle at his feet, and his golden sceptre in his hand.
152
NOTES.
His head is surrounded by the glory or nimbus. The throne and
footstool are gold, ornamented with precious stones. Gold is also
introduced into other pictures preserved in this city. See Art.
Pompeii, Lib. Ent. Knowledge, vol. ii. p. 87, &c.
The gold ground had many advantages. It preserved the colours
from contact with the plaster (gesso) ground of the picture. It is
not acted on by any thing but nitric acid. From its extreme ducti-
lity and tenacity, a smaller quantity of this metal will cover a larger
surface than any other metal, without becoming honey-combed ; and
its reflecting power, when burnished, gives a great brilliancy and
clearness to the colours. " Corradi was the first," says Vasari,
" who left oflf gold fringes and other ornaments, and imitated gold
with colours ; and though the practice of imitating gold with colours
became universal, many artists, who regarded the durability of their
pictures, continued to paint on a gold ground. The two ceilings
painted on a ground of gold-leaf, by RafFaello, are well known.
Poelemburg, Maas, EUiger, John Van Kessell, Rembrandt, and
Ostade, frequently painted on gold grounds ; and such pictures are
always remarkable for the clearness and brightness of the colouring.
Indeed, the Flemings preserved the early manner of painting much
longer than the Italians, who, it seems, often changed their vehicles
and grounds."
The want of good and brilliant yellows has been assigned as the
cause of the employment of gold grounds and ornaments in pictures ;
but when it is considered that with the ochres, Naples yellow, and
white, the brightest gold may be imitated, I think it wiU be conceded
that other and powerful reasons must have led the old masters to the
adoption of this metal for the grounds of their pictures. Experience
has proved that pictures so painted are more durable than others.
It is a mistake also to suppose that the old masters did not pos-
sess brilliant yellows, since Cennino mentions orpiment and zafFerano,
although he discountenances the use of them, by reason of their want
of durability. Orpiment also was knovra to the ancients, by whom
it was called auri pigmentum, whence our word " orpiment."
NOTES.
153
It is almost superfluous to say that grounds covered with gold-
leaf must have been non-absorbent. — Translator.
Chap. 139.— P. 82.
(1) — Cennino complains that goldsmiths made from a ducat or
zecchini 145 leaves of gold instead of 100, vv^hen it is to be used for
gilding flat surfaces. Vasari, in the Introduction to the Three Arts,
chap, xxviii. says, " that in his time 1000 pieces were worth six
crowns, or about three ducats, including the labour." According
to the wishes of Cennino, about 300 pieces (nearly half the quan-
tity mentioned by Vasari) should have been made from these six
crowns; but according to the custom, at which he hints, 435
were made. Perhaps it is on account of the greater thickness of
the gold-leaves that the very old pictures look as if they were
covered with a plate of gold. If our author had mentioned the
size of the pieces of gold, as Vasari has done, who says, " each side
was about the eighth part of a braccio in length," we should have
been able to make a more exact estimate, and form a more correct
judgment on this subject. — Tambroni.
Chap. 140.— P. 83.
The glories in the opposite figures, by Squarcione (Plate IX.), as
well as those in Plates II. and VII., will assist in illustrating this
chapter. The alteration which afterwards took place in the form of
the glories is shewn in the Plates III. and IV., after the designs of
Raffaello . — Translator.
Chap. 141.— P. 83.
(1) — The succeeding titles to the chapters are wanting in the
text, but have been supplied by the editor. — Tambroni.
(2) — Cennino does not say, although there seems little doubt of
the fact, that the paper on which the design has been pricked is to
be laid on the drapery, and that the powders are then to be sifted
or rubbed over, as in oriental tinting or stencil painting. In the
154
NOTES.
Elemens de Peinture, by De Piles, full directions are given for this
process, which the French called "patronage," and which we are
told was much used in illuminating missals and other books. — Trans-
lator.
Chap. 142.— P. 84.
(1) — Grattare apparently means to scratch or engrave lines
through the paint, but not through the gold ground, which there-
fore became visible, and then to smooth the edges with the flat end
of the stile ; and granare, to mark a kind of figure or pattern on the
gold with a sort of spur of iron in use in those times. The instru-
ment with which this was done was called a rosetta; and see the
word granire in Baldinucci's Vocabulary of the Arts of Design. —
Translator.
(2) — This is an exact description of the stile used by the ancient
Greeks and Romans in writing and drawing. It appears from the
above passage that Cennino used the flat end of the stile to soften
the edges of the parts scratched up with the pointed end, as well as to
remove the colour from particular parts of the picture. — Translator.
(3) — Allacciato, lacci, laccio, are really words unknown to us ;
and I should consider them as errors of the amanuensis, if they had
not l)een repeated in the following chapter (143), where, in the
second paragraph, Cennino himself points out their meaning, saying,
" granare i lacci, cio^ i lavori disegnati." At first I thought he
meant by the terms allacciato e lacci the draperies or vestures ; but
in the fifth and seventh paragraphs he distinguishes one from the
other. I now think that by lacci he meant those ornaments or
minor parts which are at present called accessories. — Tambroni.
After much consideration, I attach a diflferent meaning to these
words, and am of opinion that Cennino meant to describe in these
two chapters what we now call figured draperies j and that by the
terms allacciato e lacci he meant the patterns or ornaments which
were painted on them, or, as he expresses it in the first paragraph,
" relevare con foglie e con pietre legate di piu colore," that is,
arabesques or leaves and flowers executed in relief, and coloured
NOTES.
155
Stones fastened to the draperies (see note to chap. 124), which must
certainly signify representations or patterns worked or embroidered
on them. The modern Italian word rabesco seems exactly synony-
mous with the allacciato e lacci of Cennino, as will appear from the
following passage from Kosini (Storia della Pittura, vol. i. p. 205) :
" E questa virgine ricoperta d' un manto d' oro rabescato d' un azzurro
chiaro, come ornato di aurei rabeschi h V estremita della veste intorno
ai polsi." An engraving in outline is given in Rosini's work of the
picture here alluded to, which is called the Vergine delle Volte. It was
painted in 1297, and is the most ancient painting in Perugia. The
drapery is divided into a number of squares, each filled with the same
pattern, and we can imagine it to have been produced by laying on the
picture a piece of paper, on which the pattern had been previously
pricked or cut (see chap. 141), and rubbing another colour over it,
which of course would only adhere in those parts unprotected by
the paper. Rosini speaks of other pictures painted in this manner,
which appears to have been very common among the early painters.
It is to be observed, that if draperies be painted as Cennino directs,
the patterns will appear raised or embroidered, their colour being of
a shade different from that of the ground on which they are painted.
It would seem also from this chapter, and from the instructions
given in the third paragraph, " granarlo a relievo," that some part
of the pattern was marked or stamped on the gold. The term " ac-
cessories" appears to me to convey a very different meaning from
what Cennino intended to express by allacciato e lacci; and if there
were any doubt on this point, I think it would be removed by ob-
serving that the lacci are to be of the same colour as the campi,
although of a different shade, which can never take place with regard
to the accessories, except in monochromatic painting, which could
not be performed in the manner here described. — Translator.
Chap. 143.— P. 85.
(1) — This chapter throws great light upon the history of the
art, and removes any doubt respecting the old pictures in distemper ;
156
NOTES.
and it also settles the question concerning the art of painting in oil,
as I have mentioned at greater length in the Preface. — Tambroni.
