The Renaissance Palette - Michael Price

The Renaissance Palette with Natural Mineral Pigments

First of all, I would like to thank Chris McGlinchey, scientific conservator at the MoMA in New York for the following microscopic images. This was part of a project to monitor the performance of my preparation protocols for natural and mineral pigments.

This page presents an introduction into the difference between natural and mineral pigments, and synthetic pigments produced by the chemical industry. One important difference is the pigment particle size. With the natural and mineral pigments, the pigment particle varies between about 10 and 80 microns. (1 micron = 1,000th of a millimetre). Synthetic pigments vary in size, but are generally 1 micron or less like the flour for baking. As a result, this difference affects the luminosity of the pigments and therefore the paint layers to produce chromatic depth.

A Comparison of Azurite and synthetic Cobalt Blue under the Microscope. The azurite is a large particle deep blue after levigation in a weak casein solution. “Renaissance Mysteries, Vol. I, Chapter I”.

Azurite

Cobalt Blue

A comparison of cinnabar (natural mercuric sulphide) and the synthetic mineral pigment cadmium red under the microscope. The cinnabar was the finest grind possible.

Cinnabar

Cadmium Red

Two 50 minute videos on the preparation and application of the mineral pigments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBhJP0OqqkE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMNfYLmnThw

Renaissance Mysteries Vol. I and II

Book Presentation and lecture at Kremer Pigments, NYC, June 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdyWVpgCAko&t=18s

renaissancemysteries.com

The Renaissance Palette with Natural Mineral Pigments

July 20th 2020

Link: My contribution to, and collaboration with, the Columbia University project BNF. Ms. Fr.640, a sixteenth century French manuscript which was discovered in a private collection. My paper which evaluates the painter’s part of the manuscript and its author-practitioner includes a 6 minute video of azurite preparation. (This method was adopted by Kremer Pigments in the 1990s).

https://edition640.makingandknowing.org/#/essays/ann_514_ad_20

Preparation of Lapis Lazuli

Resurrection Adventures No.4, Black Elk's Tears for the Genocide of the Native American

The preparation of natural ultramarine from the semi-precious lapis lazuli was a closely guarded secret for centuries. Of course, there are many different qualities of the rock which require different preparation protocols ranging from the laborious 14th century recipe by Cennino Cennini to my most recent protocol published in 2017 in “Renaissance Mysteries”.

In the image below, “The Vulnerability of Vanity” in the series – In the Beginning There was Nothing – the sky is composed of 6 layers of pure lapis lazuli with increasing particle sizes to produce chromatic depth. The first layer two layers are in a casein distemper followed by layers in a fir-balsam resin and drops of walnut oil. The clouds have an underlayer of 12 carat white gold and a top layer of translucent cerussite (a natural lead white) also in resin and oil.

Wisdom and the Vulnerability of Vanity, natural mineral pigments, rocks, crystals, lapis lazuli

The Preparation of Cinnabar

Cinnabar is a natural mercuric sulphide. It can be either pieces of rock or crystal in a matrix. The range of colour depends on how finely it is ground. Therefore, large particle cinnabar produces a deep red with a slightly purplish hue whereas the finely ground rock produces distinctive orange-red. Levigation in a weak casein solution as with other pigments described in my videos is the most efficient.

The Preparation of Azurite

Azurite comes in many different qualities from beautiful crystals to rocks with numerous impurities. Crushing and levigation in a weak casein solution removes the brown-yellow impurities. The images below show two works on paper with a large particle azurite as a final layer (left) and a medium size particle size (right) in a casein-rabbit skin binding medium.

Gordes between Heaven and Earth, mineral pigments, rocks, crystals, paper

Stone Wall of Inspiration, natural mineral pigments in casein distemper on paper