Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Abstract

Primary sources can be extremely
valuable for the study of historical
painting techniques, materials, and
studio practice. Most authors of
these treatises and manuals are either
anonymous or little known. Quite
often, therefore, no context for these
books can be traced. In some cases,
however, research on the author(s), if
known, can reveal information that
helps to interpret these sources,
shedding light on the contents and
their function in studio practice. An
example can be found in a seven­
teenth-century Italian treatise on
miniature painting which, according
to its title, was written by the minia­
turist Valerio Mariani da Pesaro in

1620. Research on this treatise has
      revealed some unexpected aspects of
      its authorship.

48

A Seventeenth-Century Italian Treatise on Miniature

Painting and Its Author(s)

Erma Hermens

Kunsthistorisch Instituut

Rijksuniversiteit Leiden

Doelensteeg^16

Postbus 9515

2300 RA Leiden

The Netherlands

The manuscripts

The Leiden University Library owns a seventeenth-century Italian manuscript

titled Della Miniatura, del Signor Valerio Mariani da Pesaro, Miniatore del seren­

issimo Signor Duca d' Urbino, del Signore Capitano Giorgio Maynwaringe, inglese,

l'anno del Signore 16 20, in Padova (sign. Voss. Ger. Gall. 5q). The manuscript,

consisting of three sections, contains a treatise on miniature painting tech­

nique. The first section covers technical recipes fo r the preparation of pig­

ments, dyestuffs and inks, binding media, and utensils such as pencils and

brushes. The second section gives instructions on how to paint landscapes,

and describes the mixtures of colors to use and the build-up in layers fo r the

execution of different types of trees, weather conditions, water, sea, rocks,

plants, mountains, villages, close-up and distant views, and so fo rth. The third

and smallest section describes the mixtures of colors and the layering of colors

used to depict skin and cloth in portrait painting.

The recipes in the first section seem to be quite accurate, a result in part of

the continuation of traditional methods, and in part of personal experiments

by the writer. In general, one can say that the technique described is a wa­

tercolor technique fo r paper and parchment, in which the final effect is

reached by using a mixture of pigments and dyestuffs or, as is more often and

more typical fo r this treatise, by several layers of washes of colors.

During the research on the treatise, two more manuscripts were fo und to be

connected with the Leiden manuscript. One manuscript, owned by the Bein­

ecke Library, Yale University (sign. MS 372), is entitled Della miniatura del

Signore Valerio Mariani da Pesaro, miniatore del Duca d'Urbino con aggiunte d'altre

cose per l'istessa professione dal Signor D. Antonello Bertozzi scrittore e miniatore in

Padova, per me Francesco Manlio Romano, l'anno MDCXX. The second manu­

script, entitled Ricordi di belli colon:, is part of the Urbinati Latini collection in

the Biblioteca Apostolica Va ticana, Citta del Vaticano, Italy (sign. Urb. Lat.

1280). The three manuscripts will be referred to here as the Leiden, Yale, and

Rome manuscripts.

The Yale manuscript, despite the differences in its title, is very similar to the

Leiden manuscript, with only some minor variations in language. It contains,

however, some extra pages at the end with additional recipes fo r pigments,

paper dyeing, etching materials, as well as recipes fo r gunpowder, payments

fo r books, a list of the quarters of Venice and other notes, some of them

dated between 1614 and 1628. The extra recipes could be the "aggiunte

d' altre cose per l'istessa professione dal Signor D. Antonello Bertozzi scrittore

e miniatore in Padova."

The Leiden manuscript contains a price list of pigments and dyestuffs and

also a list of all materials needed by the miniatore. Both are lacking in the

Yale manuscript (see Appendix doc. 1).

The Rome manuscript covers only the second part of the Leiden and Yale

manuscripts, that is, the part on landscape painting. We find here many dif­

fe rences in language and also in the sequence and length of the chapters. The

Landscape section in the Leiden and Yale manuscripts is more extensive, as

Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice