"Put it under lime and let it lie for three days; then stretch it, scrape it well on both sides, and dry it; then stain it with the colours you wish."
"Put it under lime and let it lie for three days; then stretch it, scrape it well on both sides, and dry it; then stain it with the colours you wish."
The second directs how skins may be gilt.
"Take the red skin and carefully pumice and temper it in tepid water, and pour the water on it till it runs off limpid; stretch it afterwards, and smooth it diligently with clean wood. When it is dry, take the whites of eggs and smear it therewith thoroughly; when it is dry, sponge it with water, press it, dry it again, and polish it; then rub it with a clean skin, and polish it again and gild it."
"Take the red skin and carefully pumice and temper it in tepid water, and pour the water on it till it runs off limpid; stretch it afterwards, and smooth it diligently with clean wood. When it is dry, take the whites of eggs and smear it therewith thoroughly; when it is dry, sponge it with water, press it, dry it again, and polish it; then rub it with a clean skin, and polish it again and gild it."
Such gilding was effected with goldleaf, beaten out between small sheets of "Greek parchment, which is made from linen cloth" (i.e.paper), enclosed in vellum. White of egg was used as the mordant for fixing on the gold.
The following two passages instruct the student in preparing gold for writing:—
"File gold very finely, put it in a mortar, and add the sharpest vinegar; rub it till it becomes black, and then pour it out. Put to it some salt or nitre, and so it will dissolve. So you may write with it; and thus all the metals may be dissolved."Take thin plates of gold and silver, rub them in a mortar with Greek salt or nitre till it disappears. Pour on water and repeat it; then add salt, and so wash it. When the gold remains even, add a moderate portion of the flowers of copper and bullock's gall; rub them together, and write and burnish the letters."
"File gold very finely, put it in a mortar, and add the sharpest vinegar; rub it till it becomes black, and then pour it out. Put to it some salt or nitre, and so it will dissolve. So you may write with it; and thus all the metals may be dissolved.
"Take thin plates of gold and silver, rub them in a mortar with Greek salt or nitre till it disappears. Pour on water and repeat it; then add salt, and so wash it. When the gold remains even, add a moderate portion of the flowers of copper and bullock's gall; rub them together, and write and burnish the letters."
The next and last, alludes to the amalgam, which appears to have been for many centuries a favourite method of applying gold to parchment and other surfaces.
"Melt some lead, and frequently immerse it in cold water. Melt gold, and pour that into the same water, and it will become brittle. Then rub the gold filings carefully with quicksilver, and purge it carefully while it is liquid. Before you write, dip the pen in liquid alum, which is best purified by salt and vinegar."
"Melt some lead, and frequently immerse it in cold water. Melt gold, and pour that into the same water, and it will become brittle. Then rub the gold filings carefully with quicksilver, and purge it carefully while it is liquid. Before you write, dip the pen in liquid alum, which is best purified by salt and vinegar."
In these instructions the student may distinctly recognize the processes adopted in the production of those gilt texts on stained vellum grounds which were so highly prized in the Carlovingian age.
In the writings of an ecclesiastic, probably nearly contemporary with the Norman conquest, the monk Rugerus, or "Theophilus," we arrive at a really perfect picture[107]of the arts of the 11th century. The first of the three books into which his "Schedule of different Arts" is divided, is dedicated entirely to painting. It contains forty chapters, of which thirty refer to the preparation and application of pigments generally, both for oil, tempera, and fresco painting, and ten to the various processes connected with illumination. Of these, the following are the most important:—
CHAPTER XXX.OF GRINDING GOLD FOR BOOKS, AND OF CASTING THE MILL.When you have traced out figures or letters in books, take pure gold and file it very finely in a clean cup or small basin, and wash it with a pencil in the shell of a tortoise, or a shell which is taken out of the water. Have then a mill with its pestle, both cast from metal of copper and tin mixed together, so that three parts may be of pure copper, and the fourth of pure tin, free from lead. With this composition the mill is cast in the form of a small mortar, and its pestle round about an iron in the form of a knot, so that the iron may protrude of the thickness of a finger, and in length a little more than half a foot, the third part of which iron is fixed in wood carefully turned, in length about one yard, and pierced very straightly; in the lower part of which, however, of the length of four fingers from the end, must be a revolving wheel, either of wood or of lead, and in the middle of the upper part is fixed a leather strap, by which it can be pulled, and, in revolving, be drawn back. Then this mill is placed in a hollow, upon a bench fitted for it, between two small wooden pillars firmly fixed into the same bench, upon which another piece of wood is to be inserted, which can be taken out and replaced, in the middle of which, at the lower part, is a hole in which the pestle of the mill will revolve. These things thus disposed, the gold, carefully cleansed, is put into the mill, a little water added, and the pestle placed, and the upper piece of wood fitted, the strap is drawn and is permitted to revolve, again pulled, and again it revolves, and this must so be done for two or three hours. Then the upper wood is taken off, and the pestle washed in the same water with a pencil. Afterwards the mill is taken up, and the gold, with the water, is stirred to the bottom with the pencil, and is left a little, until the grosser part subsides; the water is presently poured into a very clean basin, and whatever gold comes away with the water is ground. Replacing the water and the pestle, and wood above being placed, again it is milled in the same way as before, until it altogether comes away with the water. In the like manner are ground silver, brass, and copper. But gold is ground most carefully, and must be lightly milled; and you must often inspect it, because it is softer than the other metals, that it may not adhere to the mill or the pestle, and become heaped together. If through negligence this should happen, that which is conglomerate is scraped together and taken out, and what is left is milled until finished. Which being done, pouring out the upper water with the impurities from the basin, wash the gold carefully in a clean shell; then pouring the water from it, agitate it with the pencil, and when you have had it in your hand for one hour, pour it into another shell, and keep that very fine part which has come away with the waters. Then again, water being placed with it, warm it and stir it over the fire, and, as before, pour away the fine particles with the water, and you may act thus until you shall have purified it entirely. After this wash with water the same refined part, and in the same manner a second and a third time, and whatever gold you gather mix with the former. In the same way you will wash silver, brass, and copper. Afterwards take the bladder of a fish which is calledhuso(sturgeon), and washing it three times in tepid water, leave it to soften a night, and on the morrow warm it on the fire, so that it does not boil up until you prove with your finger if it adhere, and when it does adhere strongly, the glue is good.CHAPTER XXXI.HOW GOLD AND SILVER ARE LAID IN BOOKS.Afterwards take pure minium (red lead), and add to it a third part of cinnabar (vermilion), grinding it upon a stone with water. Which being carefully ground, beat up the clear of the white of an egg, in summer with water, in winter without water; and when it is clear, put the minium into a horn and pour the clear upon it, and stir it a little with a piece of wood put into it, and with a pencil fill up all places with it upon which you wish to lay gold. Then place a little pot with glue over the fire, and when it is liquefied, pour it into the shell of gold and wash it with it. When you have poured which into another shell, in which the purifying is kept, again pour in warm glue, and holding it in the palm of your left hand, stir it carefully with the pencil, and lay it on where you wish, thick or thin, so, however, that there be little glue, because, should it exceed, it blackens the gold and does not receive a polish; but after it has dried, polish it with a tooth or bloodstone carefully filed and polished, upon a smooth and shining horn tablet. But should it happen, through negligence of the glue not being well cooked, that the gold pulverizes in rubbing, or rises on account of too great thickness, have near you some old clear of egg, beat up without water, and directly with a pencil paint slightly and quickly over the gold; when it is dry again rub it with the tooth or stone. Lay in this manner silver, brass, and copper in their place and polish them.