I must here notice the remarkable practice of painting part of
the drapery with the colours tempered with yolk of egg, and glazing
the whole with colours ground in oil (see the fourth and eighth
paragraphs), thus uniting painting in distemper with painting in
oil. In the course of the work many more instances will be noticed
of using different vehicles on the same picture. This point is the
more worthy of notice, as the propriety of using different mediums
on the same picture has recently been much discussed. It would
seem from this chapter not to have been injurious. I have before
alluded (note to chap. 77) to Corradi's practice of retouching fresco
paintings with oil, and Vasari's experiments in uniting oil and fresco,
in which he says he succeeded. The paragraphs are not numbered
in the text, but I have done so for the convenience of reference. —
Translator.
Chap. 144.— P. 86.
(1) — We must here remark the direction of Cennino to mix
indigo with bianco sangiovanni, thus proving that this colour may
be used with lime in fresco. Another point worthy of notice is, that
he did not consider it necessary to add any driers to the oil when
glazing with lake ground in oil. — Translator.
Chap. 145.— P. 87.
(1) — This kind of painting (distemper) is very durable, provided
it be not exposed to the air or damp ; one colour can be laid over
another with more facility even than in fresco-painting, without any
fear of mixing the colours ; and the facility with which pictures
painted in distemper can be painted and retouched in secco, enables
us not only to finish them highly, but to leave them for any length
of time, and complete them at our leisure. The lights in distemper-
painting are as bright as those in fresco, but the dark colours have
more depth. The egg-vehicle, used in the proportions recommended
by Cennino, will be found to work very pleasantly ; and when glue
NOTES.
157
is necessary to be substituted for it, tbe reader has only to turn to
chap. Ill, where full directions for preparing and using it will be
found. To unite the tints when finishing, it is only necessary to
dip a brush in clean water, or sometimes, as in fresco-painting, to
hatch and work on the tints with a colour partaking of both, or, still
better, to use first one colour, and then the other, until the desired
effect is produced. For example, if red is to be united with blue,
it should be done by working on the edge of the blue with red, and
on the edge of the red with blue, — on the principle that grains of
red and blue pigments, when mixed together, appear purple only
because we cannot with the naked eye distinguish the points which
reflect blue from those which reflect red; but if examined with a
powerful microscope, the distinct red and blue molecvdse will be
visible. " When," observes Dr. Ure, " we examine certain grey
substances, such as hairs, feathers, &c., with the microscope, we see
that the grey colour results from black points disseminated over a
colourless or slightly coloured surface." Thus we perceive that
nature forms her compound colours by stippling one colour into
another ; and accordingly it has been found that those paintings
have appeared most brilliant in which the effect has been produced
by stippling with the pure colours, instead of mixing compound
tints. See Field's Chromatography .
One of the greatest advantages of painting in distemper is, that
expose it to what light you will, the effect is always good, as it does
not shine like an oil-painting. When the colours are dry, they never
change, and always remain in the same state as long as the ground
lasts. It must, however, be remembered, that colours mixed with
glue will dry lighter ; the effect of these may therefore be previously
ascertained, by trying the tints on a piece of wood prepared with a
ground similar to that of the picture, or on a piece of strong white
paper.
Painting in distemper cannot, however, be employed on the ceil-
ings and domes of large churches, because couches of plaster cannot
be laid on vaults of stone, the saltpetre of which would cause the
158
NOTESo
plaster to scale off. It is for this reason that in such places fresco
painting is generally used on a couch of mortar, which incorporates
better with the stone ; but the latter kind of painting is much in-
ferior to distemper in the force and vivacity of the colours. See
EUmens de Peinture, by De Piles. — Translator.
(2) — Two exceptions only are mentioned here ; but as the third
is added, I have changed the text. — Translator.
(3) — A long note follows in the Italian edition, the purport of
which is, to prove that the word in the text is bisso (purple), and
not biffo, which has no meaning. As the signification of the sen-
tence cannot be mistaken, I have omitted it. — Translator.
Chap. 146.— P. 89.
(1) — See a former note on this subject. — Translator.
Chap. 151.— P. 93.
(1) — Vasari (Jntrod. to the Three Arts of Design, chap, xxviii.)
speaks of the mordant made of white of egg, water, and Armenian
bole as the best for laying gold on pictures, and the same is taught
by Cennino in chap. 131. In the time of Vasari, gold was no longer
in use ; and this is the reason why Cennino was so much better
informed on the subject of mordants. He gives a recipe for another
mordant made with garlic. — Tambroni.
(2) — By the ring-finger {dita anellario, cioe col polpastrello) is
here meant the fore finger, because in those times the ring was worn
on that finger, as may be seen in pictures of that date. — Translator.
Chap. 155.— P. 95.
(1) — The silence of Cennino concerning the nature of this var-
nish is really to be deplored. This chapter removes aU doubts re-
specting the question whether pictures in distemper were or were
not varnished. Count Cicognara, in his celebrated work on the
history of sculpture, lib. iii. cap. xi. vol. i. p. 331, e seg., is right
when he says that pictures in distemper were painted in many ways
NOTES.
159
by those old masters, and were afterwards covered with varnish.
Armenini (book ii. cap. ix.) describes several kinds of varnish. The
most ancient, he says, was made of olio d' abezzo (resin of the pine)
and olio di sasso (naphtha), spread over the picture, previously warmed
in the sun by the hand, as described by Cennino ; and this kind of
varnish, says Armenini, was penetrating and bright. — Tambroni.
I think it will be apparent from the text that the varnish men-
tioned by Cennino could not have been made of resin and naphtha,
since he says, " If you wish the varnish to dry without sun, boil it
well first" — bollila bene in prima. Now, I am not aware that the
fire has any action upon resin besides that of melting it and of con-
verting it into colophonium (black resin) ; and it is quite certain that
naphtha, both from its liquid state and inflammable and volatile
nature, vdll not bear boiling. It is highly probable that the varnish
consisted of some resin dissolved in linseed oil, and was, perhaps,
that described by Theophilus in the Treatise on Painting, mentioned
in the Introduction, the chief ingredient of which has hitherto eluded
the research of modern inquiry. I give his two recipes, that the
reader may judge for himself :
" Pone oleum lini in oUam novam parvulam, et adde gummi
quod vocatur fornis, minutissime tritum, quod habet speciem luci-
dissimi thuris, sed cum frangitur fulgorem clariorem reddit ; quod
cum super carbones posueris, coque diligenter sic ut non buUiat,
donee tertia pars consumatur ; et cave a flamma, quod periculosura
est nimis, et difi[icile extinguitur si accendatur. Hoc glutine omnis
pictura super linita lucida fit et decora ac omnino durabihs.
" Compone quatuor vel tres lapides qui possent ignem sustinere
ita ut resiliant, et super ipsos pone oUam rudem, et in eam mitte
supradictum gummi fornis, quod Romana glassa vocatur; et super
OS hujus ollse pone oUam minorem, quae habeat in fundo modicum
foramen. Et circumlineas ei pastam, ita ut nihil spiraminis inter
ipsas ollas exeat. Habebis etiam ferrum gracile manubrio imposi-
tum, unde commovebis ipsum gummi, et cum quo sentire possis ut
omnino liquidum fiat. Habebis quoque oUam tertiam super car-
160
NOTES.
bones positam, in qua sit oleum calidum, et cum gummi penitus
liquidum fuerit, ita ut extremo ferro quasi filum trahitur, infunde ei
oleum calidum, et ferro commove, et insimul coque ut non bulliat, et
interdum extrahe ferrum et lini modice super lignum sive super lapi-
dem, ut probes diversitatem ejus ; et hoc caveas in pondere ut sint
duse partes olei et tertia gummi. Cumque ad libitum tuum coxeris
diligenter, ab igne removens et discoperiens, refrigerari sine."
Thus translated : — " Put some linseed oil into a small new jar,
and add, very finely powdered, some of the gum which is called
fornis, which has the appearance of the most transparent frank-
incense, but when broken has a brighter polish ; which place on the
coals, and cook it carefully, so that it does not boil, until a third
part is evaporated ; and beware of its catching fire, which is very
dangerous, and difficult to extinguish if it once catch fire : when
the whole picture is covered vnth this varnish, it becomes bright
and shining, and altogether durable.
" Put three or four stones which can stand the fire so that they
may project over it, and upon them put a rough pipkin, into which
put some of the aforesaid gummi fornis, which is called Rom.ana
glassa ; and on the mouth of this pipkin put a smaller pot, which
has a hole in the bottom. And you must lute it round, so that
there be no aperture between the jars. You must also have a thin
iron rod in a handle, with which to stir up the gum itself, and
ascertain whether it be quite liquid. And you must have a third
jar placed upon the coals, in which there is some hot oil ; and when
the gum is quite liquid, so that it can be drawn in a thread from
the top of your rod, pour into it some hot oil, and stir it about with
your rod, and at the same time cook it, so that it does not boil ; and
sometimes draw out your rod, and spread a little on some wood or
on a stone, that you may try whether it be smooth ; and you must
take care of this, that there be two parts by weight of oil, and the
third of gum. And when you have diligently cooked it, as much as
you think proper, take it from the fire, uncover it, and allow it to
cool."
NOTES.
161
In the absence of positive information on this subject, I may be
permitted to hazard a conjecture, derived from the word itself, as
to the nature of this varnish. The monk Theophilus, mentioned in
the preface, uses many words to which he gives an Itahan termina-
tion, as Count Cicognara informs us {Storia di Scultura, vol. iii.
p. 248, second edit.) : he instances (among others) the words glutine
vernition and glassa. The former {glutine vernition) is clearly de-
rived from the Latin vernix, vernicis (from whence, by an easy tran-
sition, we have fornis, and our English word varnish), the resin
which exudes from the juniper- tree {juniperus communis), common
in all parts of Europe. The resin is called sandarac ; and some of
our earhest varnishes are known to have been made of it. "If,"
says RafFaello Borghini, in his Riposo, " you would have your var-
nishes very brilliant, use much sandarac." The vernice da scrivere,
mentioned by Cennino, chap. 10, consisted of pounded sandarac, and
was used to spread over the carta bambagina, previous to writing on,
by the early Italians and the Arabians ; and it is still used to sift over
writing, under the name of pounce. That this gummi fornis was a
resin is proved by its melting over the fire. Cicognara and Merimee
consider it to have been copal; but as that is brought from America,
it could not possibly have been known to Theophilus, who lived
between three and four hundred years previous to the discovery of
that country. The circumstance of the gum being glutinous, and
hanging in threads from the rods, proves that it was not borax, as
some have conjectured. For although borax melts on exposure to
heat, and becomes liquid, but not glutinous, it passes quickly from
that state, becomes calcined, and then melts rapidly into glass, which
is soluble in water, but not in oil. An additional reason, also, for
supposing this glutine vernition to have been sandarac, is, that old
Italian writers constantly speak of the varnish used for pictures
under the term vernice liquida, thus shewing that the word vernice
w a applied to the gum or resin when in a liquid state, and con-
tradistinguishing it from the vernice da scrivere, which was the
M
i
IQ2 NOTES.
dry sandarac in powder. The word glassa is derived from the
Saxon glass, and has been Italianised by Theophilus. The reader
will notice the strong similarity in the mode of preparing this
varnish to the directions given by Cennino in chap. 91 for prepar-
ing boiled oil for mordants. One varnish, described by Armenini,
appears somewhat to have resembled the varnish mentioned by
Cennino. To the practice of warming and drying the pictures in
the sun, which was practised by RaffaeUo and Correggio, when
varnishing them, we owe the invention, whatever it was, of Van
Eyck ; for that he did change the practice of painting in oil is
certain, whHe it is equally certain that painting in oil was known
and practised several centuries before his time. Correggio is said
to have used a varnish made of resin and naphtha ; and varnishes
made with naphtha are now in use in the British navy. I beUeve
the reason they are not in more general use is, because the naphtha
has been found injurious to the eyes.— Translator.
(2) — That is, until the colours have become perfectly firm and
consolidated. — Translator.
(3) _Some of the greens in the old pictures are very bright and
pure. — Translator.
Chap. 156.— P. 96.
(l)_It is not uncommon, at the present time, to varnish pic-
tures intended for exhibition with the white of an egg, which may
afterwards be easily removed with a wet sponge.— Translator.
Chap. 157.— P. 96.
(1) This word, asiso, is not found in the vocabularies. How-
ever, the word is used in some places. Baldinucci, in his Vocabu-
lary of the Arts, speaks of many kinds of gesso, but not of this.
Armenini, chap. viii. book ii., says, he has seen the Flemings mix
gesso and biacca in the proportions mentioned by our author; but
he does not speak of the sugar, instead of which he substitutes
NOTES.
163
orpiment ; but he gives no name to this kind of gesso, the effect of
which, he says, is very dazzling, light, and good.—Tambroni. The
word asisa may be found in Veneroni's Dictionary, with the follow-
ing meaning attached to it in French: " Couche ou assiette de
couleurs, applique sur I'or pour dorer." — Translator.
Chap. 159.— P. 98.
(1) — This colour is the oro musivo described by Marcucci, Sag.
Analit. p. 80, 81 ; but the recipe for making it, and the method of
using it on pictures, are different from those given by our author. —
Tambroni.
Chap. 160.— P. 98.
(1) — Vasari, in chap, xxviii. of the Introduction to the Three
Arts, in his recipe for grinding gold, does not speak of the white
of egg or of tempera, but directs that honey and gum should be
used. Cennino uses gum for painting in miniature only. — Tambroni.
Chap. 161.— P. 99.
(1) — This chapter makes us acquainted with a singular practice
of this period, namely, that of painting the human face not only in
distemper, but also in oil and in varnish. To my knowledge no
other writer has ever mentioned a similar custom ; which will lead
us to believe that painters were sometimes required to perform this
office. It is true that we find Pandolfini, Of the Government of the
Family (ed. de Clas. Ital. p. 142, 143, e seg.), advises his wife not
to paint herself with lime or poisons ; and for this purpose he always
uses the phrases, maruri il viso, impiastrarsi, intonacarsi, impomi-
ciarsi, &c. ; and he says that his wife would be ashamed to be with-
out this painting on her face when she was with other women. —
Tambroni.
164
NOTES.
Chap. 164.— P. 101.
(1) — These were different styles of head-dress in use at that time,
examples of which may be seen in the plates to Vasari's Lives of the
Painters. — Translator.
