From fresco to varnish: a succinct summary of all the different media which have been used in painting, with links to more detailed articles.
Böcklin
Never shown to the public in traditional paintings, a vital layer which goes between paint and the support. White, colour, chalk or oil.
After European artists saw Hokusai’s print The Great Wave off Kanagawa, their own depictions became widespread, peaking in 1896.
Formerly a beautiful young woman, she was turned into a monster by Minerva, and painted by Caravaggio, Rubens, Klimt, and others.
References to Botticelli’s Primavera and Poussin by Tiepolo, and in the late 19th century: Flora and the Spring.
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.
The Eclectic Light Company 