CHAPTER XXX.
OF GRINDING GOLD FOR BOOKS, AND OF CASTING THE MILL.
When you have traced out figures or letters in books, take pure gold and file it very finely in a clean cup or small basin, and wash it with a pencil in the shell of a tortoise, or a shell which is taken out of the water. Have then a mill with its pestle, both cast from metal of copper and tin mixed together, so that three parts may be of pure copper, and the fourth of pure tin, free from lead. With this composition the mill is cast in the form of a small mortar, and its pestle round about an iron in the form of a knot, so that the iron may protrude of the thickness of a finger, and in length a little more than half a foot, the third part of which iron is fixed in wood carefully turned, in length about one yard, and pierced very straightly; in the lower part of which, however, of the length of four fingers from the end, must be a revolving wheel, either of wood or of lead, and in the middle of the upper part is fixed a leather strap, by which it can be pulled, and, in revolving, be drawn back. Then this mill is placed in a hollow, upon a bench fitted for it, between two small wooden pillars firmly fixed into the same bench, upon which another piece of wood is to be inserted, which can be taken out and replaced, in the middle of which, at the lower part, is a hole in which the pestle of the mill will revolve. These things thus disposed, the gold, carefully cleansed, is put into the mill, a little water added, and the pestle placed, and the upper piece of wood fitted, the strap is drawn and is permitted to revolve, again pulled, and again it revolves, and this must so be done for two or three hours. Then the upper wood is taken off, and the pestle washed in the same water with a pencil. Afterwards the mill is taken up, and the gold, with the water, is stirred to the bottom with the pencil, and is left a little, until the grosser part subsides; the water is presently poured into a very clean basin, and whatever gold comes away with the water is ground. Replacing the water and the pestle, and wood above being placed, again it is milled in the same way as before, until it altogether comes away with the water. In the like manner are ground silver, brass, and copper. But gold is ground most carefully, and must be lightly milled; and you must often inspect it, because it is softer than the other metals, that it may not adhere to the mill or the pestle, and become heaped together. If through negligence this should happen, that which is conglomerate is scraped together and taken out, and what is left is milled until finished. Which being done, pouring out the upper water with the impurities from the basin, wash the gold carefully in a clean shell; then pouring the water from it, agitate it with the pencil, and when you have had it in your hand for one hour, pour it into another shell, and keep that very fine part which has come away with the waters. Then again, water being placed with it, warm it and stir it over the fire, and, as before, pour away the fine particles with the water, and you may act thus until you shall have purified it entirely. After this wash with water the same refined part, and in the same manner a second and a third time, and whatever gold you gather mix with the former. In the same way you will wash silver, brass, and copper. Afterwards take the bladder of a fish which is calledhuso(sturgeon), and washing it three times in tepid water, leave it to soften a night, and on the morrow warm it on the fire, so that it does not boil up until you prove with your finger if it adhere, and when it does adhere strongly, the glue is good.
CHAPTER XXXI.
HOW GOLD AND SILVER ARE LAID IN BOOKS.
Afterwards take pure minium (red lead), and add to it a third part of cinnabar (vermilion), grinding it upon a stone with water. Which being carefully ground, beat up the clear of the white of an egg, in summer with water, in winter without water; and when it is clear, put the minium into a horn and pour the clear upon it, and stir it a little with a piece of wood put into it, and with a pencil fill up all places with it upon which you wish to lay gold. Then place a little pot with glue over the fire, and when it is liquefied, pour it into the shell of gold and wash it with it. When you have poured which into another shell, in which the purifying is kept, again pour in warm glue, and holding it in the palm of your left hand, stir it carefully with the pencil, and lay it on where you wish, thick or thin, so, however, that there be little glue, because, should it exceed, it blackens the gold and does not receive a polish; but after it has dried, polish it with a tooth or bloodstone carefully filed and polished, upon a smooth and shining horn tablet. But should it happen, through negligence of the glue not being well cooked, that the gold pulverizes in rubbing, or rises on account of too great thickness, have near you some old clear of egg, beat up without water, and directly with a pencil paint slightly and quickly over the gold; when it is dry again rub it with the tooth or stone. Lay in this manner silver, brass, and copper in their place and polish them.
The raised gold was not always produced by the mixture of red lead and white of egg recommended by Theophilus. It was, especially in Italy, frequently made of a composition of "gesso," or plaster, and in the 15th century was often punctured all over by way of ornament. It may be occasionally met with stamped over in patterns, with intaglio punches. This "gesso raising," though very brilliant, possessed little tenacity, and in many examples it has scaled off, while the more ancient "raising" prescribed by Theophilus has adhered perfectly.
CHAPTER XXXII.HOW A PICTURE IS ORNAMENTED IN BOOKS WITH TIN AND SAFFRON.But if you have neither of these (gold, silver, brass, or copper), and yet wish to decorate your work in some manner, take tin pure and finely scraped, mill it and wash it like gold, and apply it with the same glue, upon letters or other places which you wish to ornament with gold or silver; and when you have polished it with a tooth, take saffron, with which silk is coloured, moistening it with clear of egg without water, and when it has stood a night, on the following day cover with a pencil the places which you wish to gild, the rest holding the place of silver. Then make fine traits round the letters and leaves, and flourishes from minium, with a pen, also the stuffs of dresses and other ornaments.CHAPTER XXXIII.OF EVERY SORT OF GLUE FOR A PICTURE OF GOLD.If you have not a bladder (of the sturgeon), cut up thick parchment or vellum in the same manner,—wash and cook it. Prepare also the skin of an eel carefully scraped, cut up and washed in the same manner. Prepare thus also the bones of the head of the wolf-fish washed and dried, carefully washed in water three times. To whichever of these you have prepared, add a third part of very transparent gum, simmer it a little, and you can keep it as long as you wish.CHAPTER XXXIV.HOW COLOURS ARE TEMPERED FOR BOOKS.These things thus accomplished, make a mixture of the clearest gum and water as above, and temper all colours except green, and ceruse, and minium, and carmine. Salt green is worth nothing for books. You will temper Spanish green with pure wine, and if you wish to make shadows, add a little sap of iris, or cabbage, or leek. You will temper minium, and ceruse, and carmine, with clear of egg. Compose all preparations of colours for a book as above, if you want them for painting figures. All colours are laid on twice in books, at first very thinly, then more thickly; but twice for letters.
CHAPTER XXXII.
HOW A PICTURE IS ORNAMENTED IN BOOKS WITH TIN AND SAFFRON.
But if you have neither of these (gold, silver, brass, or copper), and yet wish to decorate your work in some manner, take tin pure and finely scraped, mill it and wash it like gold, and apply it with the same glue, upon letters or other places which you wish to ornament with gold or silver; and when you have polished it with a tooth, take saffron, with which silk is coloured, moistening it with clear of egg without water, and when it has stood a night, on the following day cover with a pencil the places which you wish to gild, the rest holding the place of silver. Then make fine traits round the letters and leaves, and flourishes from minium, with a pen, also the stuffs of dresses and other ornaments.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
OF EVERY SORT OF GLUE FOR A PICTURE OF GOLD.
If you have not a bladder (of the sturgeon), cut up thick parchment or vellum in the same manner,—wash and cook it. Prepare also the skin of an eel carefully scraped, cut up and washed in the same manner. Prepare thus also the bones of the head of the wolf-fish washed and dried, carefully washed in water three times. To whichever of these you have prepared, add a third part of very transparent gum, simmer it a little, and you can keep it as long as you wish.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HOW COLOURS ARE TEMPERED FOR BOOKS.
These things thus accomplished, make a mixture of the clearest gum and water as above, and temper all colours except green, and ceruse, and minium, and carmine. Salt green is worth nothing for books. You will temper Spanish green with pure wine, and if you wish to make shadows, add a little sap of iris, or cabbage, or leek. You will temper minium, and ceruse, and carmine, with clear of egg. Compose all preparations of colours for a book as above, if you want them for painting figures. All colours are laid on twice in books, at first very thinly, then more thickly; but twice for letters.
The next extract I give is of great interest in the technical history of illumination, on three accounts: firstly, because it guides the student to recognize in madder the purple stain and colour, so highly prized in the early periods of the art; secondly, because it shows him the manner in which fugitive vegetable tints were protected from the decomposing influence of the atmosphere by an albuminous varnish; and thirdly, because it illustrates the ordinary modern processes of under painting, and glazing with transparent colour. The "folium" of the Greek illuminators was procured from plants growing abundantly near Athens, while that of the Hiberno-Saxon scribes was obtained from the "norma" or "gorma" of the Celts. Mr. Hendrie, in his learned notes to Theophilus, has traced successive recipes for the preparation of "folium," in which the identity of the base giving the colouring matter is clearly established. It is curious that the collections of "Secreta" should give as the only countries supplying the materials for making "folium," those two in which the use of the bright purple stain ascends to the very earliest of their decorated manuscripts. The following is the description given by Theophilus:—
CHAPTER XXXV.OF THE KINDS AND THE TEMPERING OF FOLIUM.There are three kinds of folium, one red, another purple, a third blue, which you will thus temper. Take ashes, and sift them through a cloth, and, sprinkling them with cold water, make rolls of them in form of loaves, and placing them in the fire, leave them until they quite glow. After they have first burnt for a very long time, and have afterwards cooled, place a portion of them in a vessel of clay, pouring urine upon them and stirring with wood. When it has deposed in a clear manner, pour it upon the red folium, and, grinding it slightly upon a stone, add to it a fourth part of quick lime, and when it shall be ground and sufficiently moistened, strain it through a cloth, and paint with a pencil where you wish, thinly; afterwards more thickly. And if you wish to imitate a robe in a page of a book, with purple folium; with the same tempering, without the mixture of lime, paint first with a pen, in the same page, flourishes or circles, and in them birds or beasts, or leaves; and when it is dry, paint red folium over all, thinly, then more thickly, and a third time if necessary; and afterwards paint over it some old clear of egg. Paint over also with glaire of egg, draperies, and all things which you have painted with folium and carmine. You can likewise preserve the burned ashes which remain for a long time, dry.
CHAPTER XXXV.
OF THE KINDS AND THE TEMPERING OF FOLIUM.
There are three kinds of folium, one red, another purple, a third blue, which you will thus temper. Take ashes, and sift them through a cloth, and, sprinkling them with cold water, make rolls of them in form of loaves, and placing them in the fire, leave them until they quite glow. After they have first burnt for a very long time, and have afterwards cooled, place a portion of them in a vessel of clay, pouring urine upon them and stirring with wood. When it has deposed in a clear manner, pour it upon the red folium, and, grinding it slightly upon a stone, add to it a fourth part of quick lime, and when it shall be ground and sufficiently moistened, strain it through a cloth, and paint with a pencil where you wish, thinly; afterwards more thickly. And if you wish to imitate a robe in a page of a book, with purple folium; with the same tempering, without the mixture of lime, paint first with a pen, in the same page, flourishes or circles, and in them birds or beasts, or leaves; and when it is dry, paint red folium over all, thinly, then more thickly, and a third time if necessary; and afterwards paint over it some old clear of egg. Paint over also with glaire of egg, draperies, and all things which you have painted with folium and carmine. You can likewise preserve the burned ashes which remain for a long time, dry.
I conclude the series of receipts extracted from Theophilus[108]by one not further bearing upon the Art of Illumination, than as proving the nature of the ink which has generally retained its colour so wonderfully in the ancient manuscripts.
CHAPTER XL.OF INK.To make ink, cut for yourself wood of the thorn-trees in April or May, before they produce flowers or leaves, and collecting them in small bundles, allow them to lie in the shade for two, three, or four weeks, until they are somewhat dry. Then have wooden mallets, with which you beat these thorns upon another piece of hardwood, until you peel off the bark everywhere, put which immediately into a barrelful of water. When you have filled two, or three, or four, or five barrels with bark and water, allow them so to stand for eight days, until the waters imbibe all the sap of the bark. Afterwards put this water into a very clean pan, or into a cauldron, and fire being placed under it, boil it; from time to time, also, throw into the pan some of this bark, so that whatever sap may remain in it may be boiled out. When you have cooked it a little, throw it out, and again put in more; which done, boil down the remaining water unto a third part, and then pouring it out of this pan, put it into one smaller, and cook it until it grows black and begins to thicken, add one third part of pure wine, and putting it into two or three new pots, cook it until you see a sort of skin show itself on the surface; then taking these pots from the fire, place them in the sun until the black ink purifies itself from the red dregs. Afterwards take small bags of parchment carefully sewn, and bladders, and pouring in the pure ink, suspend them in the sun until all is quite dry; and when dry, take from it as much as you wish, and temper it with wine over the fire, and, adding a little vitriol, write. But, if it should happen through negligence that your ink be not black enough, take a fragment of the thickness of a finger, and putting it into the fire, allow it to glow, and throw it directly into the ink.