Chap. 166.— P. 102.
(1) — This gesso bolognese, or volterrano, is prepared from the
white alabaster procured from quarries in the neighbourhood of Bo-
logna and Volterra. The quarries at the latter place were known to
the ancient Etrurians, and were worked by them. Winkelman (vol. i.
p. 147, Ital. ed.) mentions four sepulchral urns made of this material,
which were found in the neighbourhood of the city, and which are
now in the Villa Albani. Vasari's account of this gesso volterrano,
and the manner in which it was used, is as follows : " Andrea (Ver-
rocchio) took much pleasure in making models of that kind of plaster
(gesso) which is made of a soft stone found in Volterra and Siena,
and in many other parts of Italy ; which stone, burnt in the fire, and
then pounded and made into a paste with cold water, becomes so
supple that you may make what you please of it ; and afterwards it
becomes so hard and firm that it may be used for making casts of
whole figures. Andrea then used to form models of natural objects,
namely, hands, feet, knees, legs, arms, and bodies, from such casts,
for the convenience of having them always before him, so that he
might imitate them. In his time began the practice of taking casts
of dead persons, at a small expense ; so that there might be seen, in
the passages, doors, windows, and cornices of every house in Flo-
rence an infinite number of these casts, so weU and naturaUy done
that they appeared alive. And from that time forward the practice
was and is stUl followed ; and very useful has it been to us in pro-
curing many of the portraits which are placed in the palace of the
Duke Cosmo ; and for this we are greatly indebted to the skill of
Andrea, who was the first who made use of it."— Life of Andrea
NOTES. 165
Verrocchio. Andrea can certainly claim the merit of having been
the first who made casts of the dead, since the process of taking them
from living models only is described by Cennino, who does not claim
the invention. Andrea died in 1488. The same gesso volterrano
was also used for the grounds of pictures ; but for this purpose it
does not appear to have been burnt. See chap. 115. — Translator.
(2) — From this passage, as well as from the remaining part of
the work, we obtain much information relative to the art of statuary
at this period. The precautions to be observed with regard to illus-
trious persons, as taught by Cennino, could not have been his own
invention, but rather the result of experience, which he had learned
from his master, and which was preserved as a tradition in this
school. The art of taking a cast of a head, and of the whole
figure, shews that the inventions could not have been recent ; and we
cannot but think that Nicolo Pisano, and the other sculptors who
were contemporaries of the author, adopted the same plan. — Tambroni.
Chap. 171.— P. 106.
(1) — Vasari speaks, in chap, xi, of the Introduction to the Three
Arts, &c., of making moulds of ashes for taking casts with metals ;
but he does not tell us how they are done. He says : " And what is
more, some earths and ashes, which are used for this purpose, are of
such fine quality, that casts are made from them, in gold and silver,
of sprigs of rue and other small herbs, and beautiful flowers." —
Tambroni,
A substance much resembling these ashes was found in some
vaults below a room in Pompeii, covering to the depth of several feet
the skeletons of seventeen persons. " The ashes were of extreme
fineness, evidently borne in through the vent-holes, and afterwards
consolidated by damp. The substance thus formed resembles the
sand used by metal-founders for castings, but is yet more delicate,
and took perfect impressions of every thing upon which it lay.
Unfortunately, this property was not observed until almost too late.
166
NOTES.
and little was preserved except the neck and breast of a girl, which
are said to display extraordinary beauty of form. So exact is the
impression, that the very texture of the dress in which she was
clothed is apparent, which, by its extraordinary fineness, evidently
shews that she had not been a slave, and may be taken for the fine
gauze which Seneca calls ' woven wind.' On other fragments the
impression of jewels worn on the neck and arms is distinct." Lib.
Ent. Knowledge. Art. Pompeii, vol. ii. p. 239 —Translator .
INDEX.
Aerial perspective, not understood by
the old masters, 139.
Agnolo Gaddi, son of Taddeo Gaddi,
2 ; master of Cennino, ib. ; his cha-
racter as an artist, 42, 135, 136;
died in 1387, 136.
Air, pure, impure, and damp, its effect
on colours, xi.
Alberti, Leon Batista, recommends
liberality to painters, 142.
Albumen : see White of egg.
AUacciato, laccio, lacci, 84 ; supposed
meaning of the term, 154.
Alphonso, king of Naples, began to
reign in 1442, xlix. ; account of the
picture sent to him by John Van
Eyck, xlvii. xlix. liv. Ixviii.
Amatita, or matita, probably the hae-
matite, 120, 121.
Amatito, nature and properties, 24, 80 ;
derivation of the word, 120 ; was
probably native cinnabar, 121.
Anatomical science, at a low ebb in
the days of Cennino, 137.
Ancona, derivation of the term, 113.
Andrea Castagno, pupil and reputed
murderer of Domenico Veneziano,
by what motive instigated, xlvii.
xlix. ; date of one of his pictures,
Ixvi.
Antonello da Messina, his claim to the
introduction of painting in oil into
Italy considered, xlvii. ei seq. ; his
pictures at Venice dated 1474, xlix.;
his epitaph, Iviii. Ixix.
Apothecaries, supplied the painters
with their materials and pigments,
xxxvii., 9, 23.
Archil (see Litmus), how and from
what prepared, 132.
Armenini, Gio. Batista, critique on his
work, Belli vert Precetti della Pit-
ttira, xxxiv.
Arricciato, 134.
Arts, what motives induce persons to
follow them, 3 ; what things are ne-
cessary in the pursuit of them, ib. ;
into what parts and members di-
vided, 4 ; design and colouring the
foundation of them, ib.
Arzica, its nature and properties, 28,
126.
Ashes, to make impressions of seals
or coins in a paste made of, 106;
also small figures, plants, 107 ; how
used for taking casts, 165.
Asiso, of what composed, 162.
Azzurro della magna, German or co-
balt blue, its nature and properties,
32, 128 ; to paint a drapery of, 52 ;
a substitute for ultramarine, 89 ;
zafFre and smalt prepared from the
same ore, 128 ; is different fi'om the
modern cobalt-blue of Berlin, &c.,
ih. ; the presence of nickel gives it
a purple tint, frequently observed
168
INDEX.
in old pictures, and very durable,
129.
Baldinucci, his account of Cennino,
xxviii. xlv. ; his account of the in-
vention of painting in oil, Ivi.
Bandini, his opinion of Cennino's work,
xxvii.
Belli, Giambatista, his character of
Giotto as an artist, 109.
Berettino, 51, 52; what colours in-
cluded under this term, 139.
Biacca, white lead, its nature, pro-
perties, and use, xiv. 9, 16, 32,
128.
Bianco sangiovanni, its nature, pro-
perties, and use, 31, 127, 128.
Bianco di travertino, burnt or baked ;
directed to be used by Vasari in
fresco-painting instead of bianco
sangiovanni, 137.
Bisagni, Francesco, critique on his
work on painting, xxxv.
Bisso, purple, to paint drapery of this
colour in distemper, 89.
Black pigments, and their preparation,
21 , 22 ; carbonaceous blacks have
a preserving influence on colours,
117.
Blue pigments, 32, 33, 52, 128, 129.
Bole, or Armenian bole, its nature,
properties, and use, 77, 145.
Bone-dust, how prepared and used
for drawing, 5, 6, 7; what bones
are proper, 5.
