Illuminated manuscripts in classical and mediaeval times, their art and their technique

by J. H. Middleton

Both in classical and mediaeval times it was usual for the patron who had ordered a picture to supply the necessary ultramarine to the artist, who was only expected to provide the less costly pigments in return for the sum for which he had contracted to execute the work.

Method of theft.

Method of theft.Pliny (Hist. Nat. XXXIII. 120) tells a story of a trick played by a painter on his employer, who suspiciously watched the artist to see that he did not abstract any of the precious ultramarine which had been doled out to him. At frequent intervals the painter washed his brush, dipped in the ultramarine, in a vessel of water; the heavy pigment sank to the bottom, and at the end of the day the artist poured off the water and secured the mass of powdered ultramarine at the bottom.

It is interesting to note that Vasari, in his life of Perugino, tells precisely this story about Pietro, who was annoyed at the suspicions expressed by a certain Prior for whom he was painting a fresco[^[270]]. The Prior was in despair at the enormous amount of pigment that the thirsty wall sucked in, and he was agreeably surprised when, at the conclusion of the work, Perugino returned to him a large quantity of ultramarine, as a lesson that he should not suspect a gentleman of being a thief.

Ultramarine scraped off.

Ultramarine scraped off.The library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, possesses a manuscript which affords a curious proof of the great value of ultramarine to the mediaeval illuminator. This is a magnificent copy of the Vulgate by a German scribe of the twelfth century, copiously illustrated with miniature pictures, many of which had backgrounds, either partially or wholly, covered with ultramarine. All through the book the ultramarine has in mediaeval times been very carefully and completely scraped off, no doubt for use in another manuscript. This theft has been accomplished with such skill that wonderfully little injury has been done to the beautiful illuminations, except, of course, the loss of splendour caused by the abstraction of the ultramarine.

Impasto.

Impasto.In illuminated manuscripts ultramarine is very freely used. It is specially noticeable for the thick body (impasto) in which it is applied, so as very often to stand out in visible relief. The reason of this is that this, and some other blue pigments, lose much of their depth of colour if they are ground into very fine powder. Hence both the ultramarine and smalto blues are always applied in comparatively coarse grained powder; and this of course necessitates the application of a thick body of colour.

Ancient cyanus.

Ancient cyanus.Smalto blues. Next in importance to the real ultramarine come the artificial smalto or "enamel" blues, which were used largely in Egypt at a very early date under the name of artificial cyanus; see Pliny, Hist. Nat. XXXVII. 119. Among the Greeks and Romans too this was a pigment of great importance, and when skilfully made is but little inferior in beauty to the natural ultramarine.