References to Botticelli’s Primavera and Poussin by Tiepolo, and in the late 19th century: Flora and the Spring.
Böcklin
Painting with pigment mixing with molten wax is another ancient method. Haunting funerary portraits from 80-250 CE show how effective it can be.
Later painting of the Black Death and plague stressed the importance of divine intervention in limiting its spread.
Lead antimonate yellow was the original Naple Yellow, but had first been used long before in glassware. Paintings by Claude Lorrain, Böcklin, Renoir, and others.
Two pigments: straight Chromium Oxide, which is rather dull, and the more intense Viridian. Paintings by Böcklin, Renoir, Manet, Monet, Seurat, van Gogh, and Cézanne.
One of the earliest synthetic pigments, it was widely used throughout Europe, India, and Asia. But like lead white, it is seriously toxic.
It’s not Chinese, and for centuries was ignored, as lead white was preferred. It came into use during the 19th century, and is seen in paintings by Friedrich, Cézanne, van Gogh, Klimt, and Hodler.
What turns statues and copper roofs blue-green? ‘Copper rust’, the basis of the intense green pigment Verdigris, used by all the Masters.
Indian Yellow was thought to have been extracted from cow urine, but has been found in few paintings. Chrome Yellow was the mainstay of the Impressionists and the nineteenth century.
The story of Ulysses’ encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus is told by a survivor from the Odyssey. Superb paintings by Turner, Böcklin, Reni, and others.