Borghini, Raffaello, supposed to have
known the work of Cennino, xxvii. ;
his work, Del Riposo, contains a
literal copy of many parts of Cen-
nino's, xxviii.
Braccio, a Florentine measure of length
containing 23 inches, 117.
Brown pigments, unknown to Cen-
nino, Ix.
Buildings, how to paint in fresco and
secco, 54.
Burnishing, what stones are proper
for, 80; how executed, 81.
Calcined Roman vitriol, vitriolo ab-
brucciato, red oxide of iron, used
in fresco-painting, 122.
Cardinals, colour formerly worn by
them, 24, 121; when changed to
red, ih.
Cartabambagina, paper made of cotton,
xxix.
Carta lucida : see Transparent pa-
per.
Casts from the life, to make, 101, 102,
104, 105; to multiply plaster-casts,
106; to make in metal, 104.
Cennino Cennini, born at Colle in
Tuscany, xxv., 2; pupil of Agnolo
Gaddi, xxv., 2 ; Vasari's account
of his book, xxv. ; analysis of his
work, by Tambroni, xxxv.-xlv. ; his
treatise is practical, viii. ; Bandini 's
opinion of his work, xxvii. ; Bottari's,
ih. ; his ms. found in the Vatican
Library, xxix. ; description of the
MS., XXX. ; three copies only ascer-
tained to be extant, xxxii. ; finished
his MS. on the 31st July 1437, in
the Stinche prisons at Florence,
xlv. Ixii. ; was a writer of the
fourteenth century, ih.; by whom
taught the art, xxv. xxxiii., 2, 42 ;
painted a picture of the Virgin,
xlv. ; which is now in the Gallery at
Florence, Ix. ; Tambroni's estimate
of his character, xliii. ; and of his
work, ih.
Cerussa usta : see Minium.
Changeable draperies, 50, 51, 52.
Charcoal, how to draw with, 16, 73;
how to efface errors in drawing
with, 16; how to fix the drawing
INDEX.
169
with the stile, ib. ; how to shade
with water-colours, ib.
Cheese-glue, to make, 66 ; for what
used formerly, 146.
Cignerognolo, grey, 51, 139.
Cicognara, his description of an an-
cient picture, 148.
Cimabue, the master of Giotto, to
whom the revival of painting in
Italy has usually been attributed,
xvi. ; remarks on some of his pic-
tures, xviii. ; died in 1300, 136.
Cinabrese, its nature and properties,
22.
Cinnabar, vermilion, artificial, its na-
ture, properties, and use, 23, 119,
120; how to prepare for fresco-
painting, 137; native cinnabar de-
scribed, 121.
Cloth of gold^ how to imitate on a
gold ground, 83.
Cobalt blue, prepai-ed from the same
ore as azzurro della magna, but in
its purest form, 128.
Coins, to make impressions of in wax,
or paste made of ashes, 106.
Colantonio del Fiore, said to have
painted in oil at Naples in 1436,
Hi. Ixvi. Ixvii.
CoUa di caravella, colla forte, how
prepared, 65, 145.
Colla, glue : see Part the Fifth, 63-66.
Colla di pesce, fish-glue, isinglass, 65 ;
used as mouth-glue, ib.
Colla di spicchi, 65.
Colovu's : see Pigments ; in ancient
pictures, causes of their beauty and
permanence, ix, x. xii. ; the old
masters used but few, xi. xiii. ; by
what rendered liable to change,
xi. ; used in fresco, xii., 47 ; no
blue among the number, xii. ; to
grind, 20 ; are of diflTerent kinds,
ib. ; require different vehicles, ib. ;
there are seven natural colours, ib. ;
four are earths, ib. ; three are na-
tural, but require preparation, ib. ;
when ground are to be kept in
glasses under water, 21 ; the best
only should be used, 59, 142 ; what
to be used in secco only, 47 ; what
can be used in oil-painting, 57.
Companions, what description should
be selected, 15.
Copal, brought from America, 161.
Copying, recommended by Cennino,
14; Leonardo da Vinci's opinion
of, 116.
Corradi, 11, with what vehicle he re-
touched his fresco-paintings, 138.
Correggio, whence he derived the idea
he afterwards carried to perfection
in the "Notte," 111 ; what varnish
he is said to have used, 162.
Cosmetics, their bad effects, 1 00.
Cosmo Roselli, anecdote of, 129.
Crayons of charcoal, how made, 18 ;
black, brought from Piedmont, 19.
Creato, origin and meaning of the
term, xxxv.
Crumb of bread, used to efface char-
coal drawing, 7.
Dead colouring of a blue drapery for
the Virgin, xii., 52.
Dead person, to colour a picture of a,
91.
De Dominici, his account of painting
in oil at Naples in the 13th and
14th centuries, liii.
Deity and angels, representations of
in pictures, authorised by the Roman
Catholic church, 148.
Dioscorides, his description of sinopia,
118; his recipe for glue, 145.
Distemper, painting in, its advantages
and disadvantages, xvi., 156; how
to temper the colours for, 87 ; how
170
INDEX.
to paint in, ib. ; can be executed on
gold grounds, 150 ; directions for
softening the tints, 156 ; where it
cannot be employed, ib. ; invented
by Ludius in the time of Augustus,
144.
Domenico Veneziano, the pupil of An-
tonello da Messina, xlvii. ; his pic-
tures dated 1470, 1.
Doratura, gold size, how to gild with,
60.
Dragon's blood, nature and proper-
ties, 24, 122.
Draperies, on gold grounds, cloth of
gold, 83 ; red, green, black, ib. ;
ultramarine, ib. ; on silver, how exe-
cuted, 85 ; changeable draperies,
50, 51; in fresco, 46-53; secco,
47-49 ; of gilded tin on walls, ib. ;
to imitate velvet, silk, or linen, 86 ;
to paint in distemper, 87, 89; for
the Virgin, 52, 89.
Drawing, with a stile, 5-9 ; on tablets
of wood or parchment, 4, 5 ; on
parchment or paper, 7 ; how to re-
pair errors, ib. ; with a pen, 8 ; on
tinted paper, 8, 16; to fix outlines
with ink or colours, 7 ; on transpa-
rent papei', 1 2 ; from nature recom-
mended, 14; with charcoal, 16,73;
its importance, 27 ; outlines of fi-
gures on gold grounds, 74.
Drea Cennino, Andrea Cennino, the
father of Cennino, Ix.
Dryers, not used by Cennino in paint-
ing in oil,lxiii. ; the only dryer men-
tioned is verderame, 127.
Egg tempera, how prepared, 48 ; re-
commended, 138, 156.
Encaustic painting, when discontinued,
xvi.
Essential oil, discovered in some old
pictures on analysing them, xvii.
Eyck, John Van, John of Bruges, Gio-
vanni ab Eyck, his claim to the dis-
covery of painting in oil examined,
xlvi. et seq. ; born in 1370 ; said to
have discovered painting in oil in
141 0, xlvii. xlix. ; account of the pic-
ture painted by him for Alphonso
king of Naples, liv. ; now preserved
in the Castel Nuovo at Naples, Ixviii.
Facius, Bartholomew, a contemporary
of John Van Eyck, does not attri-
bute the invention of painting in
oil to him, Iv.
Factitious ultramarine, how produced,
130.
Feathers, used in effacing charcoal
drawings, 73.
