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- The Alchemy of Paint: Art, Science and Secrets from the Middle Ages
The Alchemy of Paint: Art, Science and Secrets from the Middle Ages
This book looks at how color was “read” in the Middle Ages and returns to materials to look at the hidden meaning of the artists' version of the philosopher's stone. The penultimate chapter considers why everyone has always loved gold.
Each chapter demonstrates the mindset of medieval Europe and is devoted to just one color, acknowledging its connections with life in the pre-modern world. Colors examined and explained in detail include a midnight blue called ultramarine, an opaque red called vermilion, a multitude of colors made from metals, a transparent red called dragonsblood, and, finally, gold.
Spike Bucklow is a conservation scientist working with oil paintings at the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge.
Paperback
336 pages
Published: October 10, 2009