CHAPTER XL.
OF INK.
To make ink, cut for yourself wood of the thorn-trees in April or May, before they produce flowers or leaves, and collecting them in small bundles, allow them to lie in the shade for two, three, or four weeks, until they are somewhat dry. Then have wooden mallets, with which you beat these thorns upon another piece of hardwood, until you peel off the bark everywhere, put which immediately into a barrelful of water. When you have filled two, or three, or four, or five barrels with bark and water, allow them so to stand for eight days, until the waters imbibe all the sap of the bark. Afterwards put this water into a very clean pan, or into a cauldron, and fire being placed under it, boil it; from time to time, also, throw into the pan some of this bark, so that whatever sap may remain in it may be boiled out. When you have cooked it a little, throw it out, and again put in more; which done, boil down the remaining water unto a third part, and then pouring it out of this pan, put it into one smaller, and cook it until it grows black and begins to thicken, add one third part of pure wine, and putting it into two or three new pots, cook it until you see a sort of skin show itself on the surface; then taking these pots from the fire, place them in the sun until the black ink purifies itself from the red dregs. Afterwards take small bags of parchment carefully sewn, and bladders, and pouring in the pure ink, suspend them in the sun until all is quite dry; and when dry, take from it as much as you wish, and temper it with wine over the fire, and, adding a little vitriol, write. But, if it should happen through negligence that your ink be not black enough, take a fragment of the thickness of a finger, and putting it into the fire, allow it to glow, and throw it directly into the ink.
The next collection of "Secreta," in point of importance and probably antiquity, is the "Mappæ Clavicula," or "little key to drawing," a manuscript treatise on the preparation of pigments, and on various processes of the decorative arts practised during the Middle Ages, in the possession of Sir Thomas Phillipps, of Middle Hill.[109]The proprietor of the volume, Mr. Hendrie, Sir Charles Eastlake, and (last, not least) Mr. Albert Way, agree in considering it highly probable that it may be an English collection, probably of about the reign of Henry II. Like the "Schedula" of Theophilus, it presents a very miscellaneous series of recipes, and tends to prove, what is very generally believed by the learned, that the "Masters of Arts" of old were frequently skilled, not in special departments of production, such as the modern division-of-labour system has created, but in multifarious avocations, such as we should not now readily recognize as likely to be practised by any single individual.
These collections remarkably illustrate the class of knowledge likely to have been possessed by such apparently versatile geniuses as St. Dunstan, St. Eloi, Bernward of Hildesheim, Tutilo the monk of St. Gall, and many others. The author of the "Mappæ Clavicula," in a few lines of poetical introduction to his teachings, defines the first necessity for painters to be, a knowledge of the manufacture of colours, then a command over the various modes of mixing them, then dexterity in using and heightening them in different kinds of work; and, ultimately, he commends to their attention a variety of information for the advancement of art generally, derived from the writings of many learned men.—"Sicut liber iste docebit." Thus under two hundred and nine heads, but with some tautology, he proceeds to treat, as Sir Thomas Phillipps observes, not only of the composition of colours, but "of a variety of other subjects, in a concise and simple manner, and generally very intelligibly; as for instance, architecture, mensuration of altitudes, the art of war, &c." Among the recipes, in addition to those referring to pigments, are many relating to illuminating. The following, for instance, is curious as defining clearly what were the best and most important tints for illumination:—
Plate VIIFrom British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
From British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
From British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
Of different Colours."These colours are clear and full-bodied for vellum:—Azorium (azure), Vermiculum (vermilion), Sanguis Draconis (dragon's blood), Carum (yellow ochre), Minium (red lead), Folium (madder purple), Auripigmentum (orpiment), Viride Græcum (acetate of copper), Gravetum Indicum (indigo), Brunum (brown), Crocus (yellow), Minium Rubeum vel Album (red or white lead), Nigrum Optimum ex carbone vitis (the best black made from carbonized vine twigs); all these colours are mixed with white of egg."
Of different Colours.
"These colours are clear and full-bodied for vellum:—Azorium (azure), Vermiculum (vermilion), Sanguis Draconis (dragon's blood), Carum (yellow ochre), Minium (red lead), Folium (madder purple), Auripigmentum (orpiment), Viride Græcum (acetate of copper), Gravetum Indicum (indigo), Brunum (brown), Crocus (yellow), Minium Rubeum vel Album (red or white lead), Nigrum Optimum ex carbone vitis (the best black made from carbonized vine twigs); all these colours are mixed with white of egg."
The mixture of colours appears to have been reduced to a perfect system, each hue having others specially adapted and used, for heightening and lowering the pure tint; thus the author gives directions which are likely to be scarcely less useful to the illuminator of the present day than they were to those of old.
Of Mixtures."If, therefore, you should desire to know the natures and mixtures of these [the above given] colours, and which are antagonistic to each other, lend your ear diligently."Mix azure with white lead, lower with indigo, heighten with white lead. Pure vermilion you may lower with brown or with dragon's blood, and heighten with orpiment. Mix vermilion with white lead, and make the colour which is calledRosa, lower it with vermilion, heighten it with white lead. Item, you may make a colour with dragon's blood and orpiment, which you may lower with brown, and heighten with orpiment. Yellow ochre you may lower with brown, and heighten with red lead (query, with white). Item, you may make Rosam[110]of yellow ochre and white lead, deepen with yellow ochre, heighten with white lead. Reddish purple (folium) may be lowered with brown, and heightened with white lead. Item, mix folium with white lead, lower with folium, and heighten with white lead. Orpiment may be lowered with vermilion, but cannot be heightened, because it stains all other colours."Of Tempering."Greek green you will temper with acid, deepen with black, and heighten with white, made from stag's horn (ivory black). Mix green with white lead, deepen with pure green, and heighten with white lead. Greenish blue, deepen with green, heighten with white lead. Yellow, deepen with vermilion, heighten with white lead. Indigo, deepen with black, heighten with azure. Item, mix indigo with white, deepen with azure, heighten with white lead. Brown, deepen with black, heighten with red lead. Item, make of brown and white lead a drab (Rosam), lower with brown, heighten with white lead. Item, mix yellow with white lead, lower with yellow, heighten with white lead. Lower red lead with brown, heighten with white lead. Item, red lead with brown, deepen with black, heighten with red lead. Item, you may make flesh-colour of red lead and white, lower with vermilion, heighten with white lead."Which Colours are Antagonistic."If you wish to know in what manner colours are antagonistic, this is it. Orpiment (sulphuret of arsenic) does not agree with purple (folio), nor with green (acetate of copper), nor with red lead, nor white lead. Green does not agree with purple.[111]"If you wish to make grounds, make a fine rose-colour of vermilion and white. Item, make a ground of purple mixed with chalk. Item, make a ground of green mixed with vinegar. Item, make a ground of the same green, and when it shall have become dry, cover it with size ('caule')."If you wish to write in gold, take powder of gold and moisten it with size, made from the very same parchment on which you have to write; and with the gold and size near to the fire; and, when the writing shall be dry, burnish with a very smooth stone, or with the tooth of a wild boar. Item, if then you should wish to make a robe or a picture, you may apply gold to the parchment, as I have above directed, and shade with ink or with indigo, and heighten with orpiment."
Of Mixtures.
"If, therefore, you should desire to know the natures and mixtures of these [the above given] colours, and which are antagonistic to each other, lend your ear diligently.
"Mix azure with white lead, lower with indigo, heighten with white lead. Pure vermilion you may lower with brown or with dragon's blood, and heighten with orpiment. Mix vermilion with white lead, and make the colour which is calledRosa, lower it with vermilion, heighten it with white lead. Item, you may make a colour with dragon's blood and orpiment, which you may lower with brown, and heighten with orpiment. Yellow ochre you may lower with brown, and heighten with red lead (query, with white). Item, you may make Rosam[110]of yellow ochre and white lead, deepen with yellow ochre, heighten with white lead. Reddish purple (folium) may be lowered with brown, and heightened with white lead. Item, mix folium with white lead, lower with folium, and heighten with white lead. Orpiment may be lowered with vermilion, but cannot be heightened, because it stains all other colours."
Of Tempering.
"Greek green you will temper with acid, deepen with black, and heighten with white, made from stag's horn (ivory black). Mix green with white lead, deepen with pure green, and heighten with white lead. Greenish blue, deepen with green, heighten with white lead. Yellow, deepen with vermilion, heighten with white lead. Indigo, deepen with black, heighten with azure. Item, mix indigo with white, deepen with azure, heighten with white lead. Brown, deepen with black, heighten with red lead. Item, make of brown and white lead a drab (Rosam), lower with brown, heighten with white lead. Item, mix yellow with white lead, lower with yellow, heighten with white lead. Lower red lead with brown, heighten with white lead. Item, red lead with brown, deepen with black, heighten with red lead. Item, you may make flesh-colour of red lead and white, lower with vermilion, heighten with white lead."
Which Colours are Antagonistic.
"If you wish to know in what manner colours are antagonistic, this is it. Orpiment (sulphuret of arsenic) does not agree with purple (folio), nor with green (acetate of copper), nor with red lead, nor white lead. Green does not agree with purple.[111]
"If you wish to make grounds, make a fine rose-colour of vermilion and white. Item, make a ground of purple mixed with chalk. Item, make a ground of green mixed with vinegar. Item, make a ground of the same green, and when it shall have become dry, cover it with size ('caule').
"If you wish to write in gold, take powder of gold and moisten it with size, made from the very same parchment on which you have to write; and with the gold and size near to the fire; and, when the writing shall be dry, burnish with a very smooth stone, or with the tooth of a wild boar. Item, if then you should wish to make a robe or a picture, you may apply gold to the parchment, as I have above directed, and shade with ink or with indigo, and heighten with orpiment."
The above are the principal passages in the "Mappæ Clavicula," which supply deficiencies in most other books of Secreta; and I have translated them at length, both on account of the accuracy with which I have found the directions followed in ancient illuminated manuscripts, and because I believed that a knowledge of this ancient scale of colours might greatly facilitate accurate copying from old examples. I need scarcely say, that as the art of painting improved in Italy and the Netherlands, the illuminator's palette became enriched with several new and very brilliant colours;—such as the ultramarines and carmines (exceedingly scarce in early manuscripts) which make the books produced at Rome and in Northern Italy, during the 16th and 17th centuries, glow with a vivacity never previously attained. Every improvement made in one country was, however, speedily, communicated through these very art-treatises to other countries, and thus we find lakes and carmines freely used in England during the 15th century.[112]Ultramarine, indeed, forms the special subject of an essay by a Norman, comprised among the Le Bègue MSS. (already referred to), under the following title, which proves its novelty in Western Europe, at the beginning of the 15th century:—
Plate VIIIFrom British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
From British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
From British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
Plate IXFrom British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
From British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
From British Museum, Reg. 15. D. 2.
"Anno 1411, Johannes de ... [illegible] Normannus deAzurro novo, lapidis lazulli ultramarini."
The next collection of Secreta in importance, and probably in date to the "Mappæ Clavicula," is that of a Frenchman, Peter de St. Audemar. "With this treatise," observes Sir Charles Eastlake, "may be classed a similar one in the British Museum, written in the 14th century," but treating of a somewhat earlier practice in art. The identity of the colours for, and practice of, painters on wall and panel, and illuminators on vellum, is proved by the instructions to both being almost invariably given in the same books. Thus, the volume last mentioned commences—"Incipit tractatus de coloribus IlluminatorumseuPictorum"—as though there existed no practical distinction between the two. Another manuscript, of later date, also in the Le Bègue collection, exhibits, in its title even, a curious picture of the industry with which the Art of Illumination was studied in the principal countries of Europe,—introducing the student to a scribe, actually keeping a school at Milan. Thus, "Liber Johannis Acherius,A.D.1398. Ut accessit a Jacobo Cona, Flamingo pictore:—Capitula de coloribus ad illuminandum libros ab eodem Archerio sive Alcherio, ut accessit ab Antonio de compendio illuminatore librorum in Parisiis et a Magistro Alberto Pozotto perfectissimo in omnibus modis scribendi, Mediolani scholas tenente."
Here we have, in a few lines, evidence of the concurrence of no less, probably, than four distinct nationalities to make up one set of instructions. However illuminated manuscripts may differ in style from each other, according to the countries in which they may have been produced, the technical processes, from the commencement of the 15th century, scarcely differed at all, probably through the general spread of these "handbooks of the Middle Ages."