Fig-tree, panels made of, 5 ; the milky
juice used in distemper painting,
48.
Figured draperies, how executed, 84,
154.
Fish in the water, to represent, 92.
Fish-glue, coUa di pesce, isinglass, 13,
65.
Flemish manner of painting different
from that practised in Italy, Ixvii.
Ixviii.
Flesh, to paint, in fresco, 44 ; in dis-
temper, 90; pictures require more
coats of colour than walls, ib. ; of
a dead person, to paint, 91 ; of a
wounded person, 92.
Flesh-colour, to make, in fresco, 43 ;
in distemper, 90.
Fresco-painting, colours used in, xii.,
47 ; no blue among the number, ib. ;
how to prepare the lime for, 39 ; to
prepare the wall, ib.; to enlarge
drawings on walls, 40; to trace the
outlines of the charcoal - drawing
with ochre and sinopia, ib. ; to cover
with mortar as much as can be
INDEX.
171
painted in one day, ib. ; the process
of painting, ib. ; colours to be very
liquid, 41 ; to be mixed with water
only, ib.; to mark out the outlines
with verdaccio, ib. ; how to repair
errors, 42 ; to paint the head of a
young person as taught by Giotto,
43 ; every colour to be laid at once
in its place, ib. ; to colour an old
face, 44; to paint hair and beards
of many colours, 45 ; to colour a
red drapery, 46 ; colours which can-
not be used, 47 ; how the colours
are to be made lighter, ib. ; to make
a purple colour, 50 ; to imitate ul-
tramarine, ib. ; also lake, ib. ; every
thing painted in fresco must be re-
touched in secco, ib. ; to paint moun-
tains, 53 ; to paint trees, plants,
grass, ib. ; is the most noble kind
of painting, 134; was known to the
ancients, ib.
Frescoes, ancient, those of the Greeks
and of upper Italy harder than those
of lower Italy, xviii.
Garlic, used in making mordants, 94 ;
what kind proper, ib.
Germans, practised oil-painting pre-
vious to the time of Cennino, 141.
Gesso Bolognese, a kind of gypsum of
which casts from life were made,
102.
Gesso grosso, described, 68 ; how used,
ib.
Gesso sottile, how prepared, 69 ; how
used, 70, 71 ; to prepare a ground
with, 71.
Gesso Volterrano, its nature, 164;
Vasari's account of, ib. ; how used,
ib.
Giallorino, Naples yellow, its nature,
pi'operties, and use, 26, 124; iron
destructive of its colour, 124.
Gilding (see Gold), should be executed
in damp weather, 68, 81 ; to temper
bole for gilding, 77 ; verde terra,
how executed, 78 ; process of gild-
ing tin, 60 ; on panels, 78 ; to bur-
nish, 81.
Giorgio da Firenze, painted in oil from
1314 to 1325, lii.
Giotto, characteristics of his style and
school, viii., 109 ; stated by Lorenzo
Ghiberti to have painted in oil, Ixi. ;
improvements effected by him in the
art of painting, 2 ; the pupil of Cima-
bue, xvi. ; his manner of painting
in fresco, 42 ; he allowed only eight
faces and two parts for the length
of his figures, 136 ; died in 1337,
ib.
Giuliano the goldsmith, the possessor
of Cennino's manuscript, xxv.
Giunta of Pisa, the earliest Italian
painter on record, xvi. ; was a dis-
ciple of the Greeks, xvii.
Glass, directed to be used in grinding
orpiment, 27 ; its probable use, 125.
Glory, or nimbus, of gilded tin, how
made on walls, 61 ; to make in re-
lievo on walls, ib. ; how made and
gilded on pictures, 74; origin of,
143 ; form different at different pe-
riods, ib.
Glue, what colours may be tempered
with, xii. ; how to prepare it for
tinting paper, 9; formerly sold by
the apothecaries, ib. ; colla di pasta,
to make, 63 ; cement for fastening
stones and glass vessels, 64; fish-
glue, 65 ; colla di caravella, ib. ;
colla di spicche, ib. ; for tempering
grounds for pictures, 66; for tem-
pering azures, ib. ; cheese-glue, ib. ;
glue is stronger in winter, 68 ; should
be used in dry and windy weather,
ib. ; of various kinds much used by
172
INDEX.
the old masters, 144; recipe of Dios-
corides for making, 145.
Gold groimds, to draw outlines on, 74;
recommended by Cennino, 82 ; by
whom erroneously said to have been
invented, 150 ; their advantages,
151, 152; are non-absorbent, 153;
their antiquity, xxi., 151 ; were very
common, 152.
Gold, not to be varnished, xvi. ; to
adorn walls wiih, 58 ; the best should
be used, ib. ; to gild tin with gold
size, 60 ; what kind proper for lay-
ing on flat surfaces, 82 ; what for
fringes and ornaments, ib. ; to dis-
tinguish good, ib. ; to lay on paper
in miniature -painting, 96, 97; to
grind with white of egg or gum-
arabic, 98 ; to use it, ib.
Good masters, importance of studying
their works, 14.
Grana : see Kermes.
Granare, to grain or mark with lines,
84, 154; description of process,
84 ; tool with which it is done, 84,
154.
Grass, to paint in fresco and secco,
53.
Grattare, to scrape up, description of
process, 84, 154 ; is done with the
stile, ib.
Greek manner of painting, xii. xvi.-
xix. 109, 110.
Green pigments, 28-31 ; in old pic-
tures are very bright and pure,
162 ; probably produced by glazing
with verdigris, 127; in fresco-paint-
ing are dull, xiii.
Grinding colours, general directions,
20; preserving, 21.
Grounds (see Panels), preparation of,
on ancient pictures, xix. ; made of
white lead and oil, 114; their anti-
quity, ib.
Gummi-fornis, supposed to mean gum
used in making varnish, 161.
Gum-water, mixed with colours, 7;
with gold, 99 ; with white lead for
lights on tinted drawings, 17.
Hair, to paint, 45, 91.
Hair pencils, two kinds in use, 36 ;
those of minever, ib. ; and of hog's
bristles, 37; to make, 36, 37; to pre-
serve the tails from being moth-eaten,
38 ; how prepared at the present time,
ib. ; qualities of a good pencil, ib.
Hand, precautions to be observed in
order to keep it steady, 15.
Haematite (see Amatita), its nature,
120, 121.
Human face, to cleanse it from paint
and varnish, 99.
Incarnazione, flesh-colour, 43.
Indaco-baccadeo, or maccabeo, sup-
posed signification of the term, 115.
Indigo, how used, 11, 29, 32, 87,129;
known to the ancients, 129.
Ink, used to fix drawings, 7, 73 ; mixed
with water used in shading, 16 ; how
made, 118.
Intonaco, 39, 134.
Iron, its effect on colours, xi. ; iron
nails on panels to be covered with
tin plates to prevent rust, 67 ; de-
structive of colour of gialloi'ino,
124; its contact with colours care-
fully avoided, 146.
Isinglass, coUa di pesce, formerly used
as mouth-glue, 145.
Kermes lake, grana, used by Cennino
in imitating ultramarine, 35 ; its
nature and properties, 132.
Lacca, lake, its nature, properties, and
use, 24, 122.
INDEX.
173
Lac lake, proof that this was the lake
used by Cennino, 138.
Laccio, lacci : see A.llacciato.
