The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting

By Daniel V. Thompson

Book Overview

Medieval painters built up a tremendous range of technical resources for obtaining brilliance and permanence. In this volume, an internationally known authority on medieval paint technology describes these often jealously guarded recipes, lists of materials, and processes. Based upon years of study of medieval manuscripts and enlarged by laboratory analysis of medieval paintings, this book discusses carriers and grounds, binding media, pigments, coloring materials, and metals used in painting. It describes the surfaces that the medieval artist painted upon, detailing their preparation. It analyzes binding media, discussing relative merits of glair versus gums, oil glazes, and other matters. It tells how the masters obtained their colors, how they processed them, and how they applied them. It tells how metals were prepared for use in painting, how gold powders and leaf were laid on, and dozens of other techniques. Simply written, easy to read, this book will be invaluable to art historians, students of medieval painting and civilization, and historians of culture. Although it contains few fully developed recipes, it will interest any practicing artist with its discussion of methods of brightening colors and assuring permanence. "A rich feast," The Times (London). "Enables the connoisseur, artist, and collector to obtain the distilled essence of Thompson's researches in an easily read and simple form," Nature (London). "A mine of technical information for the artist," Saturday Review of Literature.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486203271
• ISBN13: 9780486203270
• Release Date: June 1956
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A medieval painting cookbook, not a style manual

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the "materials and techniques" were mostly on what pigments were used, and how all the different paints were manufactured. Usually using really toxic materials and methods. Don't get me wrong, it was fascinating, but not the how-to-paint in a medieval style manual that I had hoped. A great reference if you want to take your life into your hands and cook up authentic medieval paints and pigments. Mmmmm. Lead, Copper, Arsenic and Mercury, My Favorite!

Great Read!

Very interesting read if you are interested in how medieval painting was done and what methods and techniques were used. Written in a conversational format, making it a quick read.

An excellent primer for illuminators and painters

The book covers a history of carriers and grounds, binding methods and vehicles, their viscosity and transparency effects, pros and cons of different binding media, glazes and varnishes. It then gives a classification of medieval pigments and details the main pigments used to produce colours on the page, wall and panel. Mixing, reaction and permanence problems with pigments, confusion of identification, and history are described. Metals are also discussed, including types of gold media and gilding methods. This is an absolutely essential book for anyone (and especially SCAdian illuminators) interested in the building blocks of medieval painting. It will give you a good grounding in the basics and help you understand the resources, techniques and mindset of medieval artists. I cannot recommend it enough. It is also an entertaining read(if occasionally unintentionally).