From the 14th century onwards, the treatises, or rather probably composite transcripts from earlier treatises, multiply greatly; so far, however, as I have been able to make out from the able analysis made by Sir C. Eastlake, Mr. Hendrie, and Mrs. Merrifield, of many, they contain little more information than is conveyed in the extracts already given. Some curious details, however, may be gathered as to the London practice in the 15th century, which may interest the reader. A manuscript, written in German, as is believed at that date, is preserved in the public library at Strasburg, which distinctly proves that the colours for illuminating were commonly preserved by steeping small pieces of linen in the tinted extracts, sometimes mixed with alkaline solutions. The process is minutely described in this MS.; the dyes so prepared are there called "tüchlein varwen," literally "clothlet colours." The following passage from another compendium, a Venetian MS., gives the result in few words:—"When the aforesaid pieces of cloth are dry, put them in a book of cotton paper, and keep the book under your pillow, that it may take no damp; and when you wish to use the colours, cut off a small portion [of the cloth], and place it in a shell with a little water, the evening before. In the morning the tint will be ready, the colour being extracted from the linen." This practice is alluded to by Cennini, when he says:—"You can shade with colours, and by means of small pieces of cloth, according to the process of the illuminators."
The German compiler, speaking of the preparation of a blue colour in this mode, says, "If you wish to make a beautiful clothlet blue colour according to the London practice," &c. After describing the method of preparing it, he adds:—"These [pieces of cloth] may be preserved fresh and brilliant, without any change in their tints, for twenty years; and this colour, in Paris and in London, is called [blue] for missals, and here in this country clothlet blue; it is a beautiful and valuable colour."
"The place denominatedLampten, mentioned together withParis, can be no other than London."[113]
As pursuing the subject of ancient processes further than I have now done, would scarcely he profitable to the student, I proceed to the second division of this part of my subject, and accordingly take upthe modern processes. In offering the following details on this subject, however, to the amateur's attention, I would not for one moment let it be supposed that a knowledge of them alone will be sufficient to make him an efficient illuminator. Fortunately many very excellent artists have of late devoted themselves to giving instruction in the practical manipulation of the art, and amateurs cannot do better than place themselves at once in communication with masters, whose addresses may be obtained at the shops of the principal artists' colourmen. There will still be, no doubt, in different parts of the country, many desirous of illuminating, and yet unable to obtain the benefit of seeing a practised hand work before them, or even to pick up information as to themodus operandi. To such, at least, the following observations may prove useful.[114]
The two great sections into which all the processes by which illumination of any kind may be executed, divide themselves, are—1st, those in which water and glutinous substances soluble in water form the vehicles for applying the pigments, and causing them to adhere to the surfaces on which they may be applied; and 2ndly, those in which oil or spirit, and resins, or other substances which combine readily with such fluids, are made to perform corresponding functions. The pigments, reduced to an impalpable powder, are the same in both classes of processes, which are commonly known as watercolour-painting and oil-painting. That which was of old the artist's greatest stumbling-block—the manufacture and preparation of his pigments—need now no longer occasion him the slightest embarrassment; for every colour with which his palette could be enriched is to be bought, ready prepared, of the principal artists' colourmen. In like manner every other essential for his use is now freely at his command; and all that is required on his part is knowledge how to employ the materials which others most dexterously and carefully place at his disposal.
In commencing the collection of that information which I am now endeavouring to communicate, I felt it my duty to enter into correspondence with all those manufacturers whose products I had at different times personally tested; and I accordingly addressed myself to the following, whose materials, with insignificant exceptions, I have invariably found satisfactory, both in nature and quality.
R. Ackerman, 191, Regent-street, W.L. Barbe, 60, Quadrant, Regent-street, W.J. Barnard, 339, Oxford-street, W.Messrs.Brodie & Middleton, 79, Long-acre, W.C.H. Miller, 56, Long-acre, W.C.J. Newman, 24, Soho-square, W.Messrs.Reeves & Sons, 113, Cheapside, E.C.Messrs.Roberson, 99, Long-acre, W.C.Messrs.Rowney&Co., 51, Rathbone-place, W.Messrs.Sherborne & Tillyer, 321, Oxford-street, W.Messrs.Winsor & Newton, 38, Rathbone-place, W.
R. Ackerman, 191, Regent-street, W.
L. Barbe, 60, Quadrant, Regent-street, W.
J. Barnard, 339, Oxford-street, W.
Messrs.Brodie & Middleton, 79, Long-acre, W.C.
H. Miller, 56, Long-acre, W.C.
J. Newman, 24, Soho-square, W.
Messrs.Reeves & Sons, 113, Cheapside, E.C.
Messrs.Roberson, 99, Long-acre, W.C.
Messrs.Rowney&Co., 51, Rathbone-place, W.
Messrs.Sherborne & Tillyer, 321, Oxford-street, W.
Messrs.Winsor & Newton, 38, Rathbone-place, W.
From each of the above-mentioned firms I have obtained valuable information, and from several, excellent samples of their products. I am glad, therefore, to take the present opportunity of expressing my obligations to them. From Messrs. Winsor & Newton, especially, I have received the kindest and most intelligent co-operation; and I am happy to be the channel of making public the results of a series of experiments, on the combinations of colours and the use of various materials for illuminating purposes, suggested by me, and made with great tact and judgment by Mr. W. H. Winsor. Messrs. Winsor & Newton and Mr. Barnard have, up to the present time, done most to smooth away the difficulties which beset the illuminator. Messrs. Newman, Messrs. Rowney & Co., Messrs. Reeves & Sons, and Mr. Barbe, have also recently contributed valuable improvements or special adaptations.[115]
The colours best suited for illuminating I believe to be as follows:—
These colours are selected from the list of water-colours made at the present day (upwards of eighty), and will, I think, be found to be all that can well be required for illuminating. The whole number is by no means indispensable, and I have therefore marked by different letters of the alphabet,—1st, A, those without which it would be useless to commence work; 2ndly, B, those which should first be added; 3rdly, C, those which are required for very great brilliancy in certain effects; and, 4thly, D, those which may be regarded as luxuries in the art. The C are really important; the D are much less so. Messrs. Winsor & Newton have arranged them into four different lists, which are placed in boxes (complete with colours and materials for working in water-colours), of the respective retail values of £1. 1s., £1. 11s.6d., £2. 2s., and £3. 3s.Boxes corresponding with, or slightly varying from these, in selection of colours and materials, may be obtained from other artists' colourmen.
I now proceed to notice these coloursseriatim, in reference to their tints, both when used alone and when mixed with other colours.