La Magna, Germany, 126,
Lamp black, to prepare, 22 ; used by
the ancients in making ink, 118.
Lapis amatita (see Amatita), probably
the hismatite, 121.
Lapis amatito : see Amatito.
Lapis lazzuli, or lazzari (see Ultra-
marine), derivation of term, 132.
Lead, its effect on colours, xi. ; to cast
small figures in, 106.
Leaf-gold (see Gold), how many leaves
should be made from the ducat,
153.
Leonardo da Vinci, his advice as to
copying, 116; as to solitude, ib.;
as to varnishing verderame, 127 ;
his method of preparing oil, 1 40 ;
in the proportions of his figures
he followed Vitruvius, 136 ; recom-
mends varnishing pictures with oil
thickened in the sun, 141 ; some-
times painted on linen, without a
ground, 146.
Light in painting, rules for the admis-
sion of, 6.
Linen, to imitate on walls, 87.
Linseed-oil, the only oil used in paint-
ing by Cennino and Theophilus,
Ivii.
Lippo Dalmasio, painted in oil at
Bologna in 1407, lii. Ivii. ; his Ma-
donnas admired by Guido, Ixvi.
Litmus, supposed to be the same as
verzino, 133 ; how and from what
prepared, ib. ; its colour beautiful,
but not durable, ib.
Lorenzo Ghiberti, notice of his work
on painting, Ix. Ixi.
Lorenzo Veneziano, description of a
picture by him, painted in 1368,
149.
Lyes, how prepared, xv. ; with what
pigments used, xv., 28, 33.
Majolica, its nature and properties,
145.
Margaritone, stated by Vasari to have
been the first who glued cloth on
panels and gilded on bole, 150,
151.
Mastrice, glue of any kind, 33.
Megelp, propriety of using it consi-
dered, xxi.
Mello : see Mesella, 68, 69, 72.
Mesella, mella, supposed meaning of
the term, 147.
Milk, mixed with brandy, used in
retouching fresco-paintings, 138.
Miniature-painting, directions for, 96.
Minium, red lead, its nature, proper-
ties, and use, 24, 120.
Mirseus, Albertus, proves that pictures
were painted in oil before 1400,
Ixviii.
Monks and priests, many of them
were painters, 113; were acquaint-
ed with many secrets in painting
and the arts, 23, 119; were the
great preservers of learning during
the dark ages, vi., 119.
Mordants, for laying on gold, how
made, 93, 94 ; how used, ib. ; how
tempered so as to keep for any
length of time, 94.
Morelli, his comments on the epitaph
of Antonello da Messina, Iviii. ; on
the work of Theophilus, li. Ixv.
Mountain, to paint in fresco or secco,
53 ; to draw one naturally, 55.
Mouth-glue, whether used by Cen-
nino, 145.
MuUer, for grinding colours, described,
20.
Muratori, his account of an ancient
work on the arts, Ixii.
174
INDEX.
Naphtha, olio di sasso, formerly used
in making varnish, 159; is now used
in varnish prepared for the British
navy, 162.
Naples yellow : see Giallorino.
Nature, should be studied, 15.
Nickel, gives apurple tint to cobalt, 129.
Nut-oil, said to have been first used
in painting by John Van Eyck,
xlvii. xlviii. ; L. da Vinci's recipe
for preparing, 140,
Ochre, its nature and properties, 25,
123, 124.
Oil, whether found in old pictures,
xvii. xxi. ; mixed with white lead
and chalk for the ground of tablets
for drawing, 5 ; used for making
parchment or paper transparent,
12, 13 ; to paint on walls in, 56 ;
how to prepare by boiling, ib. ; by
baking in the sim, 57 ; to grind
colours in, ib. ; what colours may
be used in, ib. ; directions for paint-
ing in, ib. ; colours mixed with,
used to glaze draperies, 85, 156;
used by Corradi in retouching fres-
co-paintings, 138 ; also used by Va-
sari, who united painting in oil with
fresco, ib. ; sold at Florence by the
pound, 141 ; thickened in the sun,
recommended as a varnish by L. da
Vinci, ib. : see Painting.
Olio d' abezzo, resin of the pine, 159.
Olio di sasso, naphtha, 159.
Olive-oil, used for greasing things not
required to dry, 13.
Ore di meta, 58, 99.
Oro musivo, 163.
Orpiment, its nature, properties, and
use, 27, 124, 125.
Oxygen, its effect on colours, xi.
Pagonazzo, purple or morello colour ;
to make a drapery of this colour in
fresco, 50.
Paint, to remove from the human
face, 99.
Painters, the old painters principally
employed on scriptural subjects,
113.
Painting (see Fresco, Secco, Oil, Dis-
temper, and Miniature), various
methods employed on one picture,
xliii., 156.
Painting in oil, Vasari's account of
the invention, xlvi. ; taught by Theo-
philus in a work written before the
eleventh century, li. ; practised at
an early period in Germany, li. Iv.
Iviii. : and in England, ib. ; also by
Giotto at Rome, Ixi.
Palette-knife, described, 21.
Panels, preparation, 4, 6, 70, 72 ; what
wood proper, 4, 5, 67 ; to gild, 78.
Paper, how to draw on, 7 ; tinted,
how made, 9 ; transparent, how
made, 12, 13.
Parchment, to prepare and draw on,
5, 7; to tint, 9-12; how it may be
made transparent, 13; to fix draw-
ings on, ib. ; to burnish, 1 0.
Parri Spinelli, his manner of painting,
135.
Pasciani, his manner of painting in
fresco, 135.
Patronage, meaning of the term, 154.
Pen, how to be made for drawing, 8 ;
to draw with, ib., 17.
Pennello mozzetto, mozzo, meaning
of the term, 116.
Perspective, whether understood by
Cennino, 139, 140.
Pezzuole, or pezzette di levante, how
used, 7; what it is, xxxvii., 114.
Pictures, in the early stages of the
art the subjects were of a religious
nature, vii. ; characteristics of early,
INDEX.
175
ib. ; results of analysis of, xvii,, 149 ;
preparation of grounds, xix. ; points
on which to form an opinion of their
antiquity, ib. ; to paint in oil, 58 ;
in distemper, 87 ; after painting on
walls, proceed to paint pictures,
62 ; to acquire the art of painting,
63 ; how to begin to paint, 67 ; to
lay bole on, 77 ; painting the pro-
per employment of a gentleman,
87 ; to imitate varnish on, 96 ; de-
scription of ancient pictures, 148,
149, 155.
Pigments (see Colours), to grind, 20.
Pitch, mixed with wax for making
relievos, 76.
Plaster : see Gesso and Casts.
Polpastrello, 114, 158.
Porphyry, the best stone for grinding
colours, 20.
Porporina, its nature and properties,
98.
Pounce, called vernice da scrivere,
Ixii.
Powdered draperies, how made on gold
grounds, 84, 153.
Precious stones, how affixed to pic-
tures, 74.
Proportion, to be studied, in what
manner, 16.
Proportions, of the human figure, 45 ;
no woman perfectly proportioned,
ib.; according to Giotto and Cen-
nino, 45, 136; according to Vitru-
vius and L. da Vinci, 136.
Pupils, must draw every day, 6, 15 ;
must practise drawing for one year,
8, 63 ; and painting for twelve years,
63 ; how to regulate their lives, 15 ;
what company to select, 15.