YELLOWS.Lemon Yellow.—A vivid high-toned yellow, semi-opaque, is extremely telling upon gold. Mixed with cadmium yellow it furnishes a range of brilliant warm yellows. It mixes well with gamboge, orange vermilion, cobalt, emerald green, and oxide of chromium, and with any of these produces clean and useful tints.Gamboge.—A bright transparent yellow of light tone; works freely, and is very useful for glazing purposes. In combination with lemon yellow it affords a range of clean tints. When mixed with a little Mars yellow it produces a clear, warm, transparent tone of colour.Cadmium Yellow.—A rich glowing yellow, powerful in tint, and semi-transparent. This is a most effective colour for illuminating. When judiciously toned with white, it furnishes a series of useful shades. Mixed with lemon yellow it produces a range of clean vivid tints. It does not, however, make good greens—they are dingy. Mixed with carmine, or glazed with it, it gives a series of strong luminous shades.Mars Yellow.—A semi-transparent warm yellow, of slightly russet tone, but clean and bright in tint. Useful where a quiet yellow is required; mixes well with gamboge; does not make good greens.REDS.Rose Madder.—A light transparent pink colour of extremely pure tone. It is delicate in tint, but very effective, on account of its purity. Mixed with cobalt, it affords clean, warm, and cold purples. The addition of a little carmine materially heightens the tone of this colour, though at the same time it somewhat impairs its purity.Crimson Lake.—A rich crimson colour, clean and transparent; washes and mixes well. More generally useful than carmine, though wanting the intense depth and brilliancy of the latter colour.Carmine.—A deep-toned luminous crimson, much stronger than crimson lake; is clean and transparent. The brilliancy of this powerful colour can be increased, by using it over a ground of gamboge.Orange Vermilion.—A high-toned opaque red, of pure and brilliant hue, standing in relation to ordinary vermilion as carmine to crimson lake. It is extremely effective, and answers admirably where vivid opaque red is required; it works, washes, and mixes well. Its admixture with cadmium results in a fine range of warm luminous tints. When mixed with lemon yellow, it furnishes a series of extremely clean and pure tints; when toned with white, the shades are clear and effective. This is a most useful colour.Vermilion.—A dense, deep-toned red, powerful in colour, and opaque. It is not so pure in tone as orange vermilion, and is of most service when used alone; it can, however, be thinned with white and with yellows.BLUES.Cobalt Blue.—A light-toned blue, clean and pure in tint, and semi-transparent. This is the lightest blue used in illuminating, and by the addition of white can he "paled" to any extent, the tints keeping clear and good. Mixed with lemon yellow, it makes a clean useful green. Its admixture with gamboge is not so satisfactory, and the green produced by its combination with Mars yellow is dirty and useless. With rose madder it produces middling, warm and cold purples (i.e., marones, and lilacs or violets); with crimson lake, strong and effective ones; with carmine, ditto. A series of quiet neutral tints can be produced by its admixture with orange vermilion. The tints in question are clean and good, and might occasionally be useful.French Blue.—A deep rich blue, nearly transparent; is the best substitute for genuine ultramarine. The greens it makes with lemon yellow, gamboge, cadmium, and Mars yellow, are not very effective or useful. The violets and marones it forms with rose madder are granulous and unsatisfactory; with carmine they are somewhat better; but those formed with crimson lake are very good.Smalt.—A brilliant, full-toned blue; deep in tone, and nearly transparent; luminous and very effective when used alone. It is granulous, and does not wash or mix well. The greens it makes are not particularly useful.ORANGES.Mars Orange.—A brilliant orange of very pure tone, transparent and lighter in colour than burnt sienna; and is not so coarse or staring. An effective and useful colour.Burnt Sienna.—A deep rich orange, transparent and effective; works well and mixes freely.PURPLES.Indian Purple.—A rich deep-toned violet, or cold purple colour; most effective when used alone. Can be lighted with French blue or cobalt, and the tints will be found useful.Burnt Carmine.—A rich deep-toned marone or warm purple colour; transparent and brilliant; luminous and effective when used alone; mixed with orange vermilion, it produces a strong rich colour, and a quiet fleshy one when mixed with cadmium yellow.GREENS.Emerald Green.—An extremely vivid and high-toned green, opaque. No combination of blue and yellow will match this colour, which is indispensable in illuminating. It can be "paled" with white, and the tints thus produced are pure and clean. The tints afforded by its admixture with lemon-yellow are also clear and effective.Green Oxide of Chromium.—A very rich deep green, opaque, but effective. The tone of this green renders it extremely useful in illuminating; mixed with emerald green, it furnishes a series of rich semi-transparent tints. Mixed with lemon-yellow, it gives quiet, useful shades of green; and when this combination is brightened with emerald green, the shades are luminous and effective.BROWN.Vandyke Brown.—A deep, rich, transparent, brown, luminous and clear in tint; works, washes, and mixes well. The best of all the browns for illuminating.BLACK.Lampblack.—The most dense and deep of all the blacks, free from any shade of brown or grey.WHITE.Chinese White.—A preparation of oxide of zinc, permanent, and the white best adapted for illuminating. It is not only usefulper se, but is indispensable for toning or reducing other colours.
YELLOWS.
Lemon Yellow.—A vivid high-toned yellow, semi-opaque, is extremely telling upon gold. Mixed with cadmium yellow it furnishes a range of brilliant warm yellows. It mixes well with gamboge, orange vermilion, cobalt, emerald green, and oxide of chromium, and with any of these produces clean and useful tints.
Gamboge.—A bright transparent yellow of light tone; works freely, and is very useful for glazing purposes. In combination with lemon yellow it affords a range of clean tints. When mixed with a little Mars yellow it produces a clear, warm, transparent tone of colour.
Cadmium Yellow.—A rich glowing yellow, powerful in tint, and semi-transparent. This is a most effective colour for illuminating. When judiciously toned with white, it furnishes a series of useful shades. Mixed with lemon yellow it produces a range of clean vivid tints. It does not, however, make good greens—they are dingy. Mixed with carmine, or glazed with it, it gives a series of strong luminous shades.
Mars Yellow.—A semi-transparent warm yellow, of slightly russet tone, but clean and bright in tint. Useful where a quiet yellow is required; mixes well with gamboge; does not make good greens.
REDS.
Rose Madder.—A light transparent pink colour of extremely pure tone. It is delicate in tint, but very effective, on account of its purity. Mixed with cobalt, it affords clean, warm, and cold purples. The addition of a little carmine materially heightens the tone of this colour, though at the same time it somewhat impairs its purity.
Crimson Lake.—A rich crimson colour, clean and transparent; washes and mixes well. More generally useful than carmine, though wanting the intense depth and brilliancy of the latter colour.
Carmine.—A deep-toned luminous crimson, much stronger than crimson lake; is clean and transparent. The brilliancy of this powerful colour can be increased, by using it over a ground of gamboge.
Orange Vermilion.—A high-toned opaque red, of pure and brilliant hue, standing in relation to ordinary vermilion as carmine to crimson lake. It is extremely effective, and answers admirably where vivid opaque red is required; it works, washes, and mixes well. Its admixture with cadmium results in a fine range of warm luminous tints. When mixed with lemon yellow, it furnishes a series of extremely clean and pure tints; when toned with white, the shades are clear and effective. This is a most useful colour.
Vermilion.—A dense, deep-toned red, powerful in colour, and opaque. It is not so pure in tone as orange vermilion, and is of most service when used alone; it can, however, be thinned with white and with yellows.
BLUES.
Cobalt Blue.—A light-toned blue, clean and pure in tint, and semi-transparent. This is the lightest blue used in illuminating, and by the addition of white can he "paled" to any extent, the tints keeping clear and good. Mixed with lemon yellow, it makes a clean useful green. Its admixture with gamboge is not so satisfactory, and the green produced by its combination with Mars yellow is dirty and useless. With rose madder it produces middling, warm and cold purples (i.e., marones, and lilacs or violets); with crimson lake, strong and effective ones; with carmine, ditto. A series of quiet neutral tints can be produced by its admixture with orange vermilion. The tints in question are clean and good, and might occasionally be useful.
French Blue.—A deep rich blue, nearly transparent; is the best substitute for genuine ultramarine. The greens it makes with lemon yellow, gamboge, cadmium, and Mars yellow, are not very effective or useful. The violets and marones it forms with rose madder are granulous and unsatisfactory; with carmine they are somewhat better; but those formed with crimson lake are very good.
Smalt.—A brilliant, full-toned blue; deep in tone, and nearly transparent; luminous and very effective when used alone. It is granulous, and does not wash or mix well. The greens it makes are not particularly useful.
ORANGES.
Mars Orange.—A brilliant orange of very pure tone, transparent and lighter in colour than burnt sienna; and is not so coarse or staring. An effective and useful colour.
Burnt Sienna.—A deep rich orange, transparent and effective; works well and mixes freely.
PURPLES.
Indian Purple.—A rich deep-toned violet, or cold purple colour; most effective when used alone. Can be lighted with French blue or cobalt, and the tints will be found useful.
Burnt Carmine.—A rich deep-toned marone or warm purple colour; transparent and brilliant; luminous and effective when used alone; mixed with orange vermilion, it produces a strong rich colour, and a quiet fleshy one when mixed with cadmium yellow.
GREENS.
Emerald Green.—An extremely vivid and high-toned green, opaque. No combination of blue and yellow will match this colour, which is indispensable in illuminating. It can be "paled" with white, and the tints thus produced are pure and clean. The tints afforded by its admixture with lemon-yellow are also clear and effective.
Green Oxide of Chromium.—A very rich deep green, opaque, but effective. The tone of this green renders it extremely useful in illuminating; mixed with emerald green, it furnishes a series of rich semi-transparent tints. Mixed with lemon-yellow, it gives quiet, useful shades of green; and when this combination is brightened with emerald green, the shades are luminous and effective.
BROWN.
Vandyke Brown.—A deep, rich, transparent, brown, luminous and clear in tint; works, washes, and mixes well. The best of all the browns for illuminating.
BLACK.
Lampblack.—The most dense and deep of all the blacks, free from any shade of brown or grey.
WHITE.
Chinese White.—A preparation of oxide of zinc, permanent, and the white best adapted for illuminating. It is not only usefulper se, but is indispensable for toning or reducing other colours.
In making the list of the colours just described, I have assumed as asine quâ nonthat the colours used in illuminating should be permanent. All those enumerated are so (in water-colours), with the exception of carmine and crimson lake; and these, though theoretically not permanent, are yet found in practice to beverylasting, especially when not too much exposed to the light. It is a curious fact, that crimson lake, though a weaker colour than carmine, is yet more permanent, in consequence of its different base, and that it will better stand exposure to light.
I here take the opportunity of warning amateurs, allured by their evident brilliancy, against the use, in illumination, of the following five colours, viz.—pure scarlet, red lead, chrome yellow, deep chrome, and orange chrome. None of these are permanent; the first-named being fugitive, and the others in time turning black; but this is the less to be regretted, as there are permanent colours answering equally well for illumination. Of course, these are less fugitive in books, which are generally protected from the action of light and air, than they would be in pictures.
The preceding remarks on pigments apply, with no difference worth noting, to colours prepared either for oil or for water-colour; which may therefore be laid on, by varying the vehicle for their proper application, to the surfaces of any of those materials which have been specified in the Second Part of this Essay, as available for different kinds of illumination. I now proceed to notice the special processes requisite in each case, commencing with those which may be best employed for vellum. This substance consists of calf-skin, carefully cleansed and scraped, and repeatedly washed in diluted sulphuric acid. The surface is rubbed down with fine pumice-stone to a smooth face, and in that condition it is fit for working upon. It is sold, prepared for use, at all the principal shops. If it has not been previously strained, or if many tints are likely to be floated over the surface, it will be well to strain it down upon a strainer or board before attempting to draw upon it. This may be done by damping the vellum, and then either gluing or nailing its edges down. When dry, it will be found to lie perfectly flat and smooth. It may be well, then, to wash it over with a dilute preparation of ox gall, to overcome any possible greasiness, and prepare it to receive colour freely. Mr. Barnard, and, I believe, other artists' colourmen, supply vellum mounted in block-books, similar to those made up of drawing-paper for sketching on; and by providing himself with one of those, the amateur may avoid the trouble of having to mount his own vellum.
As it is by no means easy to remove pencil-marks from vellum (and indeed it is never wise to attempt it, for the black-lead unites with the animal fat, which can never be entirely got out of the material, and rubs under the action of Indian-rubber or bread into a greasy smudge), it is always well to set out the design in the first instance upon drawing-paper. The best mode for good work is to complete the outline on drawing-paper, and then to trace it carefully with a hard pencil on a piece of tracing-paper, about one inch larger each way than the entire surface of the vellum; then cut out, the exact size of the vellum, a piece of tracing or tissue paper, rubbed evenly over with powdered red chalk.[116]Lay the tracing down (pencilled side upwards) in its right place upon the vellum, and fasten down one edge with pins, gum, or mouth-glue. Then slip the transfer-paper, with the chalked side downwards, between the vellum and the tracing until it exactly covers the former—touching the back of the transfer-paper with two or three drops of gum on its margin. Then lay the tracing over, and fasten down another of its edges. The gum drops will prevent the transfer-paper slipping away from the tracing-paper, when the drawing-board or strainer is placed upon a sloping desk or easel. Taking care to keep a piece of stout card or pasteboard under the hand, go over all the lines of the tracing with a blunted etching-point, or very hard pencil cut sharp. This having been done, on removing both the tracing and the transfer-paper, it will be found that a clear red outline has been conveyed to the surface of the vellum. At this stage of the work, as nothing dirties more readily than this material, it will be well to fasten over the surface a clean sheet of paper with a flap cut in it, by raising up and folding back portions of which, the artist may get to the part of the surface upon which he may desire to work without exposing any of the rest. As the effect of the writing on the page gives as it were the key-note for the general effect of the illuminated ornaments, it will be well to complete the former before proceeding to the latter.[117]