Purple, lake and ultramarine in secco,
49 ; indigo and amatito in fresco,
50.
Purpurissum, a red colour mentioned
by Pliny, probably the same as
pezzuole, 114.
Rabesco, meaning of term, 155.
Radire, 63.
RafFaello, what colours chiefly used
by him, xiii.
Raffietto, 69.
Red pigments, 22-25.
Relevare, 63.
Relievo, to make glories on walls in,
61 ; to grind and temper gesso for
works in, 71 ; how executed on
pictures, 74, 75 ; on walls, 75 ; in
lime, 76 ; with varnish or wax, ib ;
to cut in stone, ib. ; remarks on re-
lievos on pictures, 147.
Religion, its influence on the arts, vi.,
113.
Resinous varnishes, whether found in
old pictures, xvii. xxi. ; whether
they can be mixed with colours,
xxi.
Retouching fresco paintings, 50, 138.
Richard the Second of England, whe-
ther an historical picture of him at
Wilton is painted in oil, lii. Ixvi.
Ring-finger, the fore-finger, 158.
Risalgallo, realgar, red orpiment, its
nature, properties, and use, 27, 125,
126.
Rosaccio, used instead of verdaccio by
succeeding painters, 137.
Rosetta, the tool used in graining, 84,
154.
Rossetta, red colour in the cheeks and
lips, 42, 43, 90.
Rubrics, origin of the term, 145.
Sandarac, used for varnish, 161 ;
pounded, constitutes "pounce," Ixii.
Seals, to make impressions of, 106.
Secco, painting on walls in, colours
and temperas, 47; preparation of
176
INDEX.
walls, ib. ; to paint draperies in,
49, 87.
Seppia, bone of the cuttle-fish, used
to smooth panels for drawing, 4.
Serafino Serafini, painted in oil in
1385, Hi.
Serpentine, what stone meant by this
term, 117.
Silk, to imitate on walls, 86.
Silver, liable to tarnish, 58; children
should be taught to lay on silver,
as it is less expensive than gold,
85.
Sinopia, its nature and properties, 22,
118, 119,
Smalt, prepared from cobalt, 128.
Soda, its effect on colours, xv.
Sommesso, 114.
Spatula, or palette-knife, of wood de-
scribed, 21.
Stagnuoli, 58.
Stars, to make and put on walls, 60.
Stile, 6, 7 ; described, 84, 154 ; used
for drawing, 5, 6.
Stinche, prisons for debtors at Flo-
rence, xlv. ; Cennino dated his book
from thence, Ixii.
Stones, for grinding colours, what are
best, 20.
Sulphuretted hydrogen, its effect on
pigments, xi.
Tablets for drawing, 5.
Taddeo Gaddi, the godson of Giotto,
2; his favourite pupil for twenty-four
years, 2, 111; his character as an
artist. 111.
Teeth, of carnivorous animals used
for burnishing gold, 80.
Temperas, for gilding, 77, 78; for
painting on walls in secco, 47 ; for
painting in distemper, 87 ; for lay-
ing gold on paper when painting
miniatures, 96.
Terra verde, its nature and properties,
28, 126.
Theophilus, account of his work on
the arts, li. Ivii. ; quotations and
extracts from, li., 147, 159; sup-
posed by Cicognara to have been
an Italian, li. ; his recipes for var-
nish, 159.
Tiarini, ascertained that a picture
painted by Lippo Dalmasio at Bo-
logna was painted in oil, lii.
Tin, to adorn walls with, 58 ; to cut
and use gilded tin, 59, 60 ; to make
green tin, 59 ; to gild with gold
size, 60 ; stars, to make and put on
walls, ib. ; how to be used for glories
of saints on walls, 61 ; to make dra-
peries of gilded tin, 85.
Tinted paper, to prepare, 9-12; to
draw on, 8-16.
Titian, what colours used by him,
xiii.
Tommaso da Modena, some remarks
on his pictures, lii. Ixv.
Transparent paper, carta lucida, pre-
paration and use, 12-14.
Trees, to paint in fresco and secco,
53.
Ultramarine ashes, how prepared, 132.
Ultramarine, nature and properties,
xiv., 33, 129; preparation, 33, 129,
131; factitious, to prepare, 130;
how imitated, 35, 50, 89 ; to paint
draperies of, 52, 83, 85, 89.
Van Eyck : see Eyck.
Varnish, its properties, 95 ; dries in
the sun, ib. ; if to dry in the shade,
it must be boiled, ib. ; how to exe-
cute relievos with, 76 ; white of egg
varnish, 96 ; Theophilus' recipes for,
159; of Correggio, 162; of Cennino
probably an oil varnish, 159; what
INDEX.
177
now used in the British navy, 162 ;
supposed derivation ofthe word, 161.
Varnishing, whether a picture should
be varnished as soon as finished,
XV., 95 ; pictures, the process, 95 ;
proper time and place ; gold not to
be varnished, ib. ; parts of pictiures
were frequently varnished, xvi,
Vasari, proofs of his inaccuracy, xxxvii.
li. liii., 142 ; that he never read
the whole of Cennino's work, 119,
1 42 ; his directions for grinding
gold, 163.
Vehicles, mediums, or temperas, for
painting ; several used on the same
picture, xiii., 156.
Velvet drapery, to imitate on walls, 86.
Venetians, supplied the rest of Europe
with the merchandise of the East,
xxxvii., 115, 122.
Verdaccio, a compound colour, 41,
53 ; the same colour called bazzeo
at Siena, ib.
Verde azzurro, blue or cobalt-green,
its nature and properties, 29, 1 27.
Verde terra, its nature, preparation,
and use, 28 ; to gild with, 78 ; to
varnish, 98; its properties, 126.
Verderame, its nature, preparation,
and use, 30, 127, 143.
Verjuice, its nature and properties,
30.
Vermilion : see Cinnabar.
Vernice liquida (see Varnish), liquid
varnish, 161.
Vernice da scrivere, xxxix., 161 ; how
used in drawing, 7.
Verzino, used in imitating ultramarine,
35 ; supposed to be litmus or archil,
132.
Vestorian, or Egyptian blue, how imi-
tated, XV.
Volterrano, a kind of gypsum used in
preparing grounds for pictures and
taking casts, 68, 102, 164.
Walls, to paint on in fresco, 39 ; in
secco, 47 ; in oil, 56 ; method de-
scribed by Vasari different from that
of Cennino, 137, 141.
Walpole proves that painting in oil
was practised in England before the
time of Van Eyck, lii.
Water, to colour, 92.
Water-colours for drawing, howmixed,
7; for shading, 16; to draw with
on tinted paper, ib.
Wax, during what periods used in
painting, xvii. ; when its use dis-
continued, ib. ; how to execute re-
lievos in, 76.
White of egg, its use in the arts, 7,
48, 78, 96, 99, 162.
White grounds, their advantages, ix. x.
White pigments, 31, 32.
Women, why they should abstain from
using medicated waters on their
skin, 100; of Florence, particu-
larly inclined to use paint on their
faces, ib.
Wounded person, to colour a repre-
sentation of, 92.
Yellow pigments, 25-28, 152.
Yolk of an egg, its use in the arts,
xii,, 48, 88, 100, 138.
Zafferano, its nature, preparation, and
use, 28.
Zaffre, how prepared from cobalt, 128.
THE